Books read in 2020
It is the end of the year again, and I take stock of my reading year. I’ve read a lot more fiction this year also. The bookkeeping of my reading habit is taking a toll here. Reading non-fiction usually takes longer, then I fear that I don’t reach the book count – which is stupid, as it does not matter how much I read. On the other hand, I’ve read a lot of funny and intriguing books this year.
The best book of 2020
The best book I’ve read this year was the whole Glamourist Histories. With the next runner ups:
- Bel Canto by Ann Patchett Review
- The Choice of Magic by Michael G. Manning Review and I’ve just found out that there are two more books to read!
- Voice of Power by Melanie Cellier Review
Audio-books
I’ve also started listening to audio-books. I planed a reread of the Wheel of times in preparation for the TV-Show. But rereading it in book form would have taken up my whole year and prevented me from reading anything else. So listening to them in audio format was a nice compromise.
Reading statistics
I’ve read 84 books this year and wrote a total of 96 reviews. My sabbatical certainly helped with getting such a high number, as most of the year, my goal was to read 5-6 books a month, which I mostly managed. But I’ve certainly noticed a trend to shorter books and more standalone works.
The total page count for 2020 is 28599, compared to 19929 pages for 2019, so I was not gaming the system too much. But I certainly need to keep an eye on this and remind myself from time to time that I read for fun, not for the book count. But it is mindboggling that I’ve read nearly 80 pages per day. I would love to switch to word count (as it would be more precise), but I could not find a book count source. so far
The book with the longest read time was The Blade Itself: Book One (The First Law 1) with 17 days page count of 536. The fastest book I’ve read within one day: The Settling (The Memory Trader Book 3), with a page count of 205. As expected, the longest was Oathbringer: Book Three of the Stormlight Archive with a page count of 1220 read time 13 days.
Plans for next year
I plan to read around 3 to 5 books per month. From the experience of the past two years, that is a manageable amount, and it should also give me some freedom to read some longer books in-between. It also means that the count will be lower next year, but that is ok (I need to repeat this some more to believe it :-)).
And the final plan is to read at least one non-fiction book per month. To expand my horizons and get new inputs.
List of all Books in 2020
And finally, here is the list of all books with a link to the reviews.
- Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed by Ben R. Rich and Leo Janos Review
- Starsight (Skyward Book 2) by Brandon Sanderson Review
- The Calculating Stars: A Lady Astronaut Novel by Mary Robinette Kowal Review
- The Fated Sky: Lady Astronaut Novel by Mary Robinette Kowal Review
- A Street Cat Named Bob: How one man and his cat found hope on the streets by James Bowen Review
- The World According to Bob: The further adventures of one man and his street-wise cat by James Bowen Review
- Infinite Detail: A Novel by Tim Maughan Review
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin Review
- Shadow of the Conqueror (Chronicles of Everfall Book 1) by Shad Brooks Review
- The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia (Hainish Cycle) by Ursula K. Le Guin Review
- The Word for World is Forest (Hainish Cycle) by Ursula K. Le Guin Review
- The Choice of Magic (Art of the Adept Book 1) by Michael G. Manning Review
- Secrets and Spellcraft (Art of the Adept Book 2) by Michael G. Manning Review
- The Blacksmith’s Son (Mageborn Book 1) by Michael G. Manning Review
- A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket Review
- A Series of Unfortunate Events #2: The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket Review
- Predator’s Gold (Predator Cities Book 2) by Philip Reeve Review
- The Blade Itself: Book One (The First Law 1) by Joe Abercrombie Review
- 7th Sigma by Steven Gould Review
- Helm by Steve Gould Review
- The Smudger (The Memory Trader Book 1) by Angeline Trevena Review
- The Sister (The Memory Trader Book 2) by Angeline Trevena Review
- The Settling (The Memory Trader Book 3) by Angeline Trevena Review
- The Quantum Magician (The Quantum Evolution Book 1) by Derek Künsken Review
- Restriction: Age Of Magic (The Rise of Magic Book 1) by CM Raymond, LE Barbant and Michael Anderle Review
- Extinction Game: The Apocalypse Duology: Book One by Gary Gibson Review
- Survival Game (The Apocalypse Duology Book 2) by Gary Gibson Review
- Doomsday Game (The Apocalypse Duology Book 3) by Gary Gibson Review
- Ghost Frequencies by Gary Gibson Review
- Final Days by Gary Gibson Review
- Catfishing on CatNet: A Novel (A CatNet Novel Book 1) by Naomi Kritzer Review
- The Boy Who Sailed To Spain by Paul Ogarra Review
- Bel Canto by Ann Patchett Review
- Hidden Princess: From the Blood and Snow World: A Sleeping Beauty by RaShelle Workman Review
- Broken Curse: A Sleeping Beauty Reimagining (Fairy Academy Book 2) by RaShelle Workman Review
- Stolen Magic: A Sleeping Beauty Reimagining (Fairy Academy Book 3) by RaShelle Workman Review
- Network Effect: A Murderbot Novel (The Murderbot Diaries Book 5) by Martha Wells Review
- Push Back: After the EMP (Disruption Trilogy Book 2) by R.E. McDermott Review
- Promises To Keep: After the EMP (Disruption Trilogy Book 3) by R.E. McDermott Review
- Seven Things Not to Do When Everyone’s Trying to Kill You (The Tale of Bryant Adams Book 2) by Megan O’Russell Review
- The Girl Without Magic (The Chronicles of Maggie Trent Book 1) by Megan O’Russell Review
- The Girl Locked With Gold (The Chronicles of Maggie Trent Book 2) by Megan O’Russell Review
- The Girl Cloaked in Shadow (The Chronicles of Maggie Trent Book 3) by Megan O’Russell Review
- Slated: Book 1 (Slated Trilogy) by Teri Terry Review
- Fractured: Book 2 (Slated Trilogy) by Teri Terry Review
- Shattered: Book 3 (Slated Trilogy) by Teri Terry Review
- LIFEL1K3 (Lifelike - Book 1) by Jay Kristoff Review
- Meditation für Skeptiker: Ein Neurowissenschaftler erklärt den Weg zum Selbst by Ulrich Ott Review
- Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World by David Epstein Review
- Recovering Apollo 8 by Kristine Kathryn Rusch Review
- The Bayern Agenda: The Galactic Cold War, Book I by Dan Moren Review
- The Relentless Moon: A Lady Astronaut Novel by Mary Robinette Kowal Review
- The Relentless Moon: A Lady Astronaut Novel by Mary Robinette Kowal Review
- The Aleph Extraction: The Galactic Cold War, Book II by Dan Moren Review
- Sie wäre jetzt 17: Psychothriller by Nika Lubitsch Review
- Aurora Rising (The Aurora Cycle Book 1) by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff Review
- Shades of Milk and Honey (Glamourist Histories Book 1) by Mary Robinette Kowal Review
- Station Alpha: A Sci-Fi Dystopian Mystery (Miles & Breaker Book 1) by Nicole Adrianne Review
- Glamour in Glass (Glamourist Histories Series Book 2) by Mary Robinette Kowal Review
- Without A Summer (Glamourist Histories Series Book 3) by Mary Robinette Kowal Review
- Selbstzuwendung, Selbstakzeptanz, Selbstvertrauen: Psychotherapeutische Interventionen zum Aufbau von Selbstwertgefühl by Friederike Potreck-Rose and Gitta Jacob Review
- Station Theta: A Sci-Fi Dystopian Mystery (Miles & Breaker Book 2) by Nicole Adrianne Review
- Attack Surface by Cory Doctorow Review
- Sunlight (Titans, Cranes & Monsters Games) by Kristian Joseph Review
- Valour And Vanity: (The Glamourist Histories #4) by Mary Robinette Kowal Review
- Of Noble Family (Glamourist Histories Book 5) by Mary Robinette Kowal Review
- To Be Taught, If Fortunate: A Novella by Becky Chambers Review
- A Wizard’s Guide To Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher Review
- Voice of Power (The Spoken Mage Book 1) by Melanie Cellier Review
- Voice of Command (The Spoken Mage Book 2) by Melanie Cellier Review
- Voice of Dominion (The Spoken Mage Book 3) by Melanie Cellier Review
- Voice of Life (The Spoken Mage Book 4) by Melanie Cellier Review
- Crown of Secrets (The Hidden Mage Book 1) by Melanie Cellier Review
- Power of Pen and Voice: A Spoken Mage Companion Novel (The Spoken Mage Book 5) by Melanie Cellier Review
- The Perfect Generation by C.P. James Review
- Firstborn Academy: Shadow Trials by Isla Frost Review
- Firstborn Academy: Shadow Witch by Isla Frost Review
- Firstborn Academy: Shadow Reaper by Isla Frost Review
- Will Save the Galaxy for Food by Yahtzee Croshaw and EM Gist Review
- Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, Book 2) by Brandon Sanderson Review
- 100 Days of Sunlight by Abbie Emmons Review
- Oathbringer: Book Three of the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson Review
- First of Their Kind (Chronicles of Theren Book 1) by C. D. Tavenor Review
- Their Greatest Game (Chronicles of Theren Book 2) by C. D. Tavenor Review
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