So many many things to hate about 2020, but also so many many things to love. Lots of time to read, for example, which I took advantage of. My favorite book of the year had to be Ayad Akhtar's Homeland Elegies, which I devoured and loved, and here is a graphic of my top ten for the year (it was so hard to choose). I tried to keep them to books that came out this year, or late last year, but John Crowley's The Translator is an exception, simply because I just loved it so much.
Books I also read and loved in 2020: Elizabeth Blackwell's Red Mistress, Sandra Dallas's Westering Women, Kristin Hannah's The Four Winds--which comes out NEXT YEAR and will be on next year's list, I promise, because it is JUST SO GOOD, so watch for it in February. The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox, which has its US and UK debut next year, is spectacular and profound fantasy (she is always so good). No One Will Tell You This But Me is a wonderful memoir by Bess Kalb. I'm going to throw in Flights by Olga Tokarczuk, The Doll Factory by Elizabeth MacNeal, and The Margot Affair, by Sanae Lemoine.
Also making 2020 bearable for me were the TV shows Killing Eve, The Queen's Gambit, and Bridgerton.
Oh, and yes, Sourdough. Just because I love it, and while it didn't take 2020 for me to make it, I always take any opportunity to celebrate it.
And wine. Of which I am now raising a glass to toast a much better, much saner 2021.
And lest I forget, A Splendid Ruin hit the shelves on January 1st, and that is reason enough for my 2021 to be an improvement over last year. Happy New Year!
