2020 really hasn’t been the year that any of us suspected it would be. Do you remember back in January when we all had hope for the future? Little did we know that the future would entail being shut inside. Of course, as awful as the last 12 months have been, there were some upsides to the constant lockdowns and shielding. In 2019, I set myself a fairly modest reading target of 50. I assumed that I would beat it but not by much. In 2019, I beat my target of 50 by 9. I had no reason to believe that I would do much better but I was secretly aiming to get through 2 books a week. Still, I decided to give myself a realistic target and not feel like I was pushing myself too far. So, the question was, did I manage to keep the momentum going this year and smash my goal?

Blog

Number of posts: 287
Number of words: 256,937
Total followers: 493
Most viewed post: Book Review – Bad Dad by David Walliams

Books

Reading Stats

Reading Goal: 50
Number of Books Read: 93

Number of rereads: 12

Number of paperbacks: 32
Number of hardbacks: 25
Number of audiobooks: 23
Number of ebooks: 13

Fiction: 75
Non-Fiction: 12
Poetry: 4
Graphic Novel: 2

Written by men: 46
Written by women: 47
Written by BIPOC: 15

Shortest book: 24 pages – Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi
Longest book: 481 pages – The Monk by Matthew Lewis

Book Ratings

Average rating: 3.5 stars

5 stars: 14 books

In alphabetical order by title:

• A Child’s Christmas in Wales by Dylan Thomas
• And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (reread)
• Animal Farm by George Orwell (reread, Audiobook)
• Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawagu (reread)
• Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales From the Cafe by Toshikazu Kawagu
• Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
• Mr Wilder & Me by Jonathan Coe
• Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
• Ramble Book by Adam Buxton (Audiobook)
• The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and the Horse by Charlie Macksey
• The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
• The Invisible Child and the Fir Tree by Tove Jansson
• The Monk by Matthew Lewis (reread)
• Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne (reread, Audiobook)

4 stars: 40 books

Notable mentions:

• Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan
• Grief is the Thing With Feather by Max Porter
• Inside the Sun by Alexis Marie Chute
• My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
• On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
• Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier
• Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge (Audiobook)
• Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin

3.5 stars: 1 book

• Twleve Nights by Urs Faes

3 stars: 21 books

2 stars: 15

1 star: 2 stars

Films

Film Stats

Number of films reviewed: 103
Number of new/recent releases: 55
Number of TBT films: 48

Number of rewatches: 20

Film Ratings

Average rating: 3 stars

5 stars: 6 films

In alphabetical order by title:

• 1917 (2019)
• Coco (2017) (TBT)
• Goodfellas (1990) (TBT, rewatch)
• I Am Not Your Negro (2016) (TBT)
• Parasite (2019)
• Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

4.5 stars: 7 films

In alphabetical order by title:

• 13th (2016) (TBT)
• Borat (2006) (TBT, rewatch)
• Ordinary Love (2019)
• Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) (TBT, rewatch)
• The Death of Stalin (2017) (TBT)
• This is Spinal Tap (1984) (TBT, rewatch)
• Victoria (2015) (TBT)

4 stars: 25 films

Notable mentions:

• Da 5 Bloods (2020)
• Gremlins (1984) (TBT, rewatch)
• Hamilton (2020)
• Jojo Rabbit (2019)
• Knives Out (2019)
• Little Women (2019)
• Pain and Glory (2019)
• The Lost Boys (1987)(TBT, rewatch)
• The Personal History of David Copperfield (2019)

3.5 stars: 16 films

3 stars: 26 films

2.5 stars: 4 films

2 stars: 13 films

1.5 stars: 3 films

1 star: 3 films

2021 Goals

Wow, what a crazy 12 months it’s been. There are definite areas that I need to work on. I’m looking at you BIPOC authors. I also need to keep track of LGBTQ+ writers and books. In fact, I’m overhauling my how I keep track of my books and films for the year. So, I can keep all of that ready for this time next year.

Speaking of next year, I’ve decided that my reading goal for next year is 60 books. It’s probably a bit modest again but I can’t guarantee that I’ll get as close to 100 as I did in 2020. We don’t know what’s going to happen with Covid and I don’t know what will happen with work. So, I’ll aim for just over 1 book a week and see where we go.

I’m also questioning whether I’ll continue reviewing films. I think the majority of people who follow the blog are only here for the books. It would also give me more time to read and write book related things. However, my desire to get into film journalism was the reason that I started blogging in the first place, so I don’t really want to forget it completely. I’ll have to think about it.