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Hello hello! Did you all have a Merry Christmas (those celebrating)? I’ve been promising this post (and a much longer version) and wanted to get it off before the end of the year for those of you with some time this week!
This year, as every year, I read a LOT of great books. There are way more than I have time to list so I picked some of my favorites – these are the ones that made me feel something, learn something, love something. And as always, but especially here, I’d love to hear some of your favorite reads of the year as well. Here goes!
Open by Andre Agassi. I read a lot of great biographies (mostly celebrity, ha) this year. But after some consideration, this one was the best. At least some credit goes to Agassi’s excellent ghostwriter J.R. Moehringer. Warning: long descriptions of tennis matches ahead. If you prefer something a little lighter, easier to read through (not that Agassi isn’t a super smooth read), I recommend Jessica Simpson’s Open Book.
The Body In Question, by Jill Ciment. One of my favorite novels of the year. I loved everything about this (and immediately went to go read Ciment’s other work). This is not necessarily a “feel good” book but it isn’t a super downer either. Fantastic, clean, elegant writing and a great plot. What more do you want?
Leaving Atocha Station, by Ben Lerner. I went through all of Lerner’s fiction this year and this is my favorite of all of his. Hilarious and so well written. Warning that this is a more “literary” novel. Not necessarily the choice if you’re in the mood for a murder mystery thriller.
Minor Feelings, by Cathy Park Hong. I loved this. A memoir/treatise on the Asian American experience. I think almost required reading for Asian Americans and you know even if you’re not…why not give it a try?
Born A Crime, by Trevor Noah. Have you not already read it? Too “popular” for you? Please do, it is a wonderful read, both enlightening and (sorry to use this word) uplifting. And Noah is a natural storyteller and great writer.
Enrique’s Journey by Sonia Nazario. Read this instead of American Dirt. Or also alongside of American Dirt! I try not to be harping with my book recommendations but one thing that drives me NUTS is when people say things like they liked American Dirt better versus a nonfiction book like Nazario’s because the protagonists were more “likeable.” Is that the only way immigrants and minorities are palatable to you? When they don’t do anything wrong?
Save Me The Plums by Ruth Reichl. So clever and real and just a wonderful education in food and magazine publishing (the old days anyway). If you want to escape 2020 in a wholly pleasurable read, I highly recommend Reichl. And all your holiday gorging will seem totally worth it (you are just appreciating food!).
Wild by Cheryl Strayed. Yes this was the year where I read all the recent super mega bestsellers I missed. This was really really good and well written and just a page turner. I don’t care about hiking at all (or just barely) but I truly enjoyed this book.
The Chiffon Trenches by Andre Leon Talley. This is a flawed but touching memoir with a lot of fashion gossip. It’s funny…I didn’t think I would list this book but it’s one that I still think about months after I read it. Which makes it a keeper for me. Highly recommended.
What were some of your favorite books this year?
11 Comments
D
December 29, 2020 at 2:11 amGreat list – I also enjoyed The Body in Question and Save Me the Plums.
A few that have stuck with me this year long after reading them were:
– The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
– She Said by Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey
– Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
– Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Kat
December 31, 2020 at 8:09 amThank you!! I need to finish NK Jemisin, I have the first one
Chloe
December 29, 2020 at 9:59 amThanks for the list! Minor Feelings was so good! I’m trying to get better about reading, and was wondering… how do you read so many books?! Tips welcome please ?
Kat
December 31, 2020 at 8:10 amI read at night…I love it but also almost regard it as part of my job (to learn from better writers than me) 🙂 Don’t feel guilty, just read as much as you would like! And so glad you enjoyed Minor Feelings.
Lisa Richards
December 31, 2020 at 3:26 pmI loved Born a Crime and recommended it to several people. Not one of them liked it. So glad I found someone who appreciates it.
Kat
December 31, 2020 at 5:08 pmWhy didn’t they like it?? I feel like this is such a universal book! And glad that you did 🙂
Abby
December 29, 2020 at 5:33 pmThe Bright Hour (sad, but beautiful) and Song of Achilles were highlights for me. I also read Save Me the Plums and tore through everything else Ruth Reichl wrote during the depths of covid when I only wanted cozy books. I had to wait until after the election to have the heart to attempt The Bright Hour. Thank you for the recommendations!
Kat
December 31, 2020 at 8:10 amI’m adding the Bright Hour! Thank you!
Anna
December 31, 2020 at 5:58 amI get a lot of my readings from your recommendation so doubt anything worth mentioning that you haven’t read: all of Sally Rooney’s, Margaret Atwood, Customs of the country and Jane Austen’s Emma. I went through The traveler’s wife recently and marveled at how Niffenegger’s inventive storytelling structure rendered an otherwise rather plain story heartwrenching. I also recently started Salman Rushdie and he looks promising to be someone whose works I will go through at least to see an author’s evolution from writing from one’s shadow to wonderfully inventing characters completely different from him yet utterly convincing.
Kat
December 31, 2020 at 8:11 amThis is such a compliment! And let me know what your favorite of Salman’s recent works are. I haven’t read most of his latest!
Maria
January 8, 2021 at 5:58 amI’m late to the party. My recommendation is a book published several years ago. THE SPY AND THE TRAITOR by Ben Macintyre. True story of the KGB agent who spied for MI6 and helped bring down the collapse of the Soviet Union. History that I was not aware of, details that stay with me, fascinating story and well written.
The Story of the Stone series by Cao Xueqin, classics from Chinese literature. I bought the Penguin Classics translations. Five books in the series. (I’ve not finished them all yet.) Once I got accustomed to all the names, as in Tolstoy where I would get lost in the names, this is a sweeping family story. Think Jane Austen in China. Gorgeous.