Buddy Reading 2020 Recap and 2021 Plans

2020 has been a wonderful year for me – I read a number of books with a number of friends and I am sure you noticed that Ariel and I posted our discussions at least once a month. This was officially our first full year of reading books together and we are excited to bring you a recap of all the buddy reading we did as well as our plans for 2021. Let’s start with a look at 2020 first and then we will share our 2021 list.

2020 Buddy Reads

We read at least one book together every month.

• Found Files Style books – 
  • Letters to the Lost by Brigid Kemmerer (see discussion)
  •  The Illuminae Files by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (Discussion for Illuminae, Gemina, Obsidio) 
• Dystopias –
  • Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (see discussion)
  • A translated book – The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa (see discussion)
• Favorite Buddy Read – Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz (see discussion)
• Prettiest Cover –  The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo (see discussion)
• The one where we could not like the protagonist – Woven in Moonlight by Isabel Ibañez (see discussion) 
• The most surreal read – Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi (see discussion)
• A Compelling Memoir – Educated by Tara Westover (see discussion)
• Our Favorite Netgalley Buddy Read – The Authenticity Project by Clare Pooley (see discussion)
• Slightly Boring Thrillers
  •  The Whisper Man by Alex North (see discussion)
  • Seven Lies by Elizabeth Kay
• Engaging Literary Fiction – Such a fun age by Kiley Reid
• Favorite small-town drama – The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick (see discussion)

Books we ended up DNF-ing

There were two popular books that we just couldn’t get into.

• The Power by Naomi Alderman
• Wanderers by Chuck Wendig 

Both of these books were impromptu and books that made us go “we wonder what all the hype is about!” … and we were a little disappointed. We could definitely see the appeal, but we both agreed these books were not for us. 

2021 Buddy Reading Goals

Kriti brought up the excellent point that many of our books in 2020 took place in the US. So, this year, we’re going to be more intentional on focusing on the rich narratives that happen outside the US in order to further broaden our horizons. Some of our books may take place in the US or Canada still, but we hope to ensure that even those books will stretch our worldviews and teach us more about the lands we live on. Another goal we have is that we are not going to focus so much on books that we see a lot on social media– but rather books that we have wanted to read for a while that may not have gotten a lot of hype. 

If these are the kind of books you are looking for too, be sure to check the blog for our discussions! Below are some of the books we have shortlisted. 

Prompts:

• Translated Books
  • Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
  • The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud, John Cullen (Translator)

• Published 50+ Years ago
  • Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene (Thank you Chris for recommending this one!)
  • The Collector by John Fowles

• Over 500 Pages
  • The Passage by Justin Cronin
  • Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie

• Young Protagonists
  • Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree by Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani, Viviana Mazza
  • A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

• Books centering on technology
  • Because Internet – Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCulloch
  • Oculus: Poems by Sally Wen Mao

• Heartbreaking but Powerful Reads
  • Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot
  • Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta

• Nonfiction Perspectives of War
  • We are Displaced by Malala Yousafzai
  • Nothing Ever Dies: Vietnam and the Memory of War by Viet Thanh Nguyen

• Books with breathtaking covers
  • Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente
  • The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai

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Are you planning to buddy read more in 2021? Unsure where to start? Check out our Buddy Reading 101 guide.

Have a wonderful new year and we will talk to you in 2021! 🙂