In 2020 I read 57 books, not my lowest number but definitely less than I’d considered it might be at the beginning of the year! I had a number of books unfinished by the year’s end, most of which I’d begun in the early spring, and, due to not having got very far with them, I decided to leave them off my reading lists completely until such time as I can contemplate starting them again, properly. The only one I kept was James Rebanks’ A Shepherd’s Life; I had read a good chunk of it and it was different to the other books in that whereas I read those outside and in the day in general, Rebanks’ book was saved for bedtime reading – time carved out without other books to distract me kept me going. All this to say that there are two books I carried over into 2021: the ever-present Vanity Fair (perhaps I need a readalong) and A Shepherd’s Life. The latter is in fact my father’s book – I bought it for him upon request when it was first published, and later he lent it to me to read – and so I was originally planning to finish it quickly. Having not seen Dad since last, last, Christmas and not knowing exactly when the next time would be, I admit to taking my time with the book. Got to find those small upshots where they are!

For the first time, I’m not going to do personal favourites. As you’ll see from the ratings, there was little not to like.

Best Of The Best

Elizabeth Baines: Astral Travel (2020) – Following her father’s death, Josephine looks to make sense of his abusive behaviour through writing about him, and there is a lot more to uncover than her family will allow into the book. Probably the best book about childhood abuse I’ve read – this is an incredibly difficult book to read but the study and further exploration is exquisitely done.

Intisar Khanani: Thorn (2012) – When Princess Alyrra is betrothed to Prince Kestrin, she’s not comfortable with the idea of travelling to his kingdom with Valka, who dislikes her, and the sudden appearance of a mage followed by a fae-like lady the night before has her more so; as Valka betrays her and the two womens’ bodies are switched Alyrra starts a different journey, one that will involve learning all manner of things about herself in order to turn back the changes, and all manner of things about her new kingdom that royalty are never privvy to. A superb fairytale retelling and adaptation, Khanani expanding on the ideas in the original Goose Girl to incredible effect.

Isla Morley: Come Sunday (2009) – The young daughter of Abbe, a woman who is struggling with her general situation, dies in an accident and Abbe has to wade through the repercussions of this whilst learning to live with her grief. An exceptional look at extreme grief and bad circumstances and the process towards acceptance and hope.

Joanna Hickson: First Of The Tudors (2016) – A fictionised story of Jasper Tudor, son of Catherine de Valois and her second husband Owen Tudor, as well as Jane, mother of his illegitimate children, taking us from Jasper’s early years to the initial first campaigns to bring Jasper’s nephew, the future Henry VII, to the throne. A fantastic story, immersive, detailed, and just simply a very good book in general.

Laura Pearson: I Wanted You To Know (2019) – A young mother is diagnosed with cancer and as she struggles through the changes to her world and future she writes letters to her daughter for the girl to read after she is gone, making preparations and healing relationships beforehand. An incredibly emotional read; difficult but important.

Peter Ho Davies: The Fortunes (2016) – Four stories connected by Chinese American history, racism, passing, and that rubbish idea that all Asians look the same: we follow 1800s Ling as he works for a Chinese American laundryman and white American railway construction company owner; Hollywood star Anna May Wong discusses her career progression which is marred by racism; a fictionised friend of Vincent Chin discusses the night of his death and what followed; and John travels to China with his wife to adopt a baby, already having lots to think about on the subject of being Asian American now and throughout history, and finding even more now as he goes through the last stages of the handover. An utterly fantastic book – the handling of the subjects, and the writing and language in general is superb.

Sofie Laguna: The Eye Of The Sheep (2014) – Jimmy sees things differently to other people though he doesn’t quite know it, but he does know about the tentacles in his mother’s chest that cause her problems, sees his dad struggle, and often can’t help himself from running around for ages; the family situation as it is is not sustainable and we see the changes through Jimmy’s eyes. A fantastic book about a child who defies a label, and his very normal, everyday family, living in the 70s and 80s.

Tracy Rees: Florence Grace (2016) – A young girl living in relative poverty in the Victorian period is employed for an evening as a servant for a party, and she meets a boy with the surname Grace – who isn’t going to be her husband. I don’t want to spoil the story so I’ll leave it there; this is as enjoyable as Amy Snow but pretty different and more Dickensian and Emily Brontë than Amy Snow’s Austen and Charlotte Brontë.

5

• Andrew Blackman: On The Holloway Road (2010)
• Andrew Blackman: A Virtual Love (2013)
• Camilla Bruce: You Let Me In (2020)
• Deborah Swift (as Davina Blake): Past Encounters (2014)
• E C Fremantle: The Poison Bed (2018)
• Intisar Khanani: Memories Of Ash (2016)
• Joanna Hickson: The Tudor Crown (2018)
• Joanna Hickson: The Lady Of The Ravens (2020)
• Isla Morley: The Last Blue (2020)
• Marianne Holmes: All Your Little Lies (2020)
• Midge Raymond: Forgetting English (2009)
• Midge Raymond: My Last Continent (2016)
• Nicola Cornick: The Forgotten Sister (2020)
• Nicholas Royle: An English Guide To Birdwatching (2017)
• Nicholas Royle: Mother: A Memoir (2020)
• Sofie Laguna: One Foot Wrong (2008)
• Sofie Laguna: The Choke (2017)
• Susmita Bhattacharya: Table Manners (2018)
• Tracy Rees: The Hourglass (2017)
• Weike Wang: Chemistry (2017)

4.5

• Abubakar Adam Ibrahim: Season Of Crimson Blossoms (2016)
• Abubakar Adam Ibrahim: The Whispering Trees (2012)
• Caroline Lea: When The Sky Fell Apart (2016)
• Caroline Lea: The Glass Woman (2019)
• Deborah Swift: The Occupation (2019)
• Eric Beck Rubin: School Of Velocity (2016)
• Fran Cooper: These Dividing Walls (2017)
• Fran Cooper: The Two Houses (2018)
• Laura Pearson: Missing Pieces (2018)
• Marianne Holmes: A Little Bird Told Me (2018)
• Nicholas Royle: Quilt (2010)
• Roselle Lim: Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop (2020)
• Shannon Stacey: Yours To Keep (2011)
• Tammye Huf: A More Perfect Union (2020)
• Terri Fleming: Perception (2017)
• Tracy Rees: Amy Snow (2015)
• Zo&emul; Duncan: The Shifting Pools (2017)

4

• Chibundu Onuzo: Welcome To Lagos (2017)
• Dan Richards: Outpost (2019)
• Intisar Khanani: Sunbolt (2013)
• Laura Pearson: Nobody’s Wife (2019)
• Orlando Ortega-Medina: The Savior Of 6th Street (2020)
• Peter Ho Davies: The Welsh Girl (2007)
• Roselle Lim: Natalie Tan’s Book Of Love And Fortune (2019)
• Tracy Chevalier (ed.): Reader, I Married Him (2016)
• Tracy Rees: The House At Silvermoor (2019)

3.5

• Christina Courtney: Echoes Of The Runes (2020)
• Tracy Rees: Darling Blue (2018)

3

• Sherry Thomas: Delicious (2009)

My reading list unsurprisingly reflects my podcast. There are no classics (Oliver Goldsmith was a casualty of the ‘not having got very far’) and nothing before 2007. There are also few review copies which I didn’t always get to in good time; I’m likely to lessen the number of those this new year. Podcast reading also means there are a number of re-reads here. I have changed a couple of ratings to reflect my updated thoughts on them; this accounts for discrepancies between ratings on this page and ratings and words in the linked reviews. I’ve excluded re-reads from my ‘best of the best’ list because it didn’t seem right to include them, especially as many were already on the ‘best of’ list for the year I first read them. The list also follows the one per author rule of previous years and due to that being strict enough, I’ve allowed for a higher number of best reads this time around.

Whilst compiling this post I made a note of various statistics which I later realised would be best included in a different post. I’ll be putting them together with my goals in the next few days. I’ve also a bumper film round up to get to.

What did you most enjoy reading last year?