Favourite Books of 2020 & Christmas Reading
As the year-end approaches, I like to reflect on the books that left an impression. It’s a constant source of surprise and excitement knowing a life-changing read could be just around the corner, magical and unexpected as snow in July.
90% of this year’s reads were on Kindle.
With bookshops closed most of the year and a certain virus on the loose, I thought e-books the safest option. I’ve embraced the merits of Kindle (no need to sacrifice precious shelf space or hefty tomes falling on my face while reading in bed) and read more books than I did in 2019. 45 in total. Below are a list of my favourites and what I plan to read over Christmas.
Best books of 2020
Fire & Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones
A haunting read that ticked all the right boxes for me. Perfect balance of humour and uncaniness with a heroine that wasn't a clichè 'strong woman'. Some readers found the 'age gap romance' creepy but Polly’s relation to Tom is more one-sided infatuation. It's normal to have a crush on someone older than you at Polly's age, what’s important is that the adult doesn’t reciprocate. The pitfalls of hero worship and what it means to be a hero is a central theme in the novel and Jones is careful to have most of the adult characters suspicious of Tom and shows Tom’s embarrassment resulting from Polly's crush.
It’s difficult to review this strange, charming, nuanced book without spoilers so I’ll end by saying I adored all the literary allusions, Polly’s bold best friend and Diana Wynne’s Jones’ beautiful writing. Oh, the fact it's based the Scottish ballads of Thomas the Ryhmer and Tam Linn only make me love it all the more.
The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk
Does the body remember what the mind forgets? Yes, says Bessel Van Der Kolk (psychiatrist & leader of studies into traumatic stress), to a devastating degree. This is a heavy read, drawing on Van Der Kolk’s experience in treating trauma victims for the past thirty years. Van Der Kolk considers undiagnosed trauma the biggest health crisis of our time and illuminates taboo subjects with clarity and compassion. I had to read it in small chunks. Some may consider this book triggering, others might consider it therapy. I can’t say this is a ‘great’ read but I’m grateful this book exists.
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
I LOVED this book. Eerie, gritty and beautifully written. I loved the girls and their friendships. I loved the moral ambiguities. I loved the weird, primal virus and how it affected each girl differently. Overall very impressed that this is the author's debut - I'll eagerly read anything Rory Power writes next. I only wish I'd read it in paperback instead of on Kindle - I need that beautiful cover on my shelf!
Oh My God, What A Complete Aisling by Emer McLysaght & Sarah Breen
The Irish humour had me in stitches - observant & witty but humane too. There were a few poignant moments that caught me off guard and I didn't expect to relate to Aisling on so many occasions - suppose I'm a country girl at heart, too!
Would recommend this for anyone looking for light escapism. I read bits out loud to my boyfriend and he couldn't stop laughing, so that’s two recommendations for the price of one review 👍🏻
I’m eagerly awaiting the next instalment, which I think has been delayed due to lockdown 😭
Greenvoe by George MacKay Brown
Poetic, mystical and disturbing, 'Greenvoe' tells the story of a doomed community. The narrative follows its inhabitants who are at once fable-like and touchingly real, and at times wanders off into the mists of a character's mind, before circling back, like a ghostly cormorant, to the daily hubbub of Greenvoe.
Is the decline of the island due to Operation Black Star? Or, as the operation only arrives in the final chapter, does the blame lie elsewhere? "It was obvious, of course - even the Welfare Officer admitted that - that the village was moribund in any case, a place given over almost wholly to the elderly, the famous, the physically inept. Black Star merely accelerated the process." And yet there is a sense of injustice. The lives and stories of the islanders accrue, story stacked upon memory upon experience, creating a rich, resonant swansong.
There are many 'moribund' towns and villages in Scotland. Land bought, sold, bulldozed in the name of 'progress'. Is it necessary? What real, long-term benefit do incoming mega-corporations bring to the community? And why are communities themselves complicit in the slow, sad death of an ancient way of life? 'Greenvoe' seems to rail against blind progress (which takes in Reformed religion, too) and celebrates poetry and song as the shared art that ties communities to each other and the land they inhabit.
It's a layered, dreamy, clever novel. Probably, I'm only scratching the surface of its depths. All the more reason dive deeper with future rereads.
Over Christmas I plan to finish a Wilkie Collins ghost story and read a few cosy mysteries from a Christmas short story collection I got as a present last year. If I’m honest I’m still mourning the end of the Lymond Chronicles, which I finished in January, so maybe I’ll end 2020 with a reread!
I’d love to know your Christmas reading plans and what your best reads of 2020 were. Let me know in the comments! ⭐🌙
p.s. I’m on Goodreads & update my reading habits on there more than Instagram if you’re interested in being book buddies.