During this very strange and unsettling year I managed to read 116 books. The most that I’ve read since signing up for the Goodreads Challenge was 133 which I read in 2016 and again in 2018. I can’t say that I’ve had any problems with reading during the pandemic, but I have very much missed mooching around in second-hand bookshops. That’s probably my favourite pastime, that and mooching around in antique/junk/reclamation/rake around shops and markets.
It’s just not the same looking at books online, there’s no chance of stumbling across a book that you didn’t even realise you were looking for or even existed. In normal times towards the back end of a year I would tell Jack to put any books I had bought away and wrap them up for Christmas for me. It’s a failsafe way of getting something you really want and I always forget what they are anyway, so they’re always a nice surprise. I often find that real surprises aren’t so nice!
You can see my 2020 Goodreads books here. It was a fairly good reading year. I think my favourite was Hilary Mantel’s The Mirror and the Light, but that might just be because I was just so glad to get my hands on it after such a long wait, it definitely didn’t disappoint though.
What a great reading year Katrina! I very much enjoyed Mirror and the Light too. It was the longest book I read this year! Fingers crossed you can get back to browsing in secondhand bookshops in 2021. Happy New Year!
Stefanie,
It was probably the longest book I read too. I just hope there will be some secondhand bookshops still in business whenever places are allowed to open up again!
I can easily believe that you would forget the books you had bought earlier. Sometimes when I order books, I forget which ones are coming.
I did check out your 2020 books and saw some I want to read. I haven’t read anything by George Bellairs yet, although I have one or two. I read Young Bess because of your post on it, and I look forward to reading the second in the trilogy. I have The Mirror and the Light and will read it this year.
tracybham,
I’m cataloguing all of my books so I can look them up on my phone!
I’ve enjoyed I think three Bellairs books now, all in 2020 I think, it was a good year for new to me authors – if for nothing else.
What are you cataloguing them on Katrina?
Anyhow, that’s an impressive achievement. Well done.
Whispering Gums,
The plan is to put a link on my sidebar, when I can get around to doing it!