Book Talk #2 - 2020

For the second year in a row, it's the reading list that no one asked for and I am sharing anyway!

It is hard to remember that we had ten full weeks of 2020 before it went to hell in a hand basket. But we did! I started this reading year off strong, knocking off fifteen books in those ten weeks. I zipped through a book per day on my beach chair in Mexico in February. Life was mostly grand. And then on Thursday, March 12, I left the office to work from home the next day, fully expecting to return to my desk on Monday. And we all know how that went. The world locked down and I fled my condo (where it would be just me, myself, and I for an unknowable amount of time) to my parents' beautiful island home.

Throughout my life, I have turned to books for company in times of stress, but this was different. I stopped reading entirely. My attention span was shot. I couldn’t handle anything longer than an Instagram story, the exception being Dr. Henry's daily briefings. And then, after almost a full month, a magical book appeared in the Libby app on my iPad: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I fell headfirst into the story, reading the whole novel in one day. I was rescued from my reading drought.

The rest of the year brought an interesting mix of books sourced from various places: my NYU alumni book club, my Kappa Kovid book club, Reese's book club, recommendations from friends and podcasters, and the always tried and true source - my mom's bookshelf. I read far less fiction than I usually do, leaning heavily on autobiography this year. I drew comfort and perspective from those stories, particularly ones featuring people going through struggles far worse than what we are experiencing in this present pandemic. As a millennial with a master’s degree working in a white-collar corporate management position and being asked to work from home, watch Netflix, and order Door Dash for a year, my frustrations with the pandemic were put into their rightful place. I like to think I maintain a relative grasp on reality and the depths to which my privilege extends, but it never hurts to get a smack in the face from history.

I've listed the full year of books in alphabetical order and loosely classified them by genre. In each section, I highlighted some of the books that stuck out to me more than others for whatever reason. Please enjoy my musings and let me know what books you read this year!


Fiction:
A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Becoming Mrs. Lewis: The Improbable Love Story of Joy Davidman & C.S. Lewis by Patti Callahan
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Hamnet & Judith by Maggie O'Farrell
Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout
Resistance Women by Jennifer Chiaverini
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Swimming Lessons by Claire Fuller
The Cactus by Sarah Haywood
The Grace Kelly Dress by Brenda Janowitz
The Hamilton Affair by Elizabeth Cobbs
The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim

A Single Thread by Tracy Chevalier

As far as historical fiction goes, this is top notch. Set in England in the aftermath of World War I, it’s a beautiful story of a community still reeling from the loss of so many of their young men and one woman in particular, who finds her way out of loneliness through an embroidery group at her local cathedral. As an embroiderer myself, I really connected with how sewing was portrayed as such a central aspect in her healing.
 
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is my favourite book of all time. I re-read it every five years or so and it holds up every time. There is something magical about coming back to the same characters over and over and something new clicks with me every time.
 
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
The Cactus by Sarah Haywood

These were both Reese’s book club picks and could very well be the same novel but for a few small differences in plot points. I read The Cactus second and enjoyed it immensely but was startled at how similar the plots of both novels were so that coloured my experience. I’ve read that The Cactus is being adapted into a film, which makes sense; there is something slightly more cinematic about the characters in it than in Eleanor Oliphant.
 
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

This one is not without controversy, but I found it to be stunningly universal in its emotional scope and masterfully crafted. There are important conversations to be had regarding who has the right to tell certain stories and those centred around this particular writer and piece of work are valid. However, I purposefully did not explore the commentary until after reading the full novel. I wanted to read with an unbiased mind and then go from there. My verdict: this is a gripping piece of fiction. I literally could not put this book down. I read the entire novel in one go, staying up past 2am until it was done, something I don’t think I have ever done before. I could not rest until I knew the main characters were going to be okay.
 
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

This one was also a Reese’s book club pick and man does that woman (and team) know how to select a debut novel to promote. This is perfect contemporary fiction: fantastic characters, an unpredictable plot, and just topical enough to capture a moment in time but avoids proselytizing.
 
Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Another Reese pick and a perfect summer balcony read. Engrossing, electric, and so well written. Highly recommend tearing through this one while sipping your favourite cocktail – pairs well with rock and roll! This will be one to read again.
 
Hamnet & Judith by Maggie O’Farrell

This one is on most of the “Best of 2020” lists and for good reason. Beautifully written, completely surprising, and so so sad.


Non-Fiction:

Autobiography -
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
All That You Leave Behind by Erin Lee Carr
From the Ashes by Jesse Thistle
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance
I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness by Austin Channing Brown
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice & Redemption by Bryan Stevenson
My Grandfather Would Have Shot Me: A Black Woman Discovers Her Family's Nazi Past by Jennifer Teege
Open Book by Jessica Simpson
Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe
The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border by Francisco Cantú
Truth Be Told: My Journey Through Life and the Law by Beverley McLachlin
Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred to Hope by Megan Phelps-Roper
Where the Light Enters by Dr. Jill Biden
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me by Adrienne Brodeur
 
If you told me in January that the two best autobiographies released in 2020 would ones written by Barack Obama and Jessica Simpson, I would have only half believed you. But it’s true! A Promised Land, volume one of President Obama’s memoirs, is spectacular. Thoughtful, funny, eye-opening, and a true pleasure to read. The same can be said for Open Book by Jessica Simpson. For anyone who paid any attention to early 2000s pop culture and has an interest in the values and expectations we force on young women, it is essential reading.

A Canada Reads pick from this year, Jesse Thistle’s memoir From the Ashes is artfully written. It is an eye-popping account of his experience of growing up Métis in Canada and the stunning obstacles he has faced and overcome throughout his life.

I would also recommend Truth Be Told by Beverley McLachlin, a fellow Alberta girl who grew up to be the first female Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. I always count myself lucky that I don’t know who every Canadian Supreme Court Justice is (a blessing that Americans don’t have), but Justice McLachlin is definitely someone we should all know.


History -
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell
First Ladies: The Ever Changing Role, from Martha Washington to Melania Trump by Betty Boyd Caroli
Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda
Mayflower Lives: Pilgrims in a New World and the Early American Experience by Martyn Whittock
The Lives of Tudor Women by Elizabeth Norton
The Temptation of Elizabeth Tudor by Elizabeth Norton
Tudor Women: Queens & Commoners by Alison Plowden

I was completely engrossed by the story of Virginia Hall in A Woman of No Importance. An American spy largely responsible for Allied successes in France during World War II, Hall experienced unthinkable horrors as she planted networks of resistors behind enemy lines. She also had a wooden leg and worked for the CIA after the War!
 
Mayflower Lives was a random pick from the library and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Since I have never taken American history, I only really knew general cultural narratives about the “Pilgrims” and nothing specific about the actual history. It follows the stories of a handful of individual Mayflower pilgrims and was written just a couple of years ago so there is no effort to gloss over encounters with the Indigenous people already living on the land or to glorify the horrors that these people experienced on their mission to set up a utopia for themselves. And these people went through it ALL: fleeing religious persecution in Europe, travelling across the treacherous Atlantic Ocean, and then watching the majority of their party die around them on the regular for the rest of their lives. If it wasn't disease, it was the frigid weather. If it wasn't weather, it was childbirth. If it wasn't childbirth, there was a chance of making it to 40.


Personal Growth & Health -
Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski
Daring Greatly by Brené Brown
Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire by Jen Hatmaker
Mothers, Daughters, and Body Image: Learning to Love Ourselves as We Are by Hillary L. McBride
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, & Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel A. van der Kolk
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
 
My favourite book under this genre was ALL OF THEM. Come as You Are is essential reading for any woman interested in the study of intimacy and the way her body and brain intertwine. It is written by the same researcher as Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, which was one of my favourites reads in 2019. Daring Greatly by Brené Brown was a re-read and I will probably read it twelve more times. Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire is the most recent book from one of my favourite thought leaders, Jen Hatmaker. I’ll probably read it twelve more times as well. Mothers, Daughters, & Body Image is quoted frequently in Fierce, Free, and Full of Fire, so it piqued my interest. The Body Keeps the Score was very long, very dense, and should be read by everyone. It explores the somatic experience of trauma and the research and treatments that have been developed to help people over the past few decades. Finally, Untamed by Glennon Doyle lives up to all the hype it has generated online. It’s a quick read but packs a serious, inspirational punch.


Poetry -
Home Body by Rupi Kaur
 
I was disappointed by Home Body. Kaur’s first two collections, Milk and Honey and The Sunflower and Her Friends, were excellent so my anticipation for Home Body was high. I pre-ordered it and everything! And then when it arrived, I read the whole thing in about 30 minutes and was dumbfounded by how little I enjoyed it. The depth of writing demonstrated in Kaur’s first two books was almost nowhere to be found here, with the exception of a couple of beautifully constructed and thoughtful pieces about her father. The rest of it, sadly, read like a collection of inspirational Instagram quotes.


Sociology -
Bachelor Nation: Inside the World of America's Favorite Guilty Pleasure by Amy Kaufman
Can't Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of Little Women and Why It Still Matters by Anne Boyd Rioux
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
 
How to Be an Antiracist is a seminal text of the modern-day civil rights movement. I would recommend going past simply reading the great quotes from Kendi that people like to post on social media; read this book cover to cover. Kendi’s writing is unexpected in many ways, focusing an unblinking eye on the state of racism in America and reveling in nuance that is often thrown to the wayside in favour of inflammatory “us vs. them” statements and righteous anger on social media. Kendi is not afraid to contradict certain narratives that have been deemed socially acceptable, which is refreshing. This book will surprise, encourage, and challenge the assumptions of everyone who reads it.