52 books in 52 weeks (2021 edition)

Anyone else find 2021 to be worse and more exhausting than the unprecedented trash year that was 2020? Because I sure as hell did. Thankfully I had books to help get me through. Let's cut to the chase because right now on the last day of 2021 I have no energy left to give.

This is my EIGHTH year of reading 52 books in 52 weeks. So for my maths friends out there, that's FOUR HUNDRED AND SIXTEEN books in the last eight years. Wow. That's quite impressive when you see it like that. Good job, me. That's a lot of reading. #NerdAlert or maybe just #UnemployedAlert.

Over the last eight years, two trends have evolved for me. Firstly, my very British goal of reading through every Agatha Christie book. This year I read a whopping TWO Christie books. And neither was that great. One was actually a stinker. My second (also very British) goal of reading through every Shakespeare play made glacial progress as I only read play this year (The Winter's Tale).

Another goal I had was to read more novels written by women and BIPOC. Out of the 52 books, I read 21 written by women, 31 written by men. It's something, but it's not great. For 2022, I want to increase that goal. Combined, I read 27 books by women and BIPOC, 25 books by white men. So that's... shite. In calculating how many books I read by purely BIPOC, it only amounted to 10. I need to do better in 2022. So here's to more books by women and BIPOC because I want to make sure I am ingesting a wide range of views, stories, and perspectives. No limiting oneself in the new year. And thank you excel sheets for helping me calculate all of this.

Now, onto lists because that's my favorite part of the year end wrap up: 

Least Favorite Book: Cherry. What to say? Misogynistic, terrible writing, no plot, awful characters?

Longest Book: The Secret Commonwealth. So long, and yet nothing happened? How?

Biggest Letdown: Ready Player Two. Literally a cookie-cutter copy of the original but with less stakes, less character development, and just... URGH.

Most Depressing Book: The Fifth Season. If you love apocalyptic, dystopian fiction, this is for you. Not an ounce of joy or happiness in this book about the broken earth and the people damned to try and survive on it. 

Least Favorite Character: Nico from Cherry. Alina from Shadow and Bone. Everyone in French Exit.

Most Batsh*t Character: Mary Katherine Blackwood from We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

Favorite Book: Obvisously Fleabag: The Scriptures. But in close competition behind it: Gossamer, Watchmen, The Midnight Library, and Sphere.

Shortest Book: UR. Kindle readers, BEWARE!

Favorite Character: Fleabag from Fleabag; Nora Seed from The Midnight Library; Kvothe from The Name in the Wind.

Most Surprising Character: Coriolanus Snow from the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes; Jerry from Sphere.

Favorite Author: Phoebe Waller-Bridge & Michael Crichton, 

And that's it for 2021. 2022, please be better. Maybe George R.R. Martin will save us all by completing The Winds of Winter. Time will tell. Everyone stay safe out there. Covid is that bitch. May we all have a healthy and happy new year. Until next time...

- ben fleck

1. I Am Malala - Malala Yousafzai

2. Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - August Wilson

3. The Name of the Wind- Patrick Rothfuss

4. French Exit - Patrick deWitt

5. Cherry - Nico Walker

6. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Suzanne Collins

7. The Left Hand of Darkness - Ursula K. Le Guin

8. Firefly Lane - Kristin Hannah

9. Fleabag: The Scriptures - Phoebe Waller-Bridge

10. The Ancient Evil - Christopher Pike

11. The Girl Who Lived Twice - David Lagercrantz

12. Foundation - Isaac Asimov

13. Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov

14. Nomadland - Jessica Bruder

15. Behind Her Eyes - Sarah Pinborough

16. A Promised Land - Barack Obama

17. The Three-Body Problem - Cixin Liu

18. Never Let Me Go - Kazuo Ishiguro

19. Emma - Jane Austen

20. Exhalation: And Other Stories - Ted Chiang

21. The Final Empire - Brandon Sanderson

22. The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

23. Watchmen - Alan Moore

24. The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

25. Nine Perfect Strangers - Liane Moriarty

26. Diamonds Are Forever - Ian Fleming

27. Dune Messiah - Frank Herbert

28. Gossamer - Lois Lowry

29. Beloved - Toni Morrison

30. Ready Player Two - Ernest Cline

31. The Word for World is Forest - Ursula K. Le Guin

32. We Have Always Lived in the Castle - Shirley Jackson

33. Sphere- Michael Crichton

34. The Midnight Library - Matt Haig

35. The Disaster Tourist - Ko-eun Yun

36. The Testaments - Margaret Atwood

37. Election - Tom Perrotta

38. The Great Hunt - Robert Jordan

39. The Secret of Chimneys - Agatha Christie

40. Appointment with Death - Agatha Christie

41. Shadow and Bone - Leigh Bardugo

42. The Rules of Attraction - Bret Easton Ellis

43. The Leftovers - Tom Perrotta

44. The House of Gucci - Sara Gay Forden

45. Utopia - Thomas More

46. Veronika Decides to Die - Paulo Coelho

47. The Secret Commonwealth - Philip Pullman

48. UR - Stephen King

49. The Winter's Tale - William Shakespeare

50. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon

51. The Fifth Season - N.K. Jemisin

52. The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien

52 Books in 52 Weeks (2019 Edition)

The world may be a trash fire that is gonna end, if not today, then in the next ten years unless we FIX THE CLIMATE. But, one thing that is consistent (for now): books! Another year has gone by, which means it is time for me to use this blog to write a post about the 52 books I read. This year, I cut it super close to the deadline. I had to read about 6 books in that last stretch of 2019 and it was hard (especially because my three year-old nephew kept stealing my copy of The Invisible Man). 

Some key things to note this year: firstly, George R.R. Martin did... NOT... give us The Winds of Winter, even though the show, Game of Thrones, bumpily ended. So, let us hope we get it in this new decade. 2019 was a stressful year. Lots going on personally and in the world, so at times I found it hard to take a moment to escape and read, but somehow I managed to do it.

Reading remains a favorite pastime of mine. This year, I had to read some books for some projects I worked on, particularly two podcasts for Parcast.com. One dealt with a Nazi Spy, the other with a deadly natural disaster. So... same thing.
For my Agatha Christie stans, I continued to make my way through her arsenal. reading 5 of her books this year. Though I must say, I am NOT a fan of her Tommy & Tuppence Series. I find those two just dreadful. For my William Shakespeare stans, I am still trying to get through his body of work, but only managed two of his plays this year.
I spent a lot of time re-reading the last three Harry Potter novels and I gotta say, they still stand up. Such beautiful world building and character growth! 
Out of the 41 authors, 15 were women and I plan to increase that number next year. I also want to read more books by a variety of different authors from different backgrounds. It's all about widening the scope and taking it all in.
Also, I had a dystopian face-off between Brave New World and 1984. In my opinion, 1984 seemed like a more feasible, terrible reality. And with the way the world is going now... we might be headed to the likes of Big Brother. 
But without further ado, it is time to get to listing stuff. WHO DOESN'T LOVE A LIST?!
Least Favorite Book: Partners in Crime - Agatha Christie (Sorry Dame Ags!)
Longest Book: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (featuring angsty Harry!) - JK Rowling
Biggest Letdown: The Secret Adversary - Agatha Christie (annoying characters); The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness (too much running around!)
Most Depressing Book: Frankenstein - Mary Shelley (poor lil monster)
Least Favorite Character: Everyone in The Lies of Locke Lamora; Tommy & Tuppence (The Secret Adversary; Partners in Crime)
Most Batsh*t Character: Annie Wilkes (Misery) -- truly the most terrifying character of all time!
Favorite Book: Too hard to choose!! Tied between Fleabag - Phoebe Waller-Bridge; Stardust - Neil Gaiman; and HPs 5-7 - JK Rowling; Misery - Stephen King
Shortest Book: The 1928 Lake Okeechobee Hurricane - Charles River Editors
Favorite Character: Michelle Obama, duh (Becoming); Fleabag, duh (Fleabag); Hedwig (HPs 5-7); Phoebe Winterbottom (Walk Two Moons)
Most Surprising Character: Esther Greenwood (The Bell Jar) -- so much depth & vulnerability revealed
Favorite Author: Pheebs Walls Bridges, Agatha, JK -- guess I like British dames.

And that's it for 2019. Onto 2020. Let's hope we make it. A new year, a new decade, but the same ol' desire to read 52 books in 52 weeks. Maybe next year is the year I conquer Shakespeare and/or Christie. Time will tell. CLIMATE CHANGE IS REAL.

- ben fleck

1. The Talented Mr. Ripley - Patricia Highsmith
2. Authority - Jeff VanderMeer
3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire - JK Rowling
4. The Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch
5. Golden Son - Pierce Brown
6. The Dispossessed - Ursula K. Le Guin
7. The Secret Adversary - Agatha Christie
8. The Ninth Life of Louis Drax - Liz Jensen
9. The Grownup - Gillian Flynn
10. House of Many Ways - Diana Wynne Jones
11. The Knife of Never Letting Go - Patrick Ness
12. Moonraker - Ian Fleming
13. Fleabag - Phoebe Waller-Bridge
14. The A.B.C. Murders - Agatha Christie
15. The Sun Is Also a Star - Nicola Yoon
16. Misery - Stephen King
17. Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - Terry Pratchett/Neil Gaiman
18. Murder in Mesopotamia - Agatha Christie
19. Stardust - Neil Gaiman
20. Dune - Frank Herbert
21. Strangers on a Train - Patricia Highsmith
22. Partners in Crime - Agatha Christie
23. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
24. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
25. Tales of the City - Armistead Maupin
26. The Comedy of Errors - William Shakespeare
27. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - JK Rowling
28. Pygmalion - George Bernard Shaw
29. Antony and Cleopatra - William Shakespeare
30. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - JK Rowling
31. The Ruby in the Smoke - Philip Pullman
32. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
33. Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
34. The 39 Steps - John Buchan
35. Walter Schellenberg: The Memoirs of Hitler's Spymaster - Walter Schellenberg
36. Becoming - Michelle Obama
37. The Eye of the World - Robert Jordan
38. Wayside School if Falling Down - Louis Sachar
39. Origin - Dan Brown
40. The Witness for the Prosecution - Agatha Christie
41. The Great Okeechobee Hurricane of 1928 - Wayne Neely
42. The 1928 Lake Okeechobee Hurricane - Charles River Editors
43. Walk Two Moons - Sharon Creech
44. Killer 'cane: The Deadly Hurricane of 1928 - Robert Mykle
45. And Both Were Young - Madeleine L'Engle
46. The Library Book - Susan Orlean
47. Travels with Charley: In Search for America - John Steinbeck
48. Flowers for Algernon - Daniel Keyes
49. The Invisible Man - H.G. Wells
50. Maniac Magee - Jerry Spinelli
51. The Tales of the Beedle and the Bard - JK Rowling
52. 1984 - George Orwell

My Top 5 Distractions from Writing (And for Drinking)

Writing a novel is no easy task, especially for someone who is easily distracted... like moi. Instead of trying to delve into the reasons of why I am the way I am, I thought it would be fun to share my top 5 excuses for not writing, which coincidentally can also be used as my top 5 excuses to drink. I'm a simple guy.

5. Los Angeles, California

Ah, the City of Angels. The city of endless possibilities–endless possibilities which don't involve sitting at a computer alone typing, and all of which involve going outside, hanging out, and drinking muchos alcohol! I moved to Los Angeles in January 2011 from Texas and never looked back. In LA, at any given moment, you are five minutes away from: the beach, the mountains, the wineries, your homeless friends, the traffic, the roads, the gross Hollywood clubs, the hiking trails, the In-N-Out drive-thru line, that celebrity you saw in that show one time but who you don't really like but will still brag about seeing to your friends, and, also, the traffic. It's all here, folks!! Not to mention: Disneyland, Joshua Tree, Catalina Island, San Diego, the Price is Right...! I could go on... In fact, the entire beautiful state of California is one big reason to procrastinate. I always think to myself: "Why am I sitting inside writing when all of this beauty and adventure awaits me outside? And, they sell liquor in CVS 24/7? Whaaat!?"

4. Weekends & Friends

This photo was taken at an event proudly called "Bootie LA" and no, this was not on Halloween.

Living in LA is hard enough, but spending my time with my friends, who are all young, fun, professional workers, who also happen to like spending their weekends having fun, is very tough. I always say each weekend that I am going to "really take it easy" and try to read or write, but the lure of going out and dancing, laughing, and making memories always seems to pull me off of the metaphorical typewriter* and into an overly stuffed car, driving down the 101 to Koreatown. Jeez, friends, be less fun. And weekends, stop coming around every 5 days!

3.  The Search for a New Place

This one is pretty self-explanatory. Luck would have it that November is going to (possibly) be my last month in my current apartment. MOVING! YAY. We have been in this apartment since May 2011, but it is time for a change and my roomie is moving out. The stress of moving and searching for a new house or apartment is always welcomed and fun. Can't wait! Feeling those happy flames on the side of my face at the thought of dealing with the classy LA realty market!

4. Netflix, Or What I like to Call the Time-Suck from Hell!

Oh, Nicholas Cage, how I loathe thee? But, seriously, Netflix! God damn you! How I wish I could quit you! Every time I try and move away, you put up my new favorite show or movie. Why yes, I do want to watch my favorite Disney movie, "Mulan" at any time. Yes, I do watch to binge watch "Orange is the New Black", "Sherlock", and "House of Cards." Think I'm done? No, I NEED to catch "Nacho Libre" and that obscure documentary about killer whales before they disappear forever into the abyss of broken Netflix dreams. For this process, I am doing the unthinkable: Staying off Netflix for all of November. Well, at least, staying off Netflix when I'm by myself and craving a weird tv binge or a class Nic Cage caper.

5. Ya Know... Life.

My Cat: Captain Daenerys Phoebs Tonks Bluth likes to contemplate life.

Look y'all, I don't have my life figured out yet. I'm still searching for that one thing I want to exactly do (besides writing). There is some quote about how life gets in the way when you are worrying about other things, or something like that. I know I totally butchered it, but I'm too lazy to actually look it up. I want to travel the world, meet people, and visit family and friends. NaNoWriMo is only 8 days away. I can't get too far ahead of myself on the big picture. Just have to keep telling myself to let the small things and little worries go.

Woah, we just got deep. I apologize. I'm gonna go watch some "Lost" on Netflix to raise my spirits. Yes, "Lost" raises my spirits. "We have to go back, Kate! We have to go back!" Gets me every time.

8 days to go.

-benjosé