The books I read in 2020
I started few books in 2020 and finished even fewer. I read obsessively, but once 2020 happened it was dominated by COVID-19 related research and information. Somewhere in late February or early March I also made a conscious decision to effectively ignore books this year and focus my attention on activities with less individual positive mental health effects.
None of the books I did manage to read is bad so they all point to Amazon’s smile (well, except the content strategy one). As charity benefits are minuscule I should find a good source not owned by Amazon. Hopefully next year. I recommend those in bold and especially Muriel Spark’s.
The list:
- Ayoade On Top by Richard Ayoade. A book about a movie only Ayoade, me and a handful other people saw. An argument for movie's greatness that is a fun reading for fans of Ayoade and his humour and probably not much fun for others. I enjoyed it greatly.
- The Girls of Slender Means by Muriel Spark. I was drawn to this book by its title and sold on it by its brilliant first page. The more I think about it, the more impressed I am by this relatively short, but immensely rich book exemplified by its comic and with multiple meanings layered title.
- The Elements of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane. I read this book first in 2011 and it is still a good overview/reference on this topic. However I was clearly wrong about not having this problem ever.
- Natives by Akala. An eye-opening part autobiography, part polemic on racism experienced as a not-white person growing up and living in contemporary UK. A difficult but necessary read even for those of us who are neither British nor living in UK. I don't share authors view on everything (Castro, China...), but would nevertheless recommend this book to anyone who cares about (racial) justice.
I am sure I never read fewer books in a year since I learned how to read. 2021 is not shaping up to be a great year either, so my plans will remain modest. Hopefully at least high single digits and evenly split between work and pleasure.