2019 in books

#reading #books #selfimprovement

I've always had a book on my nightstand but when I started uni and bought a smartphone I started reading less and less until in early 2017 I decided to read seriously again.

It's been 3 years since I started and I never believed I would read so much and enjoy it as I do. I set some goals for this year and I'm proud to say I reached almost all of them.

These were my goals for 2019:

Read 20k pages
- After having read 17k in 2018, I thought 20k was my limit and it'd be nice to go all in and try to reach it.
Read 10 books in Basque
- It's my mother tongue and unfortunately I've somewhat abandoned Basque literature.
Read 15 nonfiction books
- Because if I'm going to get serious about reading and read many books, I might as well learn something in the meantime.
Read 10 classics
- I noticed I had barely read any classics so I hoped to fix that.

And what I actually achieved:

I read 24k pages
- This is the official number, but this year I quit some books I just couldn't go through so the real number is closer to 22k.
I read 4 books in Basque
- I tried very hard but either the books I chose were all boring or I'm out of habit at reading Basque, but I'm not giving up.
I read 29 nonfiction books
- Big success with this one, I read many great books and learnt a lot.
I read 10 classics
- I didn't enjoy them very much but I did it.

I got 3/4 of my goals, read many fantastic books and my to-read shelf in Goodreads is longer than ever. I would say it's been a good year!

These are my top 5 books in 2019, in no particular order:

The Physician, Noah Gordon

I was a big Medieval nerd as a teenager and The Pillars of the Earth and The Physician were all-time favorites, I wanted to read it again and it made it into the top 5 despite it being a re-read. Unfortunately I didn't enjoy the sequel as much.

The neuroscientist who lost her mind, Barbara K. Lipska, Elaine McArdle

Not a magnificent nonfiction book but it got me interested in neuroscience and mental/brain illnesses. It also freaked me out. I read more books about neuroscience after this and it debunked many myths I had about psychosis, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc. Somehow I thought I knew what they were but turns out I had no clue. I look forward to learning more in 2020.

Digital minimalism, Cal Newport

Each book from Newport has been in my top 5 in previous years, this time it was Digital minimalism. His books are so inspiring, and make so much sense, they make me want to improve so much. I think about his ideas even months after having read the book. I can't recommend his books enough.

Into thin air, Jon Krakauer and Endurance, Alfred Lansing

Small cheating in this one, both books are about endurance, one about a failed Everest expedition and the other about Shackleton's incredible voyage to Antarctica in 1914. These books grab you and don't let you go, I had nightmares with them and I felt the despair they felt in Antarctica and the cold and desperation from the Everest expedition. Extraordinary stories and very well written.

Midnight in Chernobyl, Adam Higginbotham

After watching the HBO series I felt some shy pride when I understood the very basic concepts of nuclear energy and I decided it was a fantastic opportunity to read about the Chernobyl nuclear plant and the 1986 disaster. It was terrifying, complex terminology sometimes but worthwhile.

Summary of 2019

I'm proud I read a lot but even prouder that I managed to be regular and read at least 1k pages a month. Sometimes life gets in the way or you get stuck in a book and lose motivation, but if you have a habit of reading, you keep reading and reading until you get out of that block. Picking up a light fiction or young adult novel, or a book whose topic you're interested in are some of the tricks that get me into enjoying reading again.

Ane

@aberasategi

Instead of reaching for goals, focus on developing habits - @farnamstreet

17:04 PM - 14 Jan 2018

7 30

Goals for 2020

2019 was a hardcore year reading wise, I don't think I can read any more intensely without compromising other areas of my life. I definitely want to invest more time and effort into reading in Basque, so my goals for 2020 are as follows:

Read 20k pages
Read 5 books in Basque or 2k pages
- I like the number of pages goal, books can have different lenghts and I just picked up a biography that's at least 800 pages, it seems to involve complex vocabulary and if I manage to read it, I'll consider it a huge success.
Read 25 nonfiction books

On to the next decade!