{"id":16926,"date":"2020-01-01T08:00:33","date_gmt":"2020-01-01T12:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bluefootedmusings.com\/?p=16926"},"modified":"2020-02-23T14:47:53","modified_gmt":"2020-02-23T18:47:53","slug":"reading-in-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bluefootedmusings.com\/?p=16926","title":{"rendered":"Reading in 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I didn’t read as many books in 2019 as I would have liked. I always have a goal of reading 52 books for the year (one per week). I only read 33, which is even fewer than the previous year’s paltry total of 43.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But there’s no sense in focusing on the negatives, especially not when there are several positives to talk about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. I read a lot of poetry, and I am better for it.<\/li>
  2. I read 12 nonfiction books (if you count the poetry).<\/li>
  3. The authors were not exactly a diverse lot, but about half of the books were written by men, and about half by women, which is one sort of balance.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    I gave a lot of A-level grades during the year, too many to mention them all here. Instead, I offer my top five.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. Characters & Viewpoint<\/em> by Orson Scott Card, A-: At first, this book seemed so commonsensical as to be a waste of my time. But, I stuck with it, and Card did eventually get around to telling me things that I didn’t already know. I wouldn’t trust his opinions in all matters, but he knows how to write and how to explain writing to others. Recommended.<\/li>
    2. Esperanza Rising<\/a><\/em> by Pam Mu\u00f1oz Ryan, A+<\/a>: I was surprised by how much I liked this book. I am so glad my son’s teacher assigned it to him.<\/li>
    3. The Language of Thorns<\/em> by Leigh Bardugo, A+: a modern and slightly disturbing collection of fairy tales. Loved it.<\/li>
    4. Ordinary Genius<\/em> by Kim Addonizio, A-<\/a>: If you want to know how to write free verse, this is a good place to start.<\/li>
    5. Word by Word<\/em> by Kory Stamper, A: Kory Stamper is a kindred spirit. We share a love of words, and we have similar jobs. I would recommend this book for anyone who’s interested in language and particularly anyone who uses a dictionary on a regular basis.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      I didn’t read as many books in 2019 as I would have liked. I always have a goal of reading 52 books for the year (one per week). I only read 33, which is even fewer than the previous year’s … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bluefootedmusings.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16926"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bluefootedmusings.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bluefootedmusings.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bluefootedmusings.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bluefootedmusings.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16926"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/bluefootedmusings.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16926\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17094,"href":"http:\/\/bluefootedmusings.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16926\/revisions\/17094"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bluefootedmusings.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bluefootedmusings.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bluefootedmusings.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}