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ladybusiness2025-01-14 02:05 am
renay) wrote in ladybusiness2025-01-14 02:05 am
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Let's Get Literate! 2020 Redux
In 2024, I embarked on a project to focus on older titles. I chose to do a 2021 Redux and read 24 books (for 2024), because there were many 2021 releases I had on my TBR/physical shelves that were top of mind at the time. How did I do? Ah, good intentions!
I read exactly two books from my list: The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He and A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
The great news is that I liked both these books quite a bit! A Master of Djinn was a favorite of the year and I have all the novellas and short stories to look forward to, as well (election season sneaked up on me so I got sidetracked before I could get to them). Joan He continues to write some of the most thoughtful yet bananas SFF where I never quite know where she's going to go with her work. I have her next two books, which looks like a duology, on my TBR.
While I only managed 2/24, what did happen was: I started acquiring the books on my 2021 list for my shelves. Sometimes it was a used book sale and sometimes it was an ebook sale, but I slowly built my collection. My library was defunded in 2022 and hasn't been buying as much physical material. It's been weeding a ton of material, thought, which seems weird to me when you can afford to replace it. But what do I know, I looked at getting a degree in library science and went, "BYE!" so fast when I examined the job market… That's how I ended up with several books, anyway! I hope that having the books available will encourage me to pick them up going forward.
I had a lot of fun thinking about this project, what kinds of stories I want to read from past years, and what I want from my reading experience. That's why I decided to do this project again, except now we're going back to 2020. I have a better idea of how to prioritize this project and my reading in general, so I suspect I'll do a little better this year. I'm not choosing 25 books, though, in honor of the year. That way lies madness as years continue to creep up. Instead, I'm going with 12, since 24 was too much. 12 is probably also too many, but I love having options. The difference this year is that I own a lot of the books I chose.
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo — This was the first book of the project, which I finished a week ago. I made this list and hopped into the project before I could write this post, which felt like another resolution I needed to make about not waiting to do something based on self-imposed limitations, like "write about the project first". I wanted to start out the project strong, so it made sense. I pulled it off my bookshelf and read it in two days and I definitely get the hype for it now. Looking forward to reading more in the series.
Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott — I have talked about this before, where I let my anxiety about not being smart enough for books psych me out of reading/continuing books I was previously very excited for and even read quite a bit of. This was not helped by 2020 (yikes). My reading only truly started to recover at the end of 2022 and it's been a slog. But I'm reminding myself I'm allowed to reread as many pages as I need to, and no one will know! And that I don't need to read a historical tome on Alexander the Great to enjoy a space opera based on his story.
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir — I loved Gideon the Ninth. I remember someone sent the ARC to me, in a way that felt secretive? I still don't know who this mystery book ninja is, but I salute them to this day! I read it and then started immediately nagging everyone I talk to about SFF books to read it as soon as it dropped. It went on to be an internationally beloved darling (not because of me, but I sure did hand sell it to a bunch of people). It is hilarious and beautiful and devastating, after all. And then I, once again, psyched myself out of reading Harrow the Ninth. Do I own a beautiful, black sprayed edge version of this book? Absolutely I do. Will I finally crack it this year? Absolutely I will.
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark — I know this will not have the same energy as A Master of Djinn, but I love Clark's writing so I'm very into seeing what he does with this premise. A Master of Djinn had some ice cold lines around power so very excited to see what Clark does with this scenario.
The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez — This might be the year of two Jimenez books for me, because I also want to read The Spear Cuts Through Water finally. But this specific book has been on my radar since before it released.
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson — Finishing this book will make so many people who have been staring at me intently, waiting for me to read it (metaphorically), happy. And there's a sequel now!
Nophek Gloss by Essa Hansen — I bought this book and it's been visible on my shelf since I unpacked my office in 2023. I was very excited when I saw this dropped in 2020. Why haven't I read it because it seems exactly my thing? A mystery.
Architects of Memory by Karen Osborne — This is another space adventure that sounded up my alley that I scooped up when I saw it on the shelf and then it lingered. Maybe 2020 will be the year!
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin — I preordered this book and when it arrived I was faced with two problems: 2020 (see above) and the fact I was still too close to the Broken Earth trilogy. I loved that trilogy so much and was so connected to it, and I knew this new book was a tonal shift as well as a different genre. I've waited and waited and now I think I'm ready to read and enjoy it without unnecessary comparisons.
The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk — I saw a glowing review of this book on a Twitter thread (review lost to the whims of billionaires) and bought the book the next time I saw it. :D I've had it ever since.
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez — 2025 is a year where I dig back into nonfiction (I have launched a nonfiction book club on Discord and this might be one of the books?)! This has been on my TBR for ages and everyone I see talk about it raves, so when I was considering books to prioritize, this was the top nonfiction title I wanted to add.
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall — I have a very long backlog of books on intersectional feminism I want to get to, so when I saw this dropped in 2020, I was like, "self, it was meant to be."
I'm already 1/12, which feels lucky! There's so many books released in a year in all the genres I love, but these books (except three) are already on my shelves and I won't run afoul of library check out times. I love my library, but those checkout limitations for ebooks (everything is set at 14 days! Even for older titles! I don't read faster just because it's a digital copy!) are my nemesis.
2020 was a wild, upsetting year, and lots of books that came out got buried in the deluge of News and Fear. If you read something you loved that was published in 2020, hit me up in the comments. :)
I read exactly two books from my list: The Ones We're Meant to Find by Joan He and A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark
The great news is that I liked both these books quite a bit! A Master of Djinn was a favorite of the year and I have all the novellas and short stories to look forward to, as well (election season sneaked up on me so I got sidetracked before I could get to them). Joan He continues to write some of the most thoughtful yet bananas SFF where I never quite know where she's going to go with her work. I have her next two books, which looks like a duology, on my TBR.
While I only managed 2/24, what did happen was: I started acquiring the books on my 2021 list for my shelves. Sometimes it was a used book sale and sometimes it was an ebook sale, but I slowly built my collection. My library was defunded in 2022 and hasn't been buying as much physical material. It's been weeding a ton of material, thought, which seems weird to me when you can afford to replace it. But what do I know, I looked at getting a degree in library science and went, "BYE!" so fast when I examined the job market… That's how I ended up with several books, anyway! I hope that having the books available will encourage me to pick them up going forward.
I had a lot of fun thinking about this project, what kinds of stories I want to read from past years, and what I want from my reading experience. That's why I decided to do this project again, except now we're going back to 2020. I have a better idea of how to prioritize this project and my reading in general, so I suspect I'll do a little better this year. I'm not choosing 25 books, though, in honor of the year. That way lies madness as years continue to creep up. Instead, I'm going with 12, since 24 was too much. 12 is probably also too many, but I love having options. The difference this year is that I own a lot of the books I chose.
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo — This was the first book of the project, which I finished a week ago. I made this list and hopped into the project before I could write this post, which felt like another resolution I needed to make about not waiting to do something based on self-imposed limitations, like "write about the project first". I wanted to start out the project strong, so it made sense. I pulled it off my bookshelf and read it in two days and I definitely get the hype for it now. Looking forward to reading more in the series.
Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott — I have talked about this before, where I let my anxiety about not being smart enough for books psych me out of reading/continuing books I was previously very excited for and even read quite a bit of. This was not helped by 2020 (yikes). My reading only truly started to recover at the end of 2022 and it's been a slog. But I'm reminding myself I'm allowed to reread as many pages as I need to, and no one will know! And that I don't need to read a historical tome on Alexander the Great to enjoy a space opera based on his story.
Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir — I loved Gideon the Ninth. I remember someone sent the ARC to me, in a way that felt secretive? I still don't know who this mystery book ninja is, but I salute them to this day! I read it and then started immediately nagging everyone I talk to about SFF books to read it as soon as it dropped. It went on to be an internationally beloved darling (not because of me, but I sure did hand sell it to a bunch of people). It is hilarious and beautiful and devastating, after all. And then I, once again, psyched myself out of reading Harrow the Ninth. Do I own a beautiful, black sprayed edge version of this book? Absolutely I do. Will I finally crack it this year? Absolutely I will.
Ring Shout by P. Djèlí Clark — I know this will not have the same energy as A Master of Djinn, but I love Clark's writing so I'm very into seeing what he does with this premise. A Master of Djinn had some ice cold lines around power so very excited to see what Clark does with this scenario.
The Vanished Birds by Simon Jimenez — This might be the year of two Jimenez books for me, because I also want to read The Spear Cuts Through Water finally. But this specific book has been on my radar since before it released.
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson — Finishing this book will make so many people who have been staring at me intently, waiting for me to read it (metaphorically), happy. And there's a sequel now!
Nophek Gloss by Essa Hansen — I bought this book and it's been visible on my shelf since I unpacked my office in 2023. I was very excited when I saw this dropped in 2020. Why haven't I read it because it seems exactly my thing? A mystery.
Architects of Memory by Karen Osborne — This is another space adventure that sounded up my alley that I scooped up when I saw it on the shelf and then it lingered. Maybe 2020 will be the year!
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin — I preordered this book and when it arrived I was faced with two problems: 2020 (see above) and the fact I was still too close to the Broken Earth trilogy. I loved that trilogy so much and was so connected to it, and I knew this new book was a tonal shift as well as a different genre. I've waited and waited and now I think I'm ready to read and enjoy it without unnecessary comparisons.
The Midnight Bargain by C. L. Polk — I saw a glowing review of this book on a Twitter thread (review lost to the whims of billionaires) and bought the book the next time I saw it. :D I've had it ever since.
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation by Kristin Kobes Du Mez — 2025 is a year where I dig back into nonfiction (I have launched a nonfiction book club on Discord and this might be one of the books?)! This has been on my TBR for ages and everyone I see talk about it raves, so when I was considering books to prioritize, this was the top nonfiction title I wanted to add.
Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall — I have a very long backlog of books on intersectional feminism I want to get to, so when I saw this dropped in 2020, I was like, "self, it was meant to be."
I'm already 1/12, which feels lucky! There's so many books released in a year in all the genres I love, but these books (except three) are already on my shelves and I won't run afoul of library check out times. I love my library, but those checkout limitations for ebooks (everything is set at 14 days! Even for older titles! I don't read faster just because it's a digital copy!) are my nemesis.
2020 was a wild, upsetting year, and lots of books that came out got buried in the deluge of News and Fear. If you read something you loved that was published in 2020, hit me up in the comments. :)