There’s not much you can say “best of…” in regard to 2020, but BOOKS certainly applies here. Given the lost social time, I’ve certainly had no excuse not to have read more than normal… So, here’s a rundown of what I’ve loved reading this year (sparing you the sociological tomes…)
Best of Fiction (Classics): There’s not much Dickens I haven’t read at this stage but I really enjoyed A Tale of Two Cities during Lockdown #1. I loved the harrowing social commentary backdrop of the French Revolution and the warm familiarity of Dickens’ humour, characters and style. In the November lockdown (could have been #2?! No longer keeping track…) I enjoyed Dostoevsky’s fabulous writing in Crime and Punishment. The subtle observation of the effect of sin on Raskolnikov fascinated me, although by the end of it, still in lockdown and nearly deep into winter, I was definitely ready for something more cheery.
Best of Fiction (Contemporary): Right at the start of the year, blissfully unaware of the horrors in store, I read Graham Swift’s Waterland, a contemporary classic whose depiction of Fen country landscape stuck in my mind long after I’d finished. You know when writing is just so brilliant, nothing you read afterwards really satisfies. 2020 was also the year I was introduced to Elizabeth Strout in her book, Olive Kitteridge. I loved her nuanced character observation in the interesting person of Olive.
Saints: If you’ve never read Sigrid Undset, please delay no longer! I adore her fiction, but the book that captivated me this year was her biography of Catherine of Siena. I feel this was the year I ‘discovered’ St Catherine thanks to Undset – it is an extraordinary read.
When I think of the lovely few days spent in Assisi at Epiphany last year (Assissi filled with Christmas cribs is nothing short of magical) I want to mourn a world that now feels completely lost. On this trip, I read Francis of Assisi by GK Chesterton, which was a colourful, memorable account of St Francis’ life. Poignantly, it was my Grandfather’s copy of this book that I read, published in 1955, the year he’d been received into the Church. Texting him during our trip, he came back with this Epiphany verse:
Shepherds came to a stable door, to the Alpha and the Evermore – & three kings to a mother’s knee, at the King of Kings’ Epiphany.
It was one of the exchanges that now means a lot as we approach Epiphany again: very sadly he died in September this year. We miss him very much.
Children’s: There was something about this year that made me return comfortingly to children’s classics. Nothing quite beats the escapism of snuggling up to read Treasure Island, the Wind in the Willows, or the Hobbit.
Spiritual Reading: I cannot rave enough about Awakening Love, by Gregory Cleveland. It is a ‘do-it-yourself’ retreat based on the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises and the Song of Songs. It took me over a year to get through it and I was so sad to complete it! It was such a feast to bring to my prayer time each day.
I read The Impact of God by Iain Matthew for the second time: it’s one of those books that I will probably keep returning to. Spiritual counsel from St John of the Cross is so searing to the soul this book is impossible to take it in with just one read. I would go so far as to call it a spiritual masterpiece.
Non-Fiction: Last but not least… I loved Quiet by Susan Cain and wrote a whole post on it here. It felt slightly dissonant to work through Civilisation by Kenneth Clark in the summer, at a time when decolonisation was high in everyday conversation. Clark’s book (based on the 60s TV series) is a wonderful tour through the highlights of western civilisation and culture, reminding us of everything we surely don’t want to lose. Shoshana Zuboff’s The Age of Surveillance Capitalism is an absolute must-read (although rather verbose) for any of us concerned about the power of companies such as Google and Facebook after watching The Social Dilemma. And, to finish the year off on a light note, I’m reading Bill Bryon’s Notes from a Small Island, which really is laugh out loud.
What have you loved reading this year?
Thanks for sharing Hannah!