Hi friends. I hope this evening edition serves as a nice after-dinner delight.
Below I’ve compiled (and only lightly edited) your favorite reads of 2020, regardless of length or medium! They are in semi-alphabetical order, and I’ve added my own comments with little asterisks (*) and italics.
I obviously miss seeing my friends in person, but I also miss acquaintances and familiar strangers—the folks I used to see every day, maybe made small talk with, but never formally met. With that in mind, I thought you might enjoy hearing from each other; some of you know each other really well or used to keep in touch, but more of you have never met. I hope this edition serves as a digital meet-cute or chance encounter of sorts for you, in addition to giving you a glimpse into the brains of some smart folks.
Thanks again to all who submitted! If your entry is missing from the below, please blame the Google form and not my fragile ego (there were a few entries that came in blank). Let this photo of my neighbor’s cat serve as an apology, and a delightful transition.
Abbey Hendrix said that A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith is the best thing she read this year.
It was nice to get a new perspective of my borough, to see it through the eyes of a first generation American girl with immigrant parents, the day-to-day strains and celebrations. Took me out of 2020 and into a different time that required a lot of courage and strength as well.
*Earlier this year, Abbey let me read a transcribed oral history from one of her elderly neighbors. It was so special to read the story of someone who had lived in New York for a long time and who lived through so many changes, particularly during a year when we all had to adjust to a ~new normal~ (my least favorite phrase by now, I think). I can imagine that might be how it felt to read Betty Smith’s book this year, as well.
Adam notes that this Tweet is the best thing he’s read this year because it “sums up everything about 2020 and America.”
*He’s… not wrong!
Al recommends Bunny by Mona Awad.
In a word, it’s Weird. I love the creepy and unexplainable, maybe fantastical, maybe psychological. Bunny was also the most scathing rebuke of compulsory heterosexuality and exploration of queerness without ever actually being about that at all. I want to go back to school and write an essay about this book.
*I’ve separately had this book recommended to me as a contender for a book that can fill the Donna Tartt-shaped hole in my life. Stay tuned to find out if I agree.
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Al also recommends The Daevabad Trilogy by SA Chakraborty. The series is “a lush Middle Eastern-set fantasy with complex characters that settle close to your heart and never leave. It was my transition from YA fantasy to Adult fantasy this year— very accessible, but increasingly complex and political. The writing conveyed a sense of intensity and urgency that kept me reading late into the night. An excellent series to binge now that it’s complete, each book only gets better!”
Amanda reports that the best thing she read this year is The Captive by Grace Burrowes.
This has been my year of historical romance novels, and while I've read a fair/solid/large number of clunkers (my Goodreads average score can attest), my joy while reading some of my favorites carried me through series after series of tangled family webs, bands of Scottish warriors, and courtly manners. My favorites of these novels, of both the "wallpaper historical" and more historically faithful, have dialogue that snaps character into focus, a sense of seriousness amidst some relatively (un)believable contrivances, and a love story that is developed rather than told through tropes. The Captive checks all those boxes, and throws in a brooding, unsteady, titled war hero and POW who ultimately falls for a complicated widow, and all the requisite scenes of mutual emotional (and sexy) care and comfort. It's hot and butterfly-inducing and pure escapism (f- 2020), and I can't look at an orange without thinking of this book.
There are over 30 books in Burrowes's extended Regency AU, which I will be slowly reading (or more realistically, barreling my way through). I have, however, read the entirety of this spin-off trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed the other two installments.
*This glorious review makes me want to turn 2021 into my own year of historical romance novels. Amanda is a lady of great taste across all genres, though, so I’ll read nearly anything she recommends.
Catherine, whose Weekday Warriors newsletter inspired me to write my own, read several wonderful things this year.
To start, Catherine recommends No Useless Mouth By Rachel Hermann.
A historiography of food diplomacy throughout the early days of the American revolution, No Useless Mouth completely reframed how I think about food in every way. It maps the ways in which food—more specifically, the threat of hunger—has been used as a weapon of war. Knowledge about, cultivation of, and then withholding (or even destroying) of food stuffs were strategies that Native American and Black communities used to carve out spaces of freedom during the period of colonization. The book raises a lot of questions about why the nuances of such a tumultuous period have been largely erased, and how subversion of food as resource has pervaded American history.
As a result of this book, I've been more attuned to ways in which hunger is and is not portrayed in popular "foodie" culture. "Survival Food" by Mayukh Sen for Affadavit gets at a lot of this tension. Incidentally, it's another "best" thing I read this year, and is ultimately what really tilted the dial toward watching more anime (something Anna has been pushing since our earliest days of friendship! :) )
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Catherine also recommends Beach Read by Emily Henry, which is “sexy and smart but also perfect amounts of cheesy. Beach Read is about writer's block and romantic block and family block, all the blocks yada yada.”
*A fabulous review.
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Other favorites from Catherine include "Someday I'll love Ocean Vuong" by Ocean Vuong; Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins, especially "Ghosts, Cowboys;" and the poem “Could I” by Anne Carson.
*Another friend of mine recently noted that Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is one of her favorite books of all time and mentioned that this piece is what inspired her to read more of his work.
Cayde really enjoyed City Of Girls by Liz Gilbert.
Cheri’s favorite books of the year were The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson and Unexampled Courage by Richard Gergel.
Claire A. recommends Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo: “if you're an angry womxn, then this is the book for you.”
*I read this book back in November and found it “maddening, compelling, and deeply familiar.”
Harry’s favorite reads this year include Missionaries by Phil Klay and Memorial by Bryan Washington.
Kasey recommends The Wandering by Intan Paramaditha.
It’s a choose-your-own-adventure novel written by feminist Indonesian witch Intan Paramaditha (translated by Stephen J. Epstein). This year was a huge bummer with the pandemic and travel restrictions and I loved being able to travel through the book, which takes place in Jakarta, Berlin, Los Angeles, wherever your choice takes you.
I'm a big fan of Paramaditha's work, especially her short story collection 'Apple and Knife' -- modern retellings of fairy tales and Indonesian stories in modern, feminist context. I think her books are best read during a summer typhoon when the sky is tinged green and the humidity is at 120 percent.
The 'adventure' novel was my most interactive read of the year and I recommend it to anyone getting antsy and wishing to travel. Just don't make a deal with the devil…
*I’m SO excited to get my hands on a copy of this book.
Kayla recommends The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, noting that it really stayed with her since reading it. You can read her full review on her Bookstagram!
*I also read and really enjoyed this book back in April.
Kelli recommends The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab: “The writing feels like poetry. It’s just beautifully written in a way I can’t do any kind of justice.”
Kelsey recommends Anna K by Jenny Lee.
Linda enjoyed Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe.
* I absolutely did not think she would finish this book, but she did!
Maddy Kessler recommends The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett: “I couldn’t stop thinking about it after I finished it.”
She also recommends the poem “To Redouté” by John Ashbery. “It’s profound yet I have no idea what it means.”
Manna’s favorite book of the year was Homegoing: A novel by Yaa Gyasi.
Martini recommends Ted Chiang’s short story, “Anxiety is the Dizziness of Freedom.” He says it’s “a mind-bending story about free will vs. determinism and the importance of kindness and our capacity to change the path we think we're on.”
*I can confirm Martin’s enthusiasm for this short story. He recently read two collections by Chiang, including Exhalation and Stories of Your Life and Others, and adored both to the point that he gave me full recaps of their contents. Chiang is also the author of the story that inspired the Jeremy Renner classic, Arrival (2016).
He also recommends Revenge by Yoko Ogawa, which we both read over the summer and are still obsessed with.
Mel Davidoff recommends this incredible New York Times article: “In a joyless year, one of several things that has brought me joy is this bizarre prank involving a mural of Cookie Monster.”
Naresh, who is currently looking for page-turners and psychological thrillers to read, really enjoyed Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell this year.
Sarah Rosenblatt recommends Blue Highways by William Least Heat-Moon.
It's a book about a guy who decides to put his life on pause (in 1979) and drive 13,000 around the US. The catch is that he avoids interstates, traveling through tiny towns. It's a wonderful chronicle of his journey, the people he met, and the things he saw. I found myself following closely along his route on google maps. It ended up being a fun and nostalgic way to "travel" during the pandemic (and like, totally not in a sad way).
Scott’s favorite books of the year include The Dry by Jane Harper; Cuisine Rapide by Pierre Franey; The Heart of Rock and Soul by Dave Marsh; and The Best Short Stories of Ring Lardner, in particular “The Golden Honeymoon.”
*I also enjoyed The Dry quite a bit when I read it earlier this year, and “The Golden Honeymoon” is hilarious in its timelessness.
Steven Rodas, who wrote about The Glass Hotel for a July edition of this newsletter, recommends Karl Ove Knausgaard’s A Man in Love (Book 2 of ‘My Struggle’ series).
For once I escaped into a book (and really the whole 6-part series) for the normal rather than the fantastic.
A brief synopsis: Norwegian writer writes about writing and living for 3,600 pages.
That’s pretty much it.
While tumult unfolded around me and work didn’t make things easier, I joined a Norwegian writer making coffee, looking at the mountains and driving his car. It was a simple and welcome reprieve from the pandemic. And while some critique Karl Ove for his pretentiousness, I was enraptured by his ability to capture detail in the ordinary.
Book 2 more than the others I felt didn’t suffer from the writer’s own tumult - in the form of beleaguered relatives lashing out for just how forthcoming he is in his accounts. I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say later in the series he himself admits he was more open during these early novels. I can tell, and somewhat regret that he couldn’t be siloed from the world for the latter 4 books - granted they each have plenty to savor as well.
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A bonus recommendation from Steven:
Second place for me was Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami (which I went into with no context and you should too).
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PS: Can I say my least favorite? “Ready Player 2” by Ernest Cline.
Uff. @jacobmercy has a scathing thread about it, which almost makes a case for ‘hate-reading’ (if that’s a thing).
*Steven is a king.
Tyler recommends The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman.
I spent a lot of time in 2020 reading histories, specifically tending towards those that can be classified as narratives. The Guns of August gives an excellent portrait of the personalities involved in setting the world on a path to global conflict in the summer of 1914. More than a hundred years on, I think it's easy to see parallels between the motivations of a fading European aristocracy obsessed with prestige and power and some of the political problems that are still faced today. In a year where it was sometimes hard to see a path forward, reviewing the problems of the past gave a cold sort of comfort that there will be a future, even if it won't necessarily be the one we all imagine it to be.
*Tyler might be the guy to get me to read a 500-page war history, given this description.
Zoe recommends the Truly Devious series by Maureen Johnson.
It was just the perfect mix of precocious teen mixed with murder mystery mixed with weird pretentious boarding school. I read this early in quarantine and it was interesting enough to capture my attention and distract me from *gestures wildly* everything.
*I coincidentally also read these during early quarantine and found them really fun. There’s apparently a fourth related book coming out in June 2021, and people are also fully infatuated with Johnson’s Shades of London series, which has similar boarding school murder vibes.
And with that, let’s bid farewell to 2020! I’ll be back again next ~YEAR~ to announce my very own book awards, based on criteria I will be making up as I go along. So long.