Books I Read in 2020

More than ever, reading kept me sane in 2020. There has never been a year of my life that more strongly merited an escape from reality for a few blissful hours with a good story. While the pandemic kept me away from public stages, there was a never-ending call for virtual concerts, live-streams, podcast tapings, and recordings - and no one other than myself and my husband to mind our precocious toddler 24 hours a day. (Am I the only person who feels like I cooked about a thousand dinners in 2020?)

Going to the library and picking up hardcovers at second-hand shops were two of my favourite outings that I had to forgo last year. After reading through what I had in the house, I devoured e-books on an ancient iPad, and picked up discount books from BookOutlet.ca (kids’ books are very affordable there too - we occasionally set up our spare room to be a “book store,” so our toddler can get dressed up and go “shop” for books, an activity I highly recommend if you’re stuck at home with little ones).

And so, looking back on the year, I’m continuing my annual tradition of sharing the titles that kept me company through the four seasons, and revealing which ones stuck with me the most.

BOOKS I READ IN 2020

January
The Scribe of Siena, Melodie Winawer
Pachinko, Min Jin Lee
Love In The Time Of Cholera, Gabriel Garcia Marquez

February
The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Dutch House, Ann Patchett
The Postmistress, Sarah Blake
All The Ways We Said Goodbye, Williams Willig White

March
The House at Riverton, Kate Morton
Peony In Love, Lisa See
Mother Of Pearl, Melinda Haynes

April
Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
Bel Canto, Ann Patchett
Brown Girl Dreaming, Jacqueline Woodson
Midnight Bayou, Nora Roberts
Me Before You, Jojo Moyes

May
After You, Jojo Moyes
The Miniaturist, Jessie Burton
The Forgotten Garden, Kate Morton
Girl in the Blue Coat, Monica Hesse
Everything I Never Told You, Celeste Ng
The Stars Are Fire, Anita Shreve

June
Silver Bay, Jojo Moyes
The Light of Paris, Eleanor Brown
Paris For One, Jojo Moyes
The Wildling Sisters, Eve Chase

July
The Shoemaker’s Wife, Adriana Trigiani

August
Dreams Of Joy, Lisa See
Throw Down Your Shadows, Deborah Hemming
The Horse Dancer, Jojo Moyes
The Last Grand Adventure, Rebecca Behrens
Honeymoon In Paris, Jojo Moyes
Night Music, Jojo Moyes

September
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
Ship of Brides, Jojo Moyes
The English Wife, Lauren Willig

October
The World of Tomorrow, Brendan Mathews
The Money Tree, Chris Guillebeau
The One Plus One, Jojo Moyes

November
All The Stars In The Heavens, Adriana Trigiani

December
Her Last Flight, Beatriz Williams

MY FAVOURITES OF 2020

I read Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto at the start of the pandemic, and although the story is set in a time, place, and situation that is very unfamiliar to me, it felt so starkly parallel to our lockdown experience that it was challenging to read - a group of hostages held in a residence, with supplies commuted in from the outside world, with armed rebels a reminder that you might not get out alive. Fortunately, the rebels turned out to be a lot more merciful than the thing that’s been keeping us holed up at home in 2020.

I was mesmerized by Lisa See’s Peony In Love, set the 17th century China, and the surreal journey of a lovesick maiden authoress in the afterlife, trying to connect with the man who was meant to be her husband, while wandering the earth unseen as a hungry ghost. It felt like the root of an ancient wound, an origin story for the self-destructive instinct of creative people, particularly young ones.

The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve was an incredible harrowing story of a woman’s survival amidst an onslaught of unthinkable tragedies and was impossible to put down. And there’s a musician love interest, so, you know me, I’m sold.

I adored both of Adriana Trigiani’s books that I read this year - The Shoemakers’ Wife and All The Stars In The Heavens, and I ended up writing songs about both (at least one of which, I hope to release in 2021). All The Stars In The Sky especially gutted me because Trigiani has a propensity for carrying her stories through until the death of her characters, and all the unrequited loves and unresolved feelings were devastating - and then I found out it was based on a true story, which actually ruined my day.

It was a special joy to read Deborah Hemming’s first novel Throw Down Your Shadows, which takes place in and around the wineries of my homeland, the Annapolis Valley of Nova Scotia. In a year when I desperately wanted to go home and couldn’t, I was grateful to have Throw Down Your Shadows to transport me there, floating down the Gaspereau on a King of the River tube, cliff-jumping at Three Pools, and cycling the dusty back roads. I ought to have savoured it more and made the “visit” last longer, but I couldn’t resist devouring this book and became a complete grouch if anything (or anyone) tried to pry this book from my hands.

Lastly, A Tree Grows In Brooklyn by Betty Smith lingered with me, first published in 1943 and depicting the harsh realities of an impoverished childhood in one of the world’s greatest cities. So many vignettes stuck with me - eating a raw potato because it was cheaper than an apple; nailing a mangled tin can to the closet floor for a secret savings bank; throwing away a full cup of coffee because it was the only “luxury” that one could afford.

I wish I could write blurbs for all of the books on my list, but my toddler is stuffing Duplo blocks into her milk-soaked pyjamas so I should probably hit “publish” and go enjoy the day.

Happy new year, and happy reading in 2021!