009 - Book Reading in the First Half of 2020

I consumed books in the first half of 2020 at a voracious pace - 36 works, only four of the 40 books that I started returned to the shelf unfinished.

I think I did a better job picking diverse voices -- not great, but getting there. Only five female authors but several Europeans and Asians including a Brit, a Frenchman, an Austrian, a Norwegian, an Irishwoman (and an Irishman), a Vietnamese monk, a Korean, and a Chinese sci-fi writer (the final novel in the Remembrance of Earth's Past trilogy -- so many ideas packed into each page).

And a man born in Prussia - Mr. Charles Bukowski. Not sure how I made it to age 52 without having encountered this train wreck of a man but I couldn't take my eyes off of him for a two month stretch, reading five novels, a book of poems and another of essays. I think I'm quit of him now. He's like an abusive lover that you keep returning to even though you know he's no good for you.

I was also happy to meet Colson Whitehead and reacquaint myself with Richard Wright after we all received a wake-up call in May (RIP Mr. Floyd). The Outsider by Wright is a less accessible read than Native Son, but it sticks with you and puts you inside the mind of an individual that feels so let down by society and its political constructs that he establishes his own set of cynical morals to inform his actions and give him some semblance of self-determination (1953 allow me to introduce you to 2020; 2020 please meet 1953).

Lots of depressing reads but depressing in the way that suffering and pain also highlight spirit and change and our ability to overcome.

Books provided a welcome distraction to the worst six month stretch in the last 45 years of my life (not being able to speak to the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement when I was filling a diaper on a regular basis). Hmmmm, 2020 - The Year America Filled its Diaper Again - I call trademark on this.

Happy Reading.

My top 10:

All books with finish date include:

Thoughts?