2020 was a very unusual year for reading. For everyone. When our local public library was forced to close its physical doors in late March, I was motivated to switch to their digital offerings. I had read a few ebooks in the past, but was unimpressed and hadn’t bothered with them for years. Now, for a time, ebooks became my mainstay. Our local independent bookseller, Words Worth Books, was also forced to shut its doors. However, they were soon up and running with a safe collection system via the back door of the store. Select your books online, place your order, pay, and when you come to collect just ring the doorbell and step back six feet until a staff member brings your books to you (wearing a mask, of course). Remarkably, as business after business in Waterloo fell under the weight of the pandemic, our bookstore has survived. So far.
One of the other features of 2020 has been podcasts. One of my favourites is the BBC podcast, A Good Read, in which host Harriet Gilbert and two guests share their selection of a good read and then proceed to have a lively discussion. I’ve picked up numerous excellent suggestions for my reading list from this podcast. One, which rather surprised me, was for a high-concept thriller call The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North, a pseudonym of Catherine Webb. The story was so strange and almost philosophical (despite clearly being a thriller) and all of the participants equally enthused about it. So I put that in my first closed door order at Words Worth Books back in the spring. And I’ve ended up reading all of the Claire North novels over the course of this year. What fun!
Highlights of the year included books by Lily King, Richard Ayoade, Cees Nooteboom, Max Porter, Jess Walter, and Claire North. So, a lot of good books!
As has been my way in recent years, I have written short reviews of each of the books and posted those on LibraryThing.
Stats from my 2020 reading list:
- 49 were borrowed from our public library
- 10 have Canadian authors
- 2 were chosen due to personal recommendation from friends
- 1 was being reread
- 5 are non-fiction
- 19 are ebooks
Books read in 2020 (79):
- Braithwaite, Oyinkan. My Sister, The Serial Killer
- Kawakami, Hiromi. The Ten Loves of Nishino
- Pratchett, Terry. The Bromeliad: Truckers, Diggers, Wings
- Tomes, Susan. Speaking the Piano: Reflections on Learning and Teaching
- Amis, Martin. The Rachel Papers
- Morgenstern, Erin. The Starless Sea: a novel
- Oyamada, Hiroko. The Factory
- Simsion, Graeme. The Rosie Project
- Porter, Max. Lanny: a novel
- Aronson, Elliot and Tavris, Carol. Mistakes Were Made (but not by me): why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions, and hurtful acts
- Strugatsky, Arkady and Boris. Roadside Picnic
- Bank, Melissa. The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing
- Headley, Maria Dahvana. The Mere Wife: a novel
- Nooteboom, Ces. The Following Story
- Han Kang. Human Acts: a novel
- Groff, Lauren. Florida
- Hay, Elizabeth. All Things Consoled: a daughter’s memoir
- Capote, Truman. Breakfast at Tiffany’s and three stories
- Iyer, Lars. Nietzsche and the Burbs: a novel
- Tawada, Yoko. The Emissary
- Gini, Al. The Importance of Being Funny
- Alexis, André. Beauty and Sadness
- Ross, Leone. Come Let Us Sing Anyway and other stories
- Berryman, John. 77 Dream Songs
- St. John Mandel, Emily. The Glass Hotel
- Hammett, Dashiell. The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man, Red Harvest
- Nneka Arimah, Lesley. What it means when a man falls from the sky: stories
- Lim, Thea. An Ocean of Minutes: a novel
- Irani, Anosh. Translated From The Gibberish: seven stories & one half truth
- Evaristo, Bernadine. Girl, Woman, Other: a novel
- O’Neill, Joseph. Good Trouble: stories
- Offill, Jenny. Dept. of Speculation
- Ayoade, Richard. Ayoade on Top
- Sloan, Robin. Sourdough: a novel
- O’Brien, Edna. The Country Girls
- Babiak, Todd. The Empress of Idaho: a novel
- King, Lily. Writers and Lovers: a novel
- O’Neill, Joseph. The Dog: a novel
- Rooney, Sally. Conversations With Friends: a novel
- Smith, Ali. Spring: a novel
- Polek, Nicolette. Imaginary Museums
- Murata, Sayaka. Convenience Store Woman: a novel
- Ford, Richard. Sorry for Your Trouble: stories
- Rooney, Sally. Normal People: a novel
- Vandermeer, Jeff. The Southern Reach Trilogy: Annihilation; Authority; Acceptance
- Choi, Susan. Trust Exercise: a novel
- Offill, Jenny. Weather: a novel
- Barker, Emily Croy. The Thinking Woman’s Guide to Real Magic
- North, Claire. The Sudden Appearance of Hope
- Gailey, Sarah. Magic for Liars: a novel
- Li, Yiyun. Must I Go
- Moshfegh, Ottessa. Death in Her Hands
- Tyler, Anne. Redhead by the Side of the Road
- Bergman, Ingmar. The Magic Lantern: An Autobiography
- Ferrante, Elena. The Lying Life of Adults
- Chiang, Ted. Stories of Your Life and Others
- North, Claire. Touch
- North, Claire, The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
- Choo, Yangsze. The Night Tiger
- Chiang, Ted. Exhalation: stories
- Walter, Jess. The Cold Millions: a novel
- North, Claire. The Gameshouse
- DeLillo, Don. The Silence: a novel
- North, Claire. The End of the Day
- Clarke, Susanna. Piranesi
- North, Claire. 84K
- Evans, Danielle. The Office of Historical Corrections: a novella and stories
- North, Claire. The Pursuit of William Abbey
- Thammavongsa, Souvankham. How to Pronounce Knife: stories
- Dimaline, Cherie. Empire of Wild
- Smith, Ali. Summer: a novel
- Rosoff, Meg. The Great Godden