Last year, I set a goal to read 28 books! This might not sound like a massive goal to some, but in 2019, I only read five books, so that should give you some idea of how huge this goal was to me. I love reading! I loved reading growing up, but like many people, once you go to post-secondary education, the love of reading is suddenly replaced with loathing books because of all the massive textbooks you “must” read to make it through to earning your degree. Anyway, I took a break from reading for about a year after graduating and then never quite found my groove to bring reading back into my daily life.
Fast-forward to 2016 after having my son, I slowly started reading again and found my new groove, but I would always let reading become my third or last choice of things to do with my spare time. I joined a book club to give me some accountability, but they would have months of reading the same book before choosing a new one, which was better than none, but I wanted more. At the end of 2019, I decided to start intentional reading and set a goal to READ 24 BOOKS IN A YEAR!
Not only did I meet this goal, but I EXCEEDED IT AND READ 29 BOOKS!
Let’s get into my 2020 reading list. I chose my books randomly; some were chosen on recommendation, a number of them were from the Reese’s Bookclub, while others were just books with cool covers.
My rating system is simple:
- top shelf = great book, would recommend and read again
- mid shelf = good read
- bottom shelf = read if necessary
January 2020 Reads
We Were the Lucky Ones – Georgia Hunter
Big Magic – Elizabeth Gilbert
The Tattooist of Auschwitz – Heather Morris
From Scratch – Tembi Locke
February 2020 Reads
The Perfect Nanny – Leila Slimani
It Starts with the Egg – Rebecca Fett
The Glass Ocean – Beatriz Williams, Lauren Willig, Karen White
March 2020 Reads
The Happiest Toddler on the Block – Harvey Karp
The Testaments – Margaret Atwood
Boundaries – Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend
April 2020 Reads
The Orphan’s Tale – Pam Jenoff
May 2020 Reads
A Cupboard Full of Coats – Yvette Edwards
Akin – Emma Donoghue
June 2020 Reads
The Last House Guest – Megan Miranda
July 2020 Reads
Barracoon – Zora Neale Hurston
The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle – Stuart Turton
August 2020 Reads
The Joy of Missing Out – Tonya Dalton
Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens
September 2020 Reads
Untamed – Glennon Doyle
Bad Ideas – Missy Marston
Such a Fun Age – Kiley Reid
The Vanishing Half – Brit Bennett
October 2020 Reads
A Hero of France – Alan Furst
The Book of Awesome – Neil Pasricha
November 2020 Reads
It’s Not All Downhill from Here – Terry McMillian
Charlotte’s Web – E.B. White
December 2020 Reads
A Promised Land – Barack Obama
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe – C.S. Lewis
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F – Mark Manson
I wanted to give you my quick thoughts on each of these books, but this blog post would quickly turn into a book of its own; instead, I used my shelf rating system. Note, I am very stingy with my stars, but if you have any questions or would like to know more of my specific thoughts on each book, please comment below or check out my posts with each book over on my Instagram page.
