This year was a killer year for reading. I tend to read more when I have a little nursling who forces me to sit still on the couch for long periods. SO the nursing-baby thing, combined with the 2020 shit-storm thing really worked in my favor this year. Anytime I am struggling with my mental health, I read more. Reading more helps me break up thought patterns that trend toward the negative and it distracts me momentarily from life's overwhelm. I say all this to emphasize the fact that I usually don't read this many books in a year. The fact that I read 77 books in a year as a mom of 3 is really an indicator of how much 2020 flipped even the most normal tasks and hobbies on their heads.
I saw a bunch of VERY cute blog posts titled things like top 10 reads of 2020 or even top 5 reads of 2020... guys I tried doing this. After staring at my goodreads reading challenge page for over 40 minutes I just could not pick only 10! So instead I made this exhaustive list of all of my favorites of the year. Each and everyone of these books listed below has a full review on my website that you can access by clicking on the book cover. I hope you find something you love on here to pick up in 2021.
Fiction
The Dutch House by Anne Patchett
This book follows a brother and sister over the course of almost 50 years. The Dutch House is an odd unique house they grew up in and it plays so much of a role in their life and relationship that I almost came to think of the house as a supporting character in the story. This book had sentences that blew my mind. I love books that explore the depth and emotion of the human existence and I love recognizing my own emotional experience in relationship to the characters in their story. The Dutch house did this so well. I related so much to the male character's fixation on the past and inability to think of the future or remain in the present.
The Nickel Boy by Colson Whitehead
The Nickel Boys is the story of Ellis a young Black boy who is accused of a crime he didn't commit and is sent to a horrible juvenile detention hall for boys. This book shattered me in so many ways. The abuse of authority the main character endured was unfair in the face of being condemned for a crime he didn't commit, but no one should have had to face this kind of abuse guilty or not. Whitehead spun this story in an engaging way that really showed the way good storytelling can illuminate the lived experiences of others. Not an easy read, but an excellent one.
The River by Peter Heller
I would describe this book as a "literary page turner", which are my favorite kind of page turners, because you get the benefit of beautiful writing, and a juicy suspenseful plot. This is the story of two best friends that decided to put their wilderness expertise to use by taking a canoe trip hundreds of miles through Canada. The story begins when the boys realize they have been smelling smoke for 2 solid days. They quickly discover that a raging forest fire is occurring 50 miles behind them. They do their best to warn other hikers and campers along the river that a fire is heading their way very quickly. They risk a lot to warn a couple of the fire's imminent arrival and find themselves in the middle of something they did not bargain for.
Still Life by Louise Penny
Still Life takes place in a small town in Quebec Canada. A 76 year old woman dies in what first appears to be a hunting accident, but when no one comes forward to confess their mistake, it is evident that this was no hunting accident. This town is like that song in Beauty and the Beast where all the town people yell "bonjour" directly into Belle's face while swapping loaves of bread for eggs. It is really that quaint and idyllic. A suspicious murder in a small town means they need the very best! Enter Chief Inspector Armand Gamache! An experienced Detective, and truly the reason why this book felt so different from everything I have read in this genre.
Circe by Madeline Miller
When Circe is born to her Nymph mother, Perses, her father prophesies that she will marry a lesser known prince. Perses, who had hoped her child would marry a powerful god that would bring fame to her family, casts Circe aside. The siblings that arrive after her despise Circe. They have great beauty and great power and Circe, as far as she is aware, is completely ordinary... until she isn't! In an act of jealousy Circe uses her new found power for evil and Zeus WAS 👏 NOT 👏 HAVING 👏 IT. Circe is sent to a lifetime of exile on an island and though that seems like an ending, Circe uses it as a sort of remaking.
The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal
This is the story of Helen and Edith two sisters very different in character and personality. One sister inherits the family farm and one does not. This story is about so many things but above all else, it follows these two sisters through their entire lives showing the reader how the inheritance and lack of inheritance changed the course of their lives separately.I don't care if you are uninterested in how beer is brewed. I don't care if you can't point to Minnesota on a map. I don't care if you are unfamiliar with the chronic work ethic of the Midwestern people. You will love this novel. It is the most joyous and hopeful novel I have ever read. I have never laughed and cried so much over the span of a couple hundred pages of writing.
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
Inspector Gamache is called in to the small village of Three Pines once again to investigate a suspicious death. The victim appears to have been scared to death in a house that is not necessarily "haunted" but has proved to bring a lot of trouble to the little village in the past. While Gamache investigates this mystery he is faced with the metaphorical ghost of a case from long ago that threatens to take Gamache and everyone he loves down.
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Lucy works at a successful publishing house in an office she shares with Joshua, a coworker that she hates. When a promotion becomes available Joshua and Lucy both go for it with one little competitive twist. If Lucy gets the job, she will be Joshua's boss, if Joshua wins, Lucy will resign leaving behind her dream of moving up in a company she enjoys working for.If it wasn't abundantly clear above, I know next to nothing about the romance genre as a whole. I had to google search the definition of "regency romance" and "romance genre tropes". I know what all of those words mean separately, but the reviewers I follow use them in such a way that they take on a totally foreign meaning to me. What I can tell you, is The Hating Game was a fun read. It was engrossing and I breezed through the audiobook version in two sessions of rage cleaning the bathrooms in this Quarantine Hell-House.
Happy and You Know It by Laura Hankin
Claire has just been dumped from a band on the path to fame. She is depressed and desperate to find a paying gig to make rent. When she gets the call that a playgroup is looking for a musician to play for their children twice a week she takes the job hesitantly.
Happy and You Know It is the most fun you can have while reading in my opinion. I loved so much about this read. I loved the way that the beginning of this book was narrated by Claire who is an outsider to motherhood. She isn't a mother and the mothers she has encountered aren't this polished and together. Claire's outside perspective intersects with the reader and creates an experience where the reader feels like they are being let in on something they aren't supposed to know about. When you first meet the Playgroup Moms, you can't help but compare your own differences as a mother and a woman with those of the status oriented mother's but by the end you realize, there are just some things that all women and mom's have in common.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Two twin sisters escape their small unusual town together to make a new life for themselves outside of their black community. Both sisters end up married with daughters. One decides to live her life as a white woman, one does not. The magic of this story comes from the binding and eventual unraveling of the Vignes twins in relationship, racial identity and life circumstances.
The Vanishing Half has easily one of the best plot lines I have read this year. This book was both engrossing and gut wrenching. Every section and new character voice felt like a new story, but they were all connected in the burden of their loneliness in some way. This book was always going to be great because Brit Bennett is an incredible writer but this story took on additional meaning and depth upon its release into this 2020 nightmare scape.
Piecing Me Together by Renee Watson
I am going to copy and paste the premise below because I just feel like it is such a better synopsis than anything I could summarize!
From the publisher:
"Jade believes she must get out of her neighborhood if she’s ever going to succeed. Her mother says she has to take every opportunity. She has. She accepted a scholarship to a mostly-white private school and even Saturday morning test prep opportunities. But some opportunities feel more demeaning than helpful. Like an invitation to join Women to Women, a mentorship program for “at-risk” girls. Except really, it’s for black girls. From “bad” neighborhoods.But Jade doesn’t need support. And just because her mentor is black doesn’t mean she understands Jade. And maybe there are some things Jade could show these successful women about the real world and finding ways to make a real difference.Friendships, race, privilege, identity—this compelling and thoughtful story explores the issues young women face."
Piecing Me Together is definitely going to be a standout read of mine this year. I cannot believe a book that you can essentially read start to finish in one or two sittings could pack such an incredible punch. The lived experience of black women shrinking down their personality, opinions and ideas so that they can safely be a part of predominantly white communities was explored in depth here. The weariness of Jade bled off the page as the reader saw her impossible and exhaustive journey to keep herself physically safe while also finding her voice and being true to herself.
Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Such A Fun Age down. It was like an extension of my arm. I carried it all around and binged as much as I could anytime I had a second. This is the story of Emira, a black babysitter for a rich white family that resides in Philadelphia. The book begins with a rent-a-cop assuming that Emira has kidnapped the white child she is babysitting and while the plot starts here, it isn't only about this incident.
There is a lot of heavy subject matter regarding all of the sneaky nuanced ways black people experience racism. Reid has brought an effortlessness to this story that made it deceptively light despite the unceasing undercurrent of unease woven into every chapter. Reid was so careful and smart in the way she crafted this story. Every sentence and story detail was intentional and vital.
Deacon King Kong by James Mcbride
This story begins when Sportcoat, the Deacon of Five Ends Baptist Church, walks out to the middle of the town square and shoots a well known drug dealer at close range. That is the basic bookflap summary, but to narrow Deacon King Kong's story to this one incident is too reductive. This book is about a community of people that feels dysfunctional from an outsider's perspective but once the characters of the community drag readers to the deep end, we see that this community is built on authentic love and radical acceptance of all people.
The Most Fun We Ever Had by Claire Lombardo
The Most Fun We Ever Had is a multi-generational story following David and Marilyn and their four girls. The family secrets that have stayed concealed for so long, come to the surface, drawing new blood from old wounds and shaking down the foundation the family was built on.
This was my affair book. I was reading my usual 3 books at a time and one of the books was particularly spooky, so I decided to start The Most Fun We Ever Had, because it was safe enough for me to read right up until I fell asleep. No matter what I was reading, I was always thinking about this book. Sorry all the other books maybe if you were younger, or sexier, or had better legs, you could have been the one.
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
A bank Robber walks into a bank and leaves with no money! Worried the police are close behind, the bank robber runs into an apartment complex and right into an open house. This is now an unintended hostage situation with the worst hostages ever.
Backman is one of my ride or die authors. I love him. I love the way he writes about the best in humanity and I love the way he writes about heavy topics without making them feel soul crushingly hopeless. I loved all of the third wall breaking to address me as the reader. I noticed in some 1 and 2 star reviews of this novel that some found this irksome. It didn't really bother me, but I could see how some would not enjoy that the way I did.
Betty by Tiffany McDaniels
Betty is born in 1954 to a Cherokee father and a white mother. she is born sixth in the line up of eight brothers and sisters and the only of her siblings who inherited her father's looks. Betty grows up living with a mentally-ill mother, and a father who teaches hope and beauty through his fantastical stories. Their life is one of poverty and brutal hardship. The family is living in the shadow of past traumas and unprocessed familial grief.
This is one of those books that I am deeply grateful I pushed through and finished because the writing was incredible...but... It was very difficult to finish. I had to set it down for a couple weeks and read something else for awhile. When I returned to the read I had hoped I had gotten through the most brutal parts... I had not even scratched the surface. This book pulls no punches and the redemptions of its characters comes at the curtain call of the story; too little too late to do much more than mop up a drop of blood on the outskirts of a massacre.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
The Song of Achilles is told from the perspective of patroclus, Achilles' childhood best friend and eventual lover. Their love story is intertwined with the story of Achilles' rise as the most powerful Greek warrior. Achilles is half man half mortal and his spear lands true every time. He is unstoppable, larger than life. When Achilles learns that his death has been prohpesied by the gods, he goes to war anyway hoping that the tale of his might, power and bravery will out live his mortal death.
I don't even know how to a write a review for this blessed book. I finished it weeks ago and I don't know what to say. This book blew me out of the water and took my breath away. I felt similarly about Circe, but this felt different in magnificence somehow?
The Trespasser by Tana French
he Trespasser follows Dectective Conway, a female murder detective that hasn't really solved any big murder cases yet. She is newer to the murder squad and being the only female means she is a target for immature bullying and sexual advances. She is in the right place at the right time when her very first murder investigation gets handed to her. It seems like an open and shut domestic violence case, but after digging a little deeper, something feels off to Conway and her gut leads her to investigate further.
The Trespasser was such a ride. It takes a lot for me to he surprised by twists and turns in a mystery novel because I have read so many. Half ews at through this book I gave up guessing and just enjoyed the ride. The way this novel unraveled was to enticing I couldn't stop listening to it from the 50% mark on. I loved Detective Conway's character. She was somehow both straight forward and baffling complex at the same time. I felt entrenched in Conway's mind and in sync with her reactions. I haven't been this lost in a character in such a long time.
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Amanda and Clay are enjoying all of the frivolity of a vacation in the Long Island countryside with their two children, when a knock at their rented Air BNB changes everything for the worse. The owners of the Air BNB, Ruth and George, return to the doorstep of their home with news of a blackout across New York city and a request to be allowed back into the guesthouse portion of their home to stay and wait things out. Televisions, cell phones and even the radio are not working and there is no way for Amanda and Clay to verify the information the homeowners have presented. A very reluctant Amanda and Clay allow Ruth and George to stay with them as things begin to unravel around them.
This was such a quick, ominous read. The idea that something is happening in the world without the information needed to protect yourself or your loved ones from it is terrifying. I was discussing this book with a friend who HATED it, and midway through our talk I realized that we both had different expectations of what this novel would be going in. She had assumed it would be a "disaster novel" detailing exactly what disaster had occurred and how it effected the world and its population as a whole. You should know up front, that this is not a disaster novel.
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
Evvie Drake has decided to leave her husband. Evvie waits until her husband leaves for work and begins packing the car and then her phone rings. Her husband was in a horrible accident and may not make it. Evvie is left with the complicated guilt and grief of leaving her husband while he was in a horrible wreck. In a small community she grew up in, it is difficult for her to work through these feelings in any kind of authentic way.
I think this wins for one of the best opening scenes of a book I have read in awhile. I immediately knew I would have to read the book all the way through after the first chapter. What a way to start off a book. It felt almost like a dark comedy in the beginning because of the way things unfolded. A lot of times with any book in the lighter "romance" genre the plot sucks me in but halfway through I am a little bored with the cliche characters and a very predictable plot line. This was not the case for Evvie Drake Starts Over. I was really invested in Evvie's journey from the beginning. The writing was elevated more than I would expect for something with a tantalizing plot.
Crosshairs by Catherine Hernandez
Crosshairs follows Canada in the wake of a "Reconstruction". A world leader has sewn seeds of terror and promises of violence at the hands of those who look and identify differently from the rest of the community. His solution? Round up everyone that does not fall in the superior category of white and straight. The people outside of these parameters are labeled "Others" and are rounded up to be imprisoned in work camps. We meet our main character Queen Kay, a Drag Queen on the run from the government's enforcers. He hides in the basement of someone he hopes he can trust to keep him hidden and nourished.
Never Have I Ever by Joshlyn Jackson
Amy lives a contented life with her baby Oliver, her step daughter Madison and her appropriately cautious husband Davis. She is a good friend and excellent wife. Amy's idyllic life is interrupted when a new mom in the neighborhood moves in. This new neighbor seems to know more about Amy's secret past than any of her closest friends and family. Amy will do anything to keep her past hidden, and this new stranger is banking on that desperation!
Non Fiction
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
This book was not what I was expecting, but in a positive way. I was kind of expecting a classic preachy "self help" book, but what I got instead was a truly vulnerable look at a therapist's patients, and her own therapy journey. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone did a lot of work to humanize the therapist by putting her own personal struggles on display. It was a unique read because the chapters switched from her personal experience in therapy as a therapist, to her patients journey in therapy. The same way I "root" for characters in a fictional narrative, I rooted for her patients. Her patients humanity and vulnerability mirrored my own and that encouraged me and helped me way more than a self help book on this topic would have.
Untamed Glennon Doyle
It is really hard to summarize Untamed because it encompasses soooooo much! She lays the ground work for becoming Untamed in the areas of our life where we have shrunk ourselves down in an attempt to feel safer, more comfortable and a greater measure of belonging. She clearly lays out what it looks like to walk in that Untamed-ness, and then she explores every aspect of her own life and experience and applies the lessons of Untamed living there. I hope that made sense because that is absolutely the very best I can do. The content here is expansive!
Fierce Free and Full of Fire: The Guide to Being Glorious You by Jen Hatmaker
I don't think I could ever encompass my great love and respect for Jen Hatmaker in one little book review, but I feel like I would be letting her down if I didn't at least try. Reading Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire felt like I was facing her on her living room couch, both of ours legs crossed and knees touching. It felt like a personal conversation. Sometimes that conversations was advice only a mother would reiterate. Even though she KNOWS that you KNOW, she just had to say it one more time because it is important to her. Sometimes the conversation was hard and unrelenting in both passionate intensity and tender love.
When I read Jen Hatmaker's books I feel like she understands women better than anyone and as a result reading her books give me the fleeting experience of being understood as a woman in the world. That fleeting feeling is something I experience intensely when I am with other women that I love and would die on any hill anywhere for, but experiencing the warm hug of being known by picking up someone's writing is something I think only Jen could cultivate so successfully.
Vagina Problems: Endometriosis, Painful Sex and other Taboo Topics by Laura Parker
I have followed Lara Parker on Buzzfeed for awhile now. She was one of the only voices I was readily able to access when I received my very own Endometriosis diagnosis. I have so much respect for the way she showed up and offered her own life experience with vagina problems. I know I am not alone when I say that reading her articles made me feel less isolated in a time when isolation and I were very familiar with each other. At the time of my diagnosis, there were no other voices in the community openly discussing what I was experiencing and I will always be grateful to her for showing up in such a vulnerable way, to discuss something so personal.
I say all of that to convey how important it is for books like this one to be out in the world. When I turned to books from other people's perspective on living with endometriosis shortly after my diagnoses, I found none. Instead, I found a lot of medical journals that I read and understood about 20% of the text. The lack of material out there on something that 1 in 10 women suffer from is astounding to me. This fact alone makes Parker's book an important, timely read.
How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
In Ibram Kendi's Book How to be an Antiracist, Kendi details and gives words and examples to what it truly means to be an antiracist. The power of his work comes from the way he defines racism, racists, racist systems and racist policies in a clear undeniable way.
Kendi has a PhD in African American Studies, so going into this book, I had the expectation that it would be pretty academic. It definitely was in some ways but the thing that took me by surprise, was the way Kendi shared so much of his life with the reader. This vulnerable sharing created a incomparable blend of personal memoir and academic non-fiction. The gift of Kendi's honesty felt profound to me as a reader. Kendi asks readers to do a very difficult thing in How to be an Antiracist. He asks us to scrutinize ourselves for racist ideas we hold consciously and unconsciously and investigate how those racist ideas have led to our personal support and uplifting of racist policies. Kendi has not asked us to self-reflect so intensely without first scrutinizing himself, his upbringing, and his own community. I cannot imagine opening myself up in that personal of a way in a book that would be out there for all to see. I assume that the cost was high and that should not be taken lightly by anyone reading this book. In paying that cost, he showed readers that you cannot pursue antiracist work without losses or taxing of some kind. Kendi did not have to be this vulnerable to prove his points valid and true but I am so grateful for the gift of his rawness.
Like Brothers by Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass
In this beautifully-creative memoir, two brothers share with readers what it has been like to be so close as brothers from their childhood all the way into adulthood. They share the behind the scenes experiences of what went into the, acting, directing, producing and writing of some of the most emotionally raw visual art out in the world. The vulnerability Mark and Jay share with each other is re-created so authentically in the back-and-forth dialogue and carefully constructed emails they send to each other when things feel "off" in their creative process and/or their relationships.
I have to start this off by saying YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO LISTEN TO THIS ON AUDIOBOOK. My favorite kind of books to listen to on audio are ones where I feel the narration adds to the experience of the book. Like Brothers is the definition of this. The audiobook isn't read so much as it is acted out by both brothers and I would have missed out on so much of the quirky energy of this book if I would have read it with my eyes instead of my ears.
Shit, Actually by Lindy West
Never have I ever laughed this hard while reading a book since reading Allie Brosh's book Hyperbole and a Half.
I requested Shit, Actually from the publisher because I trust Lindy West to make me laugh-- and reading Betty was bumming me out big time. I knew I needed a laugh. What I didn't expect was reading this in the dark, on my kindle, shaking the bed with laughter, while my husband sighed next to me in resigned frustration. This is a deep belly laugh, tears streaming down your face, laugh whenever you think of it, kind of read! Don't we all need that right now??? Yes, yes we do.
Shit, Actually is a collection of movie reviews that West wrote for famous, hyped movies such as; Speed, Faceoff, The Lion King, Harry Potter, Twilight etc. I can't even put my finger on what specifically got me so hard in the laughs. I think what worked overtime to keep me laughing, was a combination of her spiritual gift of finding plot holes in places most people have just accepted and her ability to shed light on problematic themes in the name of entertainment.
The Beauty In the Breaking by Michelle Harper
Michelle Harper's The Beauty in Breaking is an honest depiction of the obstacles Michelle has encountered as a Female Person of Color working as an Emergency Room Physician. This unique memoir has presented the reader with some fascinating cases she has witnessed in the ER, along with the beautiful respite she has found in her spiritual practices.
Medical Memoirs are like brownies, I can never get enough even when I'm not sure if I can stomach the entirety of what is offered up. I first discovered my love for medical memoirs after reading Paul Kalanthini's When Breath Becomes Air. Much like When Breath Becomes air, this book was well balanced in both fascinating medical details and the spiritual practices and groundings that the physician's participate in to heal from the hard work of being a healer.
Can't Even: How Milennials Became the Burnout Generation by Helen Peterson
This book started out as an article with the same title authored by Helen Petersen. I read the article so many times when I first saw it's title because it rang so true and felt so incredibly validating! When I saw there was a book, I went and requested the ARC as quickly as I could.
So much of this novel resonated so deeply with me. I found myself compulsively nodding my head along in agreement, and then shaking my head in disbelief! The chapter on millennial parenting, I read 3 times over. If you have been around me at all this year, I have probably found some unnatural segue to bring this book into the conversation. It is something I want to read again to fully absorb all of it. I found this book to be both educational and morbidly entertaining-- it felt entertaining at the cost of my generation which makes for a funny-because-its-true sense of entertainment, rather than a funny "HAHA" kind of entertainment.
Comentários