Review of 2020 Reading Year

 Reading was boosted by the lockdown and 39 books were read, almost half by ‘new to me’ authors. Last year’s gender imbalance was corrected with female authors edging it this year by 20 to 19 and smashing the highlights reel 7 to 3. Though the reading groups closed down in March, two of their five choices make the best-of list. The ‘bookpacking’ reading journey remained stranded in Africa where only one book was added, albeit a cracker.

My ten best reads of the year include regular stalwarts Atkinson and Atwood but mainly were from new-to-me authors. (Month of full review in brackets.)

 

The Museum of You – Carys Bray: Touching tale involving a father and young daughter who are dealing with the loss of a wife and mother in different ways; laced with humour and pathos. (March)

 

Five Quarters of the Orange – Joanne Harris: Sumptuously written twin tracked narrative about a woman running a café in rural France and her childhood exploits under WW2 occupation. (March)

 

The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing – Mary Paulson-Ellis: Another twin tracked story in which a down-at-heel heir hunter unravels an inheritance that goes back to WW1, balancing the comic present with the tragic past. (April)

 

The Martian – Andy Weir: Compulsive and inspirational tale of an astronaut marooned on Mars, using his wits, scientific knowledge, and determination to survive the hostile environment while Earth scrambles to rescue him. (May)

 

The Wall – John Lanchester: Post Brexit, post climate change Britain is protected from immigrants by a wall around the coast, patrolled by young conscripts; dystopian and all too believable. (May)

 

Alias Grace – Margaret Atwood: Fictionalised account of the life of 19^th century Canadian Grace Marks; her emigration from Ireland, her involvement in and conviction for murder, her imprisonment, and subsequent attempts to free her; cleverly and ambiguously told. (June)

 

Born to Run – Christopher McDougall: Fascinating account of the barefoot, ultra-long distance running Tarahumara people of the Mexican Sierra Madre, incorporating nuggets of physiology, anthropology, history, and bonkers feats of endurance. (July)

Big Sky – Kate Atkinson: The latest Jackson Brodie novel meets its high expectations with a cast of brilliant characters, a serpentine plot, and trademark dark humour, all set on the beautiful North Yorkshire coast. (August)

The Wych Elm – Tana French: A young man relates, none to reliably, how a violent robbery sets off a chain of life-changing events that make him re-evaluate relationships; a slow burner that keeps giving to the end. (October)

The Poisonwood Bible – Barbara Kingsolver: Four daughters of an evangelical preacher posted to Congo in 1959 relate, in contrasting styles, how their changed lives move from exasperation and humour to desperation and peril as colonial rule is overturned. (November)