My Year In Reading: 2020

 2020 has been quite a year for many of us. I don't know of anyone that hasn't been negatively affected by the year that was. As the world descended into a pandemic all of our lives changed and were thrown into turmoil. It's been quite the chaotic year. I count myself as a lucky one though; I live in a country that hasn't been hit incredibly hard (although we are fighting a small second wave currently) and I have a full time job that wasn't affected by COVID. For those that don't know I work for Australia's largest book company and I build/run the AI chatbots for our website. Although it's difficult and takes up a lot of my time I really enjoy it. Also, book discounts are nice. 

Personally, I have had quite the mediocre and chaotic year reading wise. It started off really well and then I read in patches. I managed to finish 20 books which is a decent amount but I read probably double if not triple that if you count poems and short stories that maybe wouldn't count as "books". I also read 9 books for my Russian Literature challenge which I say is a success. Mostly Turgenev but I managed to shove a Pushkin in there. 

One of my main resolutions for next year is to limit technology time when I'm not working and get back to doing things I love that aren't the day to day routine I've been stuck in all year. This includes reading more, WRITING more and doing more creative pursuits with my hands. I have certain reading goals but they aren't concrete. I would like to read more Myth/Folklore and more women. I'd also like to read books from countries I haven't yet. I'm not sure if I'll do any challenges per se - I'm still deciding. 

The books I read this year were: 

- The Last of the Plantagenets by Caroline M. Keteltas
- King Lear by William Shakespeare 
- First Love and Other Stories by Ivan Turgenev
- A Lear of the Steppes by Ivan Turgenev
- Three Tales by Gustave Flaubert 
- A Strange Story by Ivan Turgenev
- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S Lewis 
- Wasps by Aristophanes 
- Andromache by Euripides
- The Rendezvous by Ivan Turgenev
- Hecuba by Euripidies
- The Unfortunate One by Ivan Turgenev
- Ajax by Sophocles 
- Andrei Kolosov by Ivan Turgenev
- Suppliants by Aeschylus 
- Enough by Ivan Turgenev 
- A Desperate Character by Ivan Turgenev
- The Queen of Spades by Alexander Pushkin 
- Kasyan from the Beautiful Lands by Ivan Turgenev
- The Bhagavad Gita 

May 2021 bring all of us a more positive year for both life and reading!