For all of its faults, 2020 certainly did give us a lot more time to read (and indulge in some much needed escapism!) I managed to read 50 books over the last year and, of those 50, I have narrowed them down to the following 5 favourites:
1) Misery – Stephen King
Paul Sheldon. He's a bestselling novelist who has finally met his biggest fan. Her name is Annie Wilkes and she is more than a rabid reader - she is Paul's nurse, tending his shattered body after an automobile accident. But she is also his captor, keeping him prisoner in her isolated house.
What I thought: Although I read this book in 2020, it obviously isn't a 2020 release. This book was originally published in 1987; so I was about 33 years late to the party... But it was a party better arriving late to than never! Knowing that I am a big fan of thrillers, my boyfriend gave me a copy of Misery by Stephen King as a Christmas gift in 2019. Like most people, I already knew the storyline even though I had never read the book or seen the film. (I have now done both and recommend for you to do the same if you haven't already!) At least, I thought I knew the storyline – but when the main events of what I had assumed to be the entire plot happened within the first couple of chapters, I was immediately hooked and couldn't wait to find out what the rest of the book would contain. Stephen King is a master of his craft and I haven't read many books as suspenseful or well-written as Misery. It had me compulsively turning the pages, unable to put it down or look away.
2) Blood Orange – Harriet Tyce
Alison has it all. A doting husband, adorable daughter, and a career on the rise - she's just been given her first murder case to defend. But all is never as it seems...
Just one more night. Then I'll end it.
Alison drinks too much. She's neglecting her family. And she's having an affair with a colleague whose taste for pushing boundaries may be more than she can handle.
I did it. I killed him. I should be locked up.
Alison's client doesn't deny that she stabbed her husband - she wants to plead guilty. And yet something about her story is deeply amiss. Saving this woman may be the first step to Alison saving herself.
I'm watching you. I know what you're doing.
But someone knows Alison's secrets. Someone who wants to make her pay for what she's done, and who won't stop until she's lost everything...
What I thought: Although slightly less well-known than my first recommendation, my second recommendation is also a psychological thriller. Tyce's debut novel is suspenseful, emotive and dark with lots of great twists – everything a good thriller should be. The author makes fantastic use of the unreliable narrator to expertly pervert the reader's perception and attention in a way that I haven't seen since The Girl on the Train. It is the only book I can think of in which I've found the first-person narrator dislikeable, despite being told the story from their perspective. This is a very impressive feat for the author to achieve (especially for someone like me who is empathetic to a fault!) and made the experience of reading the book a very different one; emphasising the uncomfortable themes and events by making the reader feel uncomfortable whilst reading it. I immediately added Tyce's next novel, The Lies You Told, to my TBR list and can't wait to read it!
3) Pretending – Holly Bourne
April is kind, pretty, and relatively normal - yet she can't seem to get past date five. Every time she thinks she's found someone to trust, they reveal themselves to be awful, leaving her heartbroken. And angry.
If only April could be more like Gretel.
Gretel is exactly what men want - she's a Regular Everyday Manic Pixie Dream Girl Next Door With No Problems.
The problem is, Gretel isn't real. And April is now claiming to be her.
As soon as April starts 'being' Gretel, dating becomes much more fun - especially once she reels in the unsuspecting Joshua.
Finally, April is the one in control, but can she control her own feelings? And as she and Joshua grow closer, how long will she be able to keep pretending?
What I thought: This is a bit of a change of pace from my previous two recommendations, but I enjoyed it as a nice, funny, light-hearted and easy read to escape into. Having said that, it definitely isn't fluffy; dealing sensitively with difficult subjects such as mental health, sexism, abuse and rape. I really enjoyed reading this book and think that a lot of women would find it very relatable.
4) My Dark Vanessa – Kate Elizabeth Russell
2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful forty-two-year-old English teacher.
2017. Amid the rising wave of allegations against powerful men, a reckoning is coming due. Strane has been accused of sexual abuse by a former student, who reaches out to Vanessa, and now Vanessa suddenly finds herself facing an impossible choice: remain silent, firm in the belief that her teenage self willingly engaged in this relationship, or redefine herself and the events of her past. But how can Vanessa reject her first love, the man who fundamentally transformed her and has been a persistent presence in her life? Is it possible that the man she loved as a teenager—and who professed to worship only her—may be far different from what she has always believed?
What I thought: Whilst we're on the topic of difficult subjects, my next recommendation, by debut author Kate Elizabeth Russell, has them in abundance. This book covers many of the same topics as my previous recommendation (mental heath, sexism, abuse and rape) whilst also exploring grooming, coercion, paedophilia and predatory abuse of power through the retrospective lens of the Me Too movement. I found this book incredibly powerful and captivating to read. It is dark and disturbing, whilst also placing an interesting focus on identity, trauma and the stories we tell ourselves about our past and who we are. The thing I enjoyed most about My Dark Vanessa was how beautifully written it is; in a prosaic style that reminded me very much of a modern day Sylvia Plath. I can't wait to read whatever Russell writes next.
5) Queenie – Candice Carty-Williams
Queenie Jenkins is a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman living in London, straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither. She works at a national newspaper, where she’s constantly forced to compare herself to her white middle class peers. After a messy break up from her long-term white boyfriend, Queenie seeks comfort in all the wrong places… including several hazardous men who do a good job of occupying brain space and a bad job of affirming self-worth.
As Queenie careens from one questionable decision to another, she finds herself wondering, “What are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?”—all of the questions today’s woman must face in a world trying to answer them for her.
What I thought: Another debut novel, Queenie might have been my favourite book that I read in 2020. It is commonly described as Bridget Jones meets Black Lives Matter, which I think is quite an apt way of summing it up. Whilst also dealing with its fair share of difficult topics, including racism, sexism, mental health and generally what it means to be a young black woman living in London, its shining qualities for me were both how honest and how hilarious it is. I rarely laugh out loud when reading a book, but Carty-Williams had me doing so throughout. It was a very illuminating read that I would recommend to anyone. Please let there be a sequel!
Hopefully this post has given you some reading inspiration to help entertain you throughout Lockdown 3.0 and beyond. Let me know what books you loved reading in 2020 and if you have any recommendations in the comments!
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