Books of 2020
Like most people, I didn’t really go anywhere last year, so I read a lot. Here’s my list of 2020 books:
- Jog On: How Running Saved My Life by Bella Mackie
- This Girl Ran by Helen Croydon
- Running Like a Girl by Alexandra Hemingsley
- Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
- American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
- The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea
- The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
- Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
- Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
- The Miniturist by Jessie Burton
- The Lido by Libby Page
- The Mercies by Kiran Millward Hargrave
- Normal People by Sally Rooney
- My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
- Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
- The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
- The Snakes by Sadie Jones
- Long Bright River by Liz Moore
- Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult
- Over The Top by Jonathan Van Ness
- A Cornish Summer by Catherine Alliott
- Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
- The Blessed Girl by Angela Makholwa
- When Katie Met Cassidy by Camille Perry
- St Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised By Wolves by Karen Russell
- Grit by Angela Duckworth
- How to Break Up With Fast Fashion by Lauren Bravo
- The Girl With The Louding Voice by Abi Daré
- Swing Time by Zadie Smith
- Never Split The Difference by Chris Voss
- Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- 59 Seconds by Richard Wiseman
- Brit(ish) by Afua Hirsch
- Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
I read a lot of non-fiction this year, which is unusual for me, but I really enjoyed it.
It is strange looking back at this list because it is in chronological order and many of the books provoke memories: I was reading Jog On on packed Tube trains to and from work at that time of January when everything is just cold, dark and damp. (I was also getting into my running and fitness at around this time and forcing myself out for runs in the rain.) Queenie was in late February when my husband was in Seattle and I was worried about him travelling because I kept hearing about this “coronavirus”. I was reading The Lido when my wonderful mother in law unexpectedly passed away and two days later we were thrown into lockdown. I read Over The Top in snatches in my garden, on the sunny afternoons when I would stop work and look after our two young children. I got Grit for my birthday and felt hopeful with the beginning of September and childcare settings reopening. Everything started going to shit again during Brit(ish) and well, I’ve just finished Hamnet and the schools have closed and lockdown is back…
What a year.
My top 6 books of 2020 is a difficult cut but after much deliberation it would probably be these beauties (I couldn’t choose between them for a top 5):
- Grit
- Girl, Woman, Other
- This Girl Ran
- Hamnet
- Queenie
- Brit(ish)
Onto 2021 and I am extremely excited about the stack of books I got for Christmas. I’ve just started Natural Born Heroes and it’s fantastic.
What have you been reading?
