Looking back, Looking Forward

Grab a coffee whilst we take a look back at the reading year that was 2020.

Nat: Last year, in terms of reading, was quite successful for me. I feel like I was able to achieve the majority of the goals I had set for myself. As I have delved into the world of ‘booktube’ and ‘bookstagram’ I feel like reading has taken on a much more important role in my life.

Laura: Well, although I didn't achieve my Goodreads goal and they rudely told me “better luck next year” I also feel I made big reading achievements last year. Do you think it's due to being ‘locked down’ for half the year?

Nat: Personally, I had already made the decision to read more in 2020 (before I knew a lockdown was coming), however I do believe that it helped me for the first half of the year to read more. And yet, the second half of the year… weeks went by where I couldn’t pick up a book at all.

Laura: Yes, but, just FYI you got married.

Nat: Yeah...2020 taught me that I can’t read when I’m stressed.

Laura: Well, neither of us reached our reading goal! Mine was (for some unknown reason) 33 books and I read 28. However for me, 2020 has been my biggest reading year yet. I think it has really set a high standard, and my goal for this year is now 30, what is yours?

Nat: So I think I started off the year by wanting to read 30 books and (amazingly) I knew I was going to reach that goal quite early in the year, so I upped it to 50 books. And… I read… 49. Which kind of hurts me a little inside.

Laura: YOU were so close!

Nat: I know. But like I said, the second half of the year was poor. I read only one book in September - and even that was a struggle. However, this year I set my Goodreads challenge at 49 books and I’m totally ok with not hitting it. I want to focus more on reading for what I want and not read a bunch of novellas just to hit my ‘goal’.

Laura: oh I 100% agree.

Nat: I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again - this is the year of BIG BOOKS!

Laura: You're off to a flying start having just finished WolfHall! Although I don’t have a goal of reading big books, I do have one in mind...

Nat: A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara.

Laura: YES! We have been meaning to start this together for a long time! Along with A Little Life, my reading goal this year is to focus on reading an author's body of work.

Nat: Oh I love that! Who are the authors you want to focus on?

Laura: Well to name a few, Toni Morrison because I think her writing is beautiful and important. Jane Austen because you know I want to collect that beautiful Vintage Classic collection for my shelves. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie because I am yet to read any of her work - believe it or not.

Nat: Ok Yes to all of the above! But, just so I don’t copy you I’ll name some other authors I want to focus on. Paul Beatey, I read White Boy Shuffle ast year and I am fascinated with his writing style. An author I started reading last year, but would like to complete this year is Thomas Hardy. Far From the Madding Crowd will live in my heart forever. Daphne Du Maurier is another author that I started reading last year and will be focussing on reading more of this year.

Laura: Ohhhh Daphne Du Maurier absolutely. Some good authors there. Can I tell you another goal of mine, to read all the books on my ‘to be read shelf’ (insert embarrassed emoji here)

Nat: Is that because you were so out of control with your buying last year?

Laura: Yes, a book delivery during lockdown was LIFE, and also you know me, I buy a book and then I neglect it for about a year.

Nat: Oh, I do know you!

Laura: But that was last year.

Nat: Ok so, what were the three of the best books you read last year?

Laura: That is a tough questions, If i really have to chose -

Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman

• The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

• The Poisonwood Bible by Barbra Kingslover

That was very tough.

Nat: Yeah I know I’m asking a lot. Here are my choices:

• Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie

• Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

• The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Laura: Well that took a lot of discussion (over facetime), I feel I left behind some very worthy contenders. It is interesting to think back on a book and realise that perhaps your opinion of the book is actually connected to the time you were reading it.

Nat: You’re so right about that! It would be good to maybe do an experiment on some books we read a long time ago and see if they still measure up today.

Laura: Yes an experiment, Let’s do it! Let’s pick a book we’ve read as teenagers and see how it makes us feel. Right shall we get into what we came here to talk about…

Nat: Yes, yes! We love to get off topic. We came here to talk about our 2020 stats! So, Goodreads was able to tell us some things about our reading year like what our average rating was (Nat: 4.4 stars/Laura: 4.0), how many pages we read (N: 16,780/L: 9,580) and some other basic statistics. But we wanted more!

Laura: So we sat down and figured out what percentage were classics. Mine was 14%, so considering last year was my first go at classics (properly) I am pretty happy with that, however dare I say I would like to double that this year.

Nat: Last year 30% of the books I read were classics - which I love for me! I think i would like to push myself even more in 2021 and up that percentage to about 40%. Every time I pick up a classic - even if I don't end up enjoying it - I know for certain that I am going to respect it. I know that the writing will be good and I will learn something.

Laura: Yes I would have to agree. So next was how many books were written by non-white authors. Mine was 40% and some of my favourite books. I discovered many non-white authors that I will continue to read the work of this year. As mentioned before Toni Morrison and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Colson Whitehead came into my life with his books The Underground Railroad and Nickel Boys which will stay in my mind for a long time.

Nat: Interestingly, I too read 40% non-white authrors. Considering I was not making a conscious effort to read diversely I am quite proud of that number. However, the more I think about the books I read, and the more we will be talking about books I do want it to become something that I think about consciously. Reading is an important way that I learn about the world and I find that the books that stay with me the most are books that show me how other people live. As I mentioned earlier, Half of a Yellow Sun is one of the best books I have read because it taught me about a part of Nigeria’s history that I knew nothing about. Our last statistic was what percentage of books were given a 5 star rating.

Laura: My 5 star percentage was 37%, which I feel is pretty good. A lot of my books last year were 4/5, and I remember half way through the year I really started trying to save the 5 stars for the special ones! I can't wait to look back on this year and review our statistics again.

Nat: Mine was 65%. Yes, I know, that number might seem high to some. But, I wouldn’t want to read if I didn’t love the books I was reading.

If you got this far - give yourself a pat on the back! We know this post is slightly discombobulated, we promise to do better in the future!