In between all of the binge eating, day drinking, and walking back and forth from couch to kitchen, I also did a good amount of reading in 2020.
Here are my 10 most fave reads from the year of quarantine! In no particular order, because chaos is the organizational mascot of 2020.
1. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi: This actually was the #1 book I read last year so props to me for having some kind of method to my madness. Homegoing is raw, hard, and necessary. It chronicles two Ghanian half-sisters living parallel lives in the 18th century, then follows their respective descendants through 8 generations. Homegoing awakened my soul to the human stories of slavery and how intergenerational trauma manifests itself decades beyond what one might imagine.
2. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah: Another tale of two sisters, this time set during WWII France. A life at war, especially as a woman holding down the homefront in her husband’s absence, is so foreign to me. The Nightingale, despite its storyline of heartbreak and evil, celebrates the most venerable qualities of women: grit, resilience, courage, and hope.
3. The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare: Leave it a 14 year old Nigerian girl to knock me to my knees in awe and gratitude. Adunni traverses her coming of age journey with faith and fortitude. Her commitment to education (and books!) at any cost (and there were brutal prices to pay) sears us with heartbreak and inspiration at the same time.
4. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid: TJR is definitely a consistent fave (um hi, Daisy Jones and the Six anyone?) and this unexpected story of a Hollywood legend does not disappoint. Jenkins’ tell-all memoir of Evelyn Hugo pushes so many boundaries of time and gender, perfectly mirroring the fire and grace of Evelyn herself.
5. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead and This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger: I’m giving you 2 for 1 here. You’re welcome. It seems almost fantastical to think about large groups of young children being shipped off to work camps/schools for boys/glorified prisons. But these novels are based on real American history. They’ll break your heart for the children who knew abuse and death and growing up too fast. And make you sigh with relief that your kids aren’t doing so bad after all.
6. The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson and The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes: Another 2 for 1. Ooops, I did it again. Mobile libraries in 1930s Kentucky? It’s a thing. Packhorse librarians facing the unimaginable in the often unpassable roads of Appalachia? To deliver worn out books to even more worn out people? Totally a thing. These unique yet synchronous stories showcase the indefatigable human spirit and the imeassurable gift of literacy.
7. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris: I wouldn’t last a day amidst the brutal inhumanity of a Nazi concentration camp. Let alone two and a half grueling years of horrors. But Lale not only survives, dare I say he thrives. He finds love, redemption, friendship, courage, and the will to persist amidst the greatest atrocities imaginable. I’m definitely looking forward to the sister novel Cilka’s Journey!
8. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr: Suffice it to say I have zero interest in experiencing any kind of war outside the confines of a novel. And even then, it’s 50/50. Blind French girl. Young German soldier. One human race. All the feels.
9. A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum: The silence of oppressed women speaks volumes. It was hard to find hope in Isra’s story, but easy to find lessons. The violence and despair of life as an Arab woman in an unjust patriarchy is as senseless as it is infuriating. A tragic, important narrative.
10. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones: Sometimes life isn’t fair and love isn’t enough. And sometimes life is cruelly unjust and love is painfully complicated. Roy’s 5 year imprisonment for a crime he didn’t commit pushes the boundaries of resilience, loyalty, and our warped system of justice. You’ll question all of it, and hopefully–in the spirit of Roy and Celestial–be better for it.
There are a lot of things from 2020 that I happily let go of, but reading good books isn’t one of them!
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