This is my first post in a very long time – so thank you to Steve and Jessie for letting me sneak back into the show! This year for the first time I decided to actually keep track of how many (and what) books I read. I consider myself a fairly prolific reader, but have no quantification of what that means. I am hoping to read about 20 books this year. We are almost halfway through 2020 (yikes) and so this seemed like a good time to check in with my list and see where it is at. This list only includes books that I finished. I admit, I abandon quite a few books partway through: those don’t get to be on “the list.”

1. Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchet – started this on New Years Day, my partner asked what I was reading and I showed her and added, “In these troubled times, we need Terry Pratchet more than ever.” I had no idea how right that would prove to be.
2. Death and the Dancing Footman by Ngaio Marsh – I am lucky enough to have two little free libraries on my street and this was my first book of 2020 from one of them. British mystery novel so it was almost guaranteed to make it on this list.
3. The Wailing Wind by Tony Hillerman – another little free library book
4. Undermajordomo Minor by Patrick Dewitt – the third book in my little free library book run.
5. Tears of the Trufflepig by Fernando A. Flores – this one came off of a recommendation list of Latinx authors to discover in the wake of the American Dirt publishing controversy. I bought 4 books off that list and have read 3 of them – and Tears of the Trufflepig has been my favorite book so far this year. It is surreal and science-fiction-y and envisions a world where the cartels turn from drugs to genetically engineering extinct animals. I hight recommend it.
6. Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera – book 2 off the Latinx author list, almost novella length, super short, but packed a punch.
7. Mean by Myriam Gurba – the 3rd book off of the Latinx authors list
8. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway – My other book buying spree this year was WWI themed and came after I saw the movie 1917. I find WWI and the years surrounding it to be an intensely fascinating time period – and one we covered for exactly 1 second in my history classes in high school (it always seemed to go Civil War —-> WWII, like nothing much happened in between…). Maybe not the most uplifting book to start the Coronavirus lockdown with, but choices were made.
9. The Stargazey by Martha Grimes – this was a rebound book to help recover after A Farewell to Arms. It was a little free library British mystery, so it was going to end up on the list.

I am pleased that I am on track for 20 books this year. Also have had some great reads, looking forward to more!

Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!