BOOKS I READ IN 2020

BOOKS I READ IN 2020.

For Christmas 2019, Kellon gifted me a kindle paperwhite. Growing up, I really loved reading. I was that weird kid who just read and read and read. Then, in high school, when I could no longer choose the books I wanted to read, I stopped. Even the books I was required to read, I didn’t read. I just looked them up on Sparknotes! My reading slowed incredibly, and by the time I reached college, I really couldn’t read. My mind would wander, and I had the hardest time focusing! I even took a class to figure out how to read faster, and that didn’t help. I really wanted to get back into reading, so last year, I started reading a book on my phone. It took me forever, and the light hurt my eyes. I asked for a Kindle for Christmas hoping that it would help me, and I truly had no idea how much I would love my Kindle.

I also learned about the Libby App. If you aren’t on the Libby app, you need to be. You sign in with your library card, and then it gives you access to e-books via your local library. I also learned that the books will stay on your kindle as long as you keep it on airplane mode or disconnected from your internet. SO, I would load my kindle up with books, put it on airplane mode, and then when they were all finished, I would reconnect it to the internet and reload my kindle with my new books. Libby will automatically return your books on time, too, so you don’t have to worry about late fees. IT IS THE BEST!

Kellon loves listening to books. While I read books, he listens to them on audible. If you like audio books, then I suggest audible! Libby also works with audiobooks, but if there’s something you want that it doesn’t have, totally get audible!!!

I started the year 2020 with the goal of reading 24 books. I ended up reading 26!! almost 27! I actually read 8,337 pages!! I liked most of them, loved a few of them, and also really didn’t like a couple of them. Here is each book that I read in 2020 and what I thought of them! I won’t give anything from the books away, so my reviews are probably pretty vague hahaha but you should read them!

1. Outliers: The Stories of Success by Malcom Gladwell
   • I honestly had a hard time when I finished this book. I thought it was fun to read, but by the end, I was truly wondering what I was supposed to take away from it! Haha! It had a lot of fun and cool information, but I wasn’t quite sure what the point of the book was other than to point out that I need to choose what sport my kid is going to play and try to plan when they will be born to increase their chances of being the best at that sport hahaha. I honestly didn’t super love the book because I felt it kind of wasted my time.
2. How to Win Friends & Influence People  by Dale Carnegie
   • This is one of those books that everyone should read every year! It’s super good to help with how to handle people. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it.
3. Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It by Chris Voss
   • I really liked this book! It’s written by a former hostage negotiator, and it’s fascinating. It had some very cool stories in it, but it really helped me learn how to talk with people and negotiate better, too! Kellon read it first and loved it, and  I also definitely recommend it!
4. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
   • This book truly changed my perspective on reading. I think that up until this book, I thought that I had to read books that taught me something (aka business or self help books). This book was such a fun and fantastic read! The first half of the book was really good, but then something happens, and it really sucked me in! I could not put it down, and I cranked through the rest of the book. Even my 93-year-old grandpa read this book and loved it. I highly highly recommend this one! It’s one of my favorite books I read in 2020. Also, READ TO THE VERY END!
5. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
   • Ok, here’s the deal. I had soooo many people recommend this book. I was super pumped about it, but I freaking HATED this book. I also definitely read it at probably the worst time of my life because I was dealing with something really hard, and this book sure didn’t make it any better. I recognize that my personal life definitely interfered with my opinion of the book, but I did not like it. The author writes about her childhood in a remote area in Idaho, and I truly felt like her book was a way to get back at her family for the way she was raised. At the end of the book, she says that she changed the names of her family members to help hide their identity, but you can literally google her hometown and essential oils and find her family. I don’t think she actually tried to hide her family’s identity. The book felt very bitter to me.
6. The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life, Freedom, and Justice by Anthony Ray Hinton
   • Wow. I give this book a 5000/10. It was incredible. It completely inspired me! Anthony is actually a character from Just Mercy, and this is his story of being wrongly convicted and put on death row. I bawled during this book, and Anthony is an incredible dude. This is now one of my favorite books of all-time, and it probably ties for one of my favorite books I read in 2020. If you’re into reading, add this one to the top of your list.
7. An American Marriage (Oprah’s Book Club): A Novel by Tayari Jones
   • I read this one after The Sun Does Shine, and it seemed very promising, but I also hated this book. It was so weird, and I walked away thinking that the whole story was about how you should cheat on your spouse hahahaha. I would not recommend this book.
8. The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael Singer
   • I did enjoy this book, but I felt like it was also saying that you ought to suppress your feelings and hard parts of your life rather than correctly working through those emotions. Beyond that, I did enjoy it!
9. His Needs, Her Needs: Building a Marriage That Lasts by William F. Harley Jr.
   • I had this book recommended to me, so Kellon and I read it. He didn’t like it, but I did really like it. This book talks about the top 5 needs that men usually have the top 5 needs that women usually have. The book is definitely outdated, but there are still parts that you can definitely adopt into your life and help your marriage. The book was written when women staying home and cooking and cleaning was the norm and the expectation, so if you can recognize that it’s outdated and actually apply the book to today, it’s awesome. I really enjoyed the book.
10. Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks
    • I only read this book because it was the only one available on Libby. I cruised right through this book, but it’s your typical Nicholas Sparks book hahahahaha
11. Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of Nike by Phil Knight
    • I also enjoyed this book! It was really neat to hear the story of Nike. Kellon recommended this book to me. It was entertaining, but also keeps you on your seat because there are so many twists and turns for Nike!!
12. The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom
    • This is the other book that tied for one of my favorite books I read in 2020. Seriously, incredible. It’s a true story of a woman who helped run an underground operation to save Jews. It left me feeling so inspired to be a better person. If you haven’t read this book, add it to your list RIGHT NOW. This was definitely another one of my favorite books I read in 2020.
13. Small Fry: A Memoir by Lisa Brennan-Jobs
    • This book was interesting. It was very long, and I felt like there were interesting parts and also boring parts. Lisa’s dad is Steve Jobs, so it’s a story about her life and their weird relationship. It definitely paints Steve Jobs in a not so great light and makes him seem like such a weird dude. This book is probably a 6/10 for me.
14. Bridges: Ministering to Those Who Question by David Ostler
    • This book was also incredible. All I will say is that if you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, you need to read this book. It’s about how we can build bridges and better understand those who question the church or those who choose to leave the church. It was very eye-opening, and very very good. I would honestly say that for all members of the Church, this is a must-read.
15. Saints: The Story of the Church of Jesus Christ in the Latter Days: Volume 1: The Standard of Truth: 1815–1846
    • I also really loved this book! It’s pretty big, but it’s very well written. It turns the history of the church into a story, and it’s very good. I thought it would take me forever to read because it’s so long, but it didn’t! I cruised right through this book.
16. Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
    • I saw the movie for Just Mercy earlier in 2020, and that same day, I put Just Mercy on hold at the library. It took a while for me to get it, but it was so good. The movie is fantastic, but it’s only a portion of the book. The book goes into way more detail and also teaches you so much about the justice system. I highly recommend this one. It was one of my favorite books I read in 2020.
17. Without the Mask: Coming Out and Coming Into God’s Light by Charlie Bird
    • I am actually friends with the author, Charlie. He’s such an awesome dude! I worked with him at BYU when he was Cosmo and I worked Sports Camps and Athletic Marketing. I loved reading his book, and it really helped open my eyes to better understand the LGBTQ+ community. I highly recommend this one!
18. The Secrets of the FBI by Ronald Kessler
    • This book has a bunch of inside stories from the FBI! It’s pretty interesting and crazy to read about just what the FBI does. It makes me wonder what the heck they know about me! Hahahaha
19. It Didn’t Start with You: How Inherited Family Trauma Shapes Who We Are and How to End the Cycle
    • This book is not what I thought it was going to be, but it was so interesting!!! Like crazy interesting. It talks about how trauma can literally be passed through generations, how to identify it, and how to end it. It was really cool!
20. The Tattooist of Auschwitz: A Novel
    • This book was also so so good. I had a lot of people recommend this book, and I loved it. I actually really love Holocaust books, and this story was crazy. It’s mostly true, too, which I really loved about it.
21. Untamed by Glennon Doyle
    • This book didn’t quite live up to the hype for me, but I still enjoyed reading it. She makes some good points, and I really liked some of her perspectives on raising her children and their conversations. I will definitely adopt those! She’s also pretty funny and gets to the point really quick, which I like. Each chapter is kind of a new story/tidbit of advice, so it’s also a pretty quick read.
22. Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel by Celeste Ng
    • I really enjoyed reading this book! I couldn’t put it down. My cousin recommended it to me, and I am so glad I read it! The author did a really great job of having multiple plots and twists in the book, and it really sucked me in! I have also tried watching the show, and the show does not do the book any justice. I cranked through this one because I wanted so badly to know what was going to happen!!
23. Them: Why We Hate Each Other–and How to Heal by Ben Sasse
    • This book was nothing like I thought it would be. I totally expected it to be one thing and it was the complete opposite. I was honestly really bored through the first half of the book, but I really enjoyed the second half of the book. It was super interesting to be reading in the middle of the election because the entire book is about how were are tearing our country apart by hating everyone for having different political views. It really helped me see the bigger picture with the election, and I also have zero tolerance when it comes to hating people for their political views. We call all be different and still love each other. We can all be respectful. If you find yourself having a hard time accepting and respecting other people’s political views, this is a read for you.
24. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown
    • I also LOVED this book. It is a true story, which I love, and it was super well written. It had me on the edge of my seat. The book is long, but the author did a really good job of keeping you entertained the whole time. It also takes place during the depression, and I learned a lot about that, too. I know that I have a hard time understanding exactly how poor people were, but this book gave me a new perspective. This story is so crazy that it seems not real. I would have loved to witness this. There’s a documentary on them, and I want to find it!
25. Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris
    • This is basically the book after the Tattooist of Auschwitz. You meet Cilka in that book and then this next book follows Cilka from the end of the Tattooist of Auschwitz and beyond for the next while. It’s also an incredible book. I read this one in only a few days, and I wish I could read it all over again for the first time. I really loved it. You will probably want to read them in order, though! Read the Tattooist first and then this one.
26. The Gifts of Imperfection by Brene Brown
    • The last book that I read for the year was the Gifts of Imperfection. It was really good! But then again, anything by Brene Brown is so so good.

What books did you read in 2020? I have a goal of reading at least 24 books in this year, too! I used to think that I didn’t have enough time to read, but even with working an average of 13 hours a day, I still managed to have the time to read this many books in 2020. If I can do it, you can do it. Amazon made a list of the top 20 books in 2020, so this is also a good place to start! You can check it out here.