I've complained bitterly about much of what 2020 has done to us, but there was also an unintended consequence - lots and lots of reading, and much of it was very good.
I set a reading challenge in Goodreads but just picked 50 books arbitrarily. I enjoy reading enough that I don't really like to view it as a challenge or a specific number of books to be checked off. If there was a way to measure the enjoyment of the books I read or things I learned from them, that would be much more satisfactory. Even the star ratings I give books don't accurately reflect my whole experience, but despite all that, I can still say I read more this year than I usually do. I read for escape, for the beauty of language, to allay fear, and to be transported to other times and places while still staying safe at home. Reading has always been a welcome respite for me, and even more so in 2020.
There were times when it was difficult to focus on what I was trying to read, and this seemed especially true in the beginning months of the pandemic. But then I read Apeirogon in May, Poetry of Presence and Wild Game for our bloggy book club, Read With Us, in June, and something clicked. I began using my libraries more, looking for books that intrigued me, and there were also recommendations from many of you. I read some of my very favorite books in 2020 based on recommendations and I thank you!
It's hard to choose favorites, but there are definitely books that stood out for me.
The first one is easy; Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell is the best book I read this year. I'm still thinking about it five months later and contemplating ordering the physical copy with the gorgeous UK cover for a re-read. The following books are in no particular order.
Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey by Kathleen Rooney
Hal Borland's Twelve Moons of the Year
The Boy in the Field by Margot Livesey
The Queen's Gambit by Waler Tevis
Wintering by Katherine May
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
I'm currently reading Owls of the Eastern Ice and Miss Benson's Beetle, and will most likely finish at least one of them before the end of the year. (Completing 75 books is somehow more satisfying than 74!) And I have some loose plans for reading in 2021 that include The House in the Cerulean Sea, What It's Like to Be a Bird, Breath from Salt, some of Margot Livesey's back catalog, and exploring more of Walter Tevis' books.
Thank you for reading this far, and now I wonder if you might help me add some more books to my list for 2021. What were some of your favorite books in 2020, the ones that enriched your life? I do hope you had a good year in books and wish you an even better one in 2021!
What a great year of reading! I'm still pondering my own list of favorites from this year, but the one that I KNOW will be on it is Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi. I found it to be so nuanced, smart, and thoughtful.
ReplyDeleteHere's to a wonderful 2021!
Thanks for the recommendation, Katie! I've put Transcendent Kingdom on hold. There is a long wait, but it sounds like it will be worth it!
DeleteWhat a great year of reading, Bonny! I started Hamnet on Sunday and I can tell it will be a favorite for 2020 (or '21, depending on how much reading time I can find before Friday!) Three of my 2020 favorites that maybe you haven't read are William Kent Krueger's This Tender Land, Zadie Smith's On Beauty, and Asako Serizawa's Inheritors.
ReplyDeleteA fabulous year of books! I've rd a lot but have terrible problems remembering much of anything that I read. I did read, and enjoy, Hamnet though, and have just finished Little Fires Everywhere which was also excellent.
ReplyDeleteI'm totally with you on Hamnet, I loved it and I have recommended it to so many people who have also loved it. Reading is always the best and most important thing in my world!
ReplyDeleteI thank you for your list of your best reads. I have not read most of them. I have not read a lot of stand-out books this year, but I did enjoy The Searcher, The Dakota Winters, and Bright River. I, too, loved Hamnet and The Night Watchman was on by best reads list, but I know you have read those. Looks like 2021 may be a big reading year as well, so we all need to share recommendations.
ReplyDeleteI will be sharing my book update tomorrow, and there might be a book of poetry or two that you have not read that might interest you! While I loved Hamnet, my favorite book of the year was Apeirogon. That is the book I cannot stop thinking about!
ReplyDeleteI think Girl Woman Other might be my top read for 2020 because of that can’t stop thinking about it thing. I am planning to start Wintering on Jan. 1. Thanks for the other recommendations.
ReplyDeleteI'm planning to do a roundup of my reading tomorrow and know it'll be hard to narrow down all the good books I've read to just a handful of favorites, but I can tell you that Hamnet is likely going to be at the top of the list. What an amazing book! I ordered the hard copy from Blackwell's almost as soon as I finished it so I could keep a beautiful hard copy on my shelf.
ReplyDeleteThe sheer amount of reading I got done this year was truly one of the highlights. So many good books! (There were a few stinkers, too, but the books were overwhelmingly good.)
It was so interesting to see what you have been reading the past year. I will complete 45 books this year, which is a personal best for me. Amazing what being "locked down" will do for one's book list! ;-) I will be posting later today (I hope) or tomorrow, and will indicate which were my favorites. I read a lot of non-fiction, but also enjoy a good novel and there were some of those this year. Have a good day and I will see you again soon!
ReplyDeleteThat's an amazing amount of reading! And so much varied material. I'm going to put some of your favorites, like Hamnet, on hold at the library!
ReplyDeleteI highly recommend Hamnet; I have yet to meet anyone who hasn't liked it, and I hope you enjoy it. I think reading helped many of us survive this year!
DeleteIt looks like you had a great year of reading! One of the books I really enjoyed this year that you might like was Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the recommendation, Debbie! I wasn't even aware of Braiding Sweetgrass, but it's on my list now, and on hold at the library.
DeleteI've got a couple of those on my to read list and am currently reading Cerulean Sea. (It's good so far!) And I agree Hamnet was amazing and I am so glad I listened as I'm afraid I may have skimmed some of the beautiful words while reading. A favorite of mine this year was The Reason You're Alive. At first the character is off-putting but it is a wonderful story. Yay for 75!
ReplyDeleteIm thanking my blog writers for everything they share on a regular basis. Your book reviews are great. I take your candor as a gift. One of the things I have made a decision about: I won't read any self help book that is not written by an expert in the field of psychiatry or psychology. The last book I picked up was just one man preaching his not that unique story. I look at the bio, and thought , Well I am the fool here!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I try to write the kind of reviews I like to read, ones that tell me enough about the book (not just a recap of the story) so I can decide myself whether it's worth investing my valuable reading time. I don't think you're a fool for picking up a self-help book, rather that you used it as a learning experience to take a closer look at the author in the future!
DeleteLooks like you had a great year for reading Bonny. I struggled a lot with reading this year - nothing seemed to interest me. I was bored easily or just not interested. I have a few that did stand out for me though: the first two are re-reads: John McPhee's "The Survival of the Bark Canoe" and Anne LaBastille's "Woodswoman." Other stand outs: "South Moon Under" by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and "Bird Brains: The Intelligence of Crows, Ravens, Magpies and Jays" by Candace Savage (the last has gorgeous photography as well).
ReplyDeleteWhat a great year of reading, Bonny! Like you, I would put Hamnet at the very top of my 2020 list. I'd probably follow that with Girl, Woman, Other . . . and Apeirogon. I think you might enjoy Piranesi. And if you want a fun-but-light mystery, I'd recommend Alan Horowitz's new series (Moonflower Murders is the most recent installment). (You and I read many of the same books, so it's hard for me to recommend anything you haven't already read/heard about.) Here's to a great reading year ahead! XO
ReplyDeleteThe one good thing about the pandemic was the number of books I was able to read this year. Hamnet is at the top of my list as is The Death of Vivek Oji (and Apeirogon). I also liked Clap When you Land (YA) and How Much of These Hills is Gold. (Plus, a dozen others!)
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous year of reading. My favorites were Erosion: Essays of Undoing, The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Virginia Woolf and the Women Who Shaped Her, and just in Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey.
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