This is not a picture of something I read in 2019. I read this in 2018, when I was doing the countdown to my 40th birthday. And I liked doing that countdown, so any excuse for me to re-use one of those pictures makes me happy.

(Sunday Paper, Year IV, Issue 52)

I decided to change up the year-ending post this year just because the way I’ve done it in the past required people to provide me with questions or comments to respond to and while I love doing that because it tickles my creativity in a satisfying way….it also makes me more anxious than it probably should to wait for people to respond to something I post and provide me that creative fodder.

That said, I have a friend who, at the end of every year posts about all of the TV and movies she has taken in during the past year and I love it because I love lists.

And I thought this would be a good opportunity to do a list of my own.

So, for your entertainment and a look into what I’ve been taking in all year, here’s a list of what I read during the past year, as well as a couple of thoughts at the end.

I should start by telling you that a few years back I started to take notes about what I was reading because a) I would completely forget if I had even read a book, and b) once I read something it would kind of fly out of my head what I thought about it. (I’d also started John Adams-ing my books, writing in the margins, which I loved, but I can’t do that with library books, so I haven’t been doing that as much as I would like.) So, keeping the list is nothing new…but putting it in the Sunday Paper - brand new! (I’ll save you the dates I actually read the book, which I record for some reason.)

1) Vacationland by John Hodgman

2) Calypso by David Sedaris

3) Shade - A Tale of Two Presidents by Pete Souza

4) Astroball: The New Way To Win It All by Ben Reiter

5) American Gods by Neil Gaiman

6) Coraline by Neil Gaiman

7) Letterman: The Last Giant of Late Night by Jason Zinoman

8) Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella

9) A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

10) How Schools Work by Arne Duncan

11) Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng

12) Various chipmunk/squirrel books

13) Half Empty by David Rakoff

14) Life of Pi by Yann Martel

15) Rabbit, Run by John Updike

16) Working by Robert Caro

17) Funny Girl by Nick Hornby

18) Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

19) Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John LeCarre

20) Matilda by Roald Dahl

21) Machines Like Me by Ian McEwan

22) The Pleasure of My Company by Steve Martin

23) Ohio by Stephen Markley

Thought #1) OK, the first thing that stands out to me is the dearth of women authors on that list. For that I apologize, and without sounding too defensive…some of my favorite authors are women? No, I don’t know why I read almost exclusively men this year - definitely an aberration - I would say there were years when I read exclusively women - but I want to point that out because it has been noted.

Thought #2) The day Kathy brought Tate home I tore through about five picture books about squirrels and chipmunks that I had taken out from the library the day before. We had a chipmunk taking up residence in our yard and I wanted to learn some about it…so as I excitedly waited for our dog I read a bunch of books. (All of which, I believe, were written by women, for what that’s worth.)

Thought #3) I had never read Updike (other than sports reporting, I guess) or Gaiman so I wanted to catch up on some of their work. Enjoyed Gaiman, but Rabbit, Run was surprisingly depressing. Didn’t expect that. Always enjoy Nick Hornby…with these couple of books I might be all caught up on Hornby…although I have no idea. I probably should look that up. I also realized as I was writing this I read a few other pieces of Gaiman’s writing - some essays and speeches - but it was a large collection of writing and I did not finish that book.

Thought #4) I wrote about a couple of these books in the Sunday Paper as I read them. Life Of Pi I sat on for a decade-plus (maybe more) before reading it…and it kind of blew my mind. Ohio was an impressive bit of writing…I thought I saw a twist coming and I kind of did but I totally missed something else.

Thought #5) I didn’t really have a number goal set for books to read. I read 19 in 2018, this year I read 23, but it’s not comparing apples to apples. I could read 100 short books if I cared to, but I don’t want to set a number and pressure myself and then not enjoy the book. (I do bad enough letting library due dates affect my reading pace.) I’d rather read what I want to read, and then not pay attention to the total number until now.

That’s it, I guess. I’d love to hear if you have something you read that you loved that you think I should read. But it’ll be the second book I read in 2020…I already promised my mom I’d make Gone With The Wind the first book I read in the new year. (Which I just found on a shelf. 1,000 pages. Yikes. BUT - woman author.)

Notes

*Let’s just jump straight into notes this week….with a quick check- in of the other usual features:

*Writing: Mostly took last week off. New Year’s isn’t that big a deal for me so it’ll be back to normal this week other than the fact the girls will be home most of the week. Feeling good about getting back to work mode.

*Comedy: Tickets are still available for January 11th at Exhibit ‘A’ (with me headlining). I will also be trying out a never-told-before joke at Improv Boston’s ‘100 First Jokes’ on New Year’s Day. I’ll be in the 7pm show.

*Thoughts on Dog Ownership: We spent a few days in New York for Christmas and Tate definitely pees three times as much when we’re there. I don’t know what to do about it except just take her out three times more than usual. (Also, we had our first ‘dog throwing up in the car’ situation. We survived it. Them, I guess I should say. Twice on the way down and once on the way back.)

*I have not been as diligent about writing down the other media I’ve consumed this year other than books, but I think it’s safe to say I’ve watched more movies in 2019 than in any other year of my life. (Maybe in all of the years of my life combined.) I should probably start writing down thoughts on movies, too, because as you know we watched all of the movies in the Marvel cinematic universe this year, but if you asked me to describe to you what happened I don’t think I would be able to do a good job of it.

*I also am continuing to read The New Yorker - we are still getting that since Kathy is still a student. I don’t read all of it every week, but I am reading at least the fiction in each issue.

*I think I’ve done a decent job on social media this year. I’ll try to do even better in 2020. If you want to get in on that action you can follow me on Twitter or Like my Facebook page!

*I finished the Super Mega Crossword Saturday afternoon. The puzzle-within-the-puzzle was definitely not as difficult as previous years…but it was clever. I enjoyed it. Now we wait for that sweet prize money to come my way.

*Speaking of sweet prize money, the Bowl Pool is also going well so far. If I’m alive heading into New Year’s Eve, that’s always fun. And I’m still alive heading into 12/30, so I’ll take it.

*I don’t love New Year’s Eve, but I do love the end of one year and the beginning of the next. So let me take this opportunity to say I hope 2020 is good for you…I have lots in mind for this new year and I (obviously) plan to keep you updated on a weekly basis. Thanks for reading and supporting and I’ll see you in Year V of the Sunday Paper…and maybe on January 11th as well?