Books remain at the heart of the media I consume – not perhaps the most significant by volume, but certainly by the effect they have on my life. I read 26 books in 2020. I would have thought that number would be higher, given the state of 2020, but it turns out that long periods of home isolation don’t necessarily translate into more time with books.
Here are a few books I read this year that had an impact on the work I do and how I live in the world.
Nonfiction
24/6, Tiffany Shlain (256 pages) Shlain’s proposal of taking a day per week to completely remove digital technology from your family is hard to maintain, but so worth it. I intend to plan more regular “Singing Brook Days” (as we call them in my home) in 2021.
The Practice, Seth Godin (272 pages) This little book, with almost as many chapters than pages, will light a fire under your creative work. It will change the way you think about making and shipping creative work.
About Alice, Calvin Trillin (96 pages) I’ve never read a better portrayal of marital love and grief than this little book from Calvin Trillin. A reread for me, and one I can’t recommend highly enough for anyone married.
Fiction
Utopia Avenue, David Mitchell (592 pages) I confess to being an unabashed fan of David Mitchell’s high wire fiction – he mixes metaphysics, science fiction, realism, poly-stylistic mimicry, and so much else in his novels. And he makes it work. This, though, immediately became my favorite of his novels – it drops you into the remarkable world of the 1960’s London music scene and takes you on an incredible journey.
The Overstory, Richard Powers (512 pages) A remarkable novel of trees, with people. Powers’ stories are big, and his writing so compelling.
The Harry Potter Series, J. K. Rowling Really? The HP series? Let’s not get started on Rowling’s year, but yes. We started our fourth family read-aloud of these books right after the stay-at-home orders started on March 13. We completed the whole series in around 3 months, and they were a big, big part of what kept our family feeling safe and sane in 2020. If you don’t own copies, may I suggest checking them out from your local public library?
The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates (416 pages) I read several novels that took places in antebellum/Civil War times. (Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad was very different and equally remarkable as this one, as was George Saunders’ Lincoln in the Bardo). Coates’ book, though, has lingered hauntingly with me since I read it in the spring.
Every year I am surprised by what books speak to me, and by what books I’m not thinking about even a few months later. I hope you find some books among this list that speak to you!
Note: Where possible, I’ve included affiliate links above to Bookshop, which is a way to support your local independent bookstore. I will receive a slight commission if you purchase in this way, which will go towards maintaining this site.