I read a lot in 2020, I think to distract myself for a few minutes or hours at a time from what was going on in the world around me. Granted, a lot of what I read was heavy and difficult, but I often like reading books that help me grow.
I also attended a lot of book events this year — only one or two in person (the last one was for the launch of Danielle Svetcov’s book “Parked”) and many more online. I appreciated virtual book events because I didn’t have to go anywhere, and I could attend events happening all across the country. Even when we go back to in-person events I hope some live-streaming options will remain available.
If you’d like to follow along with what I’m reading in 2021 and beyond, you can add me on Goodreads. And now, on with the list!
“H is for Hawk,” Helen Macdonald
“You Were Born for This: Astrology for Radical Self-acceptance,” Chani Nicholas
“Fangirls: Scenes from Modern Music Culture,” Hannah Evans
“Open Me,” Lisa Locascio
“Binti #1,” Nnedi Okorafor
“How Not to Let Go,” Emily Foster
“Dog Medicine,” Julie Barton
“Covet,” J.R. Ward
“Parked,” Danielle Svetcov
“The Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skills Workbook,” Matthew McKay, Jeffrey Wood and Jeffrey Brantley
“Our Bodies, Ourselves: Menopause”
“First We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Journey Through Anxiety,” Sarah Wilson
“Insecure in Love: How Anxious Attachment Can Make You Feel Jealous, Needy, and Worried and What You Can Do About It,” Leslie Becker-Phelps
“Death Wins a Goldfish,” Brian Rea
“Blossoms and Bones,” Kim Krans
“Daisy Jones and the Six,” Taylor Jenkins Reid
“Mudlark: In Search of London’s Past Along the River Thames,” Lara Maiklem
“At the Pond: Swimming at the Hampstead Ladies’ Pond,” (anthology)
Water Log,” Roger Deakin
“The Power,” Naomi Alderman
“KTLN,” Alee Karim
“A Black Women’s History of the United States,” Daina Ramey Berry and Kali N. Gross
“Brown Album,” Porochista Khakpour
“Big Girl,” Meg Elison
“Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art,” James Nestor
“Braiding Sweetgrass,” Robin Wall Kimmerer
“Real American,” Julie Lythcott-Haims
“Invisible Gifts,” Maw Shein Win
“Bury Me in Thunder,” Moira J.
“The City We Became,” NK Jemisin
“Wow, No Thank You,” Samantha Irby
“Writing Ourselves Whole,” Jen Cross
“Every Heart a Doorway,” Seanan McGuire
“Gideon the Ninth,” Tamsyn Muir
“Emergent Strategy,” adrienne maree brown
“The Mermaid, The Witch and the Sea,” Maggie Tokuda-Hall
“Axiom’s End,” Lindsay Ellis
“Meeting Faith: The Forest Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun,” Faith Adiele
“She Votes: How U.S. Women Won Suffrage, and What Happened Next,” Bridget Quinn
“The Tower at Stony Wood,” Patricia McKillip
“The Companions,” Katie Flynn
“Resistance,” Tori Amos
“Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and the Revolution in the Americas,” Roberto Lovato
“Find Layla,” Meg Elison
“You Can Keep That To Yourself,” Adam Smyer
“Occult London,” Merlin Coverley
“The Five,” Hallie Rubenfold
“Paranormal London,” Gillian Pickup
“Hench,” Natalie Zina Walschots
“Hyperbole and a Half,” Allie Brosh
“Solutions and Other Problems,” Allie Brosh
“My Grandmother’s Hands: Racialized Trauma and the Mending of Our Bodies and Hearts,” Resmaa Menakem
“Inferno,” Catherine Cho
“Proper English,” K.J. Charles
“The Story of Dion Fortune” (as-told-to)
“Stalking Tender Prey,” Storm Constantine
“A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life,” Ayelet Waldman
“Pagan Britain,” Ronald Hutton
“Maid of the King’s Court,” Lucy Worsley
“My Dark Vanessa,” Kate Elizabeth Russell
“Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema,” Lindy West
“Fat,” Hanne Blank
“What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat,” Aubrey Gordon
“Wired for Love,” Stanley Tatkin
“So You Want to Talk About Race,” Ijeoma Oluo
“Magic Lessons,” Alice Hoffman
“The Body is Not An Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love,” Sonya Renee Taylor
“Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America,” Ijeoma Oluo
“The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You,” Elaine N. Aron