What Reading 11,000 Pages Taught Me in 2020

With the year coming to an end, I wanted to reflect on my reading journey in 2020.  With a growing desire to learn, and Covid lockdowns keeping me at home, I made a commitment to reading more.  On this journey I read a total of 35 books and over 11,000 pages (physical pages, not ebooks!). 

Upon launching this website in March, my intention was to read and review a book a week.  Unfortunately I did not reach that goal, but I gained so much more.  I like to live by the famous proverb “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey”.  So, while accomplishing 35 books in 12 months should still be celebrated, everything I have learnt from the books and the experience should be celebrated even more.  I have learnt about a wide variety of topics, from science and health, to politics and economics. Increasing your general knowledge is an invaluable resource that will become useful in life when you least expect it.

I feel a common misconception of non-fiction readers is to undervalue fiction books.  This year I saw greater value in fiction books, which I initially used as a distraction from the heavy science or economics content.  Fiction books provide a platform for thought, they shed light on important topics, they provide context to different cultures and geographical regions, and they can provide guidance to life.  I would encourage fiction reading to expand your mind in ways you would not have predicted. 

While a number of books were read prior to the conception of Books for Thought and consequently not reviewed, here is the complete list for 2020:

• Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
• Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman
• Picking Cotton by Erin Torneo, Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, and Ronald Cotton
• The Challenge for Africa by Wangari Maathai
• A Good Year by Peter Mayle
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
• Charles Dickens by Michael Slater
• The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
• Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief by Rick Riordan
• Liar’s Poker by Michael Lewis
• The Matter of the Heart: A History of the Heart in Eleven Operations by Thomas Morris
• A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
• Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan
• Anxiety Expert Advice from a Neurotic Shrink Who’s Lived with Anxiety All His Life by Mark Cross
• Outliers: The story of Success by Malcom Gladwell
• Percy Jackson and the Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan
• Why We Sleep: The New Science of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker
• The Power of Habit: Why we do what we do and how to change by Charles Duhigg
• The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets’ Nest by Stieg Larsson
• Eat Like the Animals: What nature teaches us about the science of healthy eating by David Ruabeneimer and Stephen J. Simpson
• The Boy Who Followed His Father into Auschwitz by Jeremy Dronfield
• Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne
• The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart
• Becoming by Michelle Obama
• The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger
• Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon by Brad Stone
• Percy Jackson: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan
• Octopus! The Most Mysterious Creature in the Sea by Katherine Harmon Courage
• The Language of Life: An introduction to the science of genetics by George and Muriel Beadle
• The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder
• The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho
• Forces of Nature by Brian Cox and Andrew Cohen
• Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are by Robert Plomin
• Betting on Famine: Why the World Still Goes Hungry by Jean Ziegler

Other than learning about our world from so many different perspectives, I have gained so much from the experience and discipline of committing to each book.  Many people argue that they don’t have time to read, but I believe time can be made.  Just by watching near to no TV and setting my phone aside prior to going to bed, I was able to commit a significant amount of time to reading each day.  Alongside engraining discipline, my reading speed and vocabulary have increased with knock-on effects to enhancing my speaking and writing skills.  I believe that anyone with a desire to learn can achieve the same.

While 2020 was an unexpected year for everyone, I feel like we should all reflect on what we have accomplished, big or small, in some capacity.  My personal reading adventure opened my eyes to a wide range of topics and stimulated interest in new areas.  It sparked thought into the effort required to write a book and provided the inspiration to one day write my own.  Thank you to everyone who has been reading my book reviews and articles, and I hope 2021 presents you new challenges to learn and grow.