2020, in the books.

Well, 2020 is finito. I would say "hallelujah," and then hire a million angels to turn themselves to gifs and sing about it, but part of me wonders if we might not look back on the 'good old days' of 2020 at some point. Hopefully because of the nostalgia ("'member that time when Todd got to start working from home and we all got a year to cocoon?") and not because this is a tame harbinger of seven lean years to come. Knock on wood.

But whatever the case, I can tell you one thing is certain about 2020: I read some really fantastic books. (A few stinkers, too.) So let me tell you about them.

Me, unwashed and furrowed, expressing my consternation at the treatment of one Young Oliver Twist;  Juni, radiating pure joy because she doesn't understand the implications of what has befallen Young Oliver Twist.  Mostly because she doesn't understand Dickensian English - his sentences are too long, or she'd be more bummed.

First, here they are. Titles in bold are first-time reads that I adored and will likely go back to read again sometime. (Even just looking at this list is making me want to go start Peace Like a River rightthisverysecond.) Titles with asterisks are books I've read before, which means that at some point in the past, they themselves were probably "bolded" books on the list, or I wouldn't waste my time reading them again. So, if you're looking for book recommendations, the bolded/starred books are where I'd start.

1. Forget Me Not: Loving God’s Aging Children by Elisabeth Elliot (1/04)
2. Peace Like a River by Leif Enger (1/07)*
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling (1/20)*
4. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling (1/28)*
5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling (2/2)*
6. Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth (2/16)
7. Angels in the Architecture by Douglas Jones and Douglas Wilson (2/17)
8. Are Women Human? By Dorothy Sayers (2/18)
9. Feeling At Home by Alexandra Stoddard (2/29*)
10. Liver Detox: Energize Your Life by Rhody Lake (3/1)
11. God’s Hotel by Victoria Sweet (3/2)*
12. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (3/13)*
13. The Bible (finished read-through) (3/14)*
14. The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan (3/21)*
15. The Metabolism Reset Diet by Dr. Alan Christianson (3/22)
16. Castor Oil: Its Healing Properties by Beth M. Ley (3/28)
17. The Lost Continent:Travels in Small-Town America by Bill Bryson (3/29)
18. Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression by Mildred Armstrong Kalish*
19. Bone of my Bones by Doug Wilson
20. Out of the Silent Planet by C.S. Lewis
21. Perelandra by C.S. Lewis
22. That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis (5/16)
23. The Miracle of Natural Hormones by David Brownstein, M.D. (5/17)
24. True Spirituality by Francis Schaeffer (5/23)
25. L’Abri by Edith Schaeffer (5/26)*
26. Travels with Charley in Search of America by John Steinbeck (6/26)*
27. Common Sense Christian Living by Edith Schaeffer (6/26)
28. Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank (7/10)*
29. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom (7/11)*
30. The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington (7/17)
31. Out of the Ashes: Rebuilding American Culture by Anthony Esolen (7/23)
32. Anne of Avolea by L. M. Montgomery (7/31)
33. The Art of Natural Cheesemaking by David Asher (8/2)
34. The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood by Rebecca Wells (8/5)*
35. 1984 by George Orwell (8/7)
36.  The Fruit of Her Hands by Nancy Wilson
37. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (8/16)*
38. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization by Anthony Esolen (8/21)
39.  Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery
40. Anne of Windy Poplars by L. M. Mongomery (9/8)
41. Rooted in the Earth,Rooted in the Sky: Hildegard of Bingen and Premodern Medicine by Victoria Sweet (9/18)
42. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith (9/28)
43. Anne’s House of Dreams by L.M. Montgomery
44. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell (10/14)*
45. Up From Slavery by Booker T. Washington (10/31)
46. The Story of the Trapp Family Singers: The Story That Inspired the Sound of Music by Maria Augusta Trapp* (11/11)
47. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass* (11/14)
48. If I Perish by Esther Ahn Kim (11/16)
49. You Who? Why You Matter and How to Deal With It by Rachel Jankovic (11/16)
50. Heaven Misplaced by Douglas Wilson (12/28)
51. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (12/30)
52. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver* (12/31)

Next, I also did a lot of reading with the family this year, both as part of our schoolwork and as part of our nightly read-aloud time. These are the chapter books or classics we started and finished, in their entirety, together this year.

1. Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder
2. The Green Ember by S.D. Smith
3. Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
4. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle’s Farm by Betty Macdonald
5. Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson
6. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
7. Call of the Wild by Jack London
8. Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
9. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
10. The Incredible Journey by Sheila Bumford
11. The Ocean of Truth by Joyce McPherson
12. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
13. Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving
14. Paul Revere’s Ride by Longfellow
15. A Book of Golden Deeds by Charlotte Yonge
16. The Aesop for Children by Milo Winter
17. James Herriot’s Treasury for Children by James Herriot
18. Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
19. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
20. King of the Golden River by John Ruskin
21. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
22. Prince Caspian by CS Lewis
23. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis
24. Always Inventing
25. Five Little Peppers and How They Grew
26. The Silver Chair by CS Lewis
27. Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
28. Mr. Popper’s Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
29. The Horse and His Boy by CS Lewis
30. Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
31. The Magician’s Nephew by CS Lewis

Oliver really draws a crowd.  Though only two are required by the Ambleside overlords to sit in on this one, all six conscious children gathered to listen.  Unheard of.

So, as you can see, this was quite the year. I was bummed that I didn't quite beat my record (last year holds my record of Most Personal Books Read in a Given Year, at 54 books) but I still think it was a good showing. I do think that my capacity for reading is influenced by how much time I spend pregnant in any given year, which was "none" both last year and this year. (That's a very strange thought.) So I think that's why I've been able to log such high numbers. I'm grateful for the time of rest and stability, but it's definitely not a trade I'd want to make all the time. It's an indicator that life is too dull if I have that much time to sit around and read all day.

Well, anyway. There it is - my yearly book report!