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 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.
That's quite a list, Catriona. I've made some notes. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAll the very best for the holidays.
Love your lists and mostly agree with your picks. SHUGGIE BAIN oh my. Kudos to those Booker folks. And MY SISTER THE SERIAL KILLER!
ReplyDeleteI 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
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!
ReplyDeleteSusan, 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.
ReplyDeleteWhat 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.
ReplyDeleteThis 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!
ReplyDeleteHope your holidays are good. Miss you.
Catriona, Was just reading the semi-annual newsletter and salivating. Must order some Dorothy Whipple - I loved the little short story in the newsletter.
ReplyDeleteBrilliant idea to sort your best picks each month, Catriona.
ReplyDeleteAnd I am glad to see you also found this a banner year for great reads.
My TBR mountain continues to grow!
Happy holidays.
Backatcha, Grace. Cx
ReplyDelete