2020: The Year In Books

As we wrap up 2020, a year where I should have been setting records due to the pandemic and stay at home orders, I managed to read only 23 books, a decrease of 5 books over last year.  Of those 23, 8 were non-fiction and, of the 15 novels, only 2 were tied to a TV show.  None of the books came out of my dwindling “to-read” drawer and 15 were e-books.  I read just over 7,800 pages, my seventh highest total of all time.

For the first time in years, a majority of the books I read this year were by authors I have read before. The 11 authors that I read for the first this year were:

  • Ken Harrelson
  • Jeff Snook
  • Liz Phair
  • Megan Abbott
  • Greer Hendricks
  • Sarah Pekkanen
  • Cameron Esposito
  • Rich Lindberg
  • Sara Schaefer
  • Alex Trebek
  • Trevor Noah

Tom Perotta, Erle Stanley Gardner, and Karin Slaughter were the only authors that I read multiple titles from during 2020.

6 of the books I read were released this year, while 5 of them were released last century, with the oldest first published in 1933.

Finally, the breakdown by month.  My vacation to Hawaii in February and being off in December certainly helped pad its totals a tad bit. Continue reading →

Book 9 (of 52) – Save Yourself

Save Yourself: A Memoir – Cameron Esposito

Comedian Cameron Esposito checks in with her first memoir, a collection of essays detailing her growing up in the western suburbs of Chicago as a devout Catholic, going to Boston College and discovering her sexuality, coming out to friends and family, moving back to Chicago, finding both herself and a career, and, finally, taking the leap to move to LA.

I have never seen Esposito perform live, despite the best of intentions.  I had tickets to see her in Toronto back in 2015, but she had to cancel due to an acting gig.  I had loose plans to see her this spring as part of her book tour, but, thanks to a certain pandemic, that show didn’t happen either.  Thus, at least for the time being, this book is the closest I will get to her work for awhile.  And an enjoyable book it was.

 

Vacation Recap – Toronto

toronto-condoTwo weeks ago, I headed out early on a Friday morning for the long drive northeast to the Canadian city of Toronto.  I arrived in the early evening, with my allergies inflamed after an afternoon of driving through the wilds of Michigan.  After a quick trip to find a pharmacy, we settled in at the sports bar just around the corner from our condo for dinner before calling it an early night to recover from a day of travelling.

Saturday morning was spent walking around the lakefront, enjoying the views and trying to get a little lay of the land.  The afternoon was spent at Rogers Centre, where the Blue Jays easily handled the Orioles to keep their hold on first place in the AL East.  Eventually we ended up at the fancy Italian restaurant across the street for dinner and drinks.

Sunday was another day of exploring.  After a late breakfast, we ended up on a bus tour, which, due to street closures, was not following its normal path.  It managed to drop us off a few blocks away from the Royal Ontario Museum, where we headed to enjoy some culture, including a special exhibit on Pompeii.  Thankfully, the tour was back on its normal path afterwards, so we grabbed a ride back to the condo before heading out to the Molson Canadian Ampitheatre for the Oddball Comedy Fest, which I went into much detail here.  After the show, we eventually managed to catch a cab back to the condo.

niagaraMonday was time to bid a temporary farewell to Toronto, as we headed south to Niagara Falls, where we spent the afternoon.   Continue reading →

Oh Canada

If everything goes according to plan, I will be leaving this morning for a road trip to Toronto, where I will meet up with my good friend Hayley.  We will spend about a week enjoying everything our neighbors to the north have to offer.  Not to mention a planned side trip back to the states to take in the offerings of Cooperstown, New York.

I’ll have a full detailing when I get back, but our current plans include the Blue Jays, the CN Tower, an AC/DC concert, the Oddball comedy fest, and a comedy club featuring Cameron Esposito.  Plus whatever comes up along the way.