I am terrible at keeping resolutions. I made an extensive list at the beginning of last year in a fit of very enthusiastic insanity, but I’m not sure why I bothered writing things like “use LA Fitness membership,” “learn gouache painting,” and “catch up on watchlist” because I didn’t do any of these things. One thing I did do, however, was finish my 2019 reading challenge, which stipulated that I would read 48 books over the course of the year. I started losing my ability to read around the same time I got an iPhone and it’s been a long hard road getting it back, but if you’re in a similar situation goodreads really works even though I’m pretty salty rn about the UI fails they seem to have introduced within the last week. I got sucked into GR in 2017 by a friend with a book list, and have participated in the reading challenge every year since I signed up.

Challenge Stats

2017
26 books read // 25 books pledged

2018
54 books read // 36 books pledged

2019
51 books read // 48 books pledged

okay so admittedly I flamed out a bit at the end of 2019 but in my defense I hit a string of really dull books and I don’t really know how I managed to do that but it’s possible okay

2019 Book List

There’s no flex like a book flex, so here’s a comprehensive list of everything I read this year that fit between two covers. This does not include the couple of children’s books I reread on a whim, because I for some reason decided those didn’t count and in retrospect I’m not really sure why.

I was planning to write extensive reviews for most of these immediately after I read them but I’m lazy and my plans usually don’t jive too well with my actual internal resources so we’re going with retroactive reviews that I will write as the muse dictates (read: depending on my level of adoration or outrage). Reviewed titles will be updated with post links as the reviews are written.

Asterisk Key

*          recommended
**       highly recommended
***     my love for this book knows no bounds and YOU WILL READ IT

Assume that all the mangas are recommended, cus I haven’t bothered asterisking them.

  1. The Buried Giant – Kazuo Ishiguro
  2. Princess Jellyfish 1 – Akiko Higashimura
  3. Princess Jellyfish 2 – Akiko Higashimura
  4. Princess Jellyfish 3 – Akiko Higashimura
  5. Princess Jellyfish 4 – Akiko Higashimura
  6. Black Butler 26 – Yana Toboso
  7. Princess Jellyfish 5 – Akiko Higashimura
  8. Princess Jellyfish 6 – Akiko Higashimura
  9. Princess Jellyfish 7 – Akiko Higashimura
  10. Princess Jellyfish 8 – Akiko Higashimura
  11. Princess Jellyfish 9 – Akiko Higashimura
  12. The Black Count* – Tom Reiss
  13. The Professor and the Madman* – Simon Winchester
  14. Catch-22** – Joseph Heller
  15. Johannes Cabal the Necromancer** – Jonathan L. Howard
  16. The Ghost Bride** – Yangsze Choo
    THIS HITS NETFLIX IN 22 DAYS OMFG HOW COOL IS THAT I’M LOSING MY GORRAM MIND
  17. Book Love*** – Debbie Tung
  18. Quiet Girl in a Noisy World** – Debbie Tung
  19. The Count of Monte Cristo* – Alexandre Dumas; translated by Robin Buss
  20. Cat’s Eye*** – Margaret Atwood
  21. The Yellow Wallpaper and Other Writings* – Charlotte Perkins Gilman
  22. The Night Tiger** – Yangsze Choo
    if they want to make this one into a show too you sure as fuck won’t see me complaining
  23. The Wonder – Emma Donoghue
  24. The Hidden Power of F*cking Up* – The Try Guys
  25. The Song of Achilles*** – Madeline Miller
  26. Mortal Engines* – Philip Reeve
  27. Strange the Dreamer** – Laini Taylor
  28. Macbeth** – Jo Nesbø
  29. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone* – J.K. Rowling
  30. Muse of Nightmares** – Laini Taylor
  31. Predator’s Gold* – Philip Reeve
  32. Bartholomew and the Oobleck* – Dr. Seuss
  33. The Enchanted Forest Chronicles*** – Patricia C. Wrede
  34. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* – J.K. Rowling
  35. Infernal Devices* – Philip Reeve
  36. The Testaments** – Margaret Atwood
  37. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban* – J.K. Rowling
  38. The Book of Three – Lloyd Alexander
  39. A Darkling Plain* – Philip Reeve
  40. The Black Cauldron – Lloyd Alexander
  41. The Castle of Llyr – Lloyd Alexander
  42. Taran Wanderer – Lloyd Alexander
  43. The High King – Lloyd Alexander
  44. The Quite Nice and Fairly Accurate Good Omens Script Book* – Neil Gaiman
  45. The Golden Compass* – Philip Pullman
  46. Neverwhere*** – Neil Gaiman
  47. Black Butler 27 – Yana Toboso
  48. The Subtle Knife – Philip Pullman
  49. The October Man – Ben Aaronovitch
  50. The Amber Spyglass – Philip Pullman
  51. Woman World*** – Aminder Dhaliwal

2020

The goal for this year is 60 books, and if I’m successful I’ll bump it up to 65 for next year cus I really don’t feel up to reading 72 books in one year. Of those 60 books, over a third will probably be mangas. A year may come when I don’t need to pad out my list with mangas, but it probably won’t be this year. I also suffer from a particularly severe case of tsundoku, so I’m making it a personal goal to read every book I buy.

For those not in the know (i.e., People Who Do Not Have This Problem), tsundoku is a Meiji portmanteau of tsunde-oku (piling things up for later and then leaving them there) and dokusho (reading books), and refers to the practice of acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up without actually reading them. Japanese may be, as my mother says, a very strange people, but we sure are good at coming up with super specific words, and we’ve apparently been having trouble reading our books since about 1868.

Final Thoughts

Sixty books stand between me and the biggest reading goal I’ve ever made. Wish me luck! 😀

Reading Summaries

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