What a year 2020 has been! I set out at the start of the year to slow the pace of my reading but found myself with more time than ever before to read (hiya covid), leaving me to set record numbers of books read.
At the start of the year, I set myself some reading goals. These were:
- to read more translated literature
- to read more diversely
- continue with my #ReadingTheDublinLitAward challenge
I succeeded at all three, which is great! I didn’t set numerical targets because I didn’t want to get fixated on those and I wanted freedom to pursue whatever interested me throughout the year. I’m glad I did that and will likely continue to do that in 2021.
Of the 153 books I read in 2020, 55% were written by female authors (down from 75% in 2019), 27% by male authors (up from 21% in 2019), 5% by non-binary authors and 4% by transgender authors. In 2019 I read only two books by transgender authors and none by non-binary authors, so I’m glad to see this improve.
I also tracked the race and ethnicity of the authors I was reading. I majorly read from Black, Asian and white authors. I was delighted to see that only 41% of the books I read were by white authors (down from 71% in 2019). Meanwhile 23% were by Black authors (up from 14% in 2019) and 21% were by Asian authors (up from 12% in 2019). The numbers were small for other categories. I only read one book by an Arab writer, one by a Native American writer and three by Latinx writers. I’d love to see greater distribution among these groups and would especially like to see the number of white authors I’m reading decrease further. I’m especially keen to read joyous stories in 2021, so if you have any recommendations for joyous or quiet (non-traumatic) books by Arab, Native American or Latinx writers, please do leave a comment!
Throughout the year, I’ve also been logging stats for LGBTQIA+ author/rep and was pleasantly surprised that 31% of the books I read fell into this category. 14% of the books I read were written by, or featured, disabled or neurodivergent people. I’d like to see that improve, if I’m honest, but I recognise it is an improvement on 2019 (I didn’t track these stats in 2019 but it’s clear looking back through last year’s journal pages).
The statistic I was most curious to track was to do with translated literature. How much translated literature did I read? Well, it turns out that 20% of the books I read in 2020 were translated. In numerical terms, this amounts to 30 books. Proportionally, I’m certain I can improve on that in 2021.
This year I began taking note of an author’s country of birth, in my efforts to find some way of looking at who was being published and to think about the barriers faced by authors outside of the UK and US in terms of being published. I was disappointed that despite my best efforts to decolonise my shelves, I still mostly read books by authors from the US (34%) and the UK (27%). Beyond these two countries (which I guessed would make up the bulk of my reading), I logged data by continent of birth. I read 20 books by authors born in Asian countries, 11 by European authors, 7 by North American and 6 by African authors. Getting into small numbers again, only two of the authors whose work I read were from Oceania and only one was from the Caribbean.
I’m not somebody who pays much mind to what genres I’m reading, so I stopped tracking that this year. I did read an overwhelming amount of fiction, and only 18 pieces of non-fiction writing (excluding graphic non-fiction), which I think paired with my need for escapism in reading this year. I read 10 poetry collections, 26 short story/essay collections and 30 graphic novels/memoirs or manga.
I continued with my challenge #ReadingTheDublinLitAward, which was a lot of fun and really broadened by reading. I discovered a love of Japanese literature, became really passionate about translated literature and used my library more than ever before. By the end, I had read (or DNF’d) 43 of the 156 longlisted titles, a number I’m pretty proud of.
What I loved about my reading life in 2020
I loved seeking out a wide range of voices, in terms of what authors I was picking up, and really liked the diversity that this brought to my reading life. It broadened my world perspective, my outlook, and is definitely something I want to continue in 2021.
I also loved participating in readathons. Possibly because we are all distant from one another at the moment, but these really gave me a sense of community and shared purpose which I enjoyed. Favourites include: #JanuaryInJapan, #WomenInTranslationMonth and #Blackoweenathon.
Throughout the year I’ve been noting down any standout books and as I came to compile my favourite reads of 2020, I couldn’t whittle it down. So you’ve got the full list and you’re welcome!
If you only have time to read three, I’d point you towards: Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo and translated by Jamie Chang, as well as The Deep by Rivers Solomon and Afropean by Johny Pitts. For feel good fiction, try Let’s Talk About Love by Claire Kann or My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame (translator unknown).
What I’d love to develop more in 2021
For me, I’d love to continue to read even more diversely, and join readathons throughout the year. I’d also like to continue to read translated literature.
It was fun to be intentional about my reading: consciously thinking about what books I was picking up and what was behind those publications. I found that I’m super interested in the publishing mechanisms and in what makes one piece of writing “commercially viable” versus another. I’m not sure what shape that will take in 2021 (in 2020 I did a deep dive into large literary awards and took a look at trends in translation) but I’m keen to see where that interest may lead me.
What’s most important to me in 2021 is to decolonise my shelves even further. When I’m looking for LGBTQIA+ literature, I find that the bulk of publications I have access to are written by American authors. Nothing against American authors but, like British authors, they take up a lot of space in the literary world and I’d like to make more of a conscious effort to seek out underepresented, translated and/or intersectional writing, that deals with the intersections of sexuality, gender, race, ethnicity, culture, ability and/or class. There is so much to dive into there and I’d like to take some time in 2021 to figure out a positive and productive way to look more into intersectionality.
I’m not really bothered about how many books I own, so it’s not a goal of mine to be on a book buying ban or anything restrictive like that. I only have 18 physical unread books in Iceland so I’m happy to just keep making my way through those and reading at my own pace.
It would be fun to slow down my reading pace but I think until I’m in full-time employment, that is unlikely to be a productive or positive goal. So I’m going to go with the flow on that and hope that 2021 brings financial stability to my home.
Here’s to a positive 2021. I hope it brings you peace, prosperity and lots of good books.
What about you? How was your reading year? Is there anything you’re hoping to carry into 2021? Are you setting yourself any new goals?
READING WITH KT 