Books I Read in 2020
With the pandemic, I did not have the wherewithal to read new books, even books I knew I would enjoy. So for several months I did a lot of re-reading. Then I discovered Brian Doyle. Then more re-reading.
* = Stars (rating)
#1 - Crystal Cave - 5*
Mary Stewart
I thought I would re-read this series about King Arthur and Merlin. I loved them when I read them in college. Just thinking about what I read evokes the memory of sitting in my dorm room at Calvin, near the window where I could see some woods. I enjoyed the book again. The characters and setting are vivid. They transport me to old Britain and I love visiting there. But after reading this first one I was not motivated to continue the series this time.
#s2-15 - Inspector Gamache mysteries - 5*
Louise Penny
I re-read, in order, the Inspector Gamache mysteries by Louise Penny. They are so good! Gamache and his family live in Quebec. He is an inspector in theSûreté du Québec, the police force in Quebec. Gamache and his wife live in a small fictional village called Three Pines. In the quarantine, I liked “living” in Three Pines for several weeks as I read these books. That’s one of the fun things about fiction -- going somewhere else. You can call it escapism but that often has negative connotations. I love that feeling of traveling and visiting other places. The village and its townpeople are important characters in the book. I read the first 14 of these books. The 15th came out in the Fall and is below.
#s16-35 - Peter & Rina Decker mysteries - 5*
Faye Kellerman
I decided to re-read, in order, the Peter Decker - Rina Lazarus mystery novels. At the time of this writing, I have read the first 20. I cannot fathom how Faye Kellerman can churn out so many of these! They are good stories with characters that have depth. They’re not light and fluffy like Harlequins. Peter is a detective in the LA Police Department. He meets Rina in the first book as he is investigating a rape that happened where Rina lived, in an orthodox Jewish village. As time goes on, Peter learns he is Jewish (he was adopted by a Baptist couple), he converts, and they marry. Rina has 2 sons from her previous marriage which ended when her husband died of cancer. Peter adopts them and he has a daughter from his previous marriage, then they have a daughter together. You get to know all these family members as well as Peter’s close co-workers. You also learn a lot about the Jewish religion without it being cumbersome or preachy -- it’s super interesting. Highly recommended!
#36 - One Long River of Song: Notes on Wonder - 5*
Brian Doyle
I have fallen in love with Brian Doyle! I heard writers mention him over the years, often lamenting his early death, raving about his amazing writing. I finally ordered this book and...wow! I love it so much!! I have given it to 3 or 4 people already. It brings me such joy. I enthused about him in the blog. I can’t even write a short bit about him here -- I can’t pare down what to say. Highly, highly, highly recommended!
#37 - Eight Whopping Lies And Other Stories of Bruised Grace - 5*
Brian Doyle
Another collection of essays by Brian Doyle, another bundle of joy.
#38 - The Kind of Brave You Wanted to Be - 5*
Brian Doyle
Noticing a trend? More to go yet. I’ve got a pile on my bureau.
#39 - Cat’s Foot - 5*
Brian Doyle
One of his novels. From the cover: “What if a man who lost his foot in a war decides, many years later, to find it?...a quest, a wandering, a contemplation of the immense foolishness of war...surely the most unusual fiction you will read this year.” It is unusual. And wonderful.
#40 - The Grail - 5*
Brian Doyle
From the publisher’s review: “From the red clay hills of Dundee, Oregon, come increasingly world-renowned pinot noir wines. After being startled and delighted by one winery's elixir, and the shaggy humor of the father and son who made it, Brian Doyle set out to spend a year in one Willamette Valley vineyard, chronicling the creative and chaotic labor as the winemakers chase after the perfect pinot noir.
A self-described "wine doofus," Doyle follows closely at the elbow of Jesse Lange, son of Lange Winery founder Don Lange,...” I enjoyed following Doyle around as he followed Jesse around and learning more about winemaking and winemakers.
#41 - Mink River - 5*
Brian Doyle
Another novel. This one is about a town and its people -- and a crow who talks -- near the Mink River on the Oregon coast. Some of the people are Native American by heritage. From the cover: “In a distinctive and lyrical voice, Doyle tells the town, in all its humanness and oddity and beauty.” You get to know the townspeople, including the crow. How can someone portray the crow-like way a crow thinks? Again, highly, highly, highly recommended!
#42 - All the Devils are Here - 5*
Louise Penny
The most recent in the mysteries by Louise Penny. This time the whole story takes place in Paris where both Inspector Gamache’s children have moved, along with their grandchildren. Gamache and Jean-Guy solve another murder, and we learn a lot more about his son Daniel. I loved it, as I have loved all of them.
#43-48 - Peter & Rina Decker mysteries - 5*
Faye Kellerman
I read the last 6 of this series. (See #16 above.) Thoroughly enjoyed them.
#49 - The Plover - 3*
Brian Doyle
Well, I fell in love with Brian Doyle (see #36-41 above) but I did not love this novel of his. First of his books I have not rated 5! I just wasn’t that interested in the main character, Declan, who struck out to sea in his boat, The Plover. I read about half of it and skimmed the end. Declan meets people, goes to places, reflects on life and the ocean and many things. It’s good writing and some humor, like other Brian Doyle works, but somehow did not take my fancy.
#50 - The Other Wes Moore, One Name, Two Fates - 4*
Wes Moore
This was a book club book, a timely choice with all the conversations and protests about racism right now. As the subtitle hints, this is about two men named Wes Moore and their different fates. Both are black and grew up fairly near to each other in Baltimore, with similar circumstances. Wes Moore the author ended up being a Roades scholar, lawyer, speaker, and author. The other Wes Moore is in jail for participating in a burglary that ended with murder. Our book club had a good discussion about this book. Many things caused the difference in their fates and it’s hard to know exactly what is the biggest reason. We thought it had a lot to do with relationships. Wes Moore the author had mentors and supporters while the other Wes Moore did not. Lots more to it than that, of course. A good read.
#51 - A Room With a View - 5*
E.M. Forster
My favorite movie of all time (same name) is based on this book. A young British woman, rather “muddled,” meets a young man in Italy in a social level a bit below hers. My favorite lines of the movie are straight from the pages of the book. Hearing them said in the voice and tone of the actors as I read the book gave me a great respect for acting. The words have so much more impact when the actors say and live them. A rare occasion where I think the book and the movie are equally excellent, and reading & seeing both makes both better. Highly recommend!
#52 - Excellent Women - 5*
Barbara Pym
More re-reading. I read a few Barbara Pym novels, always good. This one is written in first person, the person being Mildred Lathbury, “a clergyman’s daughter, one of those ‘excellent women’ who tend to get involved in other people’s lives” (from the back cover blurb by John Updike). Mildred, like all of Pym’s characters, has a lively inner life that I love reading. Hearing her thoughts before and after she says things aloud reminds me of scenes in Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall,” but evoking delight rather than cynicism. We meet characters who come up in other Pym novels, such as Everard Bone, Tyrell Todd, and other anthropologists, and Archdeacon Hoccleve. Fun to live in a British parish for a while, enjoying the ins and outs of the relationships and events.
#53 - Housekeeping - 3*
Marilynne Robinson
Also a re-read. I didn’t remember it at all from having read it before. I didn’t like it very much, to be honest. This is Robinson’s first novel. I plan to re-read her others, which I do remember, and I think I’ll like them better. This book is in the first person of one of two sisters who end up being brought up in a small town by a long-lost aunt who seems to be a kind of hobo. Great writing, as would be expected. Somehow I just didn’t connect.
#54 - The Promise - 5*
Chaim Potok
I love The Promise and its sequel The Chosen, which I also re-read. Reuven tells the story of growing up in a Brooklyn neighborhood. He and his father are Jewish, I think Reform Jews, and, through an accident while playing baseball, Reuven becomes friends with an Orthodox Jew, Danny Saunders. The story, the characters, the setting, the ways religion affects their lives all combine to make a magnificent book.
#55 - The Chosen - 5*
Chaim Potok
See above. The stories of Reuven, Danny, Rachel, Michael, Reuven and Danny’s fathers continue. So, so good.
#56 - The Accidental Tourist - 5*
Anne Tyler
Both a re-read and a re-watch -- of the movie based on the book. Excellent, both of them. It’s a story of a man whose son is murdered in a mass shooting before the book begins. He and his wife are tortured with grief and separate. He writes books called “The Accidental Tourist” because the goal is to tell business travellers how to travel with as many of the familiar comforts of home as possible -- a guide to the hotels, restaurants, and places in other countries where you can avoid any foreign uncomfortableness. During the separation he meets an eccentric, free-spirited woman who brings out a different side of life. It sounds so flat when I describe it but Tyler’s writing and the story are funny and charming while still honoring the sadness. You’ll love it.
#57 - Saint Maybe - 5*
Anne Tyler
This is one of Tyler’s books I think of the most. The “Church of the Second Chance” comes to my mind often. Ian, the main character, blames himself -- justifiably -- for the accidental death of his brother. The pastor and people of the Church of Second Chance give him a chance to try to make reparations and gain forgiveness for that great mistake. Again, Tyler’s writing gives life to the characters and the story. It gives me a feeling of realizing the good in people, flawed as they are.
#58 - Jane and Prudence - 5*
Barbara Pym
Jane is my favorite Pym character. I love her “wild” thoughts and the way Pym writes things such as:
“We could open a tin,” added Jane, as if this were a most unusual procedure, which it most certainly was not.
Jane and Prudence are old college friends. Jane is married to a curate recently moved into a new parish and Prudence, still single, comes to visit. I frequently laugh aloud as I read Barbara Pym’s novels.
#59 - Some Tame Gazelle - 5*
Barbara Pym
The story of Harriet and Belinda Bede, “spinster” sisters who live next door to Archdeacon Hoccleve, who Belinda loved when they were both young, and still carries a great affection for. The sisters are deeply involved in parish work and the lives of all who live there. They unabashedly (at least Belinda) watch the neighborhood comings and goings from their window, which I often think of as I sit at my desk looking at my street out the window. As always, their story and that of all the other characters are a joy to read. And also as always, there are some overlapping characters - some who were in other Pym novels. I love that kind of thing, where you see someone from a different book and get a glimpse of what happened to them outside of the story in a different novel.
#60 - Dakota - 5*
Kathleen Norris
I love Kathleen Norris’ books and was honored to hear her speak at the Faith & Writing Festival some years ago. I remember my mom made sure we were in the front row by arriving quite early. This book is about Norris’ return to her grandmother’s home in Lemmon, South Dakota, along with her husband, after being part of a much more cosmopolitan, writer-ly life in New York City. She grew to love the prairie she had partially grown up in, and began her involvement with Benedictine monks, which she writes about in other books. Norris reflects on the prairie’s landscape and weather and people, on its history and wonders about its future. She works as a writer-in-residence for a school district and sometimes tells stories of the remarkable things that the young students do and say. The book is meditative and engaging.
#61-66 - Leaphorn & Chee mysteries - 5*
Tony Hillerman
I’ve read many of the Hillerman mysteries, set in a Navajo reservation in New Mexico, with the main characters Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, officers in the Navajo Police Department. A friend who knows more about Navajo beliefs and life says the books are not super accurate, but I enjoy the mix of myth and mystery, as well as the characters and the landscape of these books. New Mexico is one of my and Randy’s favorite places on earth so it is fun to be transported there with these books. I used Christmas money to purchase all the novels in the series, including those by Hillerman’s daughter Anne who has taken over the writing. Now I am reading them in order. There are many. It’s kind of like “chain reading.” Finish one, immediately pick up the next.