After completing my undergrad in English and then moving on to do a masters in Journalism, you could say I have read my fair share of books to know a good one from a bad one.
So I have compiled my best reads of 2020 so whether you’re hiding away in another lockdown or just want a light read, these are some books that are worth checking out.
- INSIDE VOGUE
As a journalist, my dream job is to one day work for Vogue. After watching The Devil Wears Prada, I think everyone has always been even a tiny bit intrigued as to what goes on inside those Vogue offices.
Well Editor-in-chief Alexandra Shulman tells us just that. She takes her curious readers backstage into the Vogue corridors and shows what really goes on in-between the pages of the worlds most famous magazine.
2. UNBELIEVABLE
The Trump presidency will go down in history for many things, but greatness is certainly not one of them. Katy Tur, the American journalist, was set to cover Donald Trump on the run up to the 2016 presidential campaign.
From being embarrassed, harassed and threatened, Katy tells all. This book is so cleverly written that between her hard days, Katy brings the humour into the story to make this book a thoroughly enjoyable read.
From someone that has little knowledge of American politics, I couldn’t recommend this read highly enough.
3. WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING
Hands down this book is the best piece of writing I have read all year. Delia Owens is such a talented author that you won’t want to put this book down for longer than a second.
The story follows a young girl as she becomes a woman, all the while living in a murky marsh. Everything that this girls ends up feeling, best believe me that you’re going to end up feeling it with her.
10 out of 10 would recommend to any reader who is looking for something to completely take their minds off the world.
4. THE SILENT PATIENT
Alex Michaelides brings his characters to another level with this phycological thriller.
To be honest, when I first started this book I already had an idea in my head about how it was going to end. These kind of books tend to take slightly different routes but always end up with the same last page.
However, this book will keep you guessing.
Alicia’s husband is murdered. Alicia is convicted. Chucked into the Grove and constantly prodded at by different physiologists, she hasn’t said a word since the murder.
5. The Glorious Heresies
When completing my undergraduate degree in 2020, I got to study some pretty amazing pieces of writing. These modern books kept me sane when I was dissecting James Joyce and the poems of World War 1.
The Glorious Heresies is not one that I had heard of before, and I haven’t heard of since. But the story and the way that it is written is so unique that it should be up there with a certain Sally Rooney novel.
The vibe is very casual, colloquial and a little Young Offenders. The novel is set in the city of Cork and follows different sketchy characters after a murder in the city.
I had the pleasure of attending a talk with the author Lisa Mclnerney. She wrote what she knew, what surrounded her growing up and phrased things as if she was saying them out loud.
6. OLIVE
The protagonist is a woman. She is thirty. She has decided not to have children.
Emma Gannon takes the taboos of women and brings them into her novel in an utterly entertaining way. Every theme discussed is as important as the last. This book is such an important read for society today.
Olive is still figuring things out at thirty, and that for one, is such a vibe right now.
What books should be on my reading list for 2021?
jenaway 