What I enjoyed (and didn't enjoy) reading in 2020
Welcome to the 6th Motti Literary Awards — written, directed, produced and presented by supreme dictator Ricardo Motti.
Like last year, we'll rank every book I read during the year, from worst to best. I'll add a brief tweet-like review to convince you to read it. Or, most importantly, not to read it.
But, first, an opening monologue, where I desperately try to be funny so you keep reading. (See? This is a proper award.)
I'll remember 2020 for two things: spending an unreasonable amount of time in the bathtub and my promise to read more female writers. And what a great promise that was.
Some of the best books I read this year were written by women. Also some of the worst ones, and mediocre ones too—bottom line: female authors, they're just like men!
But reading female authors was worth it even for the books I didn't like. Take the super popular 'Queenie' (#38 below): it taught me about the experience of a 25-year-old black woman living in South London. If it was written by a 40-year-old white man living in South London (i.e. me), it would be useless.
Some highlights from a whole lotta reading:
- Initial goal was 36 books. I moved that to 48 in June, but secretly wanted 52. (I always secretly want 52.)
- The goal of reading half of the books by female authors was met summa cum laude—it was actually half + 1.
- Another (repeated) goal was to read six classics. Did it. But never again. I'm done with the classics; writers sucked in the 20th century.
- Found yet another favourite bookshop and had fun listing my top 10 London bookshops during #BookshopDay.
Ok, monologue done. Without further ado, welcome to the 6th Motti Literary Awards! Opinions all mine and, thus, flawless.
The ‘Farenheit 451’ Awards
'Twas a difficult year, but what a pleasure it was to sit by a crackling fire and read a book. As our tradition goes, here are the best books to fuel your fireplace.
52. Sex Power Money, Sara Pascoe (2019)
Sara gets the honour of being the only writer to win the Fahrenheit 451 Award twice. Punch me in the mouth if you see me buying any of her books again.
I'm so done with this trend of comedians-writing-about-serious-things-but-adding-a-joke-to-every-paragraph. Yes, I checked: there's a joke in every bloody paragraph. (To prove how annoying that is, I'll now proceed to do the exact same thing, watch me.)
51. The Color Purple, Alice Walker (1982)
Dear God,
Sorry, I can’t.
I get that it’s a classic. I get that it’s important. I even liked the plot. But I hated every second reading it. Really, really not for me.
I’m going to hell now.
Amen.
50. Dead Gods: The 27 Club, Chris Salewicz (2015)
Nice idea: short biographies of the great artists that died at 27. But it reads like a college dissertation: lots of research, nary an idea. Also there's some incorrect stuff about Kurt Cobain; I should know, Nirvana scholar that I am. Grade: F+
49. Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Café, Toshikazu Kawaguchi (2017)
Books that start with a list of characters are usually untidy. Well, this one starts with a bloody infographic of characters. It might be time to finally admit that Japanese literature is not my, uh, cup of coffee. Ha.
The ‘Bleak House’ Tier
You always expect a lot from classics — but these are best-suited as ammunition for the closest leave-a-book-take-a-book shelf.
48. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, J.K. Rowling (1997)
This is a book for kids.
47. Five Little Pigs, Agatha Christie (1942)
Hey, do you know who's the best-selling author of all time? Agatha Christie.
This is my go-to ice breaker at parties.
46. How to Build a Girl, Caitlin Moran (2014)
Great book if you're a 13-year-old girl from Wolverhampton.
45. The Plague, Albert Camus (1947)
I read this in March, right before lockdown started. Honestly, it was worst than quarantine.
44. Strangers on a Train, Patricia Highsmith (1950)
Longest 250-page book ever. I hear there's a movie directed by Hitchcock — maybe go watch that instead.
The ‘Tales of Terror and Madness’ Division
Horror books that I didn't like. Predictable outcome, seeing that I dislike horror books. Alas.
43. The Cabin at the End of the World, Paul Tremblay (2018)
As I uncross my legs and pick up my Earl Grey-stained mug that sits to the right of my MacBook, I realise how much I hate over-descriptive books.
42. Unspeakable Things, Jess Lourey (2020)
Another year, another time I was tricked into reading Young Adult literature. This is a glorified Scooby Doo episode: gripping but unsatisfying.
41. Horrorstör, Grady Hendrix (2014)
Great idea: not a haunted house, but a haunted IKEA. The graphic design is so beautiful—this looks great on a coffee table—that it takes a good 100 pages before you realise the book is not all that.
40. The Institute, Stephen King (2019)
This is pretty much the book version of Stranger Things, and I don't like Stranger Things. But I actually did enjoy this one. Mr. King will make anything into a page-turner.
The ‘Neverending Story’ Tier
These are feelgood stories. I didn't love these books, but maybe you're a better person than I am.
39. The Music Shop, Rachel Joyce (2017)
A lot of great music stories in this, which makes it worth a read. The plot is too saccharine for my taste, so this is basically Nick Hornby In Love.
38. Queenie, Candice Carty-Williams (2019)
Another literary trend I'm tired of: the weird-person-can't-connect-to-people-but-something-happens-and-they-become-more-open arch. As I said, I learned from the black female protagonist, so it was worth it. Bonus points for being set pretty much in my backyard.
37. The Thursday Murder Club, Richard Osman (2020)
Old people solving crimes! Nice premise. It's a little like the 'Knives Out' movie: a whodunnit that's fun and aesthetically pleasing*, but a bit messy and ends up letting you down.
* Ana de Armas, call me when you read this.
36. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman (2017)
Confession: I did like this when I read it, earlier in the year. I thought it would end up near the top of this list! But then I read 26 other books with the aforementioned weird-person-can’t-connect-to-people-but-something-happens-and-they-become-more-open arch. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted.
The ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ Division
We'll have more exciting non-fiction books down the list. But here are some that taught me something, even if I wouldn't blindly recommend them.
35. Dead Precedents: How Hip-Hop Defines the Future, Roy Christopher (2019)
The author sets out to prove that hip-hop is the sci-fi of music. He fails. The end.
I'm kidding—there's some fun tidbits. But it's hard work: it reads less like a book and more like an academic thesis. I mean, there's 100 pages of notes in the end.
34. My Thoughts Exactly, Lily Allen (2018)
Very honest, some important messages, some highlights, some filler. In other words: just like Lily Allen's debut album.
33. Natural Born Heroes: How a Daring Band of Misfits Mastered the Lost Secrets of Strength and Endurance, Christopher MacDougall (2013)
Crete's resistance during WW2 is a great story, and connecting it to a fitness/dieting approach is brilliant. The concept of “hero” is worth the read (ask me). Great if you hate Nazis and/or carbs.
32. Junior: Writing Your Way Ahead In Advertising, Thomas Kemeny (2019)
Good one if you’re an advertising creative, great one if you’re a junior creative. Copywriting parts are nice. Well, this is a work book, what's to say.
31. Vesper Flights, Helen McDonald (2020)
I wish Helen was my best friend: we're both into birds and trees and funghi. But like ‘H is for Hawk’, this didn’t grip me. She's too poetic, and I kept having to re-read pages because my attention fluttered away (pun intended).
30. The Secret Lives of Planets: A User’s Guide to the Solar System, Paul Murdin (2019)
Super interesting and mostly understandable, even for my limited brain. Hey, did you know our best shot at finding life is at Europa? Not the continent—the Jupiter moon, dumbass.
The ‘Perks About Being a Wallflower’ Division
From here on out, we'll have books that I liked. Not loved, but liked. So we'll keep the snark to healthy levels.
29. Selva Concreta, Edyr Augusto (2012)
The king of the Brazilian underworld! The usual overdose of murders and sex trafficking, but a bit messier than his other ones. 'Pssica' is so much better.
(Weirdly, the only book in Portuguese I read all year. They'll cancel my citizenship soon.)
28. Modern Times, Cathy Sweeney (2020)
Good collection of fun and smart and weird short stories. Lots of great lines. ‘The Birthday Present’, about a woman buying her husband a sex doll, is pure brilliance.
27. The Whitstable High Tide Swimming Club, Katie May (2018)
Light, fun, easy—nice book if you're planning on moving to the beach, which I was and I did.
26. Station Eleven, Emily St. John Mandel (2014)
A book about a pandemic that kills 99.9% of the human race—what's not to like? Here's what: the loooong flashbacks. I loved being in the post-apocalyptic world. Can we just stay there, instead of coming back to our terrible real world all the time?
The ‘Sapiens' Level
You made it to the top half! These are good, serious, important, smart non-fiction books.
25. Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging, Afua Hirsch (2018)
I learned so much for this book — it’s such a worthwhile read.
That said, it was wildly uncomfortable being like 'this is a book by a black woman about the experience of being black in Britain, and I'm a white man thinking these paragraphs are way too long '. Let's quickly move on.
24. Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman (2017)
Nerdiest book ever, but fun. Points deducted for making me want to watch some horrible Marvel movies.
23. The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World, Melinda Gates (2019)
It’s not always an enjoyable read, but it’s necessary. The title might seem like it's about women in business meetings, but it's really about difficult lives and extreme poverty. Apparently billionaires have hearts too.
22. To Throw Away Unopened, Viv Albertine (2018)
This book changed my friend Emma’s life, so I can’t be harsh.
This is a memoir by the guitar player from The Slits. But it's about her mum and her sister and her daughter, and I'd much rather read about punk rock than about families. I still enjoyed it, though—it's an over-achieving book.
21. Consider This: Moments in My Writing Life After Which Everything Was Different, Chuck Palahniuk (2020)
I wish I could write like Palahniuk, so I bought this. It's good. Some fun bits. Some interesting bits. Some educational bits. Grew on me after I read it. Not fantastic. But useful. See, I'm already using short sentences.
The 'Metamorphosis' Awards
Two (slightly flawed) books that changed how I see the world.
20. My Dark Vanessa, Kate Elizabeth Russell (2020)
Very powerful and very heavy. Impacted me, changed my mind about things, helped me finally understand Criminal by Fiona Apple (really). That said… didn’t love the writing or the pace. But I'm nit-picky, as you've surely realised by now.
19. Supper Club, Lara Williams (2019)
It's rare that a book can make me so sad. It’s also very smart and full of clever lines. I liked it, it’ll stay with me. Maybe this is 'Fight Club' for women.
It does suffer from the current pandemic of flashback-itis, even to inexplicably tell the story of minor characters. Hey, enough with the side dishes, I’m here for the entrées.
The ‘Into Thin Air’ Level
Ohhh, we're getting close to the top. Here are some non-fiction books that I really liked.
18. This Isn’t Happening: Radiohead’s “Kid A” and the Beginning of the 21st Century, Steven Hyden (2020)
Listened to so much Radiohead after this that it ruined my Spotify's Discover Weekly for months.
17. Unnatural Causes: The Life and Many Deaths of Britain’s Top Forensic Pathologists, Richard Shepherd (2018)
Who knew a book about autopsies could be so fun? I used to be squeamish, now I wish I had more friends who are forensic pathologists. They're probably great dinner company.
16. The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons in Creative Leadership, Robert Iger (2019)
If we're honest, there’s not really a lot of lessons in creative leadership. There are, however, lessons on multi-billion mergers, but those are not immediately useful to me. That said: super fun — this is a business page-turner.
The 'Brave New World' Awards
There's nothing like reading delightfully dystopic books while living in an actual dystopia. These were great.
15. High Rise, J.G. Ballard (1975)
A classic! And the only re-read of the year. This book is older than me and as relevant today as I am (although the writing felt a bit dated). Perfect if you hate your neighbours, or the class system, or hygiene.
14. The Wall, John Lanchester (2019)
Well, this is proof you don't need to explain what happened through flashbacks. Just put us in the middle of the horrible and inevitable future, and let us enjoy it. Super well-constructed setting, right amount of mystery, good pace, fun to read, nice plot twists.
13. The Parade, Dave Eggers (2019)
This is it. Brutal, fun, brilliant. And, most importantly, short. It's so spare the characters are called Four and Nine and they're just building a road. It's like a brilliant theatre play. My kind of book.
The 'Great Expectations' Trophy
Wow, these books came so close to getting a Motti Award. Sorry, books. You should still read these—I highly recommend them.
12. Confessions of a Bookseller, Shaun Blythell (2019)
Shaun does it again. As good as 'Diary of a Bookseller' — there’s just something about the way he writes that makes it impossible to stop reading. Bought it Friday evening, finished it Sunday night. Honestly can't wait to visit Wigtown just to go to his shop.
11. Exciting Times, Naoise Dolan (2020)
I’m a sucker for unlikeable protagonists. This is filled with little smart thoughts in every page, like the author spent her life writing down neat ideas and sprinkled it through the book. Great read, even if it should be called 'Depressing Times' (copyright: Aylla).
10. Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions, Valeria Luiselli (2016)
Learned all I should have learned long ago about immigration in the US-Mexico border, written by someone who questions recently arrived kids. Just over 100 pages of dynamite. Great writing, beautiful stories, perfectly sized.
09. No Rules Rules: Netflix and the Culture of Reinvention, Reed Hastings & Erin Meyer (2020)
Dear co-workers, sorry in advance about how many times I'll reference this book in 2021.
08. Daisy Jones & The Six, Taylor Jenkins Reid (2019)
Drugs, rock’n’roll and hints of sex. Fun and easy like a summer book should be—I blasted through 50 pages every time I picked it up. And then listened to a lot of 70’s music. Happy days.
Trivia: this is one of four books I read this year from Reese Witherspoon's Book Club. Guess I'm a member now.
07. How to Write One Song, Jeff Tweedy (2020)
This is great for anyone who writes anything at all. The only reason it’s not higher is because I’m not a songwriter and don’t plan on being one. But this book actually convinced me that even *I* could write a song.
06. Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life, Christie Tate (2020)
What a punch to the face. I didn’t expect a book about therapy to be one of the most intense books I’ve read this year. I never knew revealing your secrets could be so fun, funny and scary.
But, believe it or not, this was NOT the best book about therapy I read this year. You'll get there soon.
Bookshop of the Year Award
What a year for bookshops! I think they were declared 'essential' at some point.
I was kept afloat by my beloved Clapham Books through most of the year, but it took four weeks for late-comer Hastings Bookshop to win me over.
It's tiny, it's cute, it's new (it opened in November), it's a 5-minute walk from me, it has a great selection and the staff is beyond nice. Well, by the second time I was there, they recognised me and remembered what I bought before and asked me about it.
They reply to emails with orders in minutes and they ship anywhere in the UK. Thanks for saving my winter. :)
The 2020 Motti Award Winners
You made/scrolled this far, you deserve this. Drum roll for the Motti Award winners of 2020.
05. 438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea, Jonathan Franklin (2015)
There's no better book to read while quarantined. If you're bored about Netflix, imagine a diet of seagulls and rainwater, inside a little boat drifting in the Pacific, with no protection from the sun… for 438 days. A real-life thriller and very moving. You won't forget it.
04. Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid (2020)
Important, intense, intelligent, heartwarming, heartbreaking and impossible to put down. So many surprises and twists, I gasped multiple times while reading.
The perfect book for 2020. Such a powerful message about racial tension, but it doesn’t pontificate: it just tells an awesomely-written, entertaining story.
03. Facebook: The Inside Story, Steven Levy (2020)
A business story that reads like a 600-page thriller. You know drama is just around the corner, so every seemingly normal decision foreshadows catastrophic consequences down the line.
It's almost like 'Joker': we know Mark Zuckerberg is a villain, but this explains the story of how he got there, so you even feel a bit of sympathy. (A tiny bit.)
02. Big Little Lies, Liane Moriarty (2014)
Hilarious without trying to be funny. Deep without trying to be serious. Well-written without showing off. I couldn't stop reading.
Disclaimer: I haven't watched the HBO series, but it can't be as good as this. Actually, I don't think I ever will, I don't want to run the risk of spoiling the fun I had reading this book.
01. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: a therapist, her therapist, and our lives revealed, Lori Gottlieb (2019)
I learned.
I laughed.
I cried.
(I actually sobbed.)
(On a plane.)
I was even annoyed by the flashbacks sometimes, but that’s how therapy goes.
A book I'd recommend to anyone. Well, I have been recommending to everyone. If you’ve ever done therapy, read this. If you haven’t — you’re weird.
What's in store for 2021? The goals are: 48 books (it's secretly 52); 50% of books by female authors; 20% of books by non-white authors.
Finally, this is my yearly pitch for you to join Goodreads! It’s the best thing if you promised to read more in 2021. It’s fun! You set goals. You see what your friends are reading. And they even do a recap of your year.
Enjoyed it? Inspired to read more in 2021? Feel free to share this with your illiterate friends!
If you’re curious about the Motti Awards of 2019, they’re here. See you next year. :)
