November and December 2020 reads
Oh boy. I probably shouldn't have waited over two months to write my reviews of these books...because my memory is shot and I have nearly no recollection of these. Looks like I'll be writing short reviews this time!
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by Kate Quinn
★★.5/5
Ah, I'd heard this book was SO GOOD -- and it sort of fell flat for me. The concept was interesting -- female spies in WW2! mutiple time streams in one novel! history! -- but I just thought the execution could have been better. It made me really want to read another John Le Carré, if I'm being frank.
The City of Brass
by S. A. Chakraborty
★★★★★/5
I think S. A. Charkaborty wins the "best fantasy author I discovered in 2020" award. Prestigious! ;) These fantasy novels are truly indescribable -- I'm having a hard time coming up with a way to impress on you how inventive and drawing these novels are. Nahri, the main character, is a girl in Ottoman-era Cairo, who gets taken into the magical city of Daevabad, with a giant slew of magical creatures, drama, and court intrigue to boot. If you like fantasy of any sort, these novels -- with their incredibly detailed world and character building -- will enthrall you. Highly recommend!!!
Gilead
by Marilynne Robinson
★★★★★/5
After reading Home, by Marilynne Robinson, with the CloseReads podcast earlier in 2020, I decided to get copies of the rest of the Gilead novels and work my way through them. And wow. Now I truly get why she is so lauded as a quintessential and *essential* modern American author. John Ames isn't my favorite character of their "world," but this book made me cry multiple times and it's not one I'll forget easily.
A Walk in the Woods
by Bill Bryson
★★★★/5
After the heaviness of Gilead, I needed something light, and I'd seen Bill Bryson tossed around as a humor writer, and so I requested this one at the library since it was on the shelf. It was exactly what pandemic Hannah needed at the time of year when everything was getting cold and the claustrophobia was setting in. Bill is a travel writer who decides to walk the Appalachian Trail, something I've always wanted to do, and the recount of it is SO funny but also interspersed with interesting facts about the trail, America, and hiking culture. If you need an escape and want to pretend you're traveling, hit up Bill Bryson.
A Golden Fury
by Samantha Cohoe
★★★★/5
I've been friends with Samantha on Twitter/Instagram for a couple years so I could not WAIT to get my hands on her debut YA novel, A Golden Fury! It was sooooooo fun. Full of incredibly drawn characters, magic, mother-daughter drama, and a deep sense of Catholic theology (somehow, yes, she does these all in one novel!!!), I couldn't recommend it enough. I think if I could time travel and give it to 14 year old Hannah, she'd absolutely lose her mind.
The Moviegoer
by Walker Percy
★★★★/5
Another CloseReads book! I'd always meant to pick up a Walker Percy but had not gotten around to it before motivated by a podcast. ;) It's the story of a malaise-driven Binx Bolling (what a name, honestly) in the South in the 50s, who's on a "search" for God/meaning in his life. I listened to the audiobook of this one, which always colors my interpretation of a book (my brain just doesn't file audiobooks and written books in the same place, no matter how hard I try). But I really liked it and now I'm motivated to read more Walker Percy!
Lila
by Marilynne Robinson
★★★★★/5
Ahhh, and now we come to my favorite Marilynne Robinson -- the heartbreaking and harrowing Lila who captured my attention in Home and has an even more fascinating story than I could have predicted. (I just need to get my hands on Jack now, from the library hold list which is currently 80 people long...haha.) I think I'd recommending reading Gilead before Lila, and then Home after it, if you haven't read any Robinson before. Absolutely love.
The Kingdom of Copper
by S. A. Chakraborty
★★★★★/5
Book 2 in the Daevabad trilogy (City of Brass from earlier)! I frantically put this on hold at the library when I had 20 pages left in the first one, and I was worried -- would it not live up to the first? But it did!!! Seriously. Read these books ASAP.
The Lost Continent
by Bill Bryson
★★★/5
I also requested another Bryson to fill some time and psuedo-travel again before 2020 was over. This one is the story of him driving throughout the United States in an attempt to find the "utopic American small town." I found it refreshing and a really fun, light read.
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
by Christopher Paolini
★★★/5
If you're my age and you didn't read or at least hear about Eragon when you were like, 12-15, you're not going to fully appreciate why I read this book. Paolini was 19 when he published it and so he was seen as this child-author-prodigy so when I heard he had a new, SCIFI book???? I put that ish on hold immediately. Now...let's be clear and admit that I didn't love this book. (Honestly, I can't remember how I felt about Eragon back in like 2003 or whatever.) I thought some of it was really good -- the world-building, the expansive universe, all good stuff that I really like in good sci-fi. But I thought it either needed to be split into multiple novels instead of one giant 900+ page book (because some of the background, left intentionally vague, could have been improved if it'd been fleshed out) or it needed a heavier editor's hand to tighten it up. Not my favorite BUT I did finish it. I'd only recommend if you have a similar experience with Paolini or you read a lot of sci-fi.
The Empire of Gold
by S. A. Chakraborty
★★★★★/5
I can't describe to you how hesitant I was to read the ending of the Daevabad trilogy. I haven't wanted a series to end this strongly in a VERY long time. But the story was so compelling, I couldn't help myself. It did NOT disappoint. 5 stars and let me tell you, I will be trolling in anticipation of whatever S. A. Chakraborty writes next because if it's anything like this, I know I'll love it.
Whew! 2020 reads all compiled on the blog! I'm hoping to continue this in 2021, but if you're curious, here are the other posts about everything I read this year:
Right now I'm 25% of the way through The Prayer of Owen Meany, and I'm hoping to finish Middlemarch in 2021 somehow. What are you reading?
HG
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