My Top Ten Books of 2020

 In no particular order, they are:

1) Travellers in the Third Reich, Julia Boyd

2) Surge, Jay Bernard

3) Second Sister, Chan Ho-Kei

4) The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, Eva Rice

5) Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire (Akala)

6)) Queenie, Candice Carty-Williams

7) On The Come Up, Angie Thomas

8) The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead

9) Saving Mona Lisa, Gerri Chanel

10) The Starless Sea, Erin Morgenstern

I hope you'll be able to check these out if you haven't already! 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Becky :)

My Books of 2020

I've been lucky enough to read a great amount of books this year. A lot have been reviews by request, and the rest either I've wanted to read for ages or recommendations I've had from Twitter and Instagram. In a first for me, there are more non-fiction books on the list for this year than all my previous years of reviewing put together.

As close to chronological order of my reading them, they are below:

 

1) The Other You, S. J. Monroe

2) The Widows' Club, Amanda Brooke

3) Carbon Game, Miles Montague

4) Travellers in the Third Reich, Julia Boyd

5) The Hidden Girl and Other Stories, Ken Liu

6) Surge, Jay Bernard (poetry)

7) The Treadstone Resurrection, Joshua Hood

8) Second Sister, Chan Ho-Kei

9) LOT Stories, Bryan Washington

10) Everything Is Going To Be K.O, Kaiya Stone

11) Vagabonds, Hao Jingfang (Translated into English by Ken Liu)

12) The Queen's Choice, Anne O'Brien

13) Before I die, Jenny Downham

14) The Amber Keeper, Freda Lightfoot

15) The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets, Eva Rice

16) The Beekeeper of Aleppo, Cristy Lefteri

17) The Sideman, Caro Ramsay

18) The Beauty Chorus by Kate Lord Brown

19) Why I'm No Longer Talking To White People About Race, Renni Eddo-Lodge

20) White Fragility, Robin DiAngelo

21) Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire, Akala

22) How To Be An Antiracist, Dr Ibram X. Kendi

23) Brit(Ish), Afua Hirsch

24) Girl, Woman, Other, Bernadine Evaristo

25) Queenie, Candice Carty-Williams

26) On This Day In History, Dan Snow

27) Life On The Refrigerator Door, Alice Kuipers

28) Christmas Cakes & Mistletoe Nights, Carole Matthews

29) Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal

30) Sepulchre, Kate Mosse

31) Skincare, Caroline Hirons

32) The Hen Who Believed She Could Fly, Sun-Mi Hwang

33) Another Time, W. H. Auden

34) On Writing, Stephen King

35) The Call Of The Wild, Jack London

36) The Happy Prince and Other Stories, Oscar Wilde

37) The Wizard of Oz, Frank L. Baum

38) Rip Van Winkle and Other Stories, Washington Irving

39) Alice In Wonderland, Lewis Carroll

40) Through The Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll

41) Normal People, Sally Rooney

42) The Railway Children, E. Nesbit

43) Robinson Crusoe, William Defoe

44) The Lost World, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

45) The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas

46) A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett

47) The Secret Garden, Frances Hodgson Burnett

48) Hurting Distance, Sophie Hannah

49) On The Come Up, Angie Thomas

50) Playdate, Alex Dahl

51) The Englishman, David Gilman

52) The Puritan Princess, Miranda Malins

53) Set My Heart To Five, Simon Stephenson

54) CrimeDotCom, Geoff White

55) Son of Escobar, Roberto Sendoya Escobar

56) The Interpreter from Java, Alfred Birney

57) Even If We Break, Marieke Nijkamp

58) The Marriage of Innis Wilkson, Lauren H. Brandenburg

59) Psychiatrist In The Chair, Brendan Kelly and Muiris Houston

60) Number 10, C. J. Daugherty

61) Saving The World, Paola Diana

62) The Salt Path, Raynor Winn

63) My Sister’s Bones, Nuala Ellwood

64) The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead

65) A God In Every Stone, Kamila Shamsie

66) Black and British, David Olusaga

67) Saving Mona Lisa, Gerri Chanel

68) Last Flight To Stalingrad, Graham Hurley

69) The Starless Sea, Erin Morgenstern

70) Kiss Me At Christmas, Susan Mallery

 

 Lockdown and being on maternity leave has certainly helped with giving me lots of time to read! See the next blog post for my top ten. 

Review: Saving The World by Paola Diana

 This book almost breathes fire with how passionate it is. It’s a fantastic and fascinating exploration of gender equality that draws a line throughout history to show how the status of women has changed and somewhat progressed over time. However, as Paola explains, there is still a long way to go. 

The brevity of this book and its whistle stop tour of different facets of the status of women and feminism make it a perfect introduction and primer for those interest in feminism and its history. The author presents her research and her opinions clearly and passionately and, while I didn’t agree with all of her opinions, it certainly gave me food for thought about why I hold the positions I do and how I can progress in my learning in this area. 

One thing, however, seems for sure - if all women were respected and valued as powerful white men, the world would be in a much better position than it currently is. 

Review: Number 10 by C. J. Daugherty

 Number 10 is a great crossover of genres between YA and thrillers, set in the seat of U.K. politics without taking a particular stance. 

Gray, the protagonist, is the daughter of the Prime Minister, and as such is of great interest to the press. The fact that she is a teenager doesn’t give paparazzi a moment’s pause in their pursuit of her. 

After she gets photographed leaving a party horrendously drunk, Gray’s mother grounds her for two weeks. However, it’s not long before Gray finds out there’s more at work.

She explores tunnels and corridors in the No 10 complex and, one night, ends up finding herself in the Houses of Parliament, during the time when her mother is leading an important debate. Cornered in an office, she hides and hears important members of the government plotting to kill her mother. Gray teams up with an unlikely ally - the son of the leader of the opposition. 

This is definitely YA genre I can get behind. I feel like I’ve read so much YA fantasy and dystopia, so the thriller sub genre feels fresh and different. The story is pacy and layered, with twists, turns, and unlikely betrayals.

My only question is this: will there be a sequel? A) because I have a lot of questions and B) there’s too much I don’t know that I feel I should at the end. 

Overall, a very enjoyable and quick read that I highly recommend for YA readers. 

Psychiatrist in the Chair, by Brendan Kelly and Muiris Houston

 This fascinating biography dives into the life and work of renowned psychiatrist, Anthony Clare. 

Growing up in Ireland, Clare had two paths expected of him by his parents: law or medicine. Clare didn’t want to do law so went down the medical route, even though he would have excelled at journalism. 

Having specialised in psychiatry, Clare sought to turn the world on its head. From research into mental health and illness, and the need for more community based support, to studying symptoms of PMS in women, Clare’s research was as wide as it was deep. 

Most known for hosting the show, In the Psychiatrist’s chair”, he became praised for interviews that were deft, deep, and insightful.

The authors have done a huge justice to Anthony Clare. I didn’t know who he was but having read this book, I can immediately see both the narrow and wider impact Clare had on the world of psychiatry, both with individual patients, students, and research and writing that still remains essential to this day. 

It’s a fascinating read with interesting surprises about a man who sought to, and did achieve, so much, 

Review: The Marriage of Innis Wilkinson by Lauren H. Brandenburg

 This novel is the sequel to The Death of Mungo Blackwell, one of my favourite books that I read last year, so I jumped at the chance to read its sequel. 

The Marriage of Innis Wilkinson did not disappoint. Although reading Mungo Blackwell would be helpful for context, it’s not necessary as this novel works well as a stand-alone. 

Anyway. Margarette Toft and Roy Blackwell are engaged to be married. The only problem is the whole Romeo and Juliet situation they’ve found themselves in. Their feuding families are deeply unhappy with the match and keep giving subtle and not so subtle hints to call it off. Will Margarette and Roy make it to their vows? No spoilers here! 

I love Lauren’s writing and the world she has created. I think it’s set in America but it could so easily be a small quintessential English village. The characters are quirky and endearing, the setting idyllic, and the mystery and comedy mix together well. It’s a story that is fun, uplifting and ultimately heartwarming. It feels like a good cup of tea and chocolate biscuit while huddled under a blanket on a rainy evening. 

Review: Even If We Break by Marieke Nijkamp

 You know shit's about to go down when five teenagers head off to a cabin in the woods for the weekend. The question is: what, and how?

For Finn, Ever, Carter, Liva, and Maddy, disparate in their everyday lives but bound together by their love of LARPing, this weekend represents a chance of redemption and to mend the fractures between them. Ever, creator of the game, is the most emotionally invested due to their bleak short term prospects compared to the rest of the group. Liva, the rich girl in all typical ways except her unlikely love of the game, gifts the use of the cabin for the weekend - it's a perfect setting and truly an escape. Finn, who was attacked a few weeks back due to homophobia, never wanted to come but wanted to do it for Ever. Maddy, a girl with Autism and PTSD from a car accident, is there because she wants to be but it's more effort for her than everyone else. And Carter, obligated to prove himself to his family, sees it as a welcome escape from his burdens. 

However, as we can guess from the genre, things begin to unravel quickly. Liva had already told them about ghost stories from the mountains, involving bloody hands, a music box, and tiny figurines left behind, and these signs soon present themselves along with others. The fire blazes out of control. Doors lock automatically, with no way of unlocking or smashing them. Notes pertaining to everyone's dark secrets present themselves. And, before long, it escalates to murder. 

Members of the group are picked off one by one. Liva, whose character dies in the game, goes missing. Maddy is tempted by her darkest vice. Carter is picked off in the dark by a familiar voice. And then this someone comes for Finn and Ever. 

Marieke Nijkamp pulls no punches in her prose. From page one, things begin to fall apart figuratively and literally within the group. The mountain setting, though typical, is used to good effect. The use of the game is a particularly interesting and clever device as the actions of the game's characters mirror and magnify the tensions between the real life group members. 

The only thing I was left confused by was the reveal. The person responsible makes sense, but their motives seem a bit disproportionate, but perhaps a second read will help me make more sense of it. 

All in all, this is a cracking thriller read with a dash of good old-fashioned fantasy thrown in within the context of the game.