1. Claudius the God by Robert Graves , January 2, 2019
2. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, January 14, 2019
3. Teaching Young Language Learners by Annamaria Pinter, February 6, 2019
4. Bound for Glory by Woody Guthrie, February 7, 2019
5. Sweden by Matthew Turner, September 28, 2019
6. Syllabus Design by David Nunan, November 5, 2019
Not listed--My partial review of Bone. (Comic books don't really count, and besides I didn't even finish it anyway.)
Claudius the God was actually finished reading on December 25, 2018, and Handmaid's Tale was finished on December 31, 2018, but I've always based these lists on the dates that the reviews are posted, so I'm counting them both for 2019.
So, only 6 books this year. One of my worst years in reading yet. (Tied with 2016). But I've got a lot of good excuses.
The primary reason for the drop-off in reading is the new baby.
When she first arrived, she spent a lot of time sleeping, and I actually got more reading done than usual. (The first books of this year were all a result of that time.) But then once the baby started getting older, she required constant attention, and I didn't get any reading done after February.
That, plus I was working through the Delta Module 3 this year, so most of my spare time, when I wasn't working or taking care of the baby, was devoted to doing that.
I tried to align my professional development reading for this year with Delta Module 3 books. But actually, for Module 3, you're not really recommended to read a lot of books cover to cover. Instead, you're supposed to read them selectively for the relevant sections. So I was constantly starting books, only to have to switch to another book before I had finished the previous one. See HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.
All that, plus this scripted review project I started up at the end of last year has taken up most of what time was left. (Ironic, I suppose, that one of the main reasons I've read so little this year is because I've spent so much time filming myself giving book reviews.)
...all that being said, I've wasted a lot of time this past year just mindlessly scrolling through Facebook and Twitter, or watching junk on Youtube. I didn't have a lot of time this past year, but I probably could have read a bit more if I had been more disciplined about it. I will try to be better next year.
Okay, let's get into it:
With only 6 books this year, the competition for each category is pretty slim.
Best Fiction
Sweden by Matthew Turner
I gave Sweden a mixed review, but I have to admit it kept me hooked while I was reading it. It also was a fascinating look at a very interesting time in Japanese history.
Worst Fiction
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
I know, I'm going to get in trouble for this one. But this book was just really depressing, and I couldn't understand what it was supposed to be critiquing.
Best Historical Fiction
Claudius the God by Robert Graves
This one technically wins by default. But it would probably have won regardless. Robert Graves is one of the main reasons I fell in love with historical fiction as a youth. Such rich historical detail mixed in flawlessly with such great storytelling.
Since Claudius the God is the only historical fiction I read this year, there is no worst for this category.
(I'm defining historical fiction as a book that makes retells history as a novel, not books with merely historical settings, so I'm counting Sweden as general fiction.)
Best Nonfiction
Bound for Glory by Woody Guthrie
A memoir. Although as noted in my review, much of this book probably is somewhat fictionalized. But I'm assuming at least a portion of it is true to history.
Although this one also technically wins by default, it was another book I really enjoyed. To quote from my review:
Teaching Young Language Learners by Annamaria Pinter
This was both very informative and also pleasant to read.
As for Syllabus Design by David Nunan... well, it was informative.
Video version of this list HERE and embedded below.
For all the video reviews from 2019, see HERE
2. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, January 14, 2019
3. Teaching Young Language Learners by Annamaria Pinter, February 6, 2019
4. Bound for Glory by Woody Guthrie, February 7, 2019
5. Sweden by Matthew Turner, September 28, 2019
6. Syllabus Design by David Nunan, November 5, 2019
Not listed--My partial review of Bone. (Comic books don't really count, and besides I didn't even finish it anyway.)
Claudius the God was actually finished reading on December 25, 2018, and Handmaid's Tale was finished on December 31, 2018, but I've always based these lists on the dates that the reviews are posted, so I'm counting them both for 2019.
So, only 6 books this year. One of my worst years in reading yet. (Tied with 2016). But I've got a lot of good excuses.
The primary reason for the drop-off in reading is the new baby.
When she first arrived, she spent a lot of time sleeping, and I actually got more reading done than usual. (The first books of this year were all a result of that time.) But then once the baby started getting older, she required constant attention, and I didn't get any reading done after February.
That, plus I was working through the Delta Module 3 this year, so most of my spare time, when I wasn't working or taking care of the baby, was devoted to doing that.
I tried to align my professional development reading for this year with Delta Module 3 books. But actually, for Module 3, you're not really recommended to read a lot of books cover to cover. Instead, you're supposed to read them selectively for the relevant sections. So I was constantly starting books, only to have to switch to another book before I had finished the previous one. See HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.
All that, plus this scripted review project I started up at the end of last year has taken up most of what time was left. (Ironic, I suppose, that one of the main reasons I've read so little this year is because I've spent so much time filming myself giving book reviews.)
...all that being said, I've wasted a lot of time this past year just mindlessly scrolling through Facebook and Twitter, or watching junk on Youtube. I didn't have a lot of time this past year, but I probably could have read a bit more if I had been more disciplined about it. I will try to be better next year.
Okay, let's get into it:
With only 6 books this year, the competition for each category is pretty slim.
Best Fiction
Sweden by Matthew Turner
Worst Fiction
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Best Historical Fiction
Claudius the God by Robert Graves
Since Claudius the God is the only historical fiction I read this year, there is no worst for this category.
(I'm defining historical fiction as a book that makes retells history as a novel, not books with merely historical settings, so I'm counting Sweden as general fiction.)
Best Nonfiction
Bound for Glory by Woody Guthrie
Although this one also technically wins by default, it was another book I really enjoyed. To quote from my review:
it's well told for what it is. Apparently Guthrie had a lot of help in the editing of this book (again, Wikipedia), but regardless the stories still flow, and Woody has a talent for creating vivid scenesBest Book For Professional Development
Teaching Young Language Learners by Annamaria Pinter
As for Syllabus Design by David Nunan... well, it was informative.
Video version of this list HERE and embedded below.
For all the video reviews from 2019, see HERE
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