LITerature: How 2020 Was The Year Of The Book

(Image Courtesy from Media from Wix)

When the COVID-19 lockdown began, I had no idea what I should do. I saw people making whipped coffees or learning Tik-Tok dances; I decided to conquer my main insecurity: sitting down for hours on end and reading. Growing up, reading and, by extension, writing and spelling were not my friends. Reading, Writing, and Spelling reminded me how my brain processed information differently, my mouth could not say the words written before me, and my hand could not write the letters correctly to make coherent sense. By the time I graduated college, reading and its friends and I were cordial. I knew that I was the person who could not read an entire book or write a paper in a day. So, I used my toolbox: I used audiobooks in conjunction with reading, ensuring that I never missed a word. Spellcheck was my saving grace for spelling. I would have different friends read a paragraph or two of a paper to see if the information I wrote made sense and then edit accordingly.

(Image Courtesy from Media from Wix)

When the world effectively shut down, I was out of school for a year. I realized that reading and its friends were similar to exercising; the more you do, the higher the endurance level. As a result, I spent my COVID-19 quarantine reading literature for hours on end to prepare myself for graduate school. By the time I finished my first year, I could work for hours on end and not feel fatigued.

Here is the list of novels I read in 2020.

(Image courtesy of the following: Invisible Man Cover (https://www.randomhousebooks.com/books/46131/ ), Rebecca Cover (https://d1w7fb2mkkr3kw.cloudfront.net/assets/images/book/lrg/9780/3490/9780349006574.jpg), Atlas Shrugged Cover (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/296832/atlas-shrugged-centennial-ed-hc-by-ayn-rand/ ), Beowulf Cover (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Beowulf/Anonymous/Enriched-Classics/9781416500377) , Pride and Prejudice Cover (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Pride-and-Prejudice/Jane-Austen/Enriched-Classics/9780743487597 ) The Alchemist Cover (https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-alchemist-paulo-coelho?variant=32207222538274) , The Defining Decade Cover (https://www.twelvebooks.com/titles/meg-jay/the-defining-decade/9780446575065/ ) , Circe Cover (https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/madeline-miller/circe/9780316556347/ ), Catch 22 Cover (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Catch-22/Joseph-Heller/9781451621174) , 100 Years of Solitude Cover (https://www.harpercollins.com/products/one-hundred-years-of-solitude-gabriel-garcia-marquez?variant=32131823108130) , Brave New World Cover (https://www.harpercollins.com/products/brave-new-world-aldous-huxley?variant=33051834777634), The Bell Jar (https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-bell-jar-sylvia-plath?variant=32131755999266 ) , In Cold Blood (https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-bell-jar-sylvia-plath?variant=32131755999266) , The Dante Club Cover (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Dante-Club/Matthew-Pearl/9780743563925 ) , 1984 Cover (https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/564/56487/1984/9780141036144.html) , The Fountain Head Cover (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/296786/the-fountainhead-by-ayn-rand/) , Talking To Strangers Cover (https://www.littlebrown.com/titles/malcolm-gladwell/talking-to-strangers/9780316478526/) , Siddhartha Cover (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Siddhartha/Hermann-Hesse/Enriched-Classics/9781416561484) , The Sun Also Rises Cover (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Sun-Also-Rises/Ernest-Hemingway/9781501121968), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/671/the-hitchhikers-guide-to-the-galaxy-25th-anniversary-edition-by-douglas-adams/ ), Candide Cover (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Candide/Voltaire/Enriched-Classics/9781416500308) , Handmaid's Tale Cover (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/6125/the-handmaids-tale-by-margaret-atwood-introduction-by-valerie-martin/) , Withering Heights Cover (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Wuthering-Heights/Emily-Bronte/Enriched-Classics/9780743487641) , The Joy Luck Club Cover (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/300526/the-joy-luck-club-by-amy-tan/), Marijuana is Safer Cover (https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/marijuana-is-safer/), Ranger Cover (https://www.amazon.com/Range-Generalists-Triumph-Specialized-World/dp/0735214484) , Don't Be Evil Cover (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/602099/dont-be-evil-by-rana-foroohar/) , Poisonwood Bible Cover (https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-poisonwood-bible-barbara-kingsolver?variant=32139395465250) , The Case Cover (https://www.amazon.com/Case-Creativity-Imaginative-Marketing-Commercial/dp/0993508200) , For Whom the Bell Tolls (https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/For-Whom-the-Bell-Tolls/Ernest-Hemingway/9781476787817 ), The Five Cover (https://www.wiley.com/en-us/The+Five+Dysfunctions+of+a+Team%3A+A+Leadership+Fable-p-9780787960759 ) , One Flew Cover Cover (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/310351/one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest-by-ken-kesey/ ), Hidden Habits Cover (https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-hidden-habits-of-genius-craig-wright?variant=33011860078626) , The Master and Margarita Cover (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/531360/the-master-and-margarita-by-mikhail-bulgakov-a-newly-revised-translation-by-richard-pevear-and-larissa-volokhonsky-introduction-by-richard-pevear-foreword-by-boris-fishman/ ), Alchemy Cover (https://www.harpercollins.com/products/alchemy-rory-sutherland?variant=32128786300962) , and The Business of Aspiration Cover (https://thebusinessofaspiration.com) )

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