2020 Book List

I would have expected that the extra free time which has been a benefit of the pandemic would have meant I would read more. It didn't. For some reason I turned to TV and film, which is unusual for me - I have never watched a lot of TV, and this year I'm sure I have watched more on screen than in the previous five (if not ten!) years put together. Why? Maybe it takes a bit less effort than reading and I needed things to be easy this year; maybe because it was something I could share with other members of the family; maybe it just became a habit. 

For the record, here are the books I read in 2020, with a brief comment on each and my goodreads rating: 

1. Mudlarking (Lara Maiklem) - fascinating account of the activities of a "mudlark" and the artefacts she retrieves from the River Thames. ***** (I just upgraded this from **** because the book stuck with me all year)
2. The Peterloo Massacre (Robert Reid) - detailed account of the background and aftermath as well as of the events of the terrible day in 1819 when a peaceful rally in support of Parliamentary reform was violently broken up at St Peter's Field in Manchester. ****
3. The Shepherd's Life (James Rebanks) - the life of a sheep farmer in the Lake District. ****
4. Surfacing (Kathleen Jamie) - a collection of essays with a theme of digging below the surface. The longest sections are about archaeological digs in Alaska and Orkney and a journey to Tibet. Beautifully written. *****
5. Bluestockings (Jane Robinson) - a history of the development of university education for women and the experiences of some early women students between the 1860s and 1920s. ***
6. The Rowan (Anne McCaffery) - a re-read of the first book in a fantasy series ****
7. William Morris (Fiona MacCarthy) - definitive biography of the founder of the arts and crafts movement and early communist William Morris. ***** 
8. The Summer Book (Tove Jansson) - short novel by the author of the Moon books describing the summer spent by a young girl and her grandmother on a Swedish island ****
9. Rewild Yourself (Simon Barnes) - clear and realistic explanations of small ways in which we can learn to become more aware of nature around us *****
10. The Life and Loves of E Nesbit (Eleanor Fitzsimons) - a new biography of author Edith Nesbit, but I felt it didn't add much to another biography I read a few years ago ***
11. Countryside and Cloister (Marie Litchfield) - a re-read of a biography in which in the first half the author describes her childhood in the English countryside of the 1930s, and the second her life as a Carmelite nun ****
12. Project 333 (Courtney Carver) - the book of the blog in which Courtney Carver explains Project 333 capsule/minimalist wardrobe plan to wear 33 items for 3 months ***
13. The Bird in the Tree (Elizabeth Goudge) - the first of Elizabeth Goudge's Damerosehay trilogy about the Eliot family set in post-war Hampshire. A bit of familiar comfort reading for the pandemic **** 
14. The Herb of Grace (Elizabeth Goudge) - part two of the Damerosehay trilogy ****
15. Fashionopolis (Dana Thomas) - a book about the costs of the fast fashion industry, which also looks at how we can move to a more ethical approach to clothes ****
16. Destination Simple (Brooke McAlary) - suggests ways in which we can simplify our daily lives. I enjoyed it, but now can't remember any of the suggestions! ****
17. Secrets of the Capsule Wardrobe (Sarah Eliza Louderback) - another book I read as part of my thinking about the practicalities of reducing clothing and dressing more ethically ****
18. The Heart of the Family (Elizabeth Goudge) - the third of the Damerosehay trilogy ****
19. The Oldest House in London (Fiona Rule) - the history of the Smithfield area of London seen through the inhabitants of the oldest surviving continuously occupied house in London ***
20. English Pastoral (James Rebanks) - my favourite book of the year. Split into three parts, the author looks at the farming practices of his grandfather's generation, the changes that came with industrialised farming in the later 20th century, and ways in which farming can change to work with the land again instead of against it. As someone who grew up on a farm in the 60s and 70s, this was part memory lane and part an exercise in hope that the damage created by industrialised farming can be healed *****
21. Elizabeth Fry: a Biography (June Rose) - a biography of the 19th century Quaker prison reformer. I'm afraid I didn't like her very much! ***
22. Europe: an Intimate Journey (Jan Morris) - wickedly observant and clever tour of Europe as she knew it between 1950 and 2000 ****
23. A History of Ancient Britain (Neil Oliver) - I think this book was written to go with a TV series. It took a while for me to get into it, but once I did it hooked me and I now want to read much more about the Neolithic and Bronze Ages ****
24. Christmas Pudding (Nancy Mitford) - a random Kindle purchase as I have always been fascinated by the Mitfords (how could one family produce an author, a duchess, a communist, a wife of the British fascist leader, and a Hitler hanger-on?). An early book by Nancy Mitford and not one of her best ***

I see this works out as almost one book every two weeks. Alongside these, I was also listening to audio books. Usually I listen on my commute to work, but found this year that listening while lying in the hammock in the garden or in the kitchen while cooking where my main Audible moments. I listened to:

1. London in the 19th Century (Jerry White) - interesting, but I hard it found to focus and take in all the information. Might have been better if I had read rather than listened to this one? ***
2. Downsizing (Tom Watson) - a mix of political autobiography with diet and lifestyle advice from a former Labour politician who managed to turn around his health and weight ***
3. Unspeakable (John Bercow) - I expected to enjoy this more than I did, given the central role that Bercow played in the political shenanigans of 2019. Unfortunately his large ego rather put me off! ***
4. The New Silk Roads (Peter Frankopan) - a historian of the silk roads looks at modern politics and relationships in the region ****
5. Difficult Women (Helen Lewis) - subtitled a "history of feminism in 11 fights" the author looks at 11 women who fought to improve the lives of women in the 20th century ****
6. The Prosecutor (Nazir Afzal) - memoir of a lawyer who became a Chief Prosecutor determined to ensure that criminals faced the consequences for their crimes ****
7. Underland (Robert Macfarlane) - this description of the author's explorations of caves and tunnels was a counterpoint to Surfacing, which I read earlier in the year **** 
8. Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Won't Stop Talking (Susan Cain) - I'm one of those people who is on the cusp of extrovert and introvert, sometimes falling one side of the line and sometimes the other. This has definitely been an introvert year, so this book felt relevant ****
9. The Prime Ministers (Steve Richards) - I think this was based on a radio series looking at the prime ministers from Ted Heath and Harold Wilson in the 1970s through to Theresa May. Scarily, I am old enough to remember all of them! *** 
10. The Weirdstone of Brisingamen (Alan Garner) - a couple of references reminded me about this book from my childhood, set in Cheshire where the author lived. Superb fantasy, but pretty scary for a children's book! *****
11. Northern Lights (Philip Pullman) - inspired by the BBC adaptation I decided it was time to listen to / re-read the His Dark Materials trilogy. I had forgotten how well Philip Pullman constructed his fantasy universe and I am looking forward to rediscovering the other books *****