2020 rereads: a "wow I should have posted this more timely-like" in review.

It occurred to me intermittently in 2020 that if I reread books, I don't need to write full reviews of them—and reviews are one of the things that burned me out in reading 370+ books the year prior. This was successful! Except that I love rereads and generally write at least updated notes to my reviews—less formal, with less effort to be objective, but reflective of my changing relationship with a text. I love to see how I change as a reader and how/if the text ages with me; I'm interested in what I focus on when I'm already familiar with the plot, and to see which parts of the plot I forget; I admire even the lessons of the suck fairy.

...And I'll gather those those notes into batches, I thought! And then they kept gathering...! And then the year ran out and I'd still posted none!

Thus these are many reread notes from 2020. There are a number of oversights—mostly books I didn't review the first time I read them, probably because I loved them too much, and then failed to review the second time I read them, because I still loved them and had grown intimidated. That's a shitty reason not to talk about a book, but here we are. Also I reread Harry Potter and I'm not up to talking about that particular suck fairy--but I'm grateful for the Witch, Please podcast returning to shoulder some of that burden.

I hope for more rereads (and more timely posts) in 2021; I'd particular like to revisit some favorites from the last few years, to see what my longterm impressions are.


( Mossflower, Brian Jacques )

( A Wizard of Earthsea, Ursula K. Le Guin )

( Watchtower (Chronicles of Tornor Book 1), Elizabeth A. Lynn )

( The Dancers of Arun (Chronicles of Tornor Book 2), Elizabeth A. Lynn )

( Blood and Chocolate, Annette Curtis Klause )

( Foundling (Monster Blood Tattoo Book 1), D.M. Cornish )

( Lamplighter (Monster Blood Tattoo Book 2), D.M. Cornish )

( Palimpsest, Catherynne M. Valente )

( Forbidden, Tabitha Suzuma (with bonus thoughts on antecedents) )

( The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson )

( Melusine (Doctrine of Labyrinths Book 1), Sarah Monette )

( The Virtu (Doctrine of Labyrinths Book 2), Sarah Monette )

( The Mirador (Doctrine of Labyrinths Book 3), Sarah Monette )

( Corambis (Doctrine of Labyrinths Book 4), Sarah Monette )

( Threshold, Caitlin R. Kiernan )

( I Am a Witch's Cat, Harriet Muncaster )

( Goth, Otsuichi )

( White is for Witching, Helen Oyeyemi )

( Lost Souls, Poppy Z. Brite )

( The Monster of Elendhaven, Jennifer Giesbrecht )