Looking back at my year in reading thus far

The Sunday Salon, What I'm Reading

So far this year I’ve read 25 books. My Goodreads goal is to 50 books. I’m not sure if I’ll make it, but I’m okay with that. I’ve already read some good books.

Among my favorites were the following:

  • Invisible Differences: A Story of Asperger’s, Adulting, and Living a Life in Full Color by Julie Dalchez and Mademoiselle Caroline
  • Broken by Jenny Lawson
  • The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
  • Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.

Out of the 25, almost half – 11 in total – were a part of the Inspector Montalbano series by Andrea Camilleri, all of which I have enjoyed. Another three were part of the Rabbi Small series by Harry Kemelman, which I also have enjoyed. And four were collections of poetry.

As for what’s next for the rest of the year, I have several possibilities, including more from the Inspector Montalbano and Rabbi Small series. Three others are from the new bookshelf at the library where I work, and I have four books on hold at the Free Library of Philadelphia, which include 2 books of poetry. As is my custom, I won’t tell you the titles until after after I’ve read them or, I should say, if I read them at all.

So, what are some of your favorite books that you have read so far this year? Share in the comments.

Published by Bryan G. Robinson

Blogger formerly known as Unfinished Person. Still an unfinished person...

Published

10 thoughts on “Looking back at my year in reading thus far”

  1. I also enjoyed a lot Project Hail Mary.
    I don’t post about my favorites before the end of the year. I have read 132 books so far, and will probably read 25 more, so who knows which gems I will still find this year

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  2. I admit that I noped out of the Midnight Library. It was going an a direction that I really disliked, and after confirming it with a few people I knew who had read it, and reading some spoilers on GR, I decided that it was better to abandon it than to continue reading only to hate it at the end, which I was really afraid I was going to do. Wow that was a long sentence…oops. I think I’ve read 35 books this year? Frankly I’ve been happy reading 30-60 books each year since maybe 2013ish or so – it feels a much better pace for me than the years when I was reading 100+ (sometimes 200+)!

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  3. My dad just got himself an Inspector Montalbano book. Not sure if it’s his first foray in this series or not.

    Some of my favorites this year are a Kent State graphic novel, Americanah, and a bunch of YAs.

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  4. I am glad to see Jenny Lawson’s Broken made your list of favorites so far this year. I want to read that one. I really liked her first book. The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See and The Poet by Elizabeth Acevedo are my top two, I think. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers perhaps. All great books. I hope you have a great week!

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    1. My wife and I listened to Broken on audiobook and really enjoyed it. I’m not much of an audiobook person, except mostly for humor. However, I also did listen to The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo and thought that was great too.

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  5. I am trying to read 125 books this year and am at 99 books so far. It helps that I started listening to audiobooks again while at work. Based on what Goodreads is telling me, my favorite books this year are as follows:

    The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon (Book 3 in The Bone Season series) – a relisten
    The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon (Book 4 in The Bone Season series)
    The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
    One Great Lie by Deb Caletti
    Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 by Ibram X. Kendi
    The Turnout by Megan Abbott
    Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
    Under the Whispering Door by T. J. Klune
    Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

    It’s been a pretty good year for books.

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  6. Your post sent me off to Goodreads to see what I’ve liked this year. Results of this search:

    As of today, I’ve read 357 books (that, of course, includes oodles of kids books).

    Five star reads (adult books only)…

    NF:
    Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
    Guns of August
    Bringing Nature Home
    Tyranny of Merit by Michael Sandel
    The System by Robert Reich
    A Swim in the Pond in the Rain
    Gathering Moss
    The Disappearing Spoon
    All Creatures G&S
    Fred Rogers: The Last Interview
    Richard Rohr: Yes, and…

    F:
    Bewilderment
    The Book of Form and Emptiness
    Girl with the Louding Voice
    Infinite Country
    The Portable Veblen
    Klara and the Sun
    Favorite Folktales from Around the World (Jane Yolen)
    Parnassus on Wheels
    Winesburg, Ohio
    Main Street
    Gentleman in Moscow
    Miss Benson’s Beetle

    I wish you’d share what books of poetry you have reserved. Please.

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    1. First, I’ve actually read a few of the books you’ve read and liked. I also liked them a lot: All Creatures Great and Small (but of course), The Guns of August, and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. Second, I’ll share the title of the poetry books, but only for you 🙂 : Playlist for the Apocalypse by Rita Dove and Twice Alive by Forrest Gander. It will be a few weeks before the first one comes in, but I’ll let you know what I think if I finish them, which being poetry and they’re being short, I probably will.

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      1. Rita Dove spoke about her new book of poetry this year in the Houston Inprint series. Of course this year it was on Zoom instead of being in person. Nevertheless, it was a fabulous reading.

        Thanks for sharing the titles, Bryan. I promise not to tell anyone else what they are.

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