2020: My Year In Reading
3 min readJan 5, 2021
I set a goal at the start of 2020 to read 50 books. I knew it was ambitious, but figured I had a shot if I set my intention and tracked it well. I would count both print and audio. Nonfiction, literature and graphic novels were all worthy…because I love them. I later decided to include podcasts, when Biggie Vs Tupac grabbed me like a great book does.
I often had fiction and non-fiction going simultaneously. (I also had the 72 movies or TV seasons I completed mixed in, but that’s a different story.) In the end, I came up 19 short. But the 31 I completed all touched me in some way, and it’s fun to look back on them. And now I have a goal of 32–50 for 2021.
Here’s the full list, with comments on a few:
- Acid For The Children by Flea
A raucous read to start the year. And (spoiler alert) Flea didn’t even make it to the Red Hot Chili Pepper years, so I look forward to volume 2 with anticipation. - The Secret of the Highly Creative Thinker by Dorte Nielsen and Sarah Thurber
- The Best American Comics of 2019
- A Visit From The Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
- Lincoln In The Bardo by George Saunders
I’m late to the conversation, but this is an absolute gem. The audiobook with 166-person cast was a masterpiece in storytelling. I laughed…I cried…I laughed again…while at the gym, no less (remember those?). - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
Alexie is a poet genius who grabbed me in college with The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and has never let go. Late to this one due to its YA label, but glad I read it. - TMNT — The Works volume 4 by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird
- Citizen, An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine
Painful, beautiful, demanding. - Tenth of December by George Saunders
- Batman The Dark Knight: Master Race by Frank Miller
- Avenging The Owl by Melissa Hart
- Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson
- There There by Tommy Orange
The Multnomah County Library has never steered me wrong. Coincidentally, this great book is one of three Everybody Reads selections that are on this list. - Dreaming The Beatles by Rob Sheffield
- Think And Grow Rich by Napolean Hill
- Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou
- The Noble Hustle by Colson Whitehead
- Gotham Central Book One: In The Line Of Duty by Ed Brubaker and Greg Rucka
I have a thing for Batman. This series shines a “Wire-esque” light on life in the GCPD, and the struggle of living in the shadow of the Bat. - Coraline by Neil Gaiman
- Creativity, Inc by Ed Catmull
A must read for anyone in a creative field or leadership position. My third time through it. - Sneakers by Rodrigo Corral
- Slowburn Season 3: Biggie and Tupac
- Arguing With Zombies by Paul Krugman
- Salvage The Bones by Jesmyn Ward
My favorite read from Ward so far, and that is saying something. - The Crow — Special Edition by James O’Barr
- Winning Every Day by Lou Holtz
- How To Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy
While I had no intention to actually write a song, Tweedy’s perspective on the creative process made this a “must read” for me. - You’re Wrong About: Princess Diana — 5 part miniseries
- Money: The True Story of a Made-up Thing by Jacob Goldstein
- Evicted by Matthew Desmond
As roadside camps expand across Portland, this book on housing insecurity and the devastation that surrounds it, felt like the most important thing I read all year. - Big Sur by Jack Kerouac
Read by Ethan Hawke. Menacing like the cliffs of Big Sur.
