My Year 2019 in Books & what Goodreads data told about me

Ends of the year have always been filled with best-of articles of all kinds, but in the data era, we’re now presented personalized recaps of each area of our online lives. Spotify is by far the most advanced company in this domain with their state-of-the-art animated infographics but I found my Goodreads’ ‘Year 2019 in Books’ much more insightful this year.

I don’t care all that much about anecdotal/abstracts figures such as the number of hours spent listening to an artist over the course of the year, nor am I really interested in the ‘Highest rated’ book I read. But goodreads also provides a simple yet powerful visualization in the form of a wall of covers, in chronological order.

Taking some time to reflect on all this was more interesting than I expected. Although I didn’t have any pre-established plan, I can clearly see my patterns there. This wall of covers feels like it tells a story in itself.

Chapter 1: Slow beginnings

Off to a great start , Thinking Fast & Slow by Daniel Kahneman was my first read of 2019. It’s so dense and packed with precious knowledge that for the first time ever, I considered reading a book twice in a row because I still feel like there is a lot I could get from a second run.

In the past few years, I had spent a lot of time reading self-help/non-fiction books but though, the sheer amount of work and frenetic rhythm of early 2019 made it much harder to find proper focus time to read some. So I read Deep Work by Cal Newport, whose very topic is concentration and … I barely remembered anything from it. Deep Work is probably great though, I’d just need a well-rested brain to keep anything from it.

This book accidentally became the warning signal that I shouldn’t try to add pressure-to-learn-and-do-more on myself. Without noticing, I started to focus mostly on leisure reading again. In the first half of the year, I dedicated little time to read: only 6 books finished, that’s not a lot compared to the 22 I read in the second half. I started to be more careful in order to make the most of my little reading time and favored safe picks: either recent best-sellers novels or timeless classics.

Chapter 2: Exploring a new horizon

In May, I picked The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon, mostly intrigued by the theme of autisme. I loved its uniqueness and the emotions it communicates. I tended to overlook novels of this ‘contemporary drama’ genre and I’m glad I stopped because this year I also discovered (and had great time reading) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and Normal People by the young Sally Rooney.

In this category, I’d say the two who truly won my heart this year are Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine from Gail Honeyman & All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Different styles & settings but two deeply moving stories about overcoming the struggles and finding the good in life, in spite of adversity. The storytelling in both is excellent and I can easily imagine them becoming classics in the decades to come (especially when they widen their audiences with on-screen adaptations).

Chapter 3: Familiar titles, new discoveries

Moving on to my next category: timeless classics. I began the year with 1984, by George Orwell. Yes, it’s great indeed and I was pleasantly surprised that the dystopian setting we hear so much about in medias these days felt less important, scary and thought-provoking than the characters’ personal stories. Kind of the same opinion on The Handmaid’s Tale from Margaret Atwood which I read later in the year. I need to get my hands on the sequel in 2020.

I didn’t think much of To Kill a Mockingbird from Harper Lee, I just couldn’t relate to the characters unfortunately so it mostly flew above my head. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Sallinger on the other hand, despite the time difference, connected with me just as well as it probably did with (some) the 1950’s teens. It reminded me of the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, only if Ferris would be depressed instead.

I read two classical french novels too, L’Etranger et Madame Bovary, and I’m glad I discovered these at 26 because my younger self would most likely have hated them. There is something fascinating to the way they tell their themes, apathy for the first, boredom for the second, and how they both manage to somehow turn these into pleasurable reading experiences.

Chapter 4: Fundamentals hold strong

In 2019, I kept on reading several mystery novels, historically my favorite genre. Harlan Coben, Guillaume Musso & Joël Dicker appear a lot in my reading list because that’s what my parents read and gift. Since they’re quick-reads and effectively compelling, I actually like them, although I admit they’re mostly forgettable (especially when you go through a lot of them).

I particularly disliked the grotesque La Disparition de Stephanie Mailer but really enjoyed Le Livre des Baltimore; 1–1 for Joël Dicker, next one I read from him will decide if I should continue or not.

This year though I tried to curate my own mystery novels, in order to be the one counseling them this time. That’s how I read The Girl on the Train from Paula Hawkins, which I loved although this character felt uncomfortably relatable sometimes. Same goes for The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware, really enjoyable, even if the twist was deja-vu to me.

Another ritual I continued this year was the reading of Harry Potter 20th Anniversary editions from Bloomsbury, which for me indeed means reading these again 20 years later. This year it was The Prisoner of Azkaban, a welcome evolution to the saga with a lot of tension & mystery which still holds strong today. With the same idea in mind, I devoured The Little Prince, another book I had read more than 20 years ago and adored as a child, the lessons it teaches are simply striking.

Chapter 5: Unclassified Outsiders

There’s a few more books I read this year which fall outside of the previous categories, which makes sense when I realize that I select most of my books based on impulse or recommendation.

• Pierre Lemaitre’s Couleurs de l’incendie hooked me with his refreshed take on the ‘historical family drama’ genre.
• The First 90 Days was quite the forgettable career advice book, too specifically targeted towards business or sales people.
• How to Invent Everything by Ryan North on the other hand was great and I wrote this tweet about it “The concept of this book is as cool as it sounds, it’s full of funny jokes and well explained techniques.”
• 11/22/63 is the longest book I read this year, and my first from Stephen King (it’s not that representative of his work but I love time travelling), a great time and I’m definitely reading more from him in the future.

Epilogue

That’s it for 2019 and what a dense reading year it was. I didn’t plan much therefore enjoy reflecting on it even more. How much I read, what I read, why I read: there’s a story which encompasses the stories.

Now, what do I expect from 2020? I can only guess they’ll fall in mostly the same categories: classical masterpieces, best-selling dramas, even more mystery novels, etc. The only thing I know I want more of is the return of nonfiction books, especially about psychology, creativity & story-telling.

We’ll see if I stick to this or find myself surprised again at the end of 2020.