Melody's 2020 Reading

One great thing to occur in 2020 was that I read more books this year than I have since 2013. Not that I've had some great reading years since 2013; adulting and wedding-ing took care of that. But in 2020, I completed 50 books.

Let's talk about the amazing literature I dove into this year. And amazing it was--my average Goodreads rating was 4.3/5. To be fair, this doesn't count the eight books I did not complete (some I intend to return to; some I definitely don't).

I read more fiction than non-fiction this year. The majority of my fiction forays were digital, the non-re-read print exceptions being Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which I acquired through marriage, and The Return of the Thief, which I acquired via long-awaited pre-order.

Non-Fiction

In contrast to the novels, a solid half of my non-fiction was read in print. Of those ten paper books, five were already in my possession, but five were actively sought out through purchase or library hold. What I take away from this is that I'm willing to work harder when it comes to a particular non-fiction book/topic than I am a particular novel. This would not have been the case in the past.

The non-fiction book I probably sought the hardest was The Woman Behind the New Deal, a biography of Frances Perkins. I hadn't heard of Perkins until this year, when she was mentioned in two unrelated reads of mine, The Radium Girls (non-fiction), and The Uprising (fiction). Her role in ensuring the safe working conditions we now take for granted sparked my curiosity, which led to her biography; I wish I had known of her life and impact sooner, but I'm glad I can honor her now.

My non-fiction interests focused on five topics this year: Current Events, Emotional Health, History/Biography, Living Simply, and what I guess counts as Psychology more than anything else--personality types and improving one's interactions with people. Current Events is the most vague category here; it includes What is a Girl Worth?, Fashionopolis, So You Want to Talk about Race, The Big Sort (why we're so polarized), and Divided We Fall (the possible outcome of that polarization).

But I've been stalling. I have to choose a best non-fiction book of the year. This is very difficult; I granted five stars to eight of these books. But there are three that stand out as books I'd like everyone to read, books that I feel were most worth my time and would be most worth yours.

Non-Fiction Awards

Bronze: These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore

This is the first comprehensive history of the United States I've ever had the fortitude to stick with (and fortitude it did require, coming in at a whopping 960 pages), and yet my only complaint about its size is the amount of effort the re-read will someday require. I can't comment on its uniqueness compared to other histories, but I was fascinated by Lepore's focus on truth as the main theme of the book. What truths have always been accepted in the United States? Which have evolved, and how did that come to pass? How has truth been used or abused in our nation's history? Lepore gives ample time to these questions and concurrently provides an in-depth story of our nation's past up until the near-present (published in 2019).

Silver: The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart by Bill Bishop

It's been a while since I've heard anyone say we're not polarized, but how did we get that way, why do we stay that way, and is it getting worse? Bishop--an Austinite who draws many telling examples from his hometown--worked alongside some stellar researchers to prove that we're not just imagining it: both consciously and sub-consciously, Americans increasingly surround themselves with others who think like them. And while it may be comfortable to live that much more conflict-free in our daily lives, it means that we're increasingly blind to the humanity and experiences of the "other," a blindness that pervades our churches, our media, and the voting booth. (Secret menu recommendation: follow this up with Divided We Fall, in which David French picks up where Bishop leaves off and dives into the dire consequences of a sorted America.)

Gold: What Is a Girl Worth?: My Story of Breaking the Silence and Exposing the Truth about Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics by Rachael Denhollander

Whether it was the newspaper journalism, Rachael's viral speech, or Netflix's Athlete A, you've probably heard part of Rachael's story. Here is the rest of it: from her early years as a driven homeschooled gymnast and her gentle courtship, to her longsuffering courage and determination as she saw justice done. Interwoven through it all is the story of Rachael's faith; or, more specifically, the story of God's healing, redemption...and His heart for justice. I do not know of a more poignant and pure story of godly courage in modern times. This book has earned its spot as my best non-fiction book of 2020. It is remarkably inspiring, simply impossible to put down, and I hope you can make time for it in 2021.

Fiction

This graph tells you a lot about my reading habits. In 2020, I read more fiction than non-fiction, and I read more YA fantasy than any other kind of novel. Yay for YA fantasy!! One reason for this is just because it is genuinely my favorite genre, but it's also true that half of it was re-reading, most of which you can attribute to the Queen's Thief series as I prepared for its finale.

Contemporary is as much an overarching category as non-fiction's Current Events, so I will note that it includes thrillers (Allegedly), coming-of-age (Tell Me Three Things, What to Say Next, and Goodbye from Nowhere), and chick-lit (Crazy Rich Asians, China Rich Girlfriend, and Rich People Problems).

I have some honorable mentions from the year below, but first let's reveal our medal winners.

Fiction Awards

Bronze: The Return of the Thief, by Megan Whalen Turner

I'm conflicted about this award, I'll be honest. The Queen's Thief series has long been my favorite. I have long-extolled the beauty of Turner's subtle plotting and her brilliant handling of the interplay between nominal religious practice and the real-ness of the spiritual realm. And while I will continue to do so, I was disappointed by the lack of this subtlety and insight in Return. It felt like typical YA fantasy, and while it was excellent typical YA fantasy, to be sure, "typical YA fantasy" is not something I've ever attributed to Turner. Thus, this long-awaited series finale gets the bronze medal simply because Turner is just that good; even her worst Queen's Thief book makes it onto the podium. It is an excellent YA fantasy; Turner once again chooses her narrator with care, slowly reveals the humanity behind every character, and delivers on a startling climax. It's not the best book in the series--which is what I was hoping for--but it does tell a compelling story and wrap up all the loose ends just the same.

Silver: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, by Suzanne Collins

Collins is back!! There are many who have heard my rant about the unfair disaster that was Mockingjay, and it's my opinion that Ballad proves my point that, when given time to do what she does best, Collins can and shall deliver a masterpiece. But enough about how vindicated I feel--Ballad deserves this award in its own right. In this masterful origin story of one of this century's favorite villains, Collins keeps her reader on the knife's edge between sympathy and horror, relatability and revulsion. It was a fantastic read, but set within the world of Panem, with several plot-appropriate connections to the Hunger Games world, it is simply a delight for both fans and critical readers (by which I mean, people who just generally like good books) alike.

Gold: Vow of Thieves, by Mary E. Pearson

I rediscovered Pearson in late December 2019 and spent January 2020 wrapping up her duology and trilogy set in the Remnant Chronicles fantasy (or is it dystopian?) world. All of it was a breath of fresh air; Pearson splits the monotonous sky of YA fantasy lit with a sword on fire. Her world-building is serious and original, her characters invested and multi-faceted, and her plotting believable and surprising. But my favorite of all of them was Vow; it stays true to all these things, yet pulls in a depth of romance and emotion rarely attempted in YA lit, and even more rarely accomplished. While Vow is not quite as well-paced as the preceding books in the world, it still gets gold from me, and with it a shout-out to all the Remnant Chronicles books.

Fiction Honorable Mentions

You should always mention the re-reads. They're ineligible for awards, but the fact that I've read them again hopefully shows the high regard I have for them.

• The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley
• The Thief, The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia, A Conspiracy of Kings, and Thick as Thieves, by Megan Whalen Turner
• A Countess Below Stairs, by Eva Ibbotson
• The Royal Ranger: A New Beginning, by John Flanagan

Shout-out to the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy, by Kevin Kwan, which I couldn't put down and because of which I couldn't stop laughing. I gave two of the books 3 stars on Goodreads, because of the pure shallow fluff I knew they were, but I begin to think that wasn't fair, and that they all deserve 4 stars. That was good fun. Kwan's writing style may be fluffy, but my goodness, he's truly the master of said fluff.

I close with a special shout-out to The Circle, by Dave Eggers. Truth be told, I almost gave this the Bronze award instead of Return of the Thief. If you choose to read any fiction I recommend, I hope you put this at the top of your list (well, maybe just behind Pearson). I withheld the award because I don't think it's actually written that well; it has oddly paced sexual forays, poor believability of a female character, and one too many long-winded philosophical conversations. But then...couldn't the same be said for 1984? Yes, I think time will place The Circle in that great company. Take it seriously, not because I fear The Circle's world will become reality in the future, but because this seven-year-old book somehow manages to describe our present-day lives with frightening accuracy.

In Conclusion

If you read this entire post, I commend you! And thank you! :) Feel free to share your favorite non-fiction and fiction reads in the comments of this post; I would love your recommendations!

If you're curious, check out all the books I read in 2020 and track my progress in 2021.

Happy reading!

How I Rate Books

A long time ago (before Amazon bought them, I believe), Goodreads stars were defined. I have held true to those definitions to make my star-granting decisions, even though I'm fairly certain that the definitions have disappeared.

• 5 stars: Loved it
• 4 stars: Really liked it
• 3 stars: Liked it
• 2 stars: It was okay
• 1 star: Didn't like it

Yes, this weights pretty heavily toward pleasant feelings, but I feel like this is fair given that if we had a zero-star rating, it would be fairly applied to the books I gave up on.