Reading List 2021?

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I’ve participated in the Goodreads Yearly Reading Challenges for four years now, reaching my goal in three of those years (15 read of a goal of 10 in 2017, 26 of 26 in 2018, 13 of 12 in 2019). In 2020 I tried to be as ambitious as I had been in 2018, setting my goal to 26 books. Alas, I was only able to complete 14 in 2020, and the majority of those were in the first half of the year, before the complete derailment of all things stable and rational.

This year, though, I’ve set my goal at 13. My reasoning here is that there are 52 weeks in a year, so that gives me an even 4 weeks to read each book (subject to change depending on how long or short said book is). Also, I’m a massive dork who loves a good prime number. No, seriously, I use prime numbers for everything: when watching TV, acceptable volume variables are 11, 13, 17, 19, and 23 (anything above or below tends to be either too loud or quiet, varying by TV). Every custom playlist on my podcast app has a prime number’s worth of shows feeding into each. When creating music in Garageband, I set my BPM to a prime number–usually 127 or 131, since I’m typically making techno.

Like I said: massive dork.

But that’s besides the point of this. Rather, I’m trying to plot out what books I’m going to read this year. I’m already about halfway through Stephen King’s The Stand (post on this forthcoming), and will be reading The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James H. Cone for a family book club. Beyond this, it’s all about combing through my Want To Read list on Goodreads–currently at 215 books, which I lament is not a prime number–and what is readily available to me from the Library.

These are the books at the top of my list:

  • Downbelow Station by C.J. Cherryh
  • Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
  • A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
  • The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey
  • The Hidden City by Michelle West
  • Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
  • The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

I’ll stop there for now, since 7 is a prime number 🙂

My aim, if in fact I really have one, will be to try to include all of these in the pile that make up my 13 books. Subject to change of course: could always have one or two or ten jump up the line and take the place of the others. We shall see!

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