Here in the UK, 2020 can justly be described as the year we all stayed at home.  For me, however, that statement can definitely be expanded to the year I stayed at home and read a hell of a lot more than ever before.   I mean, what else was I going to do?

According to Goodreads (my 2020 best friend and reading tracker-hybrid), I managed to work my way through 108 splendid books in 365 days.  I am smug, to say the least.  Whether your New Year’s Resolution is to read more, pick up books more intuitively, or exit your comfort zone  – this Every Book I Read In 2020 Pt. II should serve you some inspiration.  This post features the second 54 books I read in 2020.

You can find the Every Book I Read In 2020 post here.

Follow me via GoodReads for daily up-to-date readings here.

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55 – Swing Time – Zadie Smith (2017)

(Two council estate-born dancers’ lives ricochet in different, diverse directions but always come back together.)

 

56 – Dæmon Voices – Philip Pullman (2017)

(Hints, tips, and tricks in the form of essays and discussions from master wordsmith Philip Pullman.)

 

57 – Wolf Hall – Hilary Mantel (2010)

(The first in Hilary Mantel’s epic Oliver Cromwell trilogy, of which Anne Boleyn plays the central character.)

 

58 – Autumn – Ali Smith (2016)

(The first quarter of Ali Amith’s social commentary Seasonal series.  Talks of Brexit.)

 

59 – Moving Pictures – Terry Pratchett (1990)

(The tenth novel in Terry Pratchett’s DiscWorld series focuses on the ‘big screen’, fame and fleeting fortune.)

 

60 – Temeraire – Naomi Novik (2006)

(A historical fantasy fiction novel set around The Napoleonic Wars with dragons.)

 

61 – Good Morning, Destroyer of Men’s Souls: A Memoir of Women, Addiction and Love – Nina Renata Aron (2020)

(An autobiographical account of living with an addiction and also being in a relationship with an addict.) 

 

62 – We Should All Be Feminists – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2014)

(A TED talk turned modern-day feminist manifesto.)

 

63 – The Disaster Tourist – Yun Ko-eun (2020)

(Bizarre East-Asian literature regarding a disaster scam in a bid for funding.)

 

64 – Intimations – Zadie Smith (2020)

(A short essay collection which was written during the first COVID-19 lockdown.)

 

65 – The Water Cure – Sophie Mackintosh (2019)

(A feminist, dystopian fiction about the loss of innocence and reclaiming space.) 

 

66 – The Firework-Maker’s Daughter – Philip Pullman (1995)

(A story which finds a daughter defying odds to walk in her father’s footsteps.)

 

67 – From the Oasthouse: The Alan Partridge Podcast – Alan Partridge (2020)

(Alan Partridge navigates social media, dates, and more via podcast medium.)

 

68 – Before the Coffee Gets Cold – Toshikazu Kawaguchi (2019)

(A time-machine café allows customers to head back to the past… for a limited time.)

 

69 – Piranesi – Susanna Clarke (2020)

(A house of strange secrets is all Piranesi knows, but who is he?)

 

70 – The Multi-Hyphen Method: Work less, create more and design a career that works for you – Emma Gannon (2018)

(A manifesto of why you should have multiple streams of income and work for yourself.)

 

71 – Stardust – Neil Gaiman (1997)

(Fantasy story about finding love, loyalty, and yourself in the most unlikely places.)

 

72 – The Voyage of the Dawn Treader – C. S. Lewis (1952)

(Edmund and Lucy’s final journey to Narnia in an Odyssey-style island-hop.)

 

73 – Red at the Bone – Jacqueline Woodson (2019)

(Sometimes, even the best families can be plagued with dysfunction and trauma.)

 

74 – Throne of Jade – Naomi Novik (2006)

(Naomi Novik’s second fantasy/historical fiction novel set during The Napoleonic Wars.) 

 

75 – Serpentine – Philip Pullman (2020)

(A short-but-sweet story set after the events of The Amber Spyglass)

 

76 – Moonflower Murders – Anthony Horowitz (2020)

(A mysterious murder at a country hotel brings a retired publisher out of Greece and into danger.)

 

77 – Girl, Woman, Other – Bernardine Evaristo (2019)

(An experimental novel following various connected women on their individual journeys.)

 

78 – Evil Under The Sun – Agatha Christie (1941)

(There is no rest for Hercule Poirot as his holiday in the sunshine turns dark.)

 

79 – Winter – Ali Smith (2017)

(Christmas dinner at home looms after a messy breakup – but Arthur doesn’t know what’s worse.)

 

80 – Reaper Man – Terry Pratchett (1991)

(When Death takes some time off to become mortal there isn’t anyone to shepherd the dead away from earth.  Zombie time, baby.)

 

81 – Weird but Normal: Essays – Mia Mercado (2020)

(Coming-of-age essays.)

 

82 – The Chiffon Trenches – André Leon Talley (2020)

(Lifestyles of the rich fashion elite and the inside Condé Nast scoop.)

 

83 – Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race – Reni Eddo-Lodge (2017)

(An accessible and important race conversation.)

 

84 – The Luckiest Guy Alive – John Cooper Clarke (2018)

(A poetry collection from The Salford Bard.)

 

85 – Elder – David Constantine (2014)

(A poignant poetry collection that spans from Germany to the Aegean sea.)

 

86 – The Golden Key – Philip Pullman (2012)

(A Philip Pullman retelling of a Grimm’s classic fairy fable.)

 

87 – Spring – Ali Smith (2019)

(The penultimate installment to Ali Smith’s Seasonal Quartet, based around the treatment of immigrants.)

 

88 – On Earth, We’re Briefly Gorgeous – Ocean Vuong (2019)

(Told through an epistolary narrative, this book documents love, addiction, sexuality, abuse, and family.)

 

89 – Witches Abroad – Terry Pratchett (1991)

(A fantastical, disjointed trio of witches fly to fairytale land in order to fulfill their fairy godmother duties.)

 

90 – Dearly: New Poems – Margaret Atwood (2020)

(A collection of retrospective, personal poems on love, loss, and zombies.)

 

91 – Island Dreams: Mapping an Obsession – Gavin Francis (2020)

(The literary confessions of an island-hopping addict.)

 

92 – Clockwork – Philip Pullman (1996)

(A nightmare, gothic children’s story based in Germany)

 

93 – Troy: The Siege of Troy Retold – Stephen Fry (2020)

(The great, ancient battle of Troy told with less Brad Pitt and more wit.)

 

94 – Mr. Salary – Sally Rooney (2016)

(A Faber Stories short-but-sweet offering from Sally Rooney with lots of swear words.)

 

95 – Home Body – Rupi Kaur (2020)

(The third installment of heartbreaking poems from Rupi Kaur.  This one should come with a TW.)

 

96 – Eldest – Christopher Paolini (2005)

(The second in The Inheritance Cycle.  Lots of dragons, elves, men, and fierce female characters.  High fantasy.)

 

97 – The Tin Princess – Philip Pullman (1994)

(The final installment in the Sally Lockhart quartet which hardly features Sally Lockhart.)

 

98 – Weight – Jeanette Winterson (2005)

(The thoughts of the stoic Atlas and the cunning Heracles.)

 

99 – Lanny – Max Porter (2019)

(Weird but highly-acclaimed.)

 

100 – Coming Undone – Terri White (2020)

(A memoir of addiction, unsavoury childhood trauma, and what lurks under the surface of Empire Magazine editor, Terri White.)

 

101 – No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference – Greta Thunberg (2019)

(A powerful young person promotes environmentalism and asks the big question – why does nobody care about this?) 

 

102 – The Emperor’s Babe – Bernardine Evaristo (2001)

(Set in Roman London this novel is told in verse and acts as a bildungsroman.)

 

103 – Always and Forever, Lara-Jean – Jenny Han (2017)

(The unplanned, final Lara-Jean and Peter novel.  Prepare to cry.)

 

104 – Brisingr – Christopher Paolini (2008)

(The penultimate novel in The Inheritance cycle – dragons, big battles, and set-up for the finale.)

 

105 – I Am Not Your Baby Mother – Candice Brathwaite (2020)

(Journalist and blogger Candice Brathwaite talks about black parenting and life lessons.)

 

106 – Pandora’s Jar: Women in the Greek Myths – Natalie Haynes (2020)

(Witty and sarcastic, Classicist Natalie Haynes dissects the scorned women of Greek Myths)

 

107 – My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress – Rachel DeLoache Williams (2019)

(Anna Delvey is a con-artist, this is the story of her victim/friend, Rachel.)

 

108 – Cinderella Is Dead – Kalynn Bayron (2020)

(The Cinderella story gets a dark, twisted YA future.)