Thursday, December 17, 2020

2020's Bright Side, by Catriona

I will, I will, I will get this first draft finished and printed out (while I dance to Mariah Carey) by Friday. So, with apologies, I'm cheating a bit on the blog.

This is my year in books, lifted whole off my website, but with a book of the month highlighted for every month. That choice was really hard, in a year of fantabulous reading and not much else. Sometimes two books from one month would have made my top ten of the entire year. July, in particular, was stellar.


December 2020

DEATH AT GREENWAY, Lori Rader-Day (May 2021) How lucky am I to get an advance peek?

THE STORIES WE TELL, Liz Milliron (Feb 2021)

THE LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS, Vanessa Diffenbaugh.



November 2020

SEVEN WAYS TO GET RID OF HARRY, Jen Conley

THEY'RE GONE, by E.A. Barres

THE NANNY STATE MADE ME, Stuart Maconie

WOMEN OF A CERTAIN RAGE, Eileen Rendahl. This was so close to actually hanging out with my friend Eileen in Darby Cuento Davis CA

THE FIVE, Hallie Rubenhold.

The numbers 259 and 214 on MSNBC's election special.



October, 2020

RODHAM, Curtis Sittenfeld

RULES FOR BEING DEAD, Kim Powers

THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB, Richard Osman

SHUGGIE BAIN, Douglas Stuart. A brutal, brilliant, heartbreak of a novel. Well done, Booker judges!

THE COUNTRY LIFE, Rachel Cusk

AND NOW SHE'S GONE, Rachel Howzell Hall



September 2020

LATE SHOW, Michael Connelly

SUMMERTIME, J M Coetzee

QUEENIE, Candace Carty-Williams

[TOP SECRET YET AWHILE], Jeff Cohen

ONE BY ONE, Ruth Ware

FIGHTING FIT, Ruth Dawes

THE WIFE, Alafair Burke

THE EX, Alafair Burke

GROWN-UPS, Marian Keyes Ever wondered what life would be like an a big, rabblesome, Irish family?

HOPE, FAITH AND A CORPSE, Laura Jensen Walker

500 MILES FROM YOU, Jenny Colgan

OPIOID, INDIANA, Brian Allen Carr.


August 2020

THE BETTER SISTER, Alafair Burke

LITTLE COMFORT, Edwin Hill

DODGING AND BURNING, John Copenhavr. Character, setting, theme, plot ... This is a masterclass

ME AND WHITE SUPREMACY, Layla Saad

HOUSEBOUND, Winifred Peck

I'M STILL HERE, Austin Channing Brown

DOREEN, Barbara Noble

THE REDHEAD AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD, Anne Tyler

HOW TO BE AN ANTI-RACIST, Ibraim X Kendi

MIRACLE CREEK, Angie Kim

A SINGLE THREAD, Tracy Chevalier


July 2020

THE LAST, Hanna Jameson

ONCE YOU GO THIS FAR, Kristen Lepionka

IN THE DREAM HOUSE, Carmen Maria Machado

BLACKTOP WASTELAND, Shawn A. Cosby This little book deserves a crumb of attention. 😜

FAR TOO MUCH AND NEVER ENOUGH, Mary Trump

MEXICAN GOTHIC, Silvia Moreno Garcia

WHAT YOU DON'T SEE, Tracy Clark

I AM SOVEREIGN, Nicola Barker

COVENTRY, Rachel Cusk


June 2020

GIRL, WOMAN, OTHER, Bernardine Evaristo. Yep, those Booker judges really do know what they're doing. 

SEA OF LOST GIRLS, Carol Goodman

ENDLESS BEACH, Jenny Colgan,

THE SUMMER SEASIDE KITCHEN, Jenny Colgan

BIG SKY, Kate Atkinson

TALKING AS FAST AS I CAN, Lauren Graham

AMERICAN MARRIAGE, Tayari Jones

THE QUARRY, Iain Banks

THE HOUSE BY THE LOCH, Kirsty Wark


May 2020

WHAT YOU PAY FOR, Claire Askew

I AM NOT YOUR PERFECT MEXICAN DAUGHTER, Erika Sanchez. I don't read much YA but whenever I do it blows me away. If I'd had books like this when I was . . .

IF IT BLEEDS, Stephen King

THE WITCH ELM, Tana French

THE BOOKSHOP ON THE SHORE, Jenny Colgan

PRETTY GIRLS, Karin Slaughter

ALL THE HIDDEN TRUTHS, Claire Askew


April 2020

THE MIRROR AND THE LIGHT, Hilary Mantel

CONVICTION, Denise Mina

THE BODY LIES, Jo Baker

WHERE THE MISSING GO, Emma Rowley

ONE NIGHT GONE, Tara Laskowski Unbelievably accomplished debut and I can still smell the sea.

THE MURDER LIST, Hank Phillipi Ryan

SO MUCH BLOOD, Simon Brett


March 2020

MURDER GOES TO MARKET, Daisy Bateman

THE STAND, Stephen King

RED, WHITE, AND ROYAL BLUE, Casey McQuiston

DROWNED UNDER, Wendall Thomas. LOL funny mystery that could have killed the cruise industry all on it own even without you know what.

THE NIGHT VISITORS, Carol Goodman

February  2020

FATAL CAJUN FESTIVAL, Ellen Byron

MURDER MOST SWEET, Laura Jensen Walker

THREE-FIFTHS, John Vercher This short, tight, perfect novel is like a punch in the neck. In the good way.

MURDER FROM SCRATCH, Leslie Karst

ABSENCE OF MALICE, Cynthia Kuhn

MY SISTER, THE SERIAL KILLER, Oyinkan Braithwaite

DEATH AT HIGH TIDE, Hannah Dennisn

THE NICKEL BOYS, Colson Whitehead




January 2020

MURDER IN THE DESERT, Iona Whishaw

THE LUCKY ONE, Lori Rader Day

THE POISON GARDEN, Alex Marwood

THE BOOKSHOP ON THE SHORE, Jenny Colgan. I had no idea how much I was going to need books set in Scottish landscapes when I read this one . . .



CHRISTMAS HOLS (Dec 20th-Jan 6th)

A NEARLY PERFECT CHRISTMAS, Nina Stibbe

OPEN THE CAGE, MURPHY, Pal O'Grady

MY NAME IS WHY, Lemn Sissay

THE LADY IN THE LAKE, Laura Lippman

THE DUTCH HOUSE, Ann Patchett

CHRISTMAS ON CORONATION STREET, Maggie O'Sullivan

THE SALT PATH, Raynor Winn. Cornish landscapes are always welcome too. 

THE INSTITUTE, Stephen King

THE STONE CIRCLE, Elly Griffiths

THE DARK ANGEL, Elly Griffiths


And there's my year in books. I'll start my carefully curated Christmas pile on Friday and get back to you next year.


I hope everyone reading this is well and safe. So long, 2020. You sucked except for the books.



9 comments:

Dietrich Kalteis said...

That's quite a list, Catriona. I've made some notes. Thanks.

All the very best for the holidays.

Ann said...

Love your lists and mostly agree with your picks. SHUGGIE BAIN oh my. Kudos to those Booker folks. And MY SISTER THE SERIAL KILLER!

I can barely wait until you've read HAMNET. It will make you weep a bit.

Merry christmas. Hope we talk/text once more before you go into Christmas lockdown

Love,
Ann

Susan C Shea said...

It's staggering how many good books are published every year. Keeping up is hard. I'm hoarding a few Persephone Press books for the time when I can curl up and read without feeling guilty that I'm not doing something more outwardly important like reading the NYT Magazine. Merry Christmas and happy reading time!

Catriona McPherson said...

Susan, I've got the last ever (like EVUH!) Dorothy Whipple coming from Persephone, while we're talking about things to savour. It's her writing diary.

Kathy Reel said...

What a great reading list for the year, Catriona! I thought I'd finished buying for my Christmas bag of books this year, but I guess I was wrong. I'll be looking up many of your reads and adding them to my list.

Terry said...

This has been a banner year, making for a great list. Happily, I've read several of them. Unhappily, I'm going to have too many to add to my list!

Hope your holidays are good. Miss you.

Susan C Shea said...

Catriona, Was just reading the semi-annual newsletter and salivating. Must order some Dorothy Whipple - I loved the little short story in the newsletter.

Grace Koshida said...

Brilliant idea to sort your best picks each month, Catriona.

And I am glad to see you also found this a banner year for great reads.

My TBR mountain continues to grow!

Happy holidays.

Catriona McPherson said...

Backatcha, Grace. Cx