2020 BOOKLIST

It occurs to me, as I sit down to write my 2020 year in review that I haven’t done a new year’s reflection for the last three years. Something has always felt stuck.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

My friend Heidi reintroduced me to the magic of fantasy and the magic that comes from reading one of these books - infused with Russia folktales, on a cold and snowy winter night. And so, when I needed a little extra comfort leading up to Christmas in England, I took her recommendation and got myself a Cambridge Central Library card, ordering this one first. I loved the main character, her spirit and doubt all mixed into one. I loved her wrestle between following her giftings (which frightened even her), the love she had for a rooted life with family and the familiar, and the way in which she refused to make those binary loves. In particular, I loved her temper as I am just beginning to be reacquainted with my own (I like her too).

Dream Big by Bob Goff

I love Bob's spirit. I once called him, as he publicly lists his phone number, and he actually answered. He couldn't do an interview with me but he was driving and we took a few minutes to rave about our mutual friend Alida. The thing about this book is that it doesn't necessarily feel like something new or something novel, but it makes you smile and it feels like a friend is linking together all the things you need to hear in that moment. I read this while in isolation, having moved in the middle of a global pandemic to England. I was on the cusp of everything and needed a little courage. Bob gave me that and a smile too. Speaking of which...maybe I should reread it for courage now?

The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy by Michael Lewis

Rhodri gave this to me while I was in isolation and I read it in 24 hours. I can't even tell you why - I just couldn't stop. Lewis writes in an easy and accessible way about a topic I thought I was sick of hearing: American politics. I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to understand the machinery of American government better and to learn about why weather data is way more critical than I thought it was to the health and safety of a nation.

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton

 I read this book while I bounced around three houses, an air mattress, and a bed that was not my own while I waited for my darn visa to let me get on a plane to England. Burton does such a great job of painting a world rich in detail. I learned about the vibrant Dutch trading world, the elaborate work that can be undertaken by gifted artists, and was thoroughly soaked up the complexity of the relationships she painted. This is not as good as her other books (see The Muse, of my 2016 Booklist) but still highly recommended for someone who needs a bit of fiction to lose themselves in.

Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance 

I feel as though I now look back on this book with my characteristic tension. This is Vance's story so I honour and appreciate it, and yet I now am friends with folks from this space in the world who feel as though the story did not reflect their own experience or narrative. Such is the tension of autobiography and narratives that attempt to capture the complexity of life. I have also been watching the kerfuffle unfold over the release of the film and seeing it as an invitation to listen deeply. I was really inspired by Vance's honesty about his hillbilly childhood and felt a renewed invitation to listen deeply to rural Americans about the complexity of their experience. I also loved the way that he described the women in his family – each fire and love and brokenness and fierceness all at once.

The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis 

I had never read the series all the way through - only certain books or snippets - and so, when COVID-19 snuck up on us and I knew that I needed to restore the practice of reading fiction before bed, I picked up these books. They were beloved companions for the duration of the pandemic and I loved them for reteaching me to be kind and brave and (hopefully) true. I read The Horse and His Boy and The Last Battle for the first time. I am the kind of person who knocked on the back of wardrobes until an age that I won't disclose, so I also treasured these books for reminding me of the need for imagination.

I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith 

This was another Heidi recommendation and it made me smile the entire way through. I remember Liana once staying up all night in Portland to read this. That was years ago but, as I always say, we arrive at books as we need them. I loved the quirky characters and almost painful earnestness of the narrator in the English countryside. Oh to be young and in unrequited love. Oh to dream of the future without clarity. Oh to want to throttle and also hold dear your siblings. There were too many sweet and funny moments to count.

Middlemarch by George Elliot 

I told my friend Carl, on our first real meeting, that I would read this book...three years ago. And every time he flies back from England to ask how it's coming along, I have nothing but the introduction to report. I grew up, perched on the radiator, with my mother using this book as an illustration of all the different reasons why people have married throughout history. It's a long story, which I hope I can tell you in person one day, but I ended up finally reading this book with my new friends Emily and Mark through lockdown. They are both philosophy scholars trapped together in Ottawa. I met Emily in a coffeeshop, joined her Jane Austen book club earlier in the year, and couldn't have anticipated how this total stranger and her partner – who at the time was teaching in Calgary – would become two of my closest companions during the lockdown. This book is a tale that stands the test of time. It is a story of longing, projected self, all the different forms of love that are true and false and uncomfortable, dreaming, and the ways in which we interact with money and belonging too. Tell me if you make it your 2021 project?

Consolations by David Whyte 

We left this book in our bathroom for the duration of lockdown and it's exploration of the various words that we carry with us was a gift to each of us through those uncertain days. Whyte has the gift of words. As my friend Pomeline would say, “God gave with both hands” when it came to his ability to illuminate singular words, their meaning, and their resonance.

The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery 

I feel like this book was written especially for me. This was yet another case of arriving at a book just as I needed it. My friend Emily has been trying to get me to read it for years but somehow, the lending of Heidi's copy read beneath the trees in the Ottawa evening sunshine brought it squarely home. Montgomery feels like home to me and so it's no wonder that the story of this imaginative spitfire who takes hold of her life and her desire for love in Canada made me smile and laugh and cry by degrees. In fact, I may reread it during this third lockdown I couldn't have anticipated coming.

Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert 

This is one of those books that I don't particularly know if I would recommend, but I don't regret reading it. In particular, I appreciated her musings on the concept of an idea searching for a home and our willingness to receive and steward it. What do you think?

In Extremis by Lindsey Hillsum 

I loved this book, forced my roommate to read it, and even flew it to British Columbia to lend to my friend Alida with strict instructions to “pass it on to Kayla too.” (I know, I'm a book bully not quite in recovery....) This book chronicles the life, love, and loss of journalist Marie Colvin. And what a life. Her heartache was sometimes almost too hard to face head on, her courage bordered on crazy, and the detailing of her writing and the way she accompanied those she interviewed renewed in me the belief that writing has a place to play in combating injustice. Please do yourself a favour, pick up this book, and text me when you get to the part when she hikes over the mountains in Chechnya on Christmas Day. (No wonder she thought she could survive anything!)

The Flatshare by Beth O'Leary 

I heard Beth O'Leary on the Sacred Podcast, as interviewed by Elizabeth Oldfield. I fell in love with her spirit and promptly ordered this book. It is light and sweet and I highly recommend it for a lockdown read. The concept of two people sharing a flat but never meeting due to their opposite schedules is intriguing and I came away feeling affectionately towards the characters.

The Minister's Wife by Karen Stiller 

This book was written by my dear friend and I had the privilege of interviewing her for its launch. I read it in 24 hours, all the pages piled together in a big binder before its release and felt a thrill of joy. My roommates will tell you that I laughed and cried and resolved that if she could love the church and people so could I. It is full of searing honesty, deep love, and hidden treasures. I hope I can grow up to love and live as well as Karen one day. I love her mostly for her honesty which has freed me to be courageous and feel as though love and endurance are still possible.

Home Work: A Memoir of My Hollywood Years by Julie Andrews 

My former roommate Hannah lent this book to me during the beginning of lockdown and it made me smile. It was a great alternative to trying to steal my 90 year old grandmother's copy which was given to her at Christmas. (I know, who am I??) I would say that it was nothing extraordinary and yet I didn't realize the degree of disruption, heartache, and the relentless pace of life that Andrews lived while creating lasting masterpieces that we would return to again and again.

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 

I know. How could I have never read Pride and Prejudice before? (Emily – I can hear you echoing that as you read this!) I finally forced myself to read this book after meeting the Emily of Coffeeshop Fame, staring at her creepily as she read Persuasion, and walking over to try and force her to be friends with me. She invited me to join her Jane Austen book club and we discovered we were neighbours. I joined a reading group full of strangers and I can't think of decisions that were much better than that one from the past year. My copy was lent by a firefighter and theologian friend, and I will always treasure the image of his over six foot frame bounding into the bedroom to pull out his well loved copy to lend to me. I think I was afraid I wouldn't love this classic but I was surprised by the wit and wisdom. I'm so glad I read it now. What a gift.

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamott 

Ben sent this to me as my Christmas gift. Fitting, since he is the one that has had to endure so many (hundreds probably) of my roughest drafts. It was a joy to see how many of the encouragements he had gifted me over the years found their roots in this book and I also loved it because of how much Karen also loves it. Lamott has a hysterically funny sense of humour – it is irreverent and off-beat and often so secretly what we are each thinking. This book is essentially a guide to writing in spite of everything.

Searching for Sunday & Faith Unravelled by Rachel Held Evans 

I read these two books of Rachel's in the wake of her death. I wanted to understand how one woman had captured the heart and imagination of both those who needed her voice and those who deeply disagreed with her. What struck me most in the wake of her death was how highly everyone from her friends to her critics spoke of her – of her humour and honesty and the deep dignity with which she treated each person she encountered. Rachel's writings on her journey of faith and doubt and rediscovery of a new kind of believing is beautiful and a gift and helped me understand both myself and those who love her writing more.

The Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden 

This was a beautiful trilogy to read in the dead of a snowy Ottawa winter. I loved the Russian folktales woven in, the beautiful colours and textures described, and the way it helped me to fall back in love with fiction and give fantasy another chance. Shoutout to Ashley and Sara for affirming my beginning the dive into these books.

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett 

You know, this is one of those funny books that I picked up for the beauty of the cover and kept reading because I wanted to know the end. I got to the end and though that I never fell in love or felt quite at home in the book, somehow I couldn't put it down. It is a story of two siblings bound by love, and bereft by two complicated - and very flawed - parents. They spend the rest of their lives looking for stability and love. I don't know what that says about the book but I am so glad to have discovered Patchett and want to direct you to her New Yorker article on her fathers - yes, plural - for your enjoyment.

Present Over Perfect by Shauna Niequist 

I'm not sure that I would have read this book in retrospect, but I have read everything else of Niequist's and her books were a gift to me in another season. The title alone could be my mantra and for that, I give thanks.

Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl 

This is one of those self-indulgent books that describes the opulent years of the magazine industry where lavish parties were thrown and self-congratulatory reviews were written by industry insiders on each other's pieces. And yet, I loved the honesty and kindness of the author's voice. It made me want to fall in love with cooking all over again. It made me miss New York and felt like reading the voice of a friend.

Barking to the Choir: The Power of Radical Kinship byGregory Boyle 

I don't know how he does it but Gregory Boyle has the ability to make me cry, fall in love with Jesus all over again, and determine with a fierceness to love people in a better and deeper way. This book was a little repetitive from his first one and yet held such deep love and goodness in its pages. It chronicles Boyle's experiences working in L.A. with Homeboy Industries and those who emerge from gang life. This book is not just for people of faith and I promise, if you read it, you will emerge determined to love people better and deeper and longer, yourself too.

Spies of No Country: Behind Enemy Lines at the Birth of the Israeli Secret Service by Matt Friedman 

I read this book in a haze when, at the beginning of February last year, I was more sick than I can ever remember being. I found many snippets powerful and learned about a whole chapter of Israel's history that all too often is missing from the history textbooks.

All the Rivers byDorit Rabinyan 

I learned about this book from actress Gal Gadot's Instagram page...I think she's making it into a film? This is a beautiful and sad book that describes New York and Israel and Gaza in a way that makes you fall in love and begin to mourn from the very first page. The narrator's interior life is illuminated beautifully and I remember thinking that I wished I could go back to New York and wrap her up against the world all at once.

The Book Thief byMarkus Zusak 

This is another book that I should have read years ago. It got me out of my funk and I found, as I so often do, that books written for children often contain hidden treasures for adults too. In particular, the lesson of this book to me is that the strength and metier of a person is so often found in their capacity for tenderness. The way in which these characters love and encounter each other in war time, the way in which words and reading put a little girl back together again, is a story I hope I always hold on to.