Phew, what a year! Like many, I’ll be glad to see 2020 in the rear view mirror. But despite the pandemic, or more likely because of it, I was able to pack more reading into my life. Some truly amazing books were published this year and there’s no doubt the darkness of lockdowns and isolation have been a time of great creativity for some. Not me, but for some. Although I didn’t get a lot of writing done, I’m not going to beat myself up about it. We’ve all responded differently to this new reality and I’ve struggled to regain my creative mojo. Instead I wanted to get lost in the stories of others. Here are the books of 2020 I filled my reading time with. Some were old favourites I came back to again, some were just old but new to me. Some were read for research purposes and some were recommended by fellow readers. Some were picked up and put back down. But always, they entertained, educated, inspired and lifted me up. My favourite fiction of the year: Stones From the River by Ursula Hegi My favourite non-fiction of the year: in Extremis: The Life & Death of War Correspondent Marie Colvin by Lindsey Hilsum The book I recommend most: American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins The book I couldn’t put down: My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell The other contenders: Where the Crawdads Sing by DeliaOwens The Body in Question by Jill CimentTruth Be Told by Beverley McLachlin Atomic Habits by James Clear The Swiss, the Gold & the Dead by Jean Ziegler The Hidden Child by Camilla Lackberg The Boy Who Couldn’t Die by Rick Gillis Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid Dual Citizens by Alix Ohlin Under Occupation by Alan Furst In Extremis: The Life & Death of War Correspondent Marie Colvin by Lindsey Hilsum Shrewd: A Wry and Closely Observed Look at the Lives of Women & Girls by Elizabeth Renzetti Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Less by Andrew Sean Greer A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul The Old Man Who Read Love Stories by Luis Sepulveda Stones From the River by Ursula Hegi Fortune’s Rocks by Anita Shreve The Midwife of Venice by Roberta Rich Art Lessons by Katherine Koller The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan The Library Book by Susan Orlean The Day the Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan The Godmother by Hannelore Cayre An Anonymous Girl by Greer Henricks & Sarah Pekkanen My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell Successful Aging by Daniel J. Levitin Catch & Kill by Ronan Farrow Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew Sullivan American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins Keep You Close by Karen Cleveland Lampedusa by Steven Price Come From Away by Genevieve Graham The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides Cottonmouths by Kelly J. Ford The Traitors of Camp 133 by Wayne Arthurson Snare by Lilja Sigurdardottir Tangerine by Christine Manganese Figment by C.W. Johnston The Shadow Killer by Arnaldur Indridason The Good German by Dennis Bock The Swap by Robyn Harding The Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump by Kate Anderson Brower Three Women by Lisa Taddeo A Good Neighbourhood by Therese Anne Fowler Dear Evelyn by Kathy Page No Great Mischief by Alexander MacLeod All We Left Behind by Danielle R. Graham The Ash Garden by Dennis Bock Housekeeping by Marilynn’s Robinson The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel Seven Lies by Elizabeth Kay My Cousin Rachel by Daphne du Maurice El Jefe, the Stalking of Chapo Guzman by Alan Fever The Last High by Danielle Kalyan’s The Chair by Rick Gillis The Last American Man by Elizabeth Gilbert This Christmas might look less cheery than usual, but I hope you can find some small pleasures in the season. Take advantage of this window of less festivities and grab yourself some reading time. Maybe Santa will leave a book or two under your tree. Merry Christmas my friends and thanks so much for allowing me to bring my reading & writing thoughts into your day. If you know anyone who might be interested in my blog, please pass it along and ask them to subscribe so they can get it straight to their inbox. There’s a vaccine coming. Take it when it’s your turn. Keep wearing your mask and washing your hands. Above all, stay hopeful. In the meantime, happy reading! Joni
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