books of 2020

All the light we cannot see - Anthony Doerr

- good, well written, classic, 'novel'. enjoyed it, highly readable. 

 

Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine - Gail Honeyman

- readable, written in a simple, jaunty way, i guess because it is written from a perspective of a person with some social awkwardness/almost on the spectrum, maybe it is intentional? not exactly high literature.

 

My name is Lucy Barton - Elizabeth Strout 

- short, simple, but lovely writing. made me long for my mum the way the protagonist longed for her mum. 

 

Spiral - Koji Suzuki

- sequel to Ring. not as scary as you might expect. a quick read. more biology/genetics than horror i was expecting. 

 

Three Women - Lisa Taddeo
- made me feel and think a lot; even though none of the stories are remotely relatable in my life, it could have been - to be a woman, is to be just moments, just a sliding doors away, from such a scenario unfolding, whether that is sexual assault, or manipulation in some way. i wasn't always sympathetic to some of the women, i would hate to be held down and be controlled by carnal desire, but the vulnerability side of it - that i could have been in such situations, it struck something inside me and made me think of the book and the people in it for a while after reading. 

 

Olive Kiterridge - Elizabeth Strout

- is olive me? cantankerous, emotionally labile, but underneath it all, some good intentions, some good? or so one would like to think. i wish i had my own steadfast henry, or do i have him already? i do love her writing. simple, to the point, honest, no flowery language to be had. 

 

Girl, Woman, Other - Bernardine Evaristo 

- it started off a little slow, but towards to mid and latter section it was very engaging, could get very absorbed as if i were right there. many people and characters who were not one thing but multifaceted, some likable and many not, the intersecting stories were interesting and a good read. 

 

The Spare Room - Helen Garner

 

Rodham - Curtis Sittenfeld

- wow what a book. such a captivating read, absolutely addicting and i often said a delicious read, because it feels so real, so close to the real hillary (or what i perceive her to be like), and to imagine, how her life could have turned out. her voice sounded so real, and i even cried real tears while reading the passage of her breaking up with bill clinton in this alternate reality of the book. the last quarter was not as engaging as the rest, but very much an enjoyable ride.

 

A lonely girl is a dangerous thing - Jessie Tu

- if the main word that i kept thinking re: rodham was 'delicious', the main emoji to summarise my feelings for this book was the eyeroll emoji. hedonism is so banal. using degrading sex as some device to feel better? so old and so gross and actually just unpleasant and boring. do people really live like this? cannot relate and feel zero sympathy for, mate. 

 

Anything is Possible - Elizabeth Strout

- my first audiobook. extension of her little universe. a small delight. devastating at times.