My 10 favourite books of 2020
A small pile of books - I don’t have many these days since I do most of my reading on my Kindle
This year has been a particularly good reading year for me, perhaps my best one ever, both in terms of quality and quantity. I started 2019 wanting to increase the number of books I read and now, at the end of 2020, I can say that reading has become a solid habit (more on how I made this happen in a future post). Now, not a day goes by that I don't read. We are just about to leap into 2021 and I have completed 44 books. I am very happy with this number, and I feel that reading so many books has helped me learn so much about the world and myself, and has inspired me in countless ways.
In the following I have given a brief description of my 10 favourite books of 2020 and why I liked each one. Then I have quoted some small snippets so that you can get a feel for the author's writing style firsthand. I hope that this encourages you to check out the titles that spark your interest.
So, here are my 10 favourite books of 2020 (in no particular order):
"Peace Like a River" Leif Enger (Fiction)
This was one of the first fiction books I read in 2020, and it set the stage for a high standard. This is a beautifully written story about a boy named Reuben (our narrator) and his father and sister, who go on a journey to find Reuben's older brother who has fled after committing a crime (I won't spoil the plot by revealing anymore here). It is gritty and heavy, but also light and gorgeous all rolled into one.
Beautiful lines:
"Anyone could hear her voice was worn to the contours of apology."
"But these activities - whining about what's fair, begging forgiveness, hoping for a miracle - these demand energy, and that was gone from me. Contentment on the other hand demands little, and I drew more and more into its circle."
"Becoming" Michelle Obama (Memoir)
I had been wanting to read this for a long time before actually picking it up. I knew that it had been received well and was highly recommended, but I didn't know whether that was going to turn out to be all hype. Well, it wasn't hype. I loved this memoir by Michelle Obama. It was written in a chronological order, covering her childhood, adulthood, meeting Barack, their time in the White House, and then ending with a brief epilogue portraying their post-White House lives. It was extremely readable, honest, and personal. I loved getting a fly-on-the-wall insight into the life of someone who is so highly respected and who has done so much good for the world.
Quotable lines from the book that I love:
"The lesson being that in life you control what you can."
"I see it [the idea of becoming] as forward motion, a means of evolving, a way to reach continuously toward a better self. The journey doesn't end."
"Rules of Civility" Amor Towles (Fiction)
This is a story about two women who meet a man in a bar on New Year's Eve of 1937. This chance encounter leads them to all sorts of adventure, love, and loss. It is written in simple, yet evocative language, and the dialogue is right on point.
Line that has stuck with me:
"As a quick aside, let me observe that in moments of high emotion - whether they're triggered by anger or envy, humiliation or resentment - if the next thing you're going to say makes you feel better, then it's probably the wrong thing to say."
"A Gentleman in Moscow" Amor Towles (Fiction)
After loving "Rules of Civility" so much, I decided to also read "A Gentleman in Moscow". I think I enjoyed this book even more so. In this story, we follow the aristocrat Count Alexander Rostov, who in 1922 (and the beginning of the novel) has been sentenced to house arrest in a hotel in Russia. Once I got past the Prelude, and got into the story, I fell in love with the Count. He was such a funny character, with so much charisma and wit, that it was even more devastating whenever things went awry.
Quotable life lessons from the book:
"...imagining what might happen if one's circumstances were different was the only sure route to madness."
"...if one did not master one's circumstances, one was bound to be mastered by them..."
"by the smallest of one's actions one can restore some sense of order to the world."
"Just Kids" Patti Smith (Memoir)
This is one of Patti Smith's numerous memoirs. It didn't come recommended to me specifically - I just happened to see that it was really cheap as part of the Kindle Daily Deal, it got good reviews on Amazon and seemed interesting, so I thought I'd give it a go. The memoir focuses on Patti's relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, but also spans Patti's journey from young beginning artist, to famous singer-songwriter. It was a great story and expertly written (as is expected, it's written by Patti Smith after all).
Line that's stuck with me:
Patti Smith's mother's saying: "what you do on New Year's Day will foretell what you'll be doing the rest of the year."
"This Must be the Place" Maggie O'Farrell (Fiction)
Maggie O'Farrell may just be one of my new favourite authors. Her writing is precise, evocative, and innovative. I think there was not one line in this story that did not read perfectly. This is a novel about a marriage between an ex-famous actress and her second husband. It sounds like a simple story but it is far from it. Each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character (still, generally in the third person), but centres around Daniel, the husband. It is hilarious in parts and devastating in others. The characters felt so alive, and I didn't want it to end. Maggie manages to somehow straddle the mundane and the epic, often in the same sentence.
This was on my to be read list for a long time (after it being reccommended by Anne Bogel), and I'm so glad I finally got to it.
"Goodbye, things - on minimalist living" Fumio Sasaki (Non-fiction)
I read this non-fiction book by master minimalist Fumio Sasaki right at the beginning of 2020. I was going through a phase of minimising my things and I wanted some inspiration, and this book really delivered. I liked his philosophy on minimalism as "an attempt to reduce the things that aren't essential so we can appreciate the things that really are precious to us."
Tips I use now:
Make parting with things a habit. Minimalism is a process and not an endpoint in itself.
Rent instead of own (especially for things you don't use frequently).
"It's actually open space, left empty, that gives us peace of mind."
"Say goodbye to who you used to be."
One in one out rule.
"If it's not a 'hell, yes!' it's a 'no'".
If you've thought about parting with something five times, then discard it.
"Spillover" David Quammen (Non-fiction)
Somehow this book about zoonotic viruses (viruses that have jumped or spilled over from non-human animals to humans, that is) read like fiction. This was definitely topical reading this year - I read it in the early days of the pandemic - and it was incredibly interesting. I have a science background, but this book would also be accessible to non-scientists. David explains any need-to-know jargon in a very simple and accessible manner, and describes events in a story-like manner that keeps you wanting to read for more. It is thoroughly researched: he takes us on a journey from high-security Ebola laboratories, to bat caves, to farms in Australia. At 592 pages, it's a hefty read, but well worth it and it reads like a page-turner. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in infectious disease, or those interested in the history behind many different zoonotic diseases.
"Money School" Lacey Filipich (Non-fiction)
I'm a really good saver, but I've discovered I'm a bad investor, so I read this book to become more knowledgable about investing and how to make the money that I've saved work for me. I didn't really know much about financial independence before reading this book (I'd hear briefly about the FIRE movement, but not in any detail). This book opened my eyes to the possibility of becoming financially independent, and not when I'm old, but quite a lot earlier. Lacey also suggests (and offers some compelling mathematics to prove this) that you can reach financial independence on an average income, stating: "what you keep matters more than what you make". This book was written in a simple and engaging manner. I think I sped through it in two days. It's perfect for the beginner investor or anyone wanting to know more about how to become financially independent.
Some tips I took from this book:
"There are only three rules worth knowing in personal finance: Save. Buy assets. Avoid bad debt."
Renting will generally cost less than buying (up to a point, after which buying may start costing less)
"Delay purchase of non-assets...for as long as you can, or even forever".
"Don't ask, don't get."
"Keep treats as treats."
"Bird by Bird" Anne Lamott (Non-fiction)
A must read for anyone interested in writing. I majored in creative writing as part of my undergraduate degree, and think I learnt more from this book than from my university education in writing. Anne connects her lessons on writing to personal stories and anecdotes. It is extremely readable, but has a lot of substance: covering everything from the writing craft and what it really means to be a writer, to how to actually do it.
Some lessons I took from this book:
"Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts."
Get people you trust to read and comment on your work.
"Writing is about learning to pay attention and to communicate what is going on."
Have you read any of these titles? What were your favourite books of 2020?
Note: This article contains affiliate links. Using these links will not cost you anything, but may give me a few cents or dollars. If you do use an affiliate link - thank you! You are supporting me and my writing.
All of the affiliate links in this article are for the Book Depository - a company that sells books worldwide with no shipping fees. As an expat, this has been a great way for me to access English books at a reasonable price.
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