booklist 2020

Well it's good to be finished with 2020 isn't it? I read a lot more again in 2020 (42 books)- it was a good year to get lost in a good book. On top of these new books, I also reread the Harriet Vane and Peter Wimsey mysteries by Dorothy Sayers, for comfort reading.

Shortest book Little Witch Academia (176 pages) vs Longest Book The Mirror and the Light (883 pages).

Oldest book if I counted rereads it would be Strong Poison by Dorothy Sayers (1930), other The Riddle-Master of Hed by Patricia McKillip (1976), while the newest book is close to a tie between A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik and Piranesi by Susanna Clark, both published in September 2020.

Reading themes 

In the middle of the year I read a couple of non-fiction books which I roughly categorised as about 'the North'- Names for the Sea by Sarah Moss (a British writer writing about Iceland) and Findings by Kathleen Jamie (a Scottish writer writing largely about Scotland). Other than that I found myself reading a lot of fantasy about parallel universes toward the end of the year. Coincidence? Escapism? Anyway they were all good in their own ways and many of them explicitly about the appeal of parallel universes. They included This is How you Lose the Time War, The Invisible Library, The Ten thousand Doors of January and Piranesi. The Starless Sea, which I read earlier this year, could almost fit there too. I also read a couple of books about witch schools- Akata Witch, A Deadly Education and Little Witch Academia.

So here is the full list for 2020! I've tried to rank them roughly, they are in rough categories, but I find it really hard to choose one book over another! Most of the books I read were really good, so don't take any of the categories too negatively. Anyway, starting at the bottom, here are the books I read in 2020:

Least favourite/disappointing 

The Childhood of Jesus - J.M. Coetzee

Of all the books I read this year, this may be the only one I actively disliked. I do not think Coetzee is for me. It's an allegory, sure, but of what? and why? And how does it relate to Jesus? I really do not feel compelled to read the other books in the series to find out.

The Book of Hidden Wonders - Polly Crosby

It's not the fault of this book so much as the cover I think, and the blurb. It made me expect something quite different and that's a surefire way to not get along with a book. The book itself is not bad, there are good moments but there were also plenty of moments where I felt I had read it all before (*potential spoiler warning* in books like Behind the Scenes at the Museum and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves). It's a kind of coming of age story of a child with an unconventional, neglected childhood and her difficulties in making sense of her world and her situation. The alternative title is 'The Illustrated Child'- I think that suits is better.

The Fairies Return, or New Tales for Old - Peter Llewellyn Davies

This is not bad either, but a very mixed bunch. A collection of fairy tales *modernised* in the 1930s by various authors and edited by the man who inspired Peter Pan, some of these are very dated now but some are still compelling.

Not bad

The Surprising Power of a Good Dumpling - Wai Chim

This is a YA tale of love, family, mental illness, race and of course dumplings. Set between Sydney and the Central Coast, this has many wonderful ingredients and I wanted to love it, but I just liked it. Maybe it just took on too much? Or maybe I am too far past my days of being a young adult? Overall I liked it but I thought some of the themes opened up a lot more issues than could really be covered in the book. 

If Cats Disappeared from the World - Genki Kawamura

This story of a man making the pact with the devil to give himself extra days of life, and his relationship with his cat who suddenly starts talking, was fun but quite slight.

Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know: The Fathers of Wilde, Yeats and Joyce - Colm Toibin

There were a lot of interesting tidbits in here about Irish literary figures, and the Irish literary scene of the 19th century, but I'm not sure that it quite came together for me.

The Big Book of Christmas Mysteries - Otto Penzler

This lived up to its name- it's a big book! Full of short mysteries. On the whole I liked it but as with any collection like this it's a mixed bunch.

Raven Black - Ann Cleeves

The first book in the 'Shetland' series, when I was in the mood for reading more about the North. I thought maybe it felt a bit generic as far as murder mysteries go, but I did enjoy it and plan to go back for the next in the series. I liked the characters.

The Ultimate Christmas Cracker - John Julius Norwich

This is pretty charming, it's a collection of quotations and texts that the compiler found interesting and brought together to share with his friends (and now the wider reading public). The inclusion of large chunks of untranslated Latin and French is very English public school...

Good

False Value - Ben Aaronovitch

I like this whole series- I'm a sucker for a good urban fantasy set in London, and I like the 'magic police' conceit. This was not the best of them (when you get to book 8 I feel it's hard to maintain momentum) but it's still good. The Rivers of London is a whole juggernaut now, with the books, spin off books, novellas, graphic novels and the potential TV show (still in production, will see if it materialises). I'm not sure if I can keep up!

The Name of the Star - Maureen Johnson

YA urban fantasy set in London featuring magic police, for something a little different. It appears that the ghost of Jack the Ripper has returned, and it's up to a school girl and a small team of police with the ability to see and disperse ghosts to try to stop him.

The Madness Underneath - Maureen Johnson

Book 2 of the Shades of London, there is more ghost trouble, this time linked to the site of the old Bedlam hospital.

The Shadow Cabinet - Maureen Johnson

The stakes are upped in the final book in the trilogy, with a powerful cult and a trip to the underworld involved.

Drama - Raina Telgemeier

This is a cute graphic novel about the trials of middle school crushes, friendship and drama productions.

Little Witch Academia, vol. 1 - Yoh Yoshinari

Another graphic novel, one of my 'witch school' books from this year. Akko is the only student from a non-witch background to attend a prestigious witch school, and what she lacks in magical ability she makes up in enthusiasm. Although I only read volume 1, I've been watching the anime series on Netflix and I really like it- very charming.

Aunty Lee's Delights - Ovidia Yu

A widow and hard working Singaporean cook starts solving mysteries when someone who ate at her restaurant shows up dead. I think these books are really charming, even though there's a bit of repetition and the plot doesn't always seem to hang together perfectly. That should be a major flaw in a whodunnit but I really like the characters, particularly Aunty Lee who is a Miss Marple style 'harmless busybody' who is actually very clever. The relationship between the characters and the workings of society are also really interesting, and mysteries with food are always fun.

Aunty Lee's Deadly Specials - Ovidia Yu

Exit West - Mohsin Hamid

Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Toshikazu Kawaguchi

With the Fire on High - Elizabeth Acevedo

The Invisible Library - Genevieve Cogman

Witchmark - C.L. Polk

Great

Farthing - Jo Walton

The Ten Thousand Doors of January - Alix E. Harrow

Akata Witch - Nnedi Okorafor

Too Much Lip - Melissa Lucashenko

The Weekend - Charlotte Wood

There Was Still Love - Favel Parrett

The City We Became - N.K. Jemisin

Utopia Avenue - David Mitchell

Spring - Ali Smith

This Is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Favourites

*Names for the Sea - Sarah Moss

*The Riddle-Master of Hed - Patricia McKilllip

*Heir of Sea and Fire - Patricia McKilllip

*Harpist in the Wind - Patricia McKilllip

*A Deadly Education - Naomi Novik

*Piranesi - Susanna Clarke 

*The Starless Sea - Erin Morgenstern

*Set Me On Fire: A Poem For Every Feeling - Ella Risbridger

*Findings - Kathleen Jamie

*The Mirror and the Light - Hillary Mantel