Books I’ve Read in 2020
Short reviews of what has inspired and entertained me this year.
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In late 2019, I decided to start recording all the books I read in a spreadsheet. Call me a geek, or an obsessive life-long learner, but it’s a habit I’ve decided to take forward into my life. After recording each book I read for a little over a year and jotting down some brief thoughts on them, I thought others might benefit from hearing my hot takes.
I guess I should begin with a disclaimer and say that these books were actually read over the past 14 months since I decided to start recording what I read, rather than a strict calendar year… But in the interests of including some great titles in this list, I’m going to mention them here regardless.
I hope you enjoy these mini-reviews, and find some great material to read!
Non-Fiction
I’m starting with non-fiction, partly because it is my primary literary love and partly because I’m nearing completion of my first work of creative non-fiction, A Future Untold: On Storytelling, Narrative, and Systems Change in an Age of Crisis, due to launch in March 2021. Learn more and about my book here. Some of my non-fiction reading has been research for the book; others I’ve read just out of pure interest.
The Body Is Not An Apology: The Power of Radical Self Love
Sonya Renee Taylor (2018)
This book is not what it might seem at first glance. Going far beyond the notion of body positivity or self esteem, Sonya unpacks how our healing our broken relationships with our own bodies and with the bodies of others is key to dismantling oppression in our society along the lines of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, body size and shape, age, and level of ability. With humour and compassion, Sonya argues that we cannot do the work of healing the world until we radically accept and love our own bodies in all their glorious diversity.
