Thursday, 31 December 2020
So, 2020, the longest year in history, is finally almost over, and it is once again time to put together my annual traditional blog post - now in its 14th year! - and look back over the books I read, the music I listened to, and the films I watched during the last twelve months.
Reading
One might have assumed that a year of enforced solitude would increase the amount of time spent reading, but since a large portion of my pre-pandemic downtime was spent in airports and hotels, I actually read a lot less than usual. If this home-based, travel-free existence is going to carry on into 2021, I should really make more of an effort to read at other times of the day than the half-hour before bed.
Anyway, here’s this year’s list, broken down as always into fiction, non-fiction, and comic books:
Fiction
- A Little Hatred (Joe Abercrombie)
- Half of a Yellow Sun (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie)
- The Great and Secret Show (Clive Barker)
- Record of a Spaceborn Few (Becky Chambers)
- Die Trying (Lee Child)
- Lord Foul’s Bane (Stephen R. Donaldson)
- The Name of the Rose (Umberto Eco)
- Axiom’s End (Lindsay Ellis)
- The Man Who Folded Himself (David Gerrold)
- Replay (Ken Grimwood)
- The Puppet Masters (Robert A. Heinlein)
- Double Star (Robert A. Heinlein)
- The Fifth Season (N.K. Jemisin)
- The Eye of the World (Robert Jordan)
- Dubliners (James Joyce)
- The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry (Rachel Joyce)
- A Brightness Long Ago (Guy Gavriel Kay)
- Perdido Street Station (China Miéville)
- Altered Carbon (Richard K. Morgan)
- The Starless Sea (Erin Morgenstern)
- Little Fires Everywhere (Celeste Ng)
- Under a Glass Bell (Anaïs Nin)
- Swallowdale (Arthur Ransome)
- We Didn’t Mean To Go To Sea (Arthur Ransome)
- The Picts and the Martyrs (Arthur Ransome)
- Under Milk Wood (Dylan Thomas)
- Dragons of Autumn Twilight (Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman)
- Beasts in Velvet (Jack Yeovil)
I think that the presence of so many old favourites, including many from my childhood, speaks to a greater-than-usual need for escapism in 2020. In between tales of time-travel and larking about on the river, though, I also managed to fit in some sci-fi and fantasy classics (the first Wheel of Time book disappointingly ripped off large chunks of Lord of the Rings, and I had to abandon Lord Foul’s Bane it was that bad) as well as some modern and not-so-modern literary fiction. Becky Chambers is reliably warm and comforting; Umberto Eco was boring; Lee Child was surprisingly readable for something I had dismissed as a mere airport thriller.
I think my favourite book of the year would have to be Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun, a love story set during the Nigerian Civil War of the late ’60s. I loved her novel Americanah when I read it a few years ago; this one was just as beautifully written and compelling.
Non-fiction
- I Read the News Today, Oh Boy (Paul Howard)
- Heavy: An American Memoir (Kiese Laymon)
- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life (Mark Manson)
- Story (Robert McKee)
- Alan Moore’s Writing for Comics (Alan Moore)
- North Korea Journal (Michael Palin)
- Will (Will Self)
I re-read a couple of books on writing earlier in the year, but the remainder of the non-fiction I read had no particular theme. Biography, autobiography, travelogue, and self-help book, all were relatively forgettable; the best book I read in this category was easily Heavy, a memoir by American creative writing teacher Kiese Laymon about growing up fat and black in America’s deep south.
Comics
- Hate, Vol. 1: Hey, Buddy! (Peter Bagge)
- Hate, Vol. 2: Buddy the Dreamer (Peter Bagge)
- Hate, Vol. 3: Fun With Buddy + Lisa (Peter Bagge)
- Hate, Vol. 4: Buddy Go Home! (Peter Bagge)
- Hate, Vol. 5: Buddy’s Got Three Moms (Peter Bagge)
- Hate, Vol. 6: Buddy Bites the Bullet (Peter Bagge)
- Sweatshop (Peter Bagge)
- Promethea, Vol. 1 (Alan Moore)
- Promethea, Vol. 2 (Alan Moore)
- Promethea, Vol. 3 (Alan Moore)
As a lifelong Alan Moore fan, it was about time I finally got around to reading his Promethea series, but I found it uninspiring enough to give up after the first three books. Instead I returned to yet another favourite from my youth, and re-read every issue of Peter Bagge’s seminal underground comic, Hate.
Listening
It’s also been a weird year for music. Aside from the disruption to album release schedules, I find that my listening habits have been affected by spending 100% of my time at home. I’ve listened to a lot less newly released music, instead filling my days with old favourites from the 80s or 90s. More safety in nostalgia.
Top 10 artists in 2020
- Pearl Jam
- Phoebe Bridgers
- Radiohead
- The Wildhearts
- Baby Chaos
- Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Jealous of the Birds
- The Beatles
- Bon Iver
- Soccer Mommy
Only five of my top ten most-listened-to artists released new albums this year; the rest are old favourites, which is almost certainly why Pearl Jam are at the top spot since they are the only band to straddle both of those categories in 2020. The rest of the top 20 were almost all early 90s rock and metal bands.
Top 10 albums in 2020
- Punisher - Phoebe Bridgers
- Ape Confronts Cosmos - Baby Chaos
- Peninsula - Jealous of the Birds
- color theory - Soccer Mommy
- The Main Thing - Real Estate
- Chess - Various Artists
- Making A Door Less Open - Car Seat Headrest
- Devotion - Margaret Glaspy
- The New Abnormal - The Strokes
- SAWAYAMA - Rina Sawayama
Apart from Chess (which only takes a couple of listens to make this list, with its 21 tracks), these albums were all released in 2020. I think Soccer Mommy’s latest was actually my favourite of the year, but I also loved the Pheobe Bridgers, Jealous of the Birds and Margaret Glaspy albums.
Watching
- Knives Out
- Guava Island
- Cats
- Toy Story 4
- I’m Thinking of Ending Things
- Solo: A Star Wars Story
- Rambo: Last Blood
- How to Build a Girl
- Hamilton
- Da 5 Bloods
- Lorena, Light-footed Woman
- Lincoln
- I, Tonya
- Annihilation
- Hail, Caesar!
- Sense and Sensibility
- Justice League
- A Quiet Place
- Punk Revolution NYC
- Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
- The Last Black Man in San Francisco
- Dolemite Is My Name
- Marriage Story
- 2036 Origin Unknown
- Booksmart
- The Irishman
- Chef
- Downsizing
- Jojo Rabbit
These are just the films that were new to me in 2020. Besides the ones in this list, my wife and I also started rewatching every James Bond film in order (and discovered they’re almost universally terrible in the 60s and 70s), and also held ourselves a brief Billy Wilder season back in March when we watched Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Double Indemnity and Sunset Boulevard back-to-back.
Of these new ones, though, some were terrible (Cats, Rambo: Last Blood, 2036 Origin Unknown), some were just disappointing (Guava Island, I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Annihilation), but quite a few were great (Knives Out, Da 5 Bloods, A Quiet Place, Into the Spider-Verse, Dolemite Is My Name, Marriage Story, Booksmart, Chef, Jojo Rabbit). I’ve certainly watched fewer films this year than in previous years due to spending almost no time in hotels; however I have instead ended up watching more films with my wife and kids, which has been nice.
2020 picks
Favourite book: Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Favourite album: color theory by Soccer Mommy
Favourite film: Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)
If you’re at all interested in following along next year, you can find me on GoodReads, Last.fm, and Letterboxd.