Skip to main content

BTP's 2020 in Books

Happy New Year! Welcome to the first post of 2021. Thank you for spending your year with BTP! I have read 34 books this year. Here are the breakdowns of genres, classics to non-classic ratios, reviewed to non-reviewed (yet!) ratios, and titles!

BTP's 2020 in Books

34 books, 65 posts, 5 main genres


I think mystery/detective really pulled ahead in the end. If you visit my mid-year progression post I did in July, mystery was in the top genres, but it completely won here! I must say, I am NOT surprised in the least. It has become my favorite genre. 




It is not a secret that I read more classics than I do non-classics. Always. Every time. Every year. I am also aware that this is a book review blog...for young people (specifically young women). A post is actually coming soon on this topic so look out for that! I will discuss my concerns and how I have gotten over my "I'm not qualified" fears. 



I try to blog about all the books I read, but sometimes (due to being a student and a functioning member of my family) I cannot review every book I read, especially the ones I read for school. After discussing The Bacchae of Euripides for 7 straight class periods, I don't really feel like writing on my blog about a book I have talked about for a collective 8 hours. That said, I blogged about A LOT of books this year. 

BTP's 2020 Reading List One-Liners

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry - for school, but I liked it.
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare - nope. not for me. 
The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick - read for the first book club I organized.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - new favorite book (tied with another)!
The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie - first Christie of many on the year.
Love and Other Train Wrecks by Leah Konen - fun, light YA romance.
One of Us is Lying by Karen McManus - an inferior mystery.
The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros - my first collection of vignettes.
Head Over Heels by Hannah Orenstein - a wee bit too mature for me, but good read!
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren - worth every single page.
An Inspector Calls by JB Priestly - inspired me to act!
Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie - *MUAH*.
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson - so suspenseful for a YA.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen - an old stand-by; time #3 for me. 
The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie - not my favorite Christie mystery.
The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - spooooooooky.
Atomic Love by Jennie Fields - steeeeaaaamy, so not for me...
The Guest List by Lucy Foley - too much for me try it out though. I loved the plot idea!
Dracula by Bram Stoker - I answered a lot of trivia questions from this book.
The Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stenvenson - first school book.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte - didn't technically finish. 
The Simple Wild by KA Tucker - too steamy, but cute couple.
Truly Devious: A Mystery by Maureen Johnson - fav from the trilogy.
Truly Devious: The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson - least fav from the trilogy.
Truly Devious: The Hand on the Wall by Maureen Johnson - Book 4?
The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer - I didn't love this. 
The Bacchae of Euripides by Euripides - Very academic, but boring.
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles - Loved more than Antigone.
Antigone by Sophocles - Loved less than Oedipus Rex.
Macbeth by William Shakespeare - quotes officially hung in my room.
Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie - JUST finished this. LOVE.
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie - first play I acted in. 
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle - delightful. 

BTP's Top Five

*I only considered books I read for the first time in 2020!*

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald & All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
2. Murder on the Links & Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie
3. Macbeth by William Shakespeare
4. Truly Devious Trilogy by Maureen Johnson
5. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Author Spotlight: Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Kimberly Brubaker Bradley At my school, I am a Library Leader. (Library Leaders promote reading in the middle school and recommend books for the younger grades.) The Library Leaders had the fortunate opportunity of eating lunch and meeting with Kimberly Brubaker Bradley. We got to ask her questions and just talk with her. Mrs. Bradley also spoke to the whole seventh and eighth grade in assembly about her research. 1)      When/How does she write? Mrs. Bradley writes in the morning, but this depends on her chores for the day. She got into her routine when her children, now graduating college and out of college, were small and went to school. She would always wait until her husband took them to drop them off at school. She likes for her writing space to be very quiet. She prefers typing when she when she writes as to writing. (This may be pretty common; I do not know what the common format among writers is today. I just thought I would include eve...

Long Way Down

A Long Way Down Written in verse, A Long Way Down by J ason Reynolds is a novel about making a moment’s decision. *DISCLAIMER: The story deals with grief, mild cussing, and gun violence. Plot Summary: Will doesn’t live in a so great part of town. This African-American teen’s brother, Shawn, is shot and killed by a member of gang member in a near-by part of town. Will decides to follow ‘The Rules’. (‘The Rules’ are passed on through generations of members of this community and they are: 1. DON’T CRY 2. NO SNITCHING 3. ALWAYS GET REVENGE.) Will decides to kill the gang member who killed Shawn. He HAS to follow ‘The Rules’. He gets on the elevator to go down to the Lobby and the elevator stops at every floor. People that have been shot in the past and were in his life get on the elevator at every floor. This thriller is written over one minute and nine seconds. Author Praise/Critique: Jason Reynolds is a very talented poet. The book is very visually pleasing because ...

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

Reading and writing, reading and writing, reading and writing: that's what I hope to keep doing all summer (with some swimming and seeing friends mixed in there too!). Here's another review! This is Stuart Turton's The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle,  and it's a doozy.  SUMMARY THE RULES OF BLACKHEATH Evelyn Hardcastle will be murdered at 11:00 p.m. There are eight days and eight witnesses for you to inhabit. We will only let you escape once you tell us the name of the killer. Understood? Then let's begin... Evelyn Hardcastle WILL die. And every day Aiden Bishop WILL try to identify her killer and break this neverending cycle he has somehow found himself in. But every time a new day begins, Aiden inhabits the body of a different guest at Blackheath. Some of Aiden's hosts will be more helpful than others. Some of Aiden's hosts are more capable than others. Some of Aiden's hosts start to overcome Aiden's true personality. Then again, who is Aiden? A...