My 2020 book list: Reading in a time of pandemic
The effects of COVID-19 on my reading experience and 10 great books (non-fiction, memoir, and fiction) you should read.
What’s it like to buy books when bookstores are shuttered? The first thought is to the booksellers: the independent, neighborhood institutions that do much more than their name alone implies. In a year like 2020, it was more important than ever — for those of us who are fortunate and have the means — to purchase our reading from these kinds of places.
A welcome novelty was Bookshop.org, “an online bookstore with a mission to financially support local, independent bookstores.” Bookshop distributes its profits to these businesses, which are essential as they enrich their communities and patrons. It is an outstanding alternative to a certain e-commerce giant, and got me reading fodder when smaller stores might not have been able to operate either physically or online.
More than the ability to buy books, the shutdowns also disrupted the other pleasure of book-buying. Going to a bookstore is a pastime; browsing shelves and discovering new authors and titles is something I cherish. I was delighted to set foot in bookstores again and will continue to support them in person and online as local health measures allow. You should, too.
As evidence of my efforts, I read 46 books last year — down slightly from 2019 but not bad for a year full of stressful events, a new job, and less time off than usual. According to my Goodreads list I read approximately 15,500 pages, give or take 40 a day. There’s (almost) no better way to start a morning or wind down an evening than to be in the company of a good book. (I know the same e-commerce giant owns Goodreads, but it’s a concession I make to have my to-read and have-read lists on the go.)
On that note, here are my recommendations based on my scrupulous research. (Plus my suggestions from 2017, 2018, and 2019.)
One book to rule them all
The best-written book that I read this year was Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener. It might be one of the best books I have ever read: Wiener’s memoir of her life in San Francisco’s tech scene is as funny, profoundly introspective, and sharp an analysis of tech culture and tech capitalism as you’ll find anywhere.
You can read my review of Uncanny Valley here, and read the book to find more gems like this:
The presentation that evening was top-shelf: a fireside chat between two venture capitalists. […] It was like watching two ATMs in conversation. ‘I want big data on men talking about big data,’ I whispered to one of the engineers, who ignored me.
Standout nonfiction
The Second World War is a subject that has fascinated me since I was a child, and it’s the single topic on which I read the most. By my count, one in seven books I’ve read in the last four years have been fully or partially centered around this conflict.
This year, I read three excellent histories on the Second World War in Europe. They make good companions for each other, so I recommend them together:
- Catherine Merridale, Ivan’s War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939–1945
- Adam Tooze, The Wages of Destruction: The Making and Breaking of the Nazi Economy
- Nicholas Stargardt, The German War: A Nation Under Arms
I’ll add two memoirs.
Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy is a moving exploration of the inhumanity of the death penalty and mass incarceration in the U.S. It illuminates the continuing pervasiveness of racism in the justice system, the humanity of those who suffer within it, and the ineffable spirit of dedication and compassion that Stevenson and others bring to their fight for justice.
On a lighter note, I recommend Jay Rayner’s My Last Supper. The witty restaurant critic travels through countries, meals, and flavors to compose his ultimate dinner. Prepare to be amused and to have your appetite piqued.
Fiction(ish)
Three books took me, respectively, to a mesmerizing alternate-pandemic reality; to a sci-fi adventure centered on sociology, gender, and sexuality; and on an equal-parts thrilling, satirical, and tragic cross-country spying mission:
- Emily St. John Mandel, Station Eleven
- Ursula K. LeGuin, The Left Hand of Darkness
- Viet Thanh Nguyen, The Sympathizer
And now for something completely different
The following two books weren’t easy to read.
Gabriel García Márquez’s The Autumn of the Patriarch is both a timely read — it deals, literally and figuratively, with the decay of a degenerate tyrant — and one that is hard to follow because of a magical realist style that uses page-long sentences and inconsistent narrators. But it’s worth the effort, and it aptly evokes our reality in the last four years.
Terreur dans l’Hexagone: Genèse du djihad français, by the French scholar Gilles Kepel (published in an updated English version as Terror in France: The Rise of Jihad in the West), was the first book in French that I read since 2013. It was a slog, and though I made it through (with much credit to Google Translate) I can’t say that I understood more than 60% of the author’s arguments, which also seemed repetitive. I think I should dust off my French starting from the good old Tintin and Astérix comics.
The disappointing
Several books I read betrayed positive reviews and my expectations for them, but none more so than Cixin Liu’s Death’s End. The final installment of the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, Death’s End has enough astonishing sci-fi ideas to seed a half-dozen great books. However, much of its plot and characters are frustratingly thin and inane. It is a missed opportunity for an incredible interstellar epic.
Books reviewed
You can also read my reviews of two pairs of thought-provoking books:
- A Manichean Internet: Uncanny Valley by Anna Wiener and This Is Not Propaganda: Adventures in the War Against Reality by Peter Pomerantsev
- Racism at Home, Racism Abroad: How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
So what’s next for 2021? I’d like to read more about nature and science. I want to read one book each (at least) about modern history and current affairs in Russia, China, and India. (I have Masha Gessen’s The Future Is History lined up for the first but am taking recommendations for the others.) I am looking forward to Viet Thanh Nguyen’s The Committed and to finally reading Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Novels—the latter, rigorously in Italian.
Let me know your thoughts on these books and your own recommendations!
Note: If you choose to purchase the books above through my Bookshop referral link, I will earn a small commission. All proceeds will be reinvested in more books. Think of it as a virtuous cycle.
