My 2020 goal was to read 25 books. This was a little less than my previous year’s goal. But at roughly two books per month, I figured it was a realistic goal.
My year started out strong. But then came COVID and I got a little sidetracked. I didn’t read much of anything in March or April. I finally snapped out of my reading slump in May and got back on track. In the end, I read a total of 27 books.
If you are looking for some new books in 2021, here are my top ten reads of 2020. The books I’m highlighting here are ones that had specific lessons that stuck with me in one way or another. They are listed in the order that I read them.
Atomic Habits by James Clear
This is one of those books that I think everyone would benefit from reading. Atomic Habits is a very practical guide to teach you how to establish positive habits that stick. I particularly appreciated his focus on process over outcome.I finished this book at the beginning of 2020. It definitely helped me set many of my growth goals for the year.
Unfortunately, 2020 was not a year of routine or structure for me at all. This made sticking to my newly created habits especially difficult. With that said, this is a book that I will return to again and again as I continue to seek more rhythm, systems and structure in 2021. For a more in-depth look at Atomic Habits, read this post on goal setting.
Rising Strong by Brene Brown
At this point, it’s pretty much a given that if it’s written by Brene Brown, I’m probably going to love it. In particular, I love how she combines research-backed data with personal anecdotes that really bring the concepts to life. This book focuses on how we deal with failure and struggle.
Rising strong is about walking into our story, being honest about and wrestling through what we’re feeling (the messy middle), and then emerging with a better, more productive ending. Ironically, I read this book at the beginning of 2020. But the entirety of 2020 was basically me living through this process. You can learn more about my journey through some very messy middles in this post, this post and this post.
Just Mercy by Bryan Stephenson
This is a book I wish everyone would read, or at least every white, middle-class American. I read most of it on my 10-year anniversary vacation. It’s by no means a light read, as it talks about many of the problems in our criminal justice system. Perhaps you will recognize the film based on the book, which was released this year. If nothing else, watch the movie. But while the movie focuses on one individual’s story, the book takes a look at the system as a whole.
The book explores the themes of justice, mercy, compassion, humanity, race, mental illness and the value of a human life. It really opened my eyes to many societal problems that I had previously never given much thought to. Did you know that more than 2500 children in the US have been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole? CHILDREN. Nearly one in five inmates has a serious mental illness. And the greatest predictor of who gets the death penalty in the United States is not the crime committed, but the race of the victim. This book will challenge you and make you think in a very good way.
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
Marie Kondo became a household name when her Netflix series came out. Since I knew I would be decluttering our home in preparation for moving, I decided to read her book on tidying the home. She has a whole system that she advocates using to declutter your home that she goes through in the book. I really didn’t have time to use her system (you need about six months to do it).
My biggest takeaway from the book, and the reason this book made my top ten list, was the idea that decluttering one’s home is more than about being minimalistic or having less stuff. It’s that putting our house in order positively affects all other aspects of our life. Our homes matter….perhaps more this year than any other. I may not agree with everything in the book (like only keeping 30 books in your house), but there are many valuable lessons contained in these pages. You can learn more about Marie Kondo and my efforts at decluttering in this post.
Essentialism by Greg McKeown
The premise of Essentialism is that, in order to make our highest point of contribution, we must eliminate the excess from our lives. We need to do less, but better. So often we focus on productivity… how do we fit more into our schedule. We save time…so that we can say yes to something else. Essentialism merges together the ideas of margin, productivity and purpose. If we want to live a life of meaning and purpose, we need to create margin in our lives. We need to give ourselves permission to stop trying to do it all and to stop saying yes to everyone. We need to focus on what really matters.
As someone who wants to do all the things, this was a message I needed to hear. 2020 gave us all an opportunity to reset what we say yes and no to in our schedule. Read Essentialism if you want to be more intentional about how you live your life and organize your schedule. You can find out more about the process of pursuing a life of “less, but better” in this post.
Marketing Made Simple by Donald Miller and JJ Peterson
The world of digital marketing is filled with numerous strategies and opinions about the best way to achieve results and help businesses grow. But in this book, Donald Miller and JJ Peterson discuss how digital marketing doesn’t need to be complicated to be effective. What matters most is the story we are inviting people into, and how our customer’s life is made better through the use of our products and services. This is a great read for any small business owner looking for a simple, yet effective digital marketing framework to implement.
Rhythms of Renewal by Rebekah Lyons
The big question I repeatedly asked myself last year was, “How do I move toward what I feel called to do without hustling or buying into the refrain of ‘do more, achieve more’?” In this book, Rebekah Lyons shares how our stress and anxiety can be transformed into a life of peace, passion and purpose. A life of purpose and impact is possible, but it should be pursued from a place of health and freedom, rather than from a place of striving.
Before we can have impact, we need to order our lives correctly. Freedom comes through following the four rhythms of renewal in the right order: REST, RESTORE, CONNECT, CREATE. After reading this book, I am more convinced than ever that having the right priorities matter. We must work out of our rest, not the reverse. You can read this post where I share more about how we establish a foundation of rest in our lives.
Emotional Agility by Susan David
Similar to Rising Strong, Emotional Agility focuses on our emotions and, more specifically, the process of how we can “unhook” from thoughts and feelings that don’t serve us and choose more productive responses. In other words, what to do with all of our big feelings.
Susan David gives a helpful framework for moving through our feelings and reminds us that this is a skill that is built over time. It’s a series of tiny steps in everyday moments over the course of a lifetime that make a difference. And as we grow in our emotional agility, we make progress towards a life of greater purpose, joy and impact. You can learn more about the role emotional agility plays in failure and in our personal growth in this post and this post.
Standing Strong by Alli Worthington
To be honest, this book wasn’t even on my radar for most of the year. But a friend recommended it to me and once I started reading it, I knew it was exactly the book I needed to read at the exact right time. Standing Strong is about how we move towards a life of greater purpose when we feel stuck in our circumstances and self-doubt. It’s about why we as women cannot play small, and what we need to do to take action despite our fear.
Alli Worthington’s words spoke so much life to my soul, particularly when she wrote these words. “You can’t lead people through dark days if you haven’t battled through them yourself a time or two. But when a woman has walked through what feels like hell, she can show her sisters how to stand strong too.” If you have a dream on your heart that you are struggling to bring to reality, this is the book for you.
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
If you are anything like me, you grew up with the idea that we were a “color blind” society. I was told that this was the key to solving racism. White Fragility explores how this belief, among others, prevents us from actually dealing with the racial issues embedded in our society. I put this book on my reading list this past summer because I wanted to better understand what problems actually existed, how we as well-intentioned white people contribute to the problem, and what we can do about it.
This is another book that stretched me and prompted me to re-examine many long-standing beliefs that I had never thought to question before. I highly recommend White Fragility if you want to understand why conversations about race are so difficult, why it matters that we do it anyways, and what we can do to move forward.
What’s On Your “Must-Read” List?
What were your favorite books of 2020? And what are you most excited about reading in 2021? Or better yet, what books do I absolutely need to add to my reading list? I’d love to hear about them!