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My 2020 reading list reflects my curiosity, fear, and longing

When we stop learning, we stop growing. The shelter in place order of 2020 gifted me even more time to read books. Unable to venture much into the physical world, I explored the minds and souls of writers through their words. I opened myself to beauty, wisdom, and insight. I also opened myself to ferocious pain, in particular about American racism and the climate emergency that threatens humans’ ability to inhabit the earth.

I read 90 books in 2020. Reviewing the list, I notice that they reflect my curiosity, my fears, and my longings. I notice how often I explored stillness, regeneration, and purpose. And I notice how often I sought to understand experiences very different from my own, to open myself to new ways of seeing the world.

Here are my favorite books of 2020. You can see my full list on Goodreads. Please follow me for future recommendations.

Nonfiction

  • All About Love, bell hooks

  • Born a Crime, Trevor Noah

  • The Culture Code, Daniel Coyle

  • The Future Earth, Eric Holthaus

  • The Home Place, J. Drew Lanham

  • How to Be an Antiracist, Ibram X. Kendi

  • Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl

  • The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle

  • The Power of Purpose, Richard Leider

  • Several Short Sentences About Writing, Verlyn Klinkenborg

  • Stillness is the Key, Ryan Holiday

  • Stamped, Jason Reynolds

  • Time Off, John Fitch and Max Frenzel

  • Your Body is Your Brain, Amanda Blake

  • Why We Sleep, Matthew Walker


Fiction

  • Another Country and Giovanni’s Room, James Baldwim

  • Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too, Jomny Sun (fiction)

  • The Glass Hotel, Emily St. John Mandel

  • Leave the World Behind, Rumaan Alam

  • The Likeness, Tana French

  • Luster, Raven Leilani

  • Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia

  • Night Boat to Tangier, Kevin Barry

  • The Vanishing Half and The Mothers, Britt Bennett

  • The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates

Poetry

  • A Fortune for Your Disaster, Hanif Abdurraqib

  • The Tradition, Jericho Brown

Chris Gaither