2020 in Reading

 

According to Goodreads, I read 670 books, which includes some dnfs and comic book single issues so it really isn’t all that impressive.  In this strange year, many of those shorter reads were comics that Image, Dark Horse, Papercutz, DC, and Marvel put up free during the summer.

In no particular order, the highlights (and one lowlight) of the year are below.

Best Books of 2020 – This is a tie.  Memorial Drive by Natasha Trewelany is a gut wrenching memoir about the murder of her mother.  Claudia Rankine’s Just Us came out this year, so I read not only that but the first two books in this loosely defined trilogy of poetry. 

Best Historical Novel – The Blue Fox by Sjon.  This short Icelandic novel isn’t really about a fox.

Best Literature – Girl, Women, Other by Bernardine Evaristo.  This book tied for the Booker with Atwood’s Testaments.  But I think it is the better book.  The style will not be for everyone, but you should give it a try.

The Hype Was Misleading- -  Circe by Madeline Miller.  Nothing against Miller but this is  a bit predictable and while not bad, is not as fresh or innovative as almost everyone was claiming.

Best Comic Book/Graphic Novel – (tie)  Incognergo and Lucy Claire.  Both of these were part of free giveaways by Dark Horse (Incognergo) and Image.  To be more exact, Incognegro: Renaissance.  The comic is a prequel to Incognergo.  The series is about a reporter who travels to the Deep South to report on lynching.  No doubt it is triggering but darn, it is good.  Lucy Claire – what can I say about Lucy Claire?  Go read it now.  I’ll wait. 

 

See, I told you.  Back to the awards.

 

Believe the Hype Award – Speak by Laurie Hale Anderson.  My students raved about this book.  And they were right.

Best Horror -The Graveyard Apartment by Mariko Koike.  This is just, I mean, it is just so good.

Best Current Events Reads – Learning from the Germans by Susan Neiman and No Visible Bruises by Rachel Louise Snyder.  Learning from the Germans is about what America can learn from how Germany dealt with its past in WWII.  No Visible Bruises is about domestic violence.

Most Pleasant Surprise – The Scooby-Doo Team Up books.  Daphne is really well developed in these books, and they were great fun to read.

Most Pleasant Surprise (kindle freebie) – They Talk Different Here by Etienne Toussiant.  This was picked up as a kindle freebie.  Some really lovely poetry.

I Don’t Really Like George R R Martin’s GOT But He Recs Good Books – The Royal Succession by  Maurice Droun.  This is a really good series about France in the middle ages.

Ick Attack Prize- Southern Independence, Why War?.  The fake history book Trump read, if he actually reads.

Free Speech Award – Fight of the Century ed. Michael Chabon.  This book contains essay by various authors about various ACLU cases.

Best Retelling (Children’s) – Ghanaian Goldilocks by Tamara Pizzoli.  Really good adaptation

Children’s Book (tie) – The Opossum Books by Gina Gallois.  Neat books about opossums

                                             Princess Farisai’s Adventure by Nnema Byrd.  This is a very good story about a princess who saves her country.

Good Conclusion to a series – Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel.  Good ending to the Cromwell series.

Fantasy – The Changeling by Victor LaValle.  Seriously, he is one of those writers who deserve all the awards.

NYC Award – Food City by Joy Santlofer.  This history edited to finish after the author’s death, is a good food history of NYC.

Attack on Rape Culture – Ghost Omnibus Vol 1.  Another summer freebie.  Love this series.

WWII Novel – works of Vasily Grossman. Start with Stalingrad

CYOA Award – Spies: Noor Inayat Khan by Rana Tahir.  Part of the CYOA series based on real spies, this was great.

Best Dog Book -BattlePug.  Really funny comic about a Pug that is ridden into battle.

Retelling (general) – John Henry The Steam Age – this comic is a great retelling of John Henry.

Race and Civil War – Denmark Vasey’s Garden by Ethan Kytle.

LGBTQIA – Batwoman and Goldie Vance.  Goldie Vance is great.  Batwoman is fun.

 

US History – Caste by Isabel Wilkerson.  Oprah may have to answer for strange doctors, but several of her book club choices are just spot on.

Bird – Lundi the Lost Puffin by Eric Newman.  Love puffins

Audio Books – Great Courses Edwin Barnhart. Wonderful lectures about Indigenous populations of South America.

Feminist – Entitled by Kate Manne.  Good follow up.

Single issue Comic – Wonder Woman Agent of Peace 7.  Etta Candy starring.

Decameron Project – worth reading.  Short fiction published in the Times Magazine about the lockdown.