2020 Astro-Infused Book Reviews!!

I was inspired yesterday (1/1/21) by someone I know on Facebook who listed the books she read in 2020 with a little ranking and review. I enjoy hearing about or seeing what other people read because I really love books and find people's choices of books to be very reflective of elements of their personality (and thus, their astrology).

Everything we do, say, and choose (including what we read, wear, eat, etc.) reflects some part of our values and inner archetypes. I am always seeking to understand myself and others with ever-greater depth and nuance. It's one reason I love astrology (and psychology) so much.

I took the book review inspiration a step further than my non-astrologer friend and decided to add the key astrologic associations I made or felt with each book on my list. If you are one of the signs mentioned then perhaps you might enjoy a book I labeled as having themes or tone related to the energy of that sign. We each have ALL of the signs represented in some way within us, but some signs are absolutely stronger than others. Your sun sign, rising sign, moon sign, and the signs associated with prominent planets in your chart will be strongest. But, even if you don't have a planet in, for example, Pisces, you still have Pisces somewhere in your chart. In that area of life you will express and be drawn to Pisces themes and people.

One of my goals at the end of 2019 was to watch minimal TV and do a lot of reading. I have always been a motivated self-learner who reads a lot. I read about 20 books on holistic health, astrology, and spirituality each year of my med school training--alongside my required texts. For years I read exclusively non-fiction--most of it spiritual and psychological. For the past five or more years I have felt completely saturated with that that type of reading. I've read so much, I could not longer find many new ideas in those books (they do exist--they were just coming at a very reduced rate). I decided to make a reversion back into fiction and attempt to start catching up on both contemporary and classical works of fiction I had missed in my dogged pursuit of spiritual information, holistic health information, astrologic information, yogic information, biologic information, etc. over the past 20 years.

In 2019 I discovered Audible and promptly listened to all of the Harry Potter books. They were soooo creative, entertaining, and of course, MAGICAL! Triple loved!!! I also read some other popular books I'd missed or that were just out: Signature of All Things, City of Girls, Where the Crawdads Sing, Gone Girl, and a few others.

I really enjoy diving into the different little worlds created by a book. I am a Scorpio with strong Aquarian, Leo, Aires, Virgo, and Cancer energies, so my book choices tend to reflect that. Scorpio themes -- mystery, suspense, psychology, depth, darkness -- are most common and most enjoyed in my list. Aquarius and Leo also pretty common. But I def read a range of books and feel that every sign was reflected in at least a few books I read this year.

Some of you might pick up on different key astrologic associations within a book because the impression a book makes, like all art, is dependent on aspects within a person's experience and personality that resonate (or don't) with the artist/writer. Someone else may also like a certain book less (or more) than I do because their astrology and foundational energies are different. I kind of just went with my first impression when I was making the astrologic associations for this list. In this same way, I can sometimes intuitively feel (and correctly guess) people's sun sign simply by sitting with them for a few moments.

There are some interesting and entertaining books here, and I really had so much fun reading (and listening to Audible recordings) more this year. Perhaps this list can ✨inspire✨ some of you to dive back into the world of books if you have taken a break, whether you try some of these or something that finds you by another route.

Here's the list (not exactly in chronological order):

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1. Contact - Sagan - 4 stars - a little slow in parts but also awesome in parts, esp the end. Worth reading if you liked the movie and/or love space. Aquarius, Pisces, Sag

2. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue - Schwab - 5 stars - very creative, tho dark, premise. Scorpio, Pisces

3. Big Little Lies - Moriarty - 4-5 stars - differently as good as the show. Gemini

4. Journey to the Center of the Earth - Verne - 4 stars - fascinating, adventurous classic. Sagittarius.

5. 2001 - Clarke - 5 stars - loved the movie and always wanted to read the book... It is excellent with a more comprehensive ending and explanation of the monolith. Aquarius

6. Ready Player One - Cline - 5 stars - incredibly fun, creative, and exciting, esp if you were a game-loving 80s kid. Aires, Leo, Sag, Aquarius

7. Ready Player Two - Cline - 4 stars - almost as good as the first one. Aires, Leo, Sag, Aquarius

8. The Last Mrs. Parrish - Constantine - 3-4 stars - complex and twisty. Capricorn, Scorpio

9. My Oxford Year - Whelan - 3-4 stars - pretty good debut novel by one of my favorite Audible readers. Cancer

10. Circe - Miller - 5 stars - super fascinating if you like mythology. Gemini

11. Beach Read - Henry - 4-5 stars - fun and funny. Title did not fit the book. Leo

12. The Midnight Library - Haig - 3-4 stars - psychological fantasy, bit dark and predictable but still a good message. May be esp good for someone who struggles to accept his/her life. Capricorn, Scorpio

13. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Trilogy - Larsson/Keeland - 5 stars - mysterious, exciting. Aires, Scorpio

14. Silence of the Lambs Trilogy - Harris - 5 stars - thrilling and fascinating (not as scary as the movie but just as good or better...2nd book def better than 2nd movie). Scorpio, Virgo

15. The Silent Patient - Michaelides - 4 stars - great, tho it turns out the plot was a remake of an Agatha Christie plot -- the very unique plot was what was so interesting. Scorpio.

16. Lady Chatterley's Lover - 4 stars - loved this previously banned classic! Taurus, Libra

17. The Time Machine - Wells - 4 stars - interesting classic - Gemini, Sag, Aquarius

18. The Guest List - Foley - 3-4 stars - entertaining - Leo, Taurus, Libra

19. And Then There Were None - Christie - 4-5 stars - great classic mystery, short (I predicted the ending, but it was still great). Scorpio, Virgo

20. The Scent Keeper - Bauermeister - 5 stars - fascinating premise and wonderful setting - loved! Cancer, Taurus, Pisces

21. Pretty Things - Brown - 4-5 - great writing, realistic character development, interesting premise. Taurus, Capricorn

22. Watch Me Disappear - Brown - 4 - earlier novel by author of Pretty Things. Also good with unique premise. Aquarius, Capricorn, Libra

23. Frankenstein - Shelley - 5 - very poetic prose, lots of psychological depth... Got inspired to read it after seeing the movie about Mary Shelley. Scorpio, Libra, Uranus

24. Dracula - Stoker - 5 - loved the dark, chilling tone. For me, this book is high art. So atmospheric and classically Scorpio.

25. Rules of Magic - 3 - Hoffman - great title, book was not quite as interesting as the title, but was reasonably good (prequel to Practical Magic). Leo, Pisces

26. The Hobbit - Tolkien - 5 - creative and adventurous. Leo, Sag

27. Perfume - Suskind - 5 - dark, complex, well-written, artistic novel (I loved the movie and wanted to read the book). Scorpio-Taurus

28. Daisy Jones and the Six - 4-5 - cool, rock and roll. Gemini.

29. Little Fires Everywhere - 4 - great - better than the TV series (tho that was also good)(I read the book first). Aires

30. Outander - Gabaldon - 4 - I like to read books of shows I love. In this case, the show is almost exactly like the book, which is impressive... Book 1 was Season 1. I prob won't read them all. But, it was def great. Virgo.

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I hope to continue my trend of reading classics, current fiction, and even a few autobiographies this year. I also have the goal of finishing at least one of my own 6 books in various stages of creation... I know their time is coming!! Two of them are shorter children's books, 1 is poetry, 1 is astro-psychology, 1 is spiritual psychology, and 1 is a holistic health handbook. I love writing--not quite as much as I love reading, unfortunately (else these books would be finished!!). But, I'm committed to contributing to the world of books and letting my words be a part of someone else's life, just as someone else's words have been a big part of mine.

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