Wrapping Up 2020's 50 Books Challenge

 

Picture by joeshlabotnik on Flickr

2020 is finally over, but we've still got a couple loose ends. And I KNOW you want to hear my thoughts!

No? Well, come for the snark then.

At any rate, like most carbon-based life forms, 2020 caught me by surprise. I knew going into this challenge that I might not make fifty given how my schedule has changed since I used to do the challenge, but I wasn't expecting the level of comfort food rereads I was going to need, or the way that doomscrolling and other 2020 interruptions would interfere with my plans.
Still, we've got a solid 14 books reviewed, and I'm going to talk about them! I actually have finished three more, but didn't get the reviews written in the holiday chaos. I debated what to do, and decided to put them with 2021's books, both for clarity's sake and for the fact at least one of the 2020 reviews I started in 2019, so it all comes out in the end.

I MAKE THE RULES OF THE CHALLENGE, MIND!

I liked the old "year in review" categories I used when I wrote about this before, so I'm going to keep them, but I'm adding a new one. Watch 'til the end for a special shoutout!


Favorite Books:
To Kill a Mockingbird

The Yellow Wallpaper

Lilac Girls

Sisters First

IT

Licey's Story

Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions



Least Favorite Books:

Chasing Hillary

Lacks Self-Control

The Egg and I



Books That Made Me Want to Smack the Author(s):

Chasing Hillary

Lacks Self-Control

The Egg and I

IT



Books That Felt Like a Sisyphean Ordeal:
Chasing Hillary

My Life in France

Lacks Self-Control

The Egg and I

Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood

IT

Licey's Story



Books That Helped Me Look at the World in a New Way:

Chasing Hillary

My Life in France

Lilac Girls

The Egg and I

Sisters First

Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions


Books I've Already Recommended to People:

My Life in France

The Yellow Wallpaper

Sisters First

Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions



Most Disappointing Books:

Chasing Hillary

The Egg and I

Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood

Licey's Story



Most Depressing (as in Sadness-Inducing) Books:

Lilac Girls

IT

Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions



Most Uplifting Books:

Lilac Girls



Books I Feel Like It's Important or Culturally Significant for You to Read at Least Once:

To Kill a Mockingbird

The Yellow Wallpaper

Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression - and the Unexpected Solutions


Finally, none of this challenge would have been possible without the help of one of my best friends, the amazing, talented, and beautiful writer/poet/photographer/translator/renaissance woman, my cool-ass friend Claudine. She not only read and encouraged these reviews back when I first used to write them, she suggested books!

When I mentioned I was toying with the idea of restarting this challenge a year and a half ago, she encouraged me wholeheartedly and I freely admit I was oddly terrified at the idea of this kind of writing again and not sure I could do it. I definitely wouldn't have been able to do it without her encouragement! When I finally did get off my ass and actually did write these, SHE READ AND COMMENTED ON EVERY GODDAMN REVIEW, whether it was a book she was interested in or not! Not only that, but she promoted this blog to her many Instagram followers!

I write these reviews because it's genuinely fun and it's a place to talk about books I read. Whether or not people actually read them is pretty much secondary, although it's fun when people have read it too and chime in to discuss it. That said, it meant and means THE WORLD to me to know that at least one person was reading, and that person was my brilliant and wonderful friend and I'm forever grateful! ♡

...And if you're annoyed I'm back writing these again, you know who to blame. HA! (But seriously, she deserves at the very least a tasteful monument somewhere.)