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2020 was a tough year for everyone – in so many ways! For me, it was also one of the toughest of my reading life. When things went haywire in March, work exploded and I was so preoccupied with trying to put out fires and figure out new ways of doing things, that I didn’t read…. At all…. For almost 8 months.
Craziness!
Needless to say, the reading world went on without me and when I finally came up for air and got back on Bookstagram, I saw all the posts on the great books I missed and immediately got back on the reading wagon. I started to read frantically. Since October, I have read 20 books, which to some of you may seem like a normal amount, but for me is well above my average!
Even though I have been reading like a fiend for the last few months, my TBR is completely out of control. I have 8 months to make up for! Here are the 10 books that I missed in 2020 and am most excited to read.
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Vanessa Wye is a troubled 15 year old girl who has an affair with her high school English teacher. Years later, another girl comes forward, claiming sexual abuse by the teacher and she urges Vanessa to come forward. Vanessa is torn as she loved him and he claimed to have loved her. Was it all a lie? This book sounds like a perfect book club read to me.
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
Gifty is a Ghanian immigrant, attending Stanford University as a doctoral student. Her brother died of a heroin overdose, and Gifty, a scientist at heart, is determined to figure out the science behind the addiction, hoping to better understand what happened to him. But as she grapples with the science, she finds herself clinging to the religious beliefs she was raised with. I think this book sounds fascinating! It’s a look at the spiritual and scientific side of addiction and how families deal with that pain.
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson
I don’t read much nonfiction, but Erik Larson’s books read more like a story than just dry narrative. Add in that I am a big Winston Churchill fan and that makes this book a perfect fit for me! This book chronicles the dark days of WWII, when Churchill, a new prime minister, has to lead a war-torn and anguished country through persistent bombing by the enemy, economic upheaval and uncertainty. Coupled with this, his family is also suffering with their own troubles. This story illustrates how a great leader was able to bring his country, and his family, back together.
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
I love a good locked room mystery! And this book sounds like a winner for sure! A beautiful and successful plan a destination wedding off the coast of Ireland. Everything is glitzy and glamorous and perfect. That is until someone winds up dead! I really liked Lucy Foley’s last book, too – The Hunting Party.
The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
I love to read about cultures and places that are different from what I know so this book sounds right up my alley. 17 year old Lakshmi leaves her abusive husband and heads to the city of Jaipur to start her life over, undercover. She becomes a well-known and sought after Henna artist to the city’s elite women. All the while, she is careful not to reveal her true identity lest her husband find her. But find her, he does. And he brings with him someone Lakshmi has never met before – her little sister.
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
A group of people unite after WWII to preserve Jane Austen’s memory in Chawton, the final town that Jane lived in during her life. Each dealing with their own problems, these people find respite in their united love of the works of Jane Austen. I have to read this book because… Jane Austen!! Right?
Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker
This is another nonfiction book I can’t wait to read. Don and Mimi Galvin worked hard to raise their ten children. And while they seemed like a perfect American family from the outside, on the inside it was anything but – full of psychological breakdowns, abuse and violence. By the mid-70s, six of the ten children were diagnosed with schizophrenia. This was such an unusual circumstance that the National Institute of Health took an interest and completed studies on them. Those studies are still proving beneficial to schizophrenia research even today.
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
You know how I feel about fictionalized biographies! This story is loosely based on the life of William Shakespeare and his wife, Anne Hathaway (who in this book is called Agnes). Their marriage is volatile, yet passionate. But it is tested to the limit when their only son, Hamnet, dies of the bubonic plague. Can the family heal from this terrible loss? And will their marriage survive?
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Very Dorian Gray-like! In 1714, a young woman makes a deal with the devil to live forever, knowing that she will never be remembered by anyone – ever. Throughout her long life, she travels to many places and has many adventures but finds that is not enough for her. She wants to be remembered. She wants her life to mean something. Then everything changes when she walks into a bookstore and a young man remembers her name.
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
