Halfway Through 2020 Reading List

I love to read. When businesses started opening up again (for the context of this comment, look up the year 2020 in your history book someday), I was most concerned about when I could get to the library. I have the Goodreads app on my phone and regularly keep track of all the books I read throughout the year, set reading goals, and put together lists of books that I need to read. Occasionally I will even write a review for a book on Goodreads, but more often than not, I give it a star rating and move on to the next.

Recently inspired by a couple of my cousins who shared their reading lists on social media, I thought this blog might be a good platform to start a tradition of checking in twice a year with the books I read and how each book impacted me. I do not intend for this to be a review of the book or whether it was good or bad. Rather, I intend to use this space to share how the book impacted me on a personal level. If you want to see my rankings of books, let's be friends on Goodreads! Maybe this can even be a space where everyone can share some other great recommendations of how books make their life better.

In chronological order and no more than two sentences (mostly), here are the books I read for the first half of 2020.
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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary by Pablo Hidalgo

• After reading/looking at the pictures in this book, I am even more steeped in Star Wars trivia, and I am unashamedly both proud and embarrassed by that fact.

The Sacred Enneagram: Finding Your Unique Path to Spiritual Growth by Christopher Huertz 

• The Enneagram is a fascinating personality tool with lots of books written about it, but this book helped me discover contemplative prayer in a way that is more meaningful than a simple personality description.

Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey

• The Expanse books are my current favorite series, and this book brought suspense, amazing characters, and the most satisfying science fiction I have ever read.

Ahsoka by E.K. Johnston

• Whatever the character of Ahsoka Tano does is awesome, whether book, movie, comic, or TV show. More Ahsoka is never a bad thing and this book provides that and more.

Taste and See: Discovering God among Butchers, Bakers, and Fresh Food Makers by Margaret Feinberg

• Food was a far more important metaphor for the ancient Jewish audience of the Bible than I fully understand, and I also now understand that books about food are not the most effective way to capture my imagination or interest.

The Complete Making of Indiana Jones: The Definitive Story Behind All Four Films by J.W. Rinzler

• Nothing will change the fact that Indiana Jones is a defining character in my life, and this book satisfied all of my intellectual curiosity about the making of some of my favorite movies.

Circe by Madeline Miller

• It might be tempting to write off Greek mythology as out of touch or irrelevant, but this book so deepens the story of Circe that it made me fall in love with Greek mythology all over again.

Learning to Speak God from Scratch: Why Sacred Words are Vanishing-and How We Can Revive Them by Jonathan Merritt

• Anything that deals with language is going to pique my interest, but when you combine language with some of the key sacred words in Christianity I am totally hooked. This book helped me evolve and shape the ways I think about some of the dying terms in modern Christianity.

Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization by Richard Miles

• I already knew in an abstract sense that anything Romans wrote about their enemies was inherently untrustworthy, but this book expanded everything I knew of Carthage. My professional and personal knowledge now owes some debt to Richard Miles.

Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher

• Carrie Fisher was the first celebrity death I cried over, and this book reminded me why she was such a treasure to Hollywood. I have not laughed through a book as much as I did with this one in a long time.

The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien

• Despite being my third or fourth read through of this book/series, I never fail to be moved by its story. The combination of the movie visuals plus my own aging made the Grey Havens that much more of an emotional dive this time around. This was the first book that made me cry this year (sorry, that was 3 sentences, but this is the third book in a series, so deal with it).

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

• I cannot express how glad I am to have started my journey into African-American fantasy with this fresh and unique take on the YA fantasy genre. I am very excited to use this story while teaching my Hero's Journey unit to replace the predominantly White and Western narratives.

Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans

• ​The tragic loss of Rachel Held Evans was made even more painful after reading this book and experiencing the way she reimagined Biblical stories in a way that fit their genres. She helped me come away with a fresh perspective on the Bible.

The Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker by Phil Szostak

• I went into this book knowing the art would be fantastic and there would be lots of great behind-the-scenes information, and hoping that it would redeem some of the weirder plot choices in the movie. I only got one of those things, and I will let you guess which one...

Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

• This heart-wrenching book from a masterful writer challenged me and opened my eyes to a life I will never fully understand but hope to keep learning more about.

Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

• This YA novel is incredibly provocative and also the second book to make me cry this year. The end left me reflecting for hours and gave me a small glimpse into the minds of young Black men. 

Rise of the Black Panther by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Evan Narcisse

• I love to read comics because of the great art, and I was especially interested after reading some of Coates' other work, but ultimately I was reminded that I have not invested enough time into the history of all of these characters to get everything I could from this book.

If you made it this far, have you read any of these books? What did you think? What have you read this year? Anything that impacted you in some way? Let's share in the comments!