My Year in Reading - 2018

I've done a "year in review" of my reading life a few times in years past, and I enjoy the opportunity to reflect on what I've read. I also enjoy reading posts and listening to podcasts about their reading years, the best books they've read and so on as it serves as a great place to pick up new recommendations. My Goodreads summary is here.

Last year at this time, I was reflecting how I had read just 40 books, falling short of the 55 books I wanted to read. I made the goal this year of 60 books to try to re-center myself; to give myself that goal that would push me but also remind my that I value the time I spend reading much more than how I may spend that time otherwise. This year, I just hit 60 books read on the nose.

The 60 was obviously 20 more than last year, and the first time I've read 60 (been either 50 or 55) since 2012. On the whole, I didn't read as many tomes as I have in some past years, but those 60 books still totaled 20,532 pages, with the shortest being Rebecca Solnit's Hope in the Dark and the longest being Origin by Dan Brown. Of those 60 books, per Goodreads' 5-star rating system for the reviews, I gave 12 books 5 of 5 stars, 23 books 4 stars, 18 books 3 stars, and 7 books 2 stars. Reflecting back, this seems fair - I really enjoyed reading this year, and felt I found many books that were insightful and fun.

Of the 60 books, 33 were non-fiction and 27 were fiction, close to the 50/50 balance I like. I read 38 books written by men and 22 by women - something I haven't paid attention to before, unforunately, but something I hope to achieve better balance on moving forward. Another, similar area to achieve a better balance, simply to increase perspective, is reading more men and women of color. I had 45 books by white men and women, with 15 books by men and women of color. I read, in part, to gain perspective, and I can do a better job of gaining certain perspective.

Of the books I read this year, I would say that The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead was the best fiction I read, and The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia by Masha Gessen was the best non-fiction work. I would highly recommend those. I would also easily recommend Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbue, A Brotherhood of Spies: The U-2 and the CIA's Secret War by Monte Reel, War on Peace: The End of Diplomacy and the Decline of American Influence by Ronan Farrow, and Lauren Groff's short stories collection Florida.

I recentered myself this year with my reading goal and got to 60. Goals are meant to push us, and while I want to achieve better balance in my reading life in certain areas, there is always so much I wish to read and the only way to do that is to continue to prioritize, and thus any reading goal for the next year should do that. I need to remember the perspectives, histories, cultures, and stories I seek through reading, and have it push towards 65 books or more (and let's say 22,500 pages or more) in 2019.