Yeah, 2020 has been a giant bummer but you know what? In the midst of all my cancelled plans (e.g. my wedding) and endless worrying, looking back, I realize I've made respectable progress with my collection and research. Time to own it:

In 2020, I revived my blog, thegoodbadbook. In 2017, 2018, and 2019, I reviewed one book each year. In 2020, I reviewed eight books. That's not a ton, but it's something. The "graduating class of 2020" book reviews are pictured above.

I made significant progress in cataloging my collection. After adding ten pages to the document, I split it in two: half has item specific information (e.g. who owned my copy, finding her in the census) and half has "ghost entries" for known titles not in the collection.

It's my hope that the "ghost entries" version is the infancy of a comprehensive subject bibliography, something I've wanted to do for years and finally (theoretically) envisioned in early 2020. I'm not expecting to complete it any time soon!

I've built up a small reference library for myself and identified other works that I probably would like to borrow or use in a reading room, whenever that can happen again. I now have two self-built publisher's checklists that I use to source affordable copies of obscure titles.

I began looking deeper into the syndication and serialization history of novels I collect. In doing so, I've discovered many unpublished but relevant works. I have spent far too long on the Newspaper Archive Database offered by my public library.

The collection expanded in scope slightly and now contains a few author press photos, cookbooks by authors I collect, lobby cards from film adaptations, and most recently, an early draft of the script for the film adaptation of the very first book in my collection.

A group exhibit I was going to participate in went virtual. I agree with the decision, but I'm not going to pretend like it wasn't one of the events I lost in 2020. However, I did the best I could for the online version and Zoom show-and-tell. https://grolierclub.omeka.net/exhibits/show/nmc-2020

Speaking of lost events, I still think about the cancelled BGSU Researching the Romance Conference often. I'm relieved it did NOT go virtual (all the effort and stress with none of the payoff), but do wish the conference could have had some kind of Happily Ever After.

That's that for 2020 in books. All of my cancelled plans have been poured into rediscovering nearly forgotten stories, along with their authors and original readers.

I've got a long way to go, and I'm just getting started.