52 books in 52 weeks (2020 edition)

Wow! What a year it has been, in a not good way... 2020 has been surprising, difficult, tiring, irritating, and more. Never did the world think we would be suddenly facing a pandemic as we entered a new decade & faced an important Presidential election, but HERE. WE. ARE. 

Quarantined inside, separated from loved ones, and doing everything through glitchy video meetings. It's been tough.

And if you think being stuck inside made it easier to read 52 books in 52 weeks, you would be wrong. It was still as difficult as ever. Reading was hard to feel motivated to do, but I did it. And read some pretty good books.

For those keeping track, my goal to read every Agatha Christie book is trekking along. This year I read 8 more of her capers. Some were... not good. Dame Aggie can't hit every book outta the park.

And as for my Shakespeare quest, I only managed to read 2 of his plays. Oop. Look, I just didn't feel up to slogging through ol Willy Shakes' words this year. 

I did read a bunch of teen horror books by Christopher Pike. Lots of fun was had in those pages. Out of the 33 authors I read this year, 13 were female and 20 were male. Narrowing that gender gap. I also tried to read more BIPOC authors. 

I can always do better -- looking to continue reading different books from a variety of authors going forward.

I read some classics, read some books for work, some for the book/movie (boovie) club that I am a part of. Reading remains fun even when it is hard to be motivated to do it. 

Let's stop prolonging the best part of this post--my lists! See below.

Least Favorite Book: Normal People - Sally Rooney (So boring & not for me!)

Longest Book: The Once and Future King - T.H. White (So Long, So Arthurian & Witchy weird)

Biggest Letdown: The House with a Clock in Its Walls - John Bellairs (So much potential just quickly thrown down the drain...or, into the walls or w/e)

Most Depressing Book: Mood Indigo - Boris Vian (c'est tragique!); the Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead (the tragedy of slavery is fucking awful)

Least Favorite Character: Honestly, I find Sherlock Holmes quite awful & annoying & arrogant & not that fun. Throw in Tummy & Tuppence from Agatha Christie's books too.

Most Batsh*t Character: Any Villain in a Christopher Pike novel -- truly wild people, perhaps the most wild in Remember Me.

Favorite Book: Mood Indigo - Boris Vian (I don't know if because it's translated from French or one of the most beautiful movies I've seen, but it just really hit home for me in this year 2020)

Shortest Book: The Lemesurier Inheritance - Agatha Christie

Favorite Character: Deborah Lacks from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Deborah is a real-life person, so she's not technically a character, but she was astounding to read about. 

Most Surprising Character: Grace Randolph from You Should Have Known - Jean Hanff Korelitz. Let's just say she was nothing like Nicole Kidman and her many coats and accents in the Undoing and it changed the whole way I looked at the story.

Favorite Author: Dame Agatha (durp), Christopher Pike, Boris Vian

And that's it for 2020. Maybe next year is the year I can finally conquer Shakespeare and/or Christie. Maybe George R.R. Martin will complete The Winds of Winter. Time will tell. 7 years of 52 books in 52 weeks. Here's to 7 more years aka 364 more books! CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL. STAY INSIDE. WEAR MASKS. BE SAFE AND BE EMPATHETIC. We can get through this.  

- ben fleck

1. Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro

2. A Study in Scarlet - Arthur Conan Doyle

3. The Lemesurier Inheritance - Agatha Christie

4. Leia: Princess of Alderaan - Claudia Grey

5. N or M? - Agatha Christie

6. Cards on the Table - Agatha Christie

7. Parker Pyne Investigates - Agatha Christie

8. By the Pricking of My Thumbs - Agatha Christie

9. The House with a Clock in Its Walls - John Bellairs

10. Dumb Witness - Agatha Christie

11. Artemis - Andy Weir

12. The Collectors - Philip Pullman

13. Remember Me - Christopher Pike

14. Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng

15. The Eternal Enemy - Christopher Pike

16. Bury Me Deep - Christopher Pike

17. Road to Nowhere - Christopher Pike

18. Tales of Terror: Volume 1 - Christopher Pike

19. Tales of Terror: Volume 2 - Christopher Pike

20. The Tachyon Web - Christopher Pike

21. Weekend - Christopher Pike

22. Postern of Fate - Agatha Christie

23. The Underground Railroad - Colson Whitehead

24. Normal People - Sally Rooney

25. The Once and Future King - T.H. White

26. Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut Jr.

27. Morning Star - Pierce Brown

28. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Frank L. Baum

29. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks - Rebecca Skloot

30. Mañanaland - Pam Muñoz Ryan

31. Bayou Magic - Jewell Parker Rhodes

32. Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier

33. Mood Indigo - Boris Vian

34. The Sign of Four - Arthur Conan Doyle

35. City - Devin Grayson

36. Murder in the Mews - Agatha Christie

37. Love in the Time of Cholera - Gabriel García Márquez

38. Will Grayson, Will Grayson - John Green

39. The Importance of Being Earnest - Oscar Wilde

40. The Canterville Ghost - Oscar Wilde

41. Peter Pan - J.M. Barrie

42. The Lightning Thief - Rick Riordan

43. The Two Gentleman of Verona - William Shakespeare

44. The Case of the Missing Marquess - Nancy Springer

45. I Know What You Did Last Summer - Lois Duncan

46. The City of Ember - Jeanne DuPrau

47. You Should Have Known - Jean Hanff Korelitz

48. Rip Van Winkle - Washington Irving

49. Serpentine - Philip Pullman

50. Julius Caesar - William Shakespeare

51. Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh

52. Chain Letter - Christopher Pike

52 Books in 52 Weeks (2018 Edition)

Another year has gone by which means it's time for my annual update to this mostly defunct blog to list the 52 books I read in these last 52 weeks. Before I get into any listicle fun, let me just say that another year has gone by without The Winds of Winter by Mr. George R.R. Martin. GEORGE! SRSLY?! I am respecting your process, but come on... the show is ending in 2019 and we still haven't gotten book 6!

Anyways sidestepping that rage, I continued the tradition of reading my way through ol' Dame Agatha Christie's collection of mysteries, but only 3 this year. I'm still not done because she wrote a hell of a lot of mystery novels and I can't just keep Jessica Fletchering myself all day, e'ryday. But I did get to visit London and watch one of her plays LIVE (Unfortunately, The Mousetrap wasn't one of her bests).

Also, re-read a Harry Potter because DUH.

ALAS, I am also taking a trip down the old William Shakespeare train, trying to get through as many of his works as I can. So far, comedies > tragedies. His wit and hijinks far outweigh the death, gore, and drama.

Let me implore you, devoted blog reader: reading fiction for fun is fun! It's nice to escape from the hellscape of reality and dip into another world for a few hours. I mostly read fiction, sci-fi, mystery, and fantasy -- but more power to all those who read whatever book brings them joy. READ PEOPLE, COME ON. Also, check out my Goodreads page for more in-depth reviews: https://www.goodreads.com/user/year_in_books/2018/23079812

Without further ado, it is time to get to listing stuff. Because lists are fun. Almost as fun as reading.

Favorite Book: It's a tie: Kindred - Octavia Butler & The Princess Bride - William Goldman.

Least Favorite Book: Less Than Zero - Bret Easton Ellis. HATED.

Longest Book: A Column of Fire - Ken Follett.

Shortest Book: Oleanna - David Mamet (Also, the most explosive & thought-provoking!)

Biggest Letdown: Mortal Engines Sequels (Infernal Devices, A Darkling Plain). They just weren't as good as the first novel.

Most Depressing Book: A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara.

Favorite Character: Starr Carter (The Hate U Give), Professor Trelawney (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), every character in The Princess Bride.

Least Favorite Character: Every single character in Less Than Zero. THEY ALL TRASH! Also, Joe Goldberg from You was not great.

Most Misogynistic/Racist Character: James Bond (from Casino Royale & Live and Let Die). He's pretty terrible.

Most Surprising Character: Mary Poppins was quite the asshole.

Most Read Author: William Shakespeare. Sorry, Dame Agatha!

Favorite Author: Octavia Butler, William Goldman, JK Rowling (duh).

Okay, y'all that's it for 2018. See ya next year. 2018 was hard and at times awful, but here's to hoping 2019 is better. Vive la resistance! Happy reading.

- ben fleck

52 Books in 52 Week (2018 Edition)
1. The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides
2. The Ice Dragon - George R.R. Martin
3. The Book of Dust - Philip Pullman
4. Endless Night - Agatha Christie
5. Alias Grace - Margaret Atwood
6. Oleanna - David Mamet
7. A Streetcar Named Desire - Tennessee Williams
8. The Glass Menagerie - Tennessee Williams
9. Equus - Peter Shaffer
10. Casino Royale - Ian Fleming
11. Nightflyers - George R.R. Martin
12. Red Sparrow - Jason Matthews
13. Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - Becky Albertalli
14. A Column of Fire - Ken Follett
15. Less Than Zero - Bret Easton Ellis
16. The Man in the Brown Suit - Agatha Christie
17. Mary Poppins - P.L. Travers
18. The Marriage Plot - Jeffrey Eugenides
19. Timekeeper - Tara Sim
20. The Maltese Falcon - Dashiell Hammett
21. Infernal Devices - Philip Reeve
22. The Shape of Things to Come - H.G. Wells
23. A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara
24. Speed the Plow - David Mamet
25. Jamaica Inn - Daphne Du Maurier
26. You - Caroline Kepnes
27. The Merry Wives of Windsor - William Shakespeare
28. Bioshock: Rapture - John Shirley
29. Atonement - Ian McEwan
30. A Simple Favor - Darcey Bell
31. The Invention of Hugo Cabret - Brian Selznick
32. Death in the Clouds - Agatha Christie
33. The Girl who takes an Eye for an Eye - David Lagercrantz
34. Othello - William Shakespeare
35. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Mary Ann Shaffer
36. The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
37. All's Well that Ends Well - William Shakespeare
38. Lethal White - Robert Galbraith
39. A Darkling Plain - Philip Reeve
40. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - J.K. Rowling
41. A Midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakespeare
42. Kindred - Octavia Butler
43. Where'd You Go, Bernadette? - Maria Semple
44. The Merchant of Venice - William Shakespeare
45. The Princess Bride - William Goldman
46. Love's Labour's Lost - William Shakespeare
47. Hamlet - William Shakespeare
48. Live and Let Die - Ian Fleming
49. If Beale Street Could Talk - James Baldwin
50. The Time Machine - H.G. Wells
51. The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry
52. The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah