A screenshot of my Goodreads Reading Challenge Page, showing the 60 books I read this year.

A few days ago, I finished reading The Way Back by Gavriel Savit (a Jewish historical fantasy about two children’s charming and macabre adventures through a land of demons called the Far Country), which marks my 60th book read in 2020, and the completion of my Goodreads Reading Challenge for this year! (Phew, squeezed that in JUST under the wire.)

I will admit, I did not start out with a goal of reading 60 books this year. In fact, if I recall correctly, I started at 35 (a modest improvement on my previous year’s total of 30) and hiked it up several times along the way, as I challenged myself further. This was the first calendar year since I started college that I’ve had as much time to read as I’ve always longed for, and I wanted to see just what ridiculous number I could push myself to! (Though in fairness, it must be noted that almost a third of the books I read were middle grade, novellas, or graphic novels, and thus pretty short — so with that in mind I suppose 60 isn’t too ridiculous.)

Here’s to all the wonderful books released this year that helped make 2020 less terrible, and here’s to (hopefully) a safer and saner world in 2021!

— CEM