I did it you guys! I read 12 books this year. While that doesn’t seem like a lot, considering I read a lot more before, I am proud of myself because I hadn’t made reading a priority in the years after completing grad school.

I didn’t exactly read one book per month though, some months I read nothing, some months I read two books, just depends on how I felt. Here’s the list of books I read in 2019:

Baldwin, James                          If Beale Street Could Talk
Hurston, Zora Neale                 Barracoon
Jones, Tayari                              An American Marriage
Edim, Glory                                Well-Read Black Girl
Gyasi, Yaa                                   Homegoing
Adeyemi, Tomi                          Children of Blood and Bone
Braithwaite, Oyinkan               My Sister, the Serial Killer
Collins, Kathleen                       Notes from a Black Woman’s Diary
Carty-Williams, Candice          Queenie
Rivers, Francine                         Redeeming Love
Imarisha, Walidah                     Octavia’s Brood
& Brown, Adrienne Maree
Adeyemi, Tomi                           Children of Virtue & Vengeance

Of these, my least favorite was Well-Read Black Girl, but I can’t decide on a favorite. I tried to pick the one I liked most, but I couldn’t do it. There were quite a few good ones on the list.

I’m actually ending the year, and starting the year, by re-reading Octavia Butler’s Lilith’s Brood. This may be the first time I’m re-reading a book. While I can watch a movie I like 100 times, it’s difficult for me to want to pick up a book I liked and read it again. However, I’m challenging myself this time. I want to see if my understanding of the series has changed since I’m a bit older than I was the first time I read it. I also plan to re-read Seed to Harvest, also by O.B. These two series were my favorite, so that’s where I’m starting. Eventually I want to read all of her works again, but I’m pacing myself.

Starting a Book Club this year was really good for my reading habits. It got me reading things I may not have decided on otherwise. And with the exception of Redeeming Love, I kept to my goal of only reading Black authors this year, and the majority of them were Black women authors and that excites me.

I’m looking forward to seeing what books the Book Club ladies and I pick out for 2020. We kind of just decide as we go, so there’s no list ready for the year. I’m excited to see how the book club grows, and actually having a name for it. One of the ladies even suggested inviting male members to join in order to have a different perspective. We’ll have to see how that works out.

2019 was a good reading year for me. I hope 2020 will be better. I don’t subscribe to the notion that anything ends and restarts on January 1st. Time is a constant continuation and the things we do today will affect tomorrow. However, the novelty of it does stick with me.

I do want to continue updating you (whoever actually reads this) on the books I’m reading [have finished], and maybe sprinkle in some Writing Journal posts from time to time. Don’t expect too much, it’ll be very occasional, but I’m not abandoning this ship quite yet.

Tell me, what your favorite read of 2019 was, and what you look forward to reading in 2020.

Until next time…Happy Reading!

and Happy New Year!

Christine

P.S. Yes, I wrote this post after 1:00am. What can I say? This is one of the rare nights of the year that it isn’t torture to stay up past 10:00pm. [wink]