Happy New Year, everyone!! Here’s hoping 2021 brings some good stuff. I always like to look back on the books I read each year, and right now, I’m excited to say I read more books in 2020 than I had the previous several years. I finished 22 books! And, a huge thank you to Goodreads for the next several images:
Adult Fiction
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi
Little Beach Street Bakery by Jenny Colgan
Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
The Husband’s Secret by Liane Moriarty
What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
Adult NonFiction
On Writing by Stephen King
The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown
Atomic Habits by James Clear
How to Write Fast by Sean M. Platt and Neeve Silver
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Middle Grade Fiction
Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George
Wednesdays in the Tower by Jessica Day George
Thursdays With the Crown by Jessica Day George
Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin
Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi
Whichwood by Tahereh Mafi
When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
There’s a Boy in the Girls’ Bathroom by Louis Sachar
Sideways Stories From Wayside School by Louis Sachar
The Trouble With Chickens by Doreen Cronin
I’m happy with the books I read, and now in 2021, I’m hoping to read even more books than I did last year. I’m especially interested in reading as many middle grade books as I can, since I think that will also be my writing focus this year, too. I am, as always, open to change, and if that changes I’m sure I’ll be writing about it here!
To kick off 2021, I’ve already started two books:
~ Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe! So far, it’s extremely cute and fun. Eva is a witch with just a little bit of magic, in a society whose leader feels that any magical person without enough magic should have it stripped away completely. She is fighting to find a way to improve her magical skills in order to prove her place in this magical world.
And
~ Dr. Proctor’s Fart Powder by Jo Nesbo, which is already funny. Even more awesome, it unexpectedly takes place in Oslo, Norway! (Appealing to me, because I have a smidgen of Norwegian ancestry, and I sing with a Norwegian choir. I love learning about Norway, the Norwegian language, etc., so reading a story set there makes me happy!) It starts off with a girl named Lisa meeting her new neighbor, a small boy named Nilly. The way it’s written is funny and silly, and I am looking forward to seeing where this goes.
Also, I’m excited to find out that Gretchen Rubin’s 2021 challenge is reading daily! I’ll definitely be including the #21in21 hashtag on my instagram book posts. In order to help me keep track, I downloaded a calendar to my phone, and used the “markup” feature to mark days I’ve read for 21 minutes. So far, so good!
You can use a printed one, or digital, or whatever works best for you! Any way you do it, and whether you track it or not, I hope you get lots of reading done this year. Stories make the world a better place.
Happy New Year, friends, and stay safe out there!
Best wishes,
Meghan Toledo 