2020 has been crap! I don’t think anyone will deny this. With the pandemic raging and fears of catching a deadly disease combined with having been furloughed from work since May with a brief return for a few days here and there has taken its toll on my mental health.
My surprise best read was The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The writing is absolutely superb, the characters are sublime and the story is as relevant today as it was to when it was written back in the 1930s. I travelled back to dustbowl America and felt every misfortune and slight personally.
The Company Daughters by Samantha Rajaram
The Shape of Darkness by Laura Purcell
A Wonderful Gothic tale
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
The Bird in the Bamboo Cage by Hazel Gaynor
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummings
A breathtaking journey with Migrants across the border from Guatemala to the US via Mexico.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Claimed to be rather overhyped I nevertheless adored this book set in the swampland of 1950s Carolina
The House Guest by Mark Edwards
As tense and twisty as this authors other superb books this one had me gripped by the throat throughout.
The Foundling by Stacey Halls
Beside having a beautiful cover this is another great historical book from Stacey Halls.
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Thrilling and captivating a historical coming of age boys own adventure with grit and charm keeps coing back into my head months after reading it, the sign of a really good story well told.
