My Favourite Book Of 2020
As I write this on the last day of 2020, I was looking back at all of the books I’ve read this year.
According to Kindle, I have read 57, but that does not include, of course, the physical books I have read. (See the end of this article for a more-or-less complete list.)
Out of all of those books, I think the one I have enjoyed the most is the one I finished reading only yesterday.
It’s called “Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come: An Introvert’s Year of Living Dangerously” by Jessica Pan, and the title probably gives you a good clue about the subject matter.
In short, Jessica decided to spend a whole year trying to do the sort of activities that shy introverts (or shintroverts, as she likes to call herself), including myself, avoid like the proverbial plague.
These activities include public speaking, networking, travelling without knowing where she is going, hanging out in the woods overnight and trying magic mushrooms, stand-up comedy and improv, and hosting a dinner party.
It’s been a long time since I read a book that took me through so many ups and downs.
There were moments that were literally LOL for me, something I rarely do with a book. And there were moments that brought tiny tears to my eyes.
That is, of course, because I can identify with so much of what Jessica talks about.
I’m not saying I’ve pushed my boundaries as far as she did, but I do know what it’s like to speak and perform in public.
This happened at work, back when I had a real job. For example, I remember the first time when, as a lowly systems analyst, I was asked to give a short presentation to the directors. Even though I knew my material, which is why I was the one asked to talk, I was terrified.
Back then, I hadn’t come across any of the techniques to help reduce the anxiety I felt.
And it also happened with my hobby, magic. As a teenager, I had given a few magic shows, and for some reason, it didn’t terrify me as much as it did later in life. My first performance, as an adult, was my audition to join the local magicians’ club.
It went well, in as much as it was enough for them to let me in, but it was bad in so many other ways. Over my years as a member there, I think that’s what I learned most – not the tricks, but the presentation advice.
During that same period, I performed on stage at much larger events, including a few public charity shows (including one in my home town’s main theatre) and at the United Kingdom’s most prestigious magic club, The Magic Circle in London.
What I found, and which I was somewhat surprised Jessica didn’t mention, was my one big secret to reducing stage fright – my “performing” costume.
I would, of course, travel to any shows I did in my regular casual clothes, or maybe my office clothes if I was going straight from work, but for my act, I would usually wear a dinner jacket (aka tuxedo for my American readers).
And as soon as I put that on, it felt like I was a different person – and my nerves vanished (well, almost). If I’d performed more often, I’m sure I would have become much more comfortable, but even so, it was fun.
In general though, I think this book touches on many issues that extraverts will simply never get.
It’s said that nobody is 100% introvert or 100% extravert, but it seems most of us do have strong tendencies towards one or the other. What we also have is the ability to operate at the other end of the spectrum, but only for a limited duration before we get stressed out.
So, while a typical extravert might occasionally do introvert things, especially now during the ongoing coronavirus scare with lockdowns still in effect, I doubt they truly know what it’s like to live your life as an introvert almost all of the time.
And conversely, of course, we introverts find it difficult to imagine how anybody can be an extravert most of the time. Because, as Jessica says, to a true introvert, being surrounded by lots of other people, whether they are acquaintances or strangers, soon becomes exhausting. For me, it would often give me a headache and make me feel physically sick too.
Conclusion
Do I recommend this book then, and if so, to whom?
Well, yes, I do. Like I said, it’s probably my favourite book from the entire year, although many of the books I have read have been enjoyable. I do recognize that this may have something to do with it being the one I read most recently, and therefore the freshest in my memory, but I suspect it’s a more than that.
Introverts will discover that they are far from being alone, and they will also learn that it is possible to do the sort of activities that terrify them. This does not mean they will suddenly (or maybe even ever) become extraverts, but it will let them participate in activities that they would currently automatically decline. And as Jessica says, some of the things she did during that year were fun. They also helped her make new friends – real friends that is, not just acquaintances.
And extraverts may finally get some sort of clue about how the other half live. They may also laugh at the activities people such as Jessica and myself find stress-inducing.
Either way, it’s a great book that is both funny and touching, and one of the many this year I’m glad I’ve read.
I wonder what 2021 will bring!
But I definitely recommend this book, and have therefore added it to my Recommended Reading List.
Additional Resources
These are suggestions for those who wish to delve deeper into any of the above:
Books I’ve Read In 2020
The following is a list of (most of) the books I’ve read during the course of this year. Any that are linked will take you to a short review I wrote of that book.
- “1984” by George Orwell
- “7.5 Habits” by David Jacobson
- “A Manual For Creating Atheists” by Peter Boghossian
- “Alcohol Explained” by William Porter
- “Autopsy” by Ryan Blumenthal
- “Bartleby, The Scrivener” by Herman Melville
- “Béchamp Or Pasteur?” by Ethel Hume, R Pearson, and David Major
- “Caffeine Blues” by Stephen Cherniske
- “Corona, False Alarm?” by Dr Karina Reiss and Dr Sucharit Bhakdi
- “Critical Thinking” by Jonathan Haber
- “Crooked” by Forrest Maready
- “Dare To Question” by Ted Kuntz
- “Do You Have OCD?” by Dan Leigh
- “For The Love Of Phyics” by Walter Lewin
- “God, The Most Unpleasant Character In All Fiction” by Dan Barker
- “God’s Gravediggers” by Raymond Bradley
- “Healing Help From Honey Bees” by Colin Platt
- “How To Be An Imperfectionist” by Stephen Guise
- “How To Do Nothing” by Jenny Odell
- “How To Make A Living With Your Writing” by Joanna Penn
- “Humble Inquiry” by Edgar Schein
- “Imagine Reading This Book” by Nick Kolenda
- “Imagine You Are An Aluminium Atom” by Christopher Exley
- “Long Story Short” by Lisa Brown
- “Mini Habits” by Stephen Guise
- “Obedience To Authority” by Stanley Milgram
- “On Looking” by Alexandra Horowitz
- “Plague Of Corruption” by Judy Mikovits and Kent Heckenlively
- “Range” by David Epstein
- “Safe And Effective?” by Katelyn McCormack
- “Sex And The City” by Candace Bushnell
- “Silence” by Thich Nhat Hanh
- “Socratic Logic” by Peter Kreeft and Trent Dougherty (although to be fair, this is one of the few books I gave up on)
- “Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want To Come” by Jessica Pan
- “Super, Simple And Quick Keto Recipes” by Julia Stewart
- “The Art Of Peace” by Morihei Ueshiba
- “The Biology Of Belief” by Bruce Lipton
- “The Blind Watchmaker” by Richard Dawkins
- “The Case Against Masks” by Judy Mikovits and Kent Heckenlively
- “The Contagion Myth” by Thomas Cowan and Sally Fallon
- “The Creativity Leap” by Natalie Nixon
- “The Fallacy Detective” by by Nathaniel Bluedorn, Hans Bluedorn, Rob Corley (Illustrator), and Tim Hodge
- “The Fan Club” by Irving Wallace
- “The Haiku Handbook” by William Higginson, Penny Harter, and Jane Reichhold
- “The Happiness Advantage” by Shawn Achor
- “The Invisible Rainbow” by Arthur Firstenberg
- “The Legacy Protocol” by KM Ashman
- “The Magic Of Reality” by Richard Dawkins
- “The Mortician’s Child” by Kathleen Hawkins
- “The Most Dangerous Superstition” by Larken Rose
- “The Moth In The Iron Lung” by Forest Maready
- “The Psychopath Test” by Jon Ronson
- “The Tangled Mind” by Nick Kolenda
- “The Unburied Dead” by Douglas Lindsay
- “The Wilt Alternative” by Tom Sharpe
- “The World Of Jeeves” by PG Wodehouse
- “Undercover Epicenter Nurse” by Erin Olszewski
- “Vaccination Is Not Immunization” by Tim O’Shea
- “Vaccines Are Dangerous – And Don’t Work” by Dr Vernon Coleman
- “Vaccines: The Biggest Medical Fraud in History” by Trung Nguyen, Eleanor McBean, Sue Martson, and Ida Honorof
- “What Every Body Is Saying” by Joe Navarro
- “What There Is No God” by Armin Navabi
- “Wilt” by Tom Sharpe
- “Wilt On High” by Tom Sharpe
- “You Are Here” by Thich Nhat Hanh
