My Year In Books, 2020

 

It’s time for my annual reading wrap-up. A much more fun topic than everything that’s going on in the world right now.

In 2020 I “consumed” (more on why I used that word in a moment) 117 books, 9 more than last year. The largest category was mystery/thriller at 46%. 15% of the books I read were in the non-fiction category, up 10% from last year.

I used the word “consumed” and not read because I’ve added audiobooks to my list. I listened to 19 of them last year (usually when I’m working on a painting or macramé project). Most of those were the audio versions of the Dark Shadows books by Marilyn Ross, originally published in the 1960s/70s. Enjoyable stories and quite different at times from the storylines in the soap opera.

In my December 16, 2020 post I gave a number of recommendations here for books I read last year. I won’t repeat those. You can see them here: https://typem4murder.blogspot.com/2020/12/book-suggestions-2020.html

I read 4 books about the 1918 pandemic last year. They all have something to recommend them. Some delve deeper into the science and the state of medicine at the time. Others center on what was going on in the world at the time and the social reaction/cost. If you only read one, I’d go for “Very, Very, Very Dreadful: The Influenza Pandemic of 1918” by Albert Marrin. I found that one the most interesting to read.

In the mystery category, the majority of them were cozies. Of those, my favorites were the Postmistress mysteries by Jean Flowers aka Camille Minichino and the Sylvia Stryker mysteries by Diane Vallere, set in space. Yes, I still consider them cozies because they really have a cozy feel in an unusual setting. If you like cats in your cozies, I recommend the Nick and Nora mysteries by T.C. LoTempio. I also re-read several Agatha Christie books. For whatever reason, I find her comforting. Even though she’s often put in the cozy category, I don’t think all of her books belong there.

In the kids category, I particularly enjoyed The Greystone Secrets books by Margaret Peterson Haddix. Two of them are out with the 3rd coming out in April. Looking forward to it. These really need to be read in order.

In the scifi/speculative fiction category, besides the Thursday Next novels mentioned in a previous post, I also enjoyed the Maze Runner series. And, yes, I watched the movies as well. The first movie adhered pretty closely to the novel, but the others veered away from the book story lines quite a bit.

There are so many other good books I read last year, most of which I would recommend. I only gave up on 1 book last year. Pretty unusual for me to stop reading. Even if I think the book is so-so, I’ll generally finish it. You can learn a lot about writing from reading the books you don’t like (and figuring out why you don’t like them) as well as those you do like.

That’s it for my reading wrap-up. Onto another topic next time.

I’m curious, did you find yourself reading more last year than in previous years?

Sybil's Summer Reading 2019

I’ve been doing a lot of reading this summer. Almost all fiction, which is unusual for me. In the past, I’ve split my reading pretty evenly between fiction and non-fiction. Part of the reason, I think, is that I have a stack of books I’ve gotten at various mystery conferences over the past few years and, well, I’m rather tired of having that large a stack that I haven’t read.

Here are my highlights from my reading so far:

I’ve been reading a lot of books by Camille Minichino. She writes under her own name as well as Ada Madison, Jean Flowers and Margaret Grace. I’ve been on panels with Camille and she is a delight. I also admire her. She got her PhD in Physics at a time when there weren’t many women in the field. Okay, there probably still aren’t very many women in the field. I’ve sampled all of her series and they are all great reads. My particular favorites, though, are her Sophie Knowles mystery series written as Ada Madison, featuring a mathematics professor, and her Postmistress mystery series written as Jean Flowers.

I’ve also been enjoying a lot of middle grade mysteries. Yeah, I know, I'm not the target demographic. Still, adults can enjoy them too! My favorites in the middle grade world are the Moon Base Alpha series. They are fun reads with a lot of interesting characters and situations that occur on the first moon base. I know I’m enjoying a book when I gasp as I’m reading and say no, no, no!

In the historical mystery area, I’ve enjoyed Heat Wave by Maureen Jennings, Art in the Blood by Bonnie MacBird and Dangerous to Know by Renee Patrick. Heat Wave is a new series for Jennings set in the 1930s. (She’s the author of the Murdoch Mystery series.) Art in the Blood is the first of a new Sherlock Holmes series. I bought it at the California Crime Writers Conference in June, largely based on the cover. Thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Dangerous to Know is set in the 1930s and features the famed costume designer Edith Head.

Probably my favorite of all though is The Skeleton Makes a Friend by Leigh Perry. I just love the Family Skeleton series, one of the few that I’d read over and over and over again.

There’s still more of summer left and I have a lot to read still. What have you been reading lately?