Bragan's 2020 ROOTing

Hello all! Glad to be back here for another year of reading and ROOTing.

Last year I lowered my ROOT goal a bit from previous years, down to 80 books. I figured I'd probably exceed that easily. Instead I only just met it by the end of the year, as my reading was way down from my average, overall. I'm not entirely sure why that is, but I'm hoping for better from this year. I'm more concerned with getting my TBR as a whole down a bit though, than with clearing out ROOTs specifically this year, so I'm lowering my goal again, to 50 ROOTS:




Hopefully I'll have my first ROOT of the year finished soon. Until then, Happy New Year, and Happy Reading!

Hello Bragan, Glad to see you here. Happy ROOTing.

>2 connie53: Thanks! Good to see you back for another year, too.

Happy new year, I'm looking forward to getting more BBs from you this year!

>4 Jackie_K: I'll try to read some good stuff for you! :)

Welcome back and happy ROOTing!

Welcome back and have a great reading year! I hope you smash that goal :D and continue to be an inspiration with that actually decreasing TBR!

Thanks all!

And now, my first ROOT of the year:

1. The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty.

And a pretty good start to the year it was, too!

2. The Heap by Sean Adams

3. 2113: Stories Inspired by the Music of Rush edited by Kevin J. Anderson and John McFetridge.

4. Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple.

5. Wish You Were Here: The Official Biography of Douglas Adams by Nick Webb.

>12 bragan: I bought this for my dad maybe a few years after it was published -- found it at a secondhand bookstore or a remainders shop or something -- and have always meant to read it myself! Glad to hear it is so good :)

>13 rabbitprincess: I got mine at a library sale. Let's hear it for good cheap books! :)

6. The Wishing Spell by Chris Colfer.

All right, that's January down! Let's see how I fared...

JANUARY 2020

Books Read: 8
Books Read YTD: 8
ROOTs Read: 6
ROOTs Read YTD 6/50
Books Acquired: 12
Current TBR Total 899
Total TBR Change, YTD: +4

Well. The one-in/two-out system that worked for me so wonderfully well the last couple of years is suffering, I'm afraid. I started the year with a deficit on my ledger, figuring that's OK, I would catch up. Instead, I keep getting further in the red, and the TBR total went up this month instead of down.

I mostly blame a friend of mine who gave me two books earlier this month -- being gifts, they didn't count on the ledger, but they still contribute to the TBR! -- and then yesterday suggested that since we had some time to kill, we should maybe pop into the bookstore. I suppose this is what I get for surrounding myself with enablers.

>16 bragan: I went in the wrong direction last year! In 2019 I started out 100 books in the red. This year I started out 158 in the red :-/ I blame Big Finish for their tantalizing audiobook sales. *grabs all the Doctor Who audio*

>17 rabbitprincess: I've listened to a few Big Finish things, but I feel like there's no way I'm going to dive too much further into them. There's just way, way, way too much, and I'm too behind on absolutely everything already.

One day when I achieve immortality and actually have time for everything, though... :)

>18 bragan: What better way to spend immortality than consuming all things Doctor Who? That sounds like an excellent plan.

7. No One Is Coming to Save Us by Stephanie Powell Watts.

8. Paradox Bound by Peter Clines.

9. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood.

>22 bragan: I loved that book, but I read your review and see what you mean. But I loved it anyway.

>23 connie53: I think it probably was really hard for me to judge it objectively, unfortunately.

10. Dead Man's Hand: An Anthology of the Weird West edited by John Joseph Adams.

Doggone it, I'd hoped to finish one more book before February was out, but even with the extra day, I just missed it. Oh, well. Let's see how February went.

FEBRUARY 2020

Books Read: 7
Books Read YTD: 15
ROOTs Read: 4
ROOTs Read YTD 10/50
Books Acquired: 5
Current TBR Total 897
Total TBR Change, YTD: +2

So, the TBR total is still above what it was at the beginning of the year, but less so that it was a month ago. Which would be reassuring if I hadn't just placed an order for a bunch of new books. Um.

And, getting quickly started on March:

11. One Giant Leap by Charles Fishman.

12. The Enchantress Returns by Chris Colfer.

13. The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson.

14. Golden State by Ben H. Winters.

15. Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man by William Shatner, with David Fisher.

16. @NATGEO: The Most Popular Instagram Photos by National Geographic.

Well. This has certainly been an interesting month. In the "Chinese curse" sense, of course, but still.

MARCH 2020

Books Read: 10
Books Read YTD: 25
ROOTs Read: 6
ROOTs Read YTD 16/50
Books Acquired: 16
Current TBR Total 903
Total TBR Change, YTD: +8

See, the problem is, unlike a lot of folks, I'm not finding myself with any extra reading time right now, as I still have to go into work -- I'm "essential," who knew? -- and it's not like I ever went out much, anyway. And when I get stressed, I cope by buying books. I mean, I have a lot of other excuses, but I think that's honestly what it comes down to. Stress-book shopping.

Seriously, just wait until you see how much the TBR total goes up by in April. Because most of the books I bought haven't even arrived yet. *gulp*

Well, at least I've got enough books to last me. They could stick me in quarantine for the next six years, and I'd be fine. Book-wise, anyway. Which is one of the most important ways of being fine.

>33 bragan: I think you can rest assured that you're not alone in the stress-book-shopping, and in the having enough books to last the apocalypse. I hope you have some good reads in April, and it's not too stressy.

>34 Jackie_K: Thank you! I really am going to try make sure to make some time to just relax and read. We'll see how successful I am, but it does sound good for the mental health right now.

Wishing you the same!

>35 bragan: Thank you! It's such a weird time, but hopefully books can give us that little bit of escapism that real life really can't right now.

I also panic/comfort-bought too many books before the shops closed, despite having no shortage of reading material. I couldn't concentrate on reading for a while, but when I forced myself back into it, I found it made me feel less anxious and unsettled, which, in turn, helps me to concentrate better on reading, so it's a virtuous circle, really.

>37 Rebeki: It is nice to know I'm not alone when it comes to this particular impulse. :)

All right. Onward into April, and whatever it might bring!

17. Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiawan.

Here also stress-buying. But I can keep it under control. With all Peets medical bills and our pension payments, money is getting tight and that's why I bought only 8 books, got 1 for free and 2 for my birthday. Read 21 of which 14 were ROOTS. Yeah.

>40 connie53: I'm actually getting paid extra for working during the pandemic, so it's far too easy to justify the stress-buying.

I do have to smile at the idea that, when money is tight, you can only buy eight books, though. We do have our priorities, don't we? :)

Yes, I know. It sounded a bit weird typing it. But the tight thing has just come to sight in March when the bills got in. So that explains it.

>42 connie53: Hey, what made me smile is how not at all weird that concept seems to me!

>43 bragan: LOL. Glad you understand.

18. Blandings by P. G. Wodehouse.

19. How to Invent Everything: A Survival Guide for the Stranded Time Traveler by Ryan North.

20. Gutshot by Amelia Gray.

21. The Ionian Mission by Patrick O'Brian.

22. Virus X: tracking the New Killer Plagues Out of the Present and Into the Future by Frank Ryan, M.D. (Not that that's currently relevant or anything.)

23. Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho.

April 2020

Books Read: 10
Books Read YTD: 35
ROOTs Read: 7
ROOTs Read YTD 23/50
Books Acquired: 45 (not counting a few cookbooks)
Current TBR Total 937
Total TBR Change, YTD: +42

Oh, man. OK, look, I can explain. Lots of places are still taking book orders online, even if the physical bookstores are closed. And like I said last month, when I get stressed I buy books. It is oddly comforting.

But it wasn't just that. It started last month when my sister, who lives in Portland, home of the famous Powell's Books, sent me a text saying Powell's had announced that they'd had to lay people off and were worried about being able to last long enough to reopen once this is all over. And "Aha!" I said to myself. "I should support them in their time of need! It is only good citizenship!" So I bought, um, a lot of books from them. And then, you know, there were a lot of other booksellers who clearly also needed supporting... And did I mention I was actually being paid extra for coming into work during the pandemic? So... yeah.

Alas for my good old one-in/two-out system. It worked so well for a while! I'm still entering my purchases and reads into my ledger, but even I am having a hard time deluding myself that the outgoing books are ever going to catch up to the incoming ones.

On the plus side, though, I'm well ahead on my ROOT goal for the year!

>51 bragan: Oh my! But, I admire your commitment to indie bookshops - I'm trying to buy from them too.

>52 Jackie_K: We are, uh, doing good in the world! Right? :)

>51 bragan: I think it entirely reasonable to support bookstores in their time of need ;)

>54 rabbitprincess: Yes, it's downright selfless of me, really. When you stop to think about it. ;)

Right. Let's see how many of these too-many books I can get read in May! Starting with:

24. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green.

>53 bragan: Yes we are! Go us!

25. Swearing Is Good for You: The Amazing Science of Bad Language by Emma Byrne.

And, hey, that's the halfway point for me already! Cutting my goal down this far has certainly made it easier. :)

Congrats on your progress!

>59 MissWatson: Thanks! Even if the TBR total is going up alarmingly, I will still take the progress I can get. :)

>58 bragan: Sounds like the British edition of the book would be much more fun to read...

>61 rabbitprincess: I think it would have at least worked better for me, although I'm honestly not sure it's the sort of work that travels well at all, really.

26. A Grimm Warning by Chris Colfer.

27. Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich.

Hi Bragan. Good to see you are supporting so many booksellers!

>49 bragan: I had to smile because of this entry! Especially the last part.

>65 connie53: Well, somebody's gotta do it! Heh. :)

28. The Walking Dead: Compendium One by Robert Kirkman,, et al.

>67 bragan: Thumb for your review! I prefer TV Governor as well, although that is probably down to the choice of actor :D

>68 rabbitprincess: Yes, there is no doubt in my mind that having David Morrissey in the part also helped!

Actually, I think that may be true for a lot of the characters. Whatever else you might or might not say about the show, it's had a generally very good cast, and I think the acting probably carries a lot of the character-development weight that the dialog tries to in the comics, not always quite so successfully.

29. The Book of Dragon by Steven Brust.

30. Futurama and Philosophy: Bite My Shiny Metal Axiom edited by Courtland Lewis and Shaun P. Young.

31. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.

32. Love Among the Chickens by P. G. Wodehouse.

33. Sky Walking: An Astronaut's Memoir by Tom Jones.

>74 bragan: Adding that one to the to-read list! Also, now I have "It's Not Unusual" stuck in my head :D

>75 rabbitprincess: I know, that happened to me, too. :)

And that's May done and over with, somehow. So:

MAY 2020

Books Read: 11
Books Read YTD: 46
ROOTs Read:10
ROOTs Read YTD 33/50
Books Acquired: 15
Current TBR Total 940
Total TBR Change, YTD: +45

Some part of my brain seems to have firmly decided that books bought during a pandemic do not, in some sense, count. I have been having words with that part of my brain, and have mandated a non-negotiable end date for this nonsense with it (June 5, the designated date for my workplace to transition back to some new state of normal). It has responded by deciding it must order All the Books before its time runs out, so, yeah, look for another embarrassing rise in the TBR total next month, too. Sigh.

Anyway, moving right on into June:

34. All Systems Red by Martha Wells.

Whoops, no, just realized I got that one this year, so it doesn't count. Getting over-eager here! First ROOT of June is still to come...

OK, my first ROOT book of June, for real this time:

34. On the Origin of Stories: Evolution, Cognition, and Fiction by Brian Boyd.

35. This Census-Taker by China Miéville.

36. Secrets of the Lighthouse by Santa Monefiore.

Secrets of Lighthouses sounds lovely! How did you like it?

Sadly, much as I wanted to, I really didn't. You can find my review of it here.

37. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander.

I'm almost afraid to keep tallying this stuff up. It is a terrible thing to have to look squarely in the face of your book addiction. :)

Nevertheless...

June 2020

Books Read: 8
Books Read YTD: 54
ROOTs Read: 4
ROOTs Read YTD 37/50
Books Acquired: 56 (um... *gulp*?)
Current TBR Total 989
Total TBR Change, YTD: +94

The "books acquired" statistic also includes one that I actually acquired in January but somehow managed not to enter into my catalog at the time, something I only noticed when I pulled it off the shelf to read it. But that doesn't exactly help much, does it? Yikes!

>85 bragan: You could argue that not recording the book in your catalogue until you go to read it improves the stats for "time between cataloguing and actually reading the book" ;) Like writing an item that you've already done on your to-do list so that you can check it off.

>86 rabbitprincess: Hmm. I'll see if I can manage to convince my brain that that's a good thing. :)

Sailing right on into the second half of this cursed year:

38. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin.

39. You're Only Old Once! by Dr. Seuss.

40. First Love, Last Rites by Ian McEwan.

41. Beyond the Kingdoms by Chris Colfer.

42. A Slap in the Face by William B. Irvine.

43. The Fireman by Joe Hill.

>77 bragan: That comment made me smile!

>94 connie53: Oh, if only my non-negotiable end date had actually turned out to be non-negotiable!

44. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay.

45. The Broken Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin.

Oh, man, I'm becoming genuinely kind of afraid to do these end-of-the-month tallies. But let's see where we are.

JULY 2020

Books Read: 11
Books Read YTD: 65
ROOTs Read: 8
ROOTs Read YTD 45/50
Books Acquired: 37
Current TBR Total 1,015
Total TBR Change, YTD: +120 (!!!)

I just realized, looking back at last month's summary, that I had +49 as the YTD change on the TBR. Ha ha hah. No, it was +94, and typos will not save me.

On the plus side, I'm already so very close to my ROOTS goal! On the minus side, I'm running out of shelf space for the TBR again.

>99 bragan: I'm sorry, but that typo did make me laugh. I suspect it's the only way to make real progress.

>99 bragan: I thought for a second that your +120 was for this MONTH, not the year to date, and was like "WOW. That is epic!" So I suppose it could be worse? ;)

>100 Jackie_K: I suspect my subconscious was trying to fix things for me. :)

>101 rabbitprincess: Yes, I guess at least I can console myself that I didn't buy 120 books in a single month! Although, hey, there's always August. :)

I swear, the closer I get to my goal, the more non-ROOT books I find myself reading! But here's the first ROOT for August:

46. Molecules: The Elements and the Architecture of Everything by Theodore Gray.

47. The Secret History by Donna Tartt. That's one I'm very glad to have finally gotten to, after having it on the TBR shelves for several years.

48. An Author's Odyssey by Chris Colfer.

I really have been reading mostly non-ROOTs lately, but I'm almost there, anyway!

49. The Kingdom of Gods by N.K. Jemisin.

Another month, another monthly round-up. I'm not even going to try to justify my book purchases anymore. Let's just say that I've lost my bookish mind and leave it at that.

AUGUST 2020

Books Read: 10
Books Read YTD: 75
ROOTs Read: 4
ROOTs Read YTD 49/50
Books Acquired: 24 (although one was a cookbook and doesn't count for the TBR)
Current TBR Total 1,028
Total TBR Change, YTD: +133

You're very close to your ROOT goal! Excellent :D

I am not only close to my ROOT goal, I am there! Whoo-hoo! *throws confetti*

Behold:

50. In the House Upon the Dirt Between the Lake and the Woods by Matt Bell.

Which is an odd, odd book to finish up with, as I'm still kind of sitting here going, "What the hell did I just read?" But it was an interesting experience. And it does, indeed, put me at my goal of 50 ROOTS for the year, nearly four months early. Clearly I should have gone for a bigger goal, but, honestly, nothing about this year has been predictable. Never mind. I will count the rest of it as gravy. Sweet, sweet bookish gravy. :)

First, Congrats on reaching your goal, Brag!



Great job.

>81 bragan: I love Santa Montefiore, but lately I'm a bit tired of her books. I'm now kind of addicted to Kate Morton. I find her books have more depth.

>97 bragan: I really love that series. I've read all three of them and find the story is so refreshingly different from the other fantasy I read.

I love to read about your typos and your book-buying excuses.

>110 connie53: Thank you!

I haven't read any Kate Morton, myself, but maybe I'll keep an eye out for her. And, yes, I was really impressed by the Inheritance series, especially the last volume! I already have her Broken Earth books. I really should not take nearly so long to get around to reading those.

And I'm glad my out-of-control book-buying can at least provide amusement. :)

Congrats on reaching your goal!

>112 MissWatson: Thank you!

Well, after reaching my goal I went and read a whole bunch of books that didn't qualify as ROOTS, but here, finally is one that did:

51. Bird Box by Josh Malerman.

>114 bragan: Someday I will read this! It sounds terrifying but I hope in a good way :) I am encouraged by your review.

>115 rabbitprincess: Tense and creepy and scary in a very good way! Even if I didn't think it was perfect, I definitely do think it's worth reading.

SEPTEMBER 2020

Books Read: 12
Books Read YTD: 87
ROOTs Read: 2
ROOTs Read YTD 51/50 (yay!)
Books Acquired: 45 (eep)
Current TBR Total 1,059
Total TBR Change, YTD: +164 (um)

Look, I'm clearly just going to spend all of 2020 uncontrollably adding to my TBR pile, and we're all just going to have to learn to deal with it. Right?

On the upside, yay for meeting my ROOT goal this year, with months to spare!

Onward into the last quarter of the year, as I get to see just how much I can exceed my goal by!

52. The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018 edited by N. K. Jemisin.

>117 bragan: Would it help if I pointed out that your TBR pile is making most of the rest of us feel a) better about our own, and b) rank amateurs? Especially last month's acquisition total, which is nothing if not super-impressive! (also, well done on meeting your goal, of course!)

>119 Jackie_K: I'm not sure if "help" is the right word for that, but I guess I'm glad to be of assistance to somebody. :)

I fear this month may not be much better. I've basically decided 2020 is a complete loss as far as book-buying restraint goes. I'll do better next year.

>120 bragan: You could probably have finished your penultimate sentence after the word "loss". I think you should just Buy All The Books and be done with it.

>121 Jackie_K: Yes, increasingly that is seeming like an entirely valid response to this year.

I have to say, my response to this year is looking like this picture from the 2020 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards: https://www.comedywildlifephoto.com/gallery/finalists/2020_finalists.php#&gi...

>123 rabbitprincess: Truly, a picture worth a thousand words!

>123 rabbitprincess: I think a lot of us can relate.

53. Worlds Collide by Chris Colfer.

(Wow, they changed the interface for the ticker. I don't think I like it.)

I see what you mean. Not nice indeed.

>127 connie53: I mean, maybe I just need to get used to it, but I don't know...

>128 bragan: It's not that easy anymore. I don't like it and hope I get used to it in time.

54. Skeleton Crew by Stephen King.

55. Moriarty by Anthony Horowitz.

Did we somehow make it through another month of 2020? Apparently we did. So, it's time for this again, I guess.

I just want to say, in advance, that the outcome of me deciding, screw it, I'm just going to buy all the books I want this year... Well, it should have been entirely predictable, really. But, on the plus side, I now have several series complete on my TBR shelves, rather than just having the first book. That's good, right? It means I don't have to buy the rest of them later!

Look, I'm gonna cling to whatever rationalizations I can, OK?

Right. On to the summary.

OCTOBER 2020

Books Read: 11
Books Read YTD: 98
ROOTs Read: 4
ROOTs Read YTD 55/50 (still yay!)
Books Acquired: 32
Current TBR Total 1,080
Total TBR Change, YTD: +185 (*whistles innocently*)

>132 bragan: Totally valid!

>132 bragan: Of course you can buy all the books you want. And completing a series is a real good thing.

>132 bragan: I'm trying to find what's wrong with what you wrote, but can't see it! Buy all the books!

Thanks for all the support, guys! Or all the enabling. One or the other. :)

>132 bragan: "But, on the plus side, I now have several series complete on my TBR shelves, rather than just having the first book. That's good, right? It means I don't have to buy the rest of them later!"

Yes, certainly. That's good. I'm about to go to the Strand Bookstore website, since they announced they are in danger of closing, to see how many of the remaining books from series I'm in the middle of I can buy from them in one go. I'm about halfway through C.P. Snow's Strangers and Brothers series, and then there are the final three or four of Philip Kerr's Bernie Gunther series and about five Travis McGee mysteries. I might be missing a series or two. Anyway, you get the idea.

At any rate, of all the things to feel guilty about, buying books is not on my list. My two cents and worth every penny.

>137 rocketjk: I think I may have reached a point where it actually is reasonably to feel guilty about buying books. :) But I genuinely do like the thought of doing my part to help keep bookstores that are currently having a rough time afloat.

So, um, yeah. Apparently my ROOT total for November was a big, fat zero. I read a lot of other stuff! Just no ROOTs. So much for massively exceeding my goal, but, hey, at least I've already reached it.

Here's the report for November:

NOVEMBER 2020

Books Read: 13
Books Read YTD: 111
ROOTs Read: 0
ROOTs Read YTD 55/50
Books Acquired: 26
Current TBR Total 1,093
Total TBR Change, YTD: +198

I'm not even going to offer up any more excuses for all this book-buying. Let's just say, what happens in 2020, stays in 2020.

Well, at least December won't be another month of no ROOTs, because I've finished one already:

56. The Library Book by Susan Orlean.

57. Magician: Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist.

58. Early Riser by Jasper Fforde.

Happy Holidays from the Netherlands!

Thank you! Happy Holidays to you, from sunny (but. at the moment, chilly) New Mexico, USA! :)

59. Murder for Christmas & Three Other Great Mysteries by Agatha Christie.

Happy holidays! That's an interesting assortment of mysteries in the Christie omnibus. I wonder how they were chosen.

>146 rabbitprincess: They're all Hercule Poirot stories, but otherwise, I have no idea. Nor do I know why they're in the order they're in. It's definitely not chronological.

We made it to the end of 2020, everyone! Congratulations!

And since I doubt I will finish my current book before midnight rolls around here, it's time for my last monthly wrap-up of the year.

DECEMBER 2020

Books Read: 9
Books Read YTD: 120
ROOTs Read: 4
ROOTs Read YTD 59/50
Books Acquired: 23
Current TBR Total 1,107
Total TBR Change, YTD: +212

Even to the very end of the year, my out-of-control book-buying didn't exactly slack off, but I'm still telling myself, hey, what happens in 2020, stays in 2020. Well, except for the books I've ordered but haven't received yet, I guess.

Anyway, that's it for me. Since I more than met my total, I can definitely call it a successful year for ROOTing, whether or not it was for anything else.

Happy New Year to all, and I'll look forward to seeing you in 2021 for another year of reading!

Happy New Year, Bragan! See you in 2021.

Happy new year! My first preorder of the year arrived today, I wonder if I can reign it in a bit in 2021? Preordering felt like I got all the dopamine rush of book buying without (at the time) adding to the TBR pile, but then loads arrived together in the same month and somewhat scuppered my numbers!

Happy New Year!

>149 connie53: Thanks, Connie! I am looking forward to it.

>150 Jackie_K: Oh, yes, pre-ordering can be extremely dangerous that way!