A Suitable Book List: Best Books of 2020
I challenged myself to 100 books this year which is steep considering I read 37 in 2019. I’m glad I did, because now my brain holds 100 books more than it did last year and if I continue at this rate, I will finally scratch the surface on everything I’ve ever wanted to read in a couple of years.
My reading habits have changed since 2019, the percentage of books read on my Kindle shot up to 32% (24% the previous year), and I can only see this rising further. I still prefer paper over ebook for the most part, but the convenience is hard to deny. I also listened to two Audibles, narrated by Meryl Streep (Heartburn) and Diane Keaton (Slouching Toward Bethlehem) which were good but I’m still not sold on the medium.
The more I read, the harder I find it to come up with a generic list of the best books I’ve read. I strongly believe that each book I’ve loved is one that found me at the right time and was the exact medicine my brain needed at that point in time. The books listed here are ones that I’ve loved in 2020 and I highly recommend all (except the last section of non-recommendations).
The books that I ended up having the most conversations about,
A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth got a new life this year because of the BBC show release. I, too, was drawn in by the lure of Mira Nair and Tabu but the only good thing the show did was make me read the book. Initially, I thought that it’s a desi retelling of Pride and Prejudice (Mrs Rupa Mehra is my favourite Mrs Bennet adaptation), but that’s a disservice to this book. Its post-independence India’s first general election setting provides rich context to the time and it comes with colourful characters, humour and tragedy. An unexpected joy was that so many people in my life decided to read A Suitable Boy too, forming an informal suitable book club through the year. From my friends to my mom, to my 83-year-old grandfather- I talked about this book with a whole range of people, reinforcing how much I loved it.
Exhalation by Ted Chiang is a perfect collection of science-fiction short stories. It stretches the mind in all the right ways, it brings concepts about humanity, mortality, AI and moral ethics within reach. Every person I know who read it, loved it. It opened up long, drawn-out conversations that went beyond the book that would never have come up in any other context.
The best books about books,
Paper Moon by Rehana Munir gave me the most joy this year. Do you ever feel like someone writes a book that’s just for you? Book-loving girl setting up a bookshop in an abandoned Bandra mansion, Bombay nostalgia, food descriptions all the way from Irani cafes to Goan feasts to Enid Blyton snacks. Rehana Munir handpicked all my favourite things and put them together while creating one of the most likeable protagonists in Fiza, who felt like she was borne out my own inner voice.
84, Charing Cross Road is a cult classic for a reason. I dare you to find me a more charming book about books. This lovely letter exchange between an ardent book lover in New York and a bookshop owner in London had me openly grinning (yes, grinning) throughout.
Books that allowed me to experience the rest of the world while being stuck in my room during the many lockdowns,
Falling Off The Map by Pico Iyer is some of the best travel writing I’ve ever read. Pico Iyer travels to the world’s most lonely and isolated places in the 90s and writes about his experiences with astute observations. Each essay in this serves as a time capsule for the place in the year he visited. My favourites were about Iceland (Rock n Roll Ghost Town) and Argentina (La Dolce Vita Meets “The Hyper”).
Shadow City: A Woman Walks Kabul by Taran N. Khan is a re-read-worthy travelogue of Taran N. Khan immersing herself in Kabul’s past, present and future. She paints a layered account of Kabul — right from her own personal connection to its art and architecture to its people and culture to a mental health hospital of abandoned women. Beyond a war-torn city, she presents its legacy and its beauty with so much nuance.
Serious literary fiction that I recommend to people to sound smart (but I also seriously loved),
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line by Deepa Anappara is the best debut novel of 2020. I don’t think it’s possible to write a book about child-snatching from Indian slums that’s not dark, so fair warning there. But what makes this book easier to swallow is that it’s narrated through the pov of a nine-year-old child. It’s well-researched, it’s poignant, and it’s a very important piece of writing.
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee is one of the best immigrant stories I’ve ever read. The storytelling is stunning, it spans across three generations of a Korean family that migrates to Japan during war-time. It’s another book where the characters felt like they were people I knew by the end, I felt joy in their victories and grief at their losses as if they were mine.
Best memoirs of 2020,
A Promised Land by Barack Obama is a memoir beyond just politics and international relations. It’s about strong decision making and holding on to moral and ethical values in high-pressure situations. Obama’s authenticity shines through, it doesn’t feel ghost-written in the slightest.
Eat a Peach by David Chang is an incredibly thought-provoking memoir by the prolific chef, restaurateur and host of Netflix food shows David Chang. I loved reading about someone wildly successful like him candidly talk about mental health (he’s bipolar). He discusses the toxic work culture in the food industry, his own contributions to it and his efforts of self-improvement.
A book that got me out of a reading rut,
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou is a thrilling book about Theranos, a company that raised $700 million based on flat-out lies. You see elements of the Theranos brand of scam throughout the startup ecosystem from the Steve Jobs worship to bending truths in front of investors. The difference was that Elizabeth Holmes, CEO of Theranos, was well-connected from the get-go and being in the healthcare industry, her lies affect people’s lives. It’s despicable and so much fun to read.
Other Honourable Mentions,
In Other Words by Jhumpa Lahiri, If On A Winter’s Night A Traveller by Italo Calvino (meta-fiction GOLD), Chosen Spirits by Samit Basu (eerily real dystopian fiction), The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
The non-recommendations — books that I think can be avoided,
A Burning by Megha Majumdar is overly hyped and poorly researched. The plot is ripped off recent headlines in India, it paints a slumdog-esque view of India attempting for grit and depth but failing miserably. Three full pages of acknowledgements but not a single thanks to any of the marginalized communities she’s chosen to portray. Instead, read Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue really tried hard to be profound. The language was too flowery, the plot was laughable, and I couldn’t understand the high ratings for this book. Instead, read The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow.
The Great Railway Bazaar should have been good, right? Paul Theroux travels from London to Tokyo via trains and recounts his adventures. I’m all for honest writing about poor experiences, but he constantly describes countries and people as dirty and barbaric. His description of a Tamilian man he encounters: “the look of the feral child in the psychology textbook: feral children, mangled demented Mowglis, abound in South India. It is said they are suckled by wolves.” Let’s call a spade a spade, he’s racist as hell and if you want to read travel writing turn away from Theroux and pick up some Pico Iyer.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the bookshops that have recommended books and painstakingly supplied them to me throughout each lockdown amidst the pandemic. Champaca, The Bookshop Jorbagh and Blossom Book House have been lifesavers- sending books via India Post or through Dunzo whenever I needed them. Drop them a message, ask for recommendations and support these wonderful businesses because they are cornerstones of culture that deserve to thrive in our cities.
I hope you find something to your taste in this list, the rest of the books I read in 2020 are on my Goodreads! I’ve linked the books to Champaca’s online store or Amazon (full disclosure: it’s affiliate links), but I’ve found that directly contacting booksellers and acquiring books has been a satisfying experience (they often come with handwritten postcards and bookmarks).
