The Books I read in 2020

A list and brief review of every book I read in 2020

Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller

A bit weird, but good. An unmarried older teacher writes her version of the story of a colleague’s sexual liaison with a pupil, but the book is really about the loneliness of the older teacher.

The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing

Wonderful sense of place and time (colonial Africa) and the pyschological destruction that farming in that environment caused. Also a story about power, race and patriarchy. Brilliant.

Richard Nixon (Hourly History Series)

Useful basic.

The Only Plane in the Sky, the Oral HIstory of 9/11 ed. by Garret M Graff

Harrowing first person accounts, including somewhat farcical movements of President George W Bush. Felt sorry for the guy who helped to ensure that one of the hi-jackers got on the ‘plane.

Supersad True Love Story by Gary Shteyngart

Easy-to-read dystopian near future. Love story aspect is unremarkable, but the imagined dystopia is coherent.

My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Easy-to-read tale of the relationship between two sisters, one beautiful.

Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders

Second time I read this, so I understood better what was going on. The wee cameos of the ghosts and their reasons for not passing are fabulous. Plot is a bit too magical, but the link to historical reality helps root it. Definitely one of the best books I’ve read in the last couple of years.

Graceland by Bethan Roberts

Well-written and easy-to-read fictional (but based on facts) portrayal of the relationship between Elvis Presley and his mum Gladys.

The Valley at the Centre of the World by Mallachy Tallace

Lovely, gentle book with very strong sense of place about a hamlet in Shetland and the people that live there.

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty

Starts very slow (I nearly gave up) but turns into a really exciting and engaging story of manly men driving cattle through a hostile wilderness. I found this thrilling to read, but the violence and gruesome accidents were so horrible and regular that it was almost upsetting.

Ma’am Darling by Craig Brown

Cheerful, gossipy biography of Princess Margaret.

Neither Wolf Nor Dog by Kent Nerburn

White guy drives about with an indigeneous American and writes down what he says. Interesting.

A Broken Hallelujah by Liel Liebovitz

Overintellectual biography of Leonard Cohen looking at key themes in his life and work.

Michael Collins; a Biography by Tim Pat Googan

Detailed and dull, with more facts than literary flair or thematic analysis.

Kickback by Val McDermid

Convoluted fraud/property crime story. A bit hard to follow.

Margaret Thatcher, Volume 3, Herself Alone by Charles Moore

Authoritative biography concludes, with fascinating insights into remembered political eveents. There’s a sadness to it all.

The Little Red Chairs by Edna O’Brien

Forced myself to finish this, but did not enjoy it. A series of unlikely events propel a rambling plot.

Unfollow: A Journey from Hatred To Hope, Leaving the Westboro Baptist Church by Meghan Phelps-Roper

An interesting and thoughtful memoir of a spiritual journey and its costs.

The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

Brilliant of course, although the shock of coming to an understanding of what Gilead was and how it worked that was so good about The Handmaid’s Tale obviously isn’t there. The plot also felt a bit wonky — why bother to smuggle Baby Nicole into Gilead simply for her to return? There had to have been a simpler way to get the information out.

Perfume, the Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind

Weird book, with sometimes straying over the line between ‘magical’ and ‘silly’. The descriptions of smells are sensual, rich and vivid. The plot, based on multiple murders of young women, was less appealing.

The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

Thought the plot was a bit convoluted. The writing was incredibly descriptive, particularly around home furnishings, but the character’s inner lives were not accessible, with Marlowe’s wisecracks substituting for depth or insight. The sense of place and time was great, but it ultimately felt more like a film written down than a novel.

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Incredibly good book, but themes of darkness and murder in small-town god-fearing America and the psychology of murderers feel over-familiar in 2020 when this type of thing makes up a huge proportion of our cultural products. It all probably felt much fresher when it was first published.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Beautiful novel and short enough to contain its minimal plot about a man and a boy walking down a road following some kind of apocalyptic event or events.

My Year of Relaxation by Ottessa Mossfegh

Really enjoyed this novel about a privileged, self-obsessed 20-something in Manhattan. An orginal frame for a tired theme and I did not see the final pay-off coming.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Basic love story against background of name-dropping and designer clothes. Easy to read but not that interesting.

Dead Beat by Val McDermid

Competend and readable whodunnit.

The Evolution of Everything by Matt Ridley

Entertaining libertarianism using evolution theory to argue against state-led top-down service provision and solutions. I did takeaway and nourish some ideas about the inevitability of most events regardless of individuals in history.

The Hearts Invisible Furies by John Boyne

Started off feeling familiar — dark days in early twentieth century Ireland for unmarried mothers. But the story developed and turned out to be about the isolation and abuse faced by gay men. Good story-telling and easy-to-read. Funny and sad.

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

Vivid characters and memorable ghost-type story set in Thames Estuary around maybe the late 1800s. A bit twee and magical, but good mystery.

The Conviction of Cora Burns by Carolyn Kirby

Coincidence to read two Victorian steampunk goth chick lit books back to back; same motifs of photography, questions about parenthood and dead children. The plot of this is a bit convoluted but overall engagingly grim with workhouses, prisons, lunatic asylums, working in service at the big house and psychological experimentation.

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow

Third read of this (inspired by the release of Hamilton musical on Disney +). Noteworthy how musical glosses over so much, especially his waning years prior to his death when his judgement had become very off.

A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ni Ghriofa

Fascinating book about a woman who is trying to trace the life of a woman who wrote an epic Irish poem. I took from it some ideas and images about the invisibility of women. Striking and unusual.

Scabby Queen by Kirstin Innes

Enjoyed the unapolagetically Scottish female culture and voice, and became very engaged with the characters. I didn’t like Clio Campbell. The jump-about structure of the novel kept me lively and awake. Loved that it included a Women for Indy meeting.

Necropolis by Catherine Arnold

Entertaining light history of death and its associated rituals in London.

His Bloody Project by Graeme Macrae Burnet

Second read of this powerful story about the oppression and poverty of rural Highland life leading to brutal murder.

Pastoralia by George Saunders

Had been reading this off and on and finally finished it. All a bit contrived.

Revolution: A History of England Volume IV by Peter Ackroyd

Well-written history of the 1700s or so in England. Sad that the 1707 Treaty of Union merits so little attention when, for Scotland, it was existential. Lots of good words and phrases, and political and military history mixed well with social and cultural. Enjoyed.

Small Island by Andrea Levy

This was a great book that I fully enjoyed, about the Windrush generation coming to England. The characters were well rounded and full, and the insight into how Jamaicans were treated in what they regarded as the ‘mother country’ felt real. The plot fell off a bit towards the end when Bernard left it India and it all became a little less likely.

The Way We Die Now by Seamus O’Mahony

Always interesting to read medical peoples’ takes on death. This polemic jumps about a bit and is not that well written, but it’s fine.

Confessions with Blue Horses by Sophie Hardach

Average-to-good novel about a woman seeking the truth about her family’s past in Stasi East Germany.

Furious Hours by Casey Cep

Ultimately the three stories (the insurance fraud/voodoo, the lawyer and Harper Lee) just didn’t hang together well enough, with the Harlper Lee portion being disproportionately thin. Some interesting individual parts and attempts to conjure up early 20th Century Alabama.

Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker

Interesting story (non-fiction) of a couple with 12 children, six of whom have schizophrenia and how the search for a gene/cure has developed using family groups. Is it a disease, or is psychosis a symptom of a range of diseases (in the way ‘fever’ used to be considered a disease in its own right)?

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe

Reads like a real period piece, but from a time that I almost remember. Can see why it’s considered a classic because it feels exactly like the kind of book you’d study for a Higher English.

Love’s Executioner by Irvin D Yalom

Psychiatrist’s tales; he’s a pompous, judgemental arse.

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates

Started off really enjoying this because it is so well-written, but the story went nowhere. It’s basically Keep the Aspidistra Flying in 1955 suburban America. The plot is slow and ultimately says nothing.

The Day Diana Died by Christopher Anderson

Not ashamed. Having devoured the new series of The Crown, I wanted a dirty quick top-up fix and this delivered.

Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler

Really enjoyed this. A meddling woman of middle age goes on a car trip with her loving but irritable husband. She means so well, but her tendency to create stories to manipulate situations just keeps making things worse. A small but satisfying character-based story of imperfect lives.

Inheritance by Jenny Eclair

Bought this on Kindle sale expecting menopause jokes, and was pleasantly surprised by richly plotted family saga about a family’s decline and tragedies. Highly engaging and readable.

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Read

The unlikely nature of some of the premises (Why was Briar not already asleep at that time of night, and why, in response to an egg being thrown at your house, would you phone your babysitter to take your child out at that time of night, for example) and the self-consciously modern themes and stances do not distract too much from a lively story-telling voice and strong characters.

The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey

Fabulous story, hung around the hugely imaginative idea of an ancient Carib woman cursed to become a mermaid. The sense of her hundreds of years of loneliness in the sea is beautiful and sad. Her capture, reversion to human, and re-reversion to mermaid in a 1970s Caribbean village is well delivered plotwise. Hugely absorbing and I still feel sad about that poor girl back in the ocean.

A Promised Land by Barack Obama

Obama writes so elegantly this memoir is as absorbing as a good novel. I raced through it. Excellent in terms of describing the necessary compromises of political leadership, but also in contemplating some of the emotional burden of leadership. His processes for considering important decisions and tactics are Washingtonian, but driven by his own strong personal values. Interesting that he chooses Ghandi above others (King, Mandela) as his inspiration.