Dec 26 2020

Books I’ve Read in 2020…

Total Pages Read: 16945
Shortest Book: 33 pages
Longest Book: 656 pages
Fiction: 27
Non-Fiction: 9
Cookbook: 21
Poetry: 2

Last Book Read:
59. Just Like You by Nick Hornby. On the verge of the Brexit vote, Lucy is nearly divorced and not looking for love. She just needs a babysitter. 368 pages. (Finished 26 Dec 2020).

Past Lists:

2019 List
2018 List
2017 List
2016 List
2015 List
2014 List
2013 List
2012 List
2011 List
2010 List
2009 List
2008 List
2007 List

  1. Ama: A Modern Tex-Mex Kitchen by Josef Centeno. Another beautiful cookbook that I wish I thought I’d actually use more. 272 pages. (Finished 5 Jan 2020).
  2. Ketotarian: The (Mostly) Plant-Based Plan to Burn Fat, Boost Your Energy, Crush Your Cravings, and Calm Inflammation by Dr. Will Cole. My nutritionist sister has recommended a keto diet to lose weight, however I also want to eat more plants. I checked this out from the library to see if it would inspire me. It wasn’t a great fit (as I’m also not sure a true keto diet works for me either). 304 pages. (Finished 6 Jan 2020).
  3. The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. (The Handmaid’s Tale #2). The story of what happened after the end of the The Handmaid’s Tale, 15 years after the end of that story, we hear the stories of three new female narrators. 432 pages. (Finished 6 Jan 2020).
  4. Antoni in the Kitchen by Antoni Porowski. I love the new Queer Eye on Netflix. This cookbook from Antoni expands upon the lessons he teaches folks on the show, providing easy recipes to expand and build confidence in the kitchen. It was much better than I expected. 272 pages. (Finished 8 Jan 2020).
  5. Poilâne: The Secrets of the World-Famous Bread Bakery by Apollonia Poilâne. Its no secret I like bread, so when I saw this at the library I had to check it out. I created a new sourdough starter based on the formula in this book. Sadly I haven’t succesfully made a loaf with it yet. 288 pages. (Finished 11 Jan 2020).
  6. Where Cooking Begins: Uncomplicated Recipes to Make You a Great Cook by Carla Lalli Music. This book from the food director at Bon Appetit magazine was quite interesting with her methods of connecting how she shops to the way she cooks. 272 pages. (Finished 1 Feb 2020).
  7. BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts by Stella Parks. This book from the Serious Eats author, is one I cooked from before I checked out. The recipe for cheesecake was posted on Serious Eats and I was sold at first bite. 400 pages. (Finished 21 Feb 2020).
  8. Quichotte by Salman Rushdie. This took some time for me to finish between having to wait for a new digital copy to become available and just took some time to get into. I love Rushdie, but the last few novels have been harder for me to get into. In the end, I liked the book though. 396 pages. (Finished 3 Mar 2020).
  9. Butchering Poultry, Rabbit, Lamb, Goat, and Pork: The Comprehensive Photographic Guide to Humane Slaughtering and Butchering by Adam Danforth. Pretty straight forward what this one is about. 456 pages. (Finished 9 Mar 2020).
  10. Lasagna: A Baked Pasta Cookbook by Anna Hezel & The Editors of Taste. Also pretty straight forward what this one is about. 144 pages. (Finished 25 Mar 2020).
  11. Serotonin by Michel Houellebecq. Another novel from France’s chronicler of the state of Europe, Western Civilization, and “man”kind. 309 pages. (Finished 9 Apr 2020).
  12. Mrs. Fletcher by Tom Perrotta. Eve is 46, newly divorced, and her only child is leaving for college and doesn’t seem to care. She decides to take a Gender Studies course at the local community college, meeting new people and discovering much about herself. 309 pages. (Finished 14 Apr 2020).
  13. Killing It: An Education by Camas Davis. Newly fired from her longtime job as a magazine editor and freshly out of a long term relationship, Camas decides to go to France and learn how to become a butcher. 350 pages. (Finished 14 May 2020).
  14. Mr Salary by Sally Rooney. A short novella about a woman who moves in with her older boyfriend because she has no where else to go. Now she is on the brink of the inevitable. 33 pages. (Finished 14 May 2020).
  15. Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney. Frances is 21 and an aspiring writer. When she meets married Nick, things get complicated. 321 pages. (Finished 17 May 2020).
  16. Normal People by Sally Rooney. Connell and Marianne are from the same small town in Western Ireland. They live in different worlds. Connell, the handsome and popular sports star, has a single mother who cleans Marianne’s families house. Marianne, the awkward and confrontational loner. They develop a love between them that follows them to college in Dublin and beyond…always coming close…but never quite getting there at the same time. 273 pages. (Finished 19 May 2020).
  17. Pure Charcuterie: The Craft and Poetry of Curing Meats at Home by Meredith Leigh. Its about curing meats. I know…shocking. 160 pages. (Finished 21 May 2020).
  18. The New Homemade Kitchen: 250 Recipes and Ideas for Reinventing the Art of Preserving, Canning, Fermenting, Dehydrating, and More by Joseph Shuldiner. I had the immense pleasure of meeting Joseph when I lived in LA. I was quite excited to get a copy of this book and only wish he would have been around to see it live in the world. 352 pages. (Finished 1 Jun 2020).
  19. Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival by Peter Stark. The story of the Astor financed expedition to the mouth of the Columbia River to set up a fur trading empire (before the British). 384 pages. (Finished 17 Jun 2020).
  20. Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty. Six clones wake up on a spaceship to find their former bodies murdered and their memories of the journey so far gone. They must figure out whom among them murdered their earlier versions…and why. 364 pages. (Finished 21 Jun 2020).
  21. A Really Good Day: How Microdosing Made a Mega Difference in My Mood, My Marriage, and My Life by Ayelet Waldman. The author’s account of her experiment microdosing LSD to battle her anxiety and depression. 256 pages. (Finished 29 Jun 2020).
  22. Dating by The School of Life, ed. Alain De Botton (The School of Life Love Series). 128 pages. (Finished 1 Jul 2020).
  23. A Fortune for Your Disaster by Hanif Abdurraqib. A collection of poems. 120 pages. (Finished 2 Jul 2020).
  24. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. (His Dark Materials #1). In a world much like ours, but slightly different humans have daemon’s, animals that represent our inner self. Lyra has been raised at Jordan College, Oxford while her Uncle has been exploring the North. After overhearing her Uncle talk to the scholars, she is thrust into a journey that has the balance of the world on her shoulders. 399 pages. (Finished 8 Jul 2020).
  25. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman. (His Dark Materials #2). In our world, Will has made a habit of being invisible. One day he stumbles into another world and meets Lyra. He too is thrust into a journey that has the balance of his world (and all the others) on his shoulders. 368 pages. (Finished 12 Jul 2020).
  26. The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. (His Dark Materials #3). Will and Lyra journey to the land of the dead, her Father is building an army to destroy the Authority (God). Meanwhile from Will’s world, Dr Mary Malone has traveled to another world, where she builds a amber spyglass that allows her to see Dust and help figure out how to fix what has been going on in all the worlds. 542 pages. (Finished 20 Jul 2020).
  27. Annabel Scheme by Robin Sloan. A detective story set in an alternate San Francisco. Annabel’s case…an indie rocker comes to her to find out why new music with his former bandmate whom has been dead for years is coming from. She and her AI assistant take the case and discover far more than expected. 111 pages. (Finished 20 Jul 2020).
  28. On Confidence by The School of Life, ed. Alain De Botton. An essay to think about confidence not as something innate…but a learned skill. 96 pages. (Finished 20 Jul 2020).
  29. Annabel Scheme and the Adventure of the New Golden Gate by Robin Sloan. (Annabel Scheme #2). Originally serialized in two Bay Area newspapers, this is another adventure of Annabel Scheme in another version of the Bay Area. Written over a couple weeks, this was written with Bay Area residents in mind. 66 pages. (Finished 21 Jul 2020).
  30. Caging Skies by Christine Leunens. An avid member of the Hitler Youth in the 1940s, Johannes discovers his parents are hiding a Jewish girl behind a false wall in their home. He must decide what to do about this horror in his house. 304 pages. (Finished 21 Jul 2020).
  31. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe. A telling of history during the troubles in Northern Ireland. Specifically, the story behind one of the “disappeared.” 464 pages. (Finished 26 Jul 2020).
  32. Watchmen by Alan Moore. Graphic novel where the presence of American superheroes have changed history…sort of. Set in a 1980s where the US won the Vietnam War and Nixon is still President. The Cold War however is still a thing. 449 pages. (Finished 30 Jul 2020).
  33. My Year of Meats by Ruth Ozeki. An underemployed documentarian lands a job producing a Japanese television show sponsored by an American meat-exporting business. Along the way she discovers uncomfortable things about the people she works for. 449 pages. (Finished 2 Aug 20).
  34. Pure Beef: An Essential Guide to Artisan Meat with Recipes for Every Cut by Lynne Currey. What happens when a long time vegetarian moves to a remote corner of the state and begins to learn more about the products her neighbors are raising. This book talks about sustainable beef, where to get it, and how to use the various cuts you might get in a share of a cow. 288 pages. (Finished 1 Sep 20).
  35. The Unseen by Roy Jacobsen. Ingrid Barrøy lives on a small island that bears her families name. Her father has grand plans to tame the sea and storms that have shaped the islands history and expand their world beyond its shores. But there is more than just the sea and storms that are changing life on the island. The world is coming into a modern age that may reshape the island in ways the sea never could. 268 pages. (Finished 1 Sep 2020).
  36. Brown Sugar Kitchen: New-Style Down-Home Recipes from Sweet West Oakland by Tanya Holland. A cookbook from the soul-food restaurant in West Oakland known. 224 pages. (Finished 4 Sep 2020).
  37. Tenth of December by George Saunders. A collection of short stories that wrestle with the big questions and cracks in our morality. 272 pages. (Finished 13 Sep 2020).
  38. Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden. Virgil Wounded Horse serves as the enforcer on the Rosebud reservation when the legal system or tribal council have failed folks. When heroin makes it way on the reservation it takes a personal turn. 331 pages. (Finished 19 Sep 2020).
  39. Cooking for One: Scaled Recipes, No-Waste Solutions, and Time-Saving Tips for Cooking for Yourself edited by America’s Test Kitchen. 352 pages. (Finished 21 Sep 2020).
  40. The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. Based on a true story of a reform school in Florida, this novel revolves around Elwood a promising high school senior that ends up in the wrong place in the Jim Crow South of the early 1960s. He gets sent to the Nickel Academy, an experience that will shape and haunt the rest of his life. 210 pages. (Finished 1 Oct 2020).
  41. Instant Pot Cheese: Discover How Easy It Is to Make Mozzarella, Feta, Chevre, and More by Claudia Lucero. 144 pages. (Finished 2 Oct 2020).
  42. Relationships edited by The School of Life. Since around 1750 we’ve lived in the era of love called Romanticism and it has been a disaster for love. This book challenges those assumptions and gives guidance how to develop new attitudes that can lead to a more mature vision of love. 120 pages. (Finished 4 Oct 2020).
  43. Butchering Chickens: A Guide to Humane, Small-Scale Processing by Adam Danforth. 176 pages. (Finished 7 Oct 2020).
  44. Dumplings Equal Love: Delicious Recipes from Around the World by Liz Crain. 192 pages. (Finished 18 Oct 2020).
  45. The Resisters by Gish Jen. In the not-to-distant future America has become AutoAmerica. The Internet is now a mix of artificial intelligence and surveillance tech. The people are either “Netted” or “Surplus.” 305 pages. (Finished 18 Oct 2020).
  46. La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman. (The Book of Dust Vol. 1). We return to the world of His Dark Materials. This time we learn the story of Lyra as an infant and the race to protect her from all sorts of dangers. 449 pages. (Finished 8 Nov 2020).
  47. The Ethical Meat Handbook, Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition: From Sourcing to Butchery, Mindful Meat Eating for the Modern Omnivore by Meredith Leigh. 320 pages. (Finished 15 Nov 2020).
  48. The Essential Mexican Instant Pot Cookbook: Authentic Flavors and Modern Recipes for Your Electric Pressure Cooker by Deborah Schneider. 191 pages. (Finished 15 Nov 2020).
  49. New World Sourdough: Artisan Techniques for Creative Homemade Fermented Breads by Bryan Ford. 160 pages (Finished 19 Nov 2020).
  50. Home Body by Rupi Kaur. A third collection of poetry. 192 pages. (Finished 19 Nov 2020).
  51. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman. A story of a bank robbery. Or a suicide. Or something entirely different. 352 pages. (Finished 29 Nov 2020).
  52. Beyond the North Wind: Russia in Recipes and Lore [A Cookbook] by Darra Goldstein. 320 pages. (Finished 6 Dec 2020).
  53. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates. A letter from father to son about American history and what it means to be born black in both its history and present. 152 pages. (Finished 8 Dec 2020).
  54. Local Dirt: Seasonal Recipes for Eating Close to Home by Andrea Bemis. This book is especially helpful as the author also lives in the PNW…so the seasons in this book are the same as mine. 320 pages. (Finished 11 Dec 2020).
  55. The Rock Blaster by Henning Mankell. Mankell’s first novel translated in English for the first time. The story of a young man who survives an accident that should have killed him. Decades later his life is woven together in the fragments of his memories. 192 pages. (Finished 13 Dec 2020).
  56. The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman. (The Book of Dust Vol. 2) Lyra is now 20 yrs old and the adventures of His Dark Materials are behind her. She’s estranged from those events and even her own daemon. She’ll have to go on a journey more alone than she’s ever been before. 656 pages. (Finished 20 Dec 2020).
  57. Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley. A radical new verse translation of the classic tale. Combining contempory language with archaic to give a feel of the oral tradition the tale would have originally been told in. 140 pages. (Finished 22 Dec 2020).
  58. Miso, Tempeh, Natto & Other Tasty Ferments: A Step-by-Step Guide to Fermenting Grains and Beans by Kirsten & Christopher Shockey. 408 pages. (Finished 22 Dec 2020).
  59. Just Like You by Nick Hornby. On the verge of the Brexit vote, Lucy is nearly divorced and not looking for love. She just needs a babysitter. 368 pages. (Finished 26 Dec 2020).

Permanent link to this article: https://www.rhinoblues.com/thoughts/2020/books-i-read-in-2020/