And That's the End of the Story

And That's The End of the Story

Traditionally, if you can call four years a tradition, I write my December blog about books I have read throughout the year. Last year I released myself from my goal of reading one book a week and decided to focus on quality, not quantity. So instead of reading 52 books, I have only read 30. I have another 6 partially read and that I will finish, so that sort of brings my number to 36.

Book Report 2019

• Books Read in 2019
• The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
• The Innocents by Michael Crummey
• Sable Island by Johanna Bertin
• You Must Remember This by Joyce Carol Oates
• At a Loss for Words by Diane Schoemperlen
• The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright
• Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
• David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell
• Best Friends by Martha Moody
• Becoming by Michelle Obama
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
• Basic Black with Pearls by Helen Weinzberg
• A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
• A Mind Spread Out on the Ground by Alicia Elliot
• The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler
• Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline
• Pilgrims by Garrison Keillor
• Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny
• All He Ever Wanted by Anita Shreve
• Suzanne by Anais Barbeau Lavalette
• Motherhood by Sheila Heti
• Dear Daughter by Elizabeth Little
• My Secret Sister by Helen Edwards and Jenny Lee Smith
• Beartown by Fredrik Backman
• Faithful Place by Tana French
• Everything Happens for a Reason by Kate Bowler
• White Nights by Ann Cleeves
• Educated by Tara Westhover
• Property by Lionel Shriver
• A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Now, about quality. That did not work out. Of the 30 books on my list, there are six that were Big Disappointments and two that were Minor Disappointments and one that was So Disappointing that I burned it after reading half of it. I know ratings have a lot to do with personal taste, so I’m not going to name them and tell you not to read them. But…

I will name and recommend the ones I loved:

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles

The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright

The books I got for Christmas:

The Heart's Invisible Furies

All for Nothing by Walter Kempowski

 Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout

The Innocents by Michael Crummey

Season of Fury and Wonder by Sharon Butala

And I look forward to these books which I will be reading for my Bookclub in 2020:

Songs for the Cold Heart by Eric Dupont

The Education of an Idealist by Samantha Power

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Considering all the disappointments I had in my reading choices in 2019, I will aim to be more selective next year. Maybe I’ll even allow myself to stop reading a book before I finish it if I don’t like it. I hope I won’t have to throw another one in the fire---rather extreme behaviour. 

Extreme Behaviour

I am giving up my monthly blog entry in 2020. I might make an occasional visit back to WoolGathering, but with less frequency. Thank you for reading my ramblings for the last six years! 

...Until Next Time...