Normally I like to cram as many books as possible into the year and end up sharing this list at the end of December. However, my lovely friend Emma pointed out that she finally has time to read during winter break and could use suggestions earlier.
So! I’m still in the middle of three new books (President Obama’s 700-page A Promised Land is one of them), and one of these may have topped the list. But as of right now, these are my favorite books published in 2020.
Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent by Isabel Wilkerson. This is one of those books that’s hard to read but SO incredibly important. I already included it in my list of books about white privilege and racism, but it’s worth listing again. I can’t stop thinking about this book. It offers a history of how America’s unspoken caste system has shaped the country. I was shocked to learn that the Nazis actually used the United States as a template for their own segregation during the 1930s and 1940s. Read this book.
Three Keys by Kelly Yang. I loved Yang’s original book Front Desk, about a family of Chinese immigrants who manage a motel in California. This follow-up novel continues the story but is about a real-life California proposition in the 1990s that tried to restrict undocumented immigrant children from schools. It was very timely with our current immigration policies and controversy and so well-written. This will break your heart, but it also has a satisfying ending.
Untamed by Glennon Doyle. I will say right now that this book is not for everyone. The author shares her heartbreaking story of finding love again with soccer player Abby Wambach after her husband’s infidelity. It has quite a bit of language, and her candor may make some people uncomfortable. However, so much of this book resonated with me, especially her ideas about being true to yourself and teaching your kids to live up to their potential. I wrote down so many little “sound bites” from this book that I loved. This is one you can read in pieces and come back to later. There’s so much wisdom and so much to think about.
The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power by Deirdre Mask. I guarantee you will appreciate your address more after reading this book. It’s packed full of facts I’d never considered, like how you can’t get certain benefits without an address and how street names affect home values. One huge takeaway for me was that we’ve got to stop requiring addresses on job applications, since it unfairly marginalizes homeless people trying to get off the streets. This was such a fascinating book.
Hold On, But Don’t Hold Still by Kristina Kuzmic. Even if you haven’t seen her funny and poignant videos on social media, you will love Kristina Kuzmic’s beautiful memoir. She shares her story of divorce, finding love again, struggling with depression as a single mom, building her business through helping other women, and parenting her children. I actually went to her book event right before COVID-19 hit, and she is just as genuine in person as she is in her videos and in her book. I want to give all my friends a copy.
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. I also included this in my list of books about racism and white privilege, but it topped my list of 2020 books, too. It’s about identical twin sisters raised in a small town with only light-skinned African-American people. After the sisters run away together, one decides to pass for white and not tell anyone about her heritage. The other sister marries a dark-skinned man and returns to her hometown. This has so many different ideas to consider, and it’s also the first novel I’ve read with a transgender character.
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins. Maybe don’t start reading this one at night. It’ll make your heart pound. When a mother and her son are the only survivors after a drug cartel kills their family at a party, they embark on a dangerous journey to leave Mexico and seek asylum in the United States. My husband actually served as a missionary in Cuernavaca, where the book starts, so it hit close to home.
What We Carry: A Memoir by Maya Shanbhag Lang. I was completely blown away by this memoir and have recommended it to so many people. It may be my favorite book of 2020. The author idolized her mother, a physician who’d emigrated from India, as a child. When Lang became a mother herself, however, she realized she didn’t know her mother at all. She also ends up caring for her mother as she worsens due to Alzheimer’s. I still look at this book and feel all the feelings I felt when reading it. It’s all about relationships between family members and how they change over time.
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. I never really know what to expect with Fredrik Backman’s books. They are reliably quirky, and this latest book is definitely that. In this story, someone tries to rob a bank and ends up taking a group of people checking out an apartment as hostages. You then get perspectives from everyone involved, including the real estate agent showing the apartment, the cops trying to rescue the hostages, and even people who knew the failed bank robber. I don’t want to give anything away, but just know that nothing is as it seems.
You’re Not Listening: What You’re Missing and Why It Matters by Kate Murphy. I read this way back in January, but I still think about it. I even wrote a review (and I never do that). It’s a nonfiction book about the mechanics of hearing and listening and the myriad reasons why we all have to listen better to each other. I just made it sound really boring, but this is such an important read. It would be great for an office setting or a book club. There’s a lot to discuss (and I think it’s time for me to reread it).
What was your favorite new book from 2020? You can also see my favorites from 2019 for more recommendations.
