~a column by Tori Riley, GCNO publisher/editor
While 2020 wasn’t a great year in some ways, it was a great year for reading. With so many activities suspended and with prudent people just staying home, there was more time to read.
I surpassed my annual goal to read a dozen books and tallied 16 books. I chose the books intentionally, as much to learn as to be entertained, and yes, I learned, and I enjoyed most of it. Nine of the books were non-fiction. They gave me insight into “issues of the day.”
Here’s my reading list from 2020, non-fiction first, not in the order in which I read them:
The Greatest Generation by Tom Brokaw (1998) – We were pressed to deal with a pandemic. How did my parents’ and grandparents’ generation deal with World War Two? With more solidarity and less whining than we’ve had with the pandemic.
Endurance by Alfred Lansing (1959) – The story of a 1914 expedition led by polar explorer Ernest Shackleton to cross Antarctica on foot. The ship, Endurance, got locked in ice floes and was crushed, forcing the 28-man crew to live on ice packs for a year before Shackleton and four other crew members sailed a small boat 650 nautical miles to get help. It’s an unadorned story of leadership, grit, and dealing with challenges as part of life.
Happiness Is a Choice You Make by John Leland (2018) – NYT journalist Leland spent a year interviewing six persons, age 85 and older, seeking their wisdom on life and aging. They were in different health, personal and financial situations, but all happy. The lesson: Happy or unhappy, it’s up to us individually.
The Library Book by Susan Orlean (2018) – Explores a major fire at the main branch of the Los Angeles public library in 1986 and pays homage to libraries and librarians. The book was recommended to me by Carla Offenburger, whom I’ve trusted for years for book recommendations. It was a bit of a slow read, but worth it. Carla didn’t steer me wrong.
Shortest Way Home by Pete Buttigieg (2019) – I loved his campaign rhetoric but was undecided if he had the experience needed to lead the nation. I read this before the Iowa caucus. My conclusion was that there were other candidates with more experience, but I caucused for Mayor Pete anyway.
Promise Me, Dad by Joe Biden (2018) – This was recommended by two of my daughters before the 2020 campaign cycle got under way. I read it after Biden was the Democrats’ presumptive candidate for president. The book is half political and half dealing with his son Beau’s brain cancer and eventual death. Biden’s “Look here” style is very evident.
The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris (2019) – I read this after Harris was named the vice-presidential candidate. She has a fierce commitment to justice for all, regardless of their race, and her assertiveness is an asset.
The Promised Land by Barack Obama (2020) – At 700 pages, the longest book I read, and the last book I read during the year. The book is the first volume of memoirs and ends as the 2012 campaign is getting under way. It was refreshing to read Obama’s rhetoric. He shares the frustration of not being able to realize his lofty goals due to partisanship in Congress. What I most enjoyed was the stories he told of his wife and daughters.
Below Stairs by Margaret Powell (1968) – The memoir of a kitchen maid that was the inspiration for “Upstairs, Downstairs” and then “Downton Abbey”. I’m a Downton fan. From Powell’s experiences, the television show is pure fiction, but we all know that.
I tried to alternate non-fiction and fiction. I selected most of the fiction hoping to gain insight into issues of our time. These aren’t listed in the order I read them.
Go Tell It on the Mountain (1953) and If Beale Street Could Talk (1974) by James Baldwin – Being Black in America is to fear police always, even if you’re doing nothing wrong, and to distrust Whites because of the power they have in your life just by virtue of the color of their skin. Beale Street was the more enjoyable read of the two. If you’re going to read one James Baldwin book, read Beale Street.
The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennet (2020) tells of Black twin sisters whose skin is light enough they can pass for white. One sister marries a white attorney and passes herself off as white; the other marries a very dark-skinned Black. Set in the 1950 and ‘60s, the sisters’ lives are very different, and although the twin living as White has more opportunities and is much better off financially, she’s haunted by her deception.
The Mothers, also by Britt Bennet (2016) – The All Iowa Reads book. I’ve read the Iowa Center for the Book’s All Iowa Reads selection almost every year. The Mothers is well-written, but I was very disappointed a book with such a strong anti-abortion theme was chosen.
Little Women by Louisa Mae Alcott (1868) – The Greene County Reads book for 2020. I also always read the Greene County Reads selection, but I have to admit, I had a hard time getting excited about Little Women. It had been 50 years since I read the book. It took me a while to “get into” it, but it became bedtime reading for me. That’s despite the times I rolled my eyes over what was poured into the brains of readers when the book was first published. I’m glad women’s only worthy goal in life is no longer to get married and be a model wife.
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins (2020) was billed as a Grapes of Wrath for our time. It’s a compelling story of a well-educated mother and son who leave Mexico after their family is massacred because the boy’s father, a journalist, published an exposé of a drug cartel. The book explores the dire conditions that cause people to risk emigrating from Central America and the dangers along the way.
Finally, the book I most enjoyed in 2020 –
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens (2018). The story is compelling, the characters are believable, and the descriptive passages are beautiful. Set in the marshes of North Carolina, Owens tells the story of Kya, who is abandoned by her family when she’s 6 years old. She lives alone, without a clock or calendar, and manages to survive by fishing and gardening, despite intense isolation. The marsh and what lives in it are her world, until she meets two very different young men. I’ll read the book again sometime.
I’m already into my second book for 2021. I’ll wait until next January to share with you.
