Now, I’m no Barack Obama, although I am his sixth cousin-once removed. (For real.) I certainly haven’t penned a memoir like his A Promised Land. But I did read more books than the 17 on his annual list that includes The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson and The Undocumented Americans by Karla Cornejo Villavicencio.
While working from home during the pandemic, keeping a running tally gave me a sense of victory over my circumstances. Each time I finished a book, I documented the title on a notecard I tacked to my bulletin board. Each title stayed with me like a friend.
Starting from the last to the first days of 2020, I share my own below. My favorite were Reese’ Book Club picks of The Henna Artist and Where the Crawdads Sing. I loved the poetry and plot twists in both, but the latter absolutely blew my mind. Part murder mystery and part love story, I never knew where author Delia Owens would take the lead character, Kya, a young woman known as "Marsh Girl.”
In 2020, I needed fiction. And poetry, so there is no wonder why I was so fond of these novels.
For my bucket list, I finished the massive War and Peace, but as I wrote in this Newsday piece, few people would leave me alone long enough to come to the last sentence. It’s a good book. I recommend staying with it long enough to get used to everyone’s nicknames.
My least favorite was Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood. While I love a good biography, and Natalie Wood was fascinating, the text was dense and dry. I felt hit over the head with information rather than led through the dramatic life of a true Hollywood star.
December 2020
An Unlikely General: "Mad" Anthony Wayne and the Battle for America by Mary Stockwell
Gutsy Women: Favorite Stories of Courage and Resilience by Hillary and Chelsea Clinton
Unseen City: The Majesty of Pigeons, the Discreet Charm of Snails & Other Wonders of the Urban Wilderness by Nathanael Johnson
November 2020
Fort Wayne is Seventh On Hitler’s List: Indiana Stories by Michael Martone
October 2020
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
September 2020
Let My People Go Surfing: The Education of a Reluctant Businessman by Yvon Chouinard
A Storm of Witchcraft by Emerson Baker
August 2020
The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis
The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
July 2020
Hedy’s Folly: The Life and Breakthrough Inventions of Hedy Lamarr, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World by Richard Rhodes
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
Bridget Jones’ Baby by Helen Fielding
May 2020
Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood by Suzanne Finstad
April 2020
The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
February 2020
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Kindness and Wonder: Why Mister Rogers Matters by Gavin Edwards
January 2020
Why We Live in Community by Eberhard Arnold and Thomas Merton
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Catch and Kill by Ronan Farrow