I always enjoy getting to peek at other people’s reading lists, culling from them what I too might enjoy or learning what to cross off of my own “to read” list based on their reviews. While this won’t go down as my most intellectually rigorous reading year (PANDEMIC), here are some things I have put in my eyeholes so far in 2020.
The Gifted School, Bruce Holsinger
This was recommended to me as a good book to listen to while engaged in another activity, which was spot on. I mistakenly assumed the author was a woman and repeatedly wondered about her internalized misogyny before realizing after finishing that it was written by a man, which frankly explains a lot.
The Guest List, Lucy Foley
In the vein of “If you loved Gone Girl…” thrillers, this makes for a fluffy listen with an ending that for the high strung will result in a rage aneurysm and for the more relaxed perhaps some sprained eyeballs from all the rolling they will be forced to do. I enjoyed learning more about bogs.
Too Much and Never Enough, Mary L. Trump
I wanted more dish on Donald and less backstory on Fred Jr., but interesting regardless. Rich people are weird and terrible.
Ninth House Leigh Bardugo
The secret societies are literally magic in this book by what seems to be a serious Yale stan. If you did the supernatural and you can get past the stanning — WE GET IT YOU WENT TO YALE — the story is pretty fun.
Hidden Bodies, Caroline Kepnes
Fuck you I listened to it while walking to work after reading its predecessor (You) on a plane okay and maybe also watching it on Netflix. DON’T JUDGE ME.
Little Fires Everywhere, Celeste Ng
With what felt like light gloss over too much and too many, these characters were gone before I ever felt like I knew them. I’m glad I read it so that I know what everyone else is talking about I guess?
The Dutch House, Ann Patchett
Tom Hanks narrates this one and could not be more perfect. Deep sibling love, car-smoking, and complicated family dynamics are this book’s jam.
The Testaments, Margaret Atwood
Painfully tone deaf and a doubling down on the erasure of the lived experience of Black people, the Testaments will at times make you cringe. I didn’t want to like it because of that but I have to admit that I still found it engrossing.
The Stand, Stephen King
Didn’t finish because a fucking pandemic happened and I am not that much of a glutton for punishment.
Gorilla and the Bird, Zack McDermott
A memoir by a lawyer and then-aspiring stand-up comic who had a pretty extreme psychotic break, imagining that he was being filmed for his own reality TV show before ending up involuntarily committed. It is truly a fascinating story and worth a read.
Dear Edward, Ann Napolitano
Little boy is the sole survivor of a plane crash that kills his entire family. Alternating between past and present, I found it hard to care about the past but engrossed in the present.
Normal People, Sally Rooney
I really only recall deeply disliking this book. Maybe I am just a contrarian?
We Were the Lucky Ones, Georgia Hunter
Fellow suckers for WWII historical fiction, enjoy! Based (if somewhat loosely at times) on the true story of a Jewish family in Poland during the Holocaust, I found myself sucked in to the story despite its (at times trying) flaws.
An Anonymous Girl, Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen
Admittedly this is another in the “The Girl on th Train” / “Gone Girl” line of knock offs (yes, those are one of my guilty pleasures, whatever) and I did have to Google it just to remind myself of the plot, but once I did, I also remembered that it was fairly engrossing and I didn’t immediately see the plot twists coming. Read it while running or gardening and you’ll be fine.
Walkaway, Cory Doctorow
Super heavy handed young adult fantasy. Give it to your son/daughter/niece/nephew/etc who is just getting politicized and he/she/they will be thrilled.
The Other Mrs., Mary Kubica
I have read *a lot* of trash in my day and this one truly gets a gold medal for plot absurdity. It might be worth it if you can get it for free from a library and plan to kill some brain cells on a beach.
The Wives, Tarryn Fisher
WHY DO I READ THESE? The Wives is to psychological thrillers what a giraffe attempting a cartwheel is to Olympic level gymnastics.
Brain Rules for Baby, John Medina
We listened to this in the car and while the narrator made me a bit nutso, it overall felt like a worthwhile read for new and wildly inexperienced parents. Most of it is pretty intuitive and there shouldn’t be any big shocks in what the author has to say, so maybe really it is just a good reassurance read, like 8 hours of someone saying, “See, you can probably do this!”
Calypso, David Sedaris
I read this when it first came out and re-listened to it on a road trip this summer, enjoying it just as much the second time around. It will make you want to go down to Emerald Isle just to see if maybe you are right that if you met in person, he would love you (he wouldn’t, probably).
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, David Sedaris
I’m not sure how many times I have read this one, but it was another re-read (or listen, as the case may be) on the road and I regret nothing. Phil now acts out the Halloween candy scene every time I try to give the baby food from his plate and it makes me weep.
The Belly Fish 