2020 has been a weird year in many ways. One of the most obvious ways for me is how the whole year has hampered my reading. According to my Goodreads profile I will have only read 24 books this year which is less than half of what I normally put away. In spite of the lower numbers there were still a few that stood out for me. Here are my five favorite books that I read during 2020. Note that not all of these books were necessarily published this year.
The Way I Heard It by Mike Rowe
In the introduction to the book, Mike Rowe relates a story about nearly missing a flight because he was sitting in his car waiting for Paul Harvey to finish telling the latest tale in his The Rest of the Story. It's a feeling I can certainly relate to as there were many times I would either keep driving around the block or sitting in the driveway or a parking lot waiting for the end of the tale. For those not familiar with The Rest of the Story check out the unofficial audio archive.
It's no secret that his podcast was inspired by Paul Harvey. I have to say that Rowe is every bit a great storyteller as Paul Harvey was in his day. The book is a combination of some of his best stories from the podcast along with biographical snippets that are extremely interesting. This is a book that can easily be read in small doses and is sure to give the reader many hours of pleasure.
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
Folks that know me well know of my love for detective fiction. My bookshelves are full of books by Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Rex Stout, and others .But this year I had started the year trying to branch out to other authors I had not read. This was the first Josephine Tey novel I had tackled and it won't be the last. In the book, Inspector Alan Grant is confined to a hospital bed with a leg fracture. A friend suggests he pass the time by looking into a historical mystery: Was King Richard III guilty of murder? I love the premise of having to work through the crime from the hospital bed. Plus it is a dive into a period of England's history with which I was not familiar.
Moonflower Murders by Anthony Horowitz
Following the success of Magpie Murders, Anthony Horowitz returns with another installment in the adventures of literary agent Susan Ryland as she must once again solve a murder by relying on a murder mystery by Alan Conway. Horowitz has said in interviews he hadn't planned on writing a sequel to Magpie Murders until development started on a television series based on the novel and he realized it would be beneficial to have more material to draw from for the series. Once again he constructs a novel within a novel and manages to weave two distinctive cases together into one cohesive story. It's a thoroughly modern take on the Golden Age mystery novel.
The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
Erik Larson is one of my favorite authors. He has an ability to transport the reader to a particular place and time like no other I have ever read. The Splendid and The Vile is probably his best book to date and one of my personal favorites.
Winston Churchil's first months as Britain's Prime Minister would be marked both by Dunkirk and the Blitz. Through 1940 Britain would be driven to the brink by the Nazis. If it wasn't for the leadership of Churchill it is doubtful that Britaim would have been able to survive the war. Larson gives the readers a clear idea of what it was like to live through the early days of the war. Well researched and written this reads like a thriller.
Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse
If 2020 has taught us anything it is that the perfect literary antidote to the troubles of this world is P. G. Wodehouse. His novels feature a variety of unforgettable comic characters and Right Ho, Jeeves is no exception. Gussie Fink-Nottle presenting the prizes at the Market Snodsbury Grammar School is one of the funniest sequences in all of literature. There are plenty of moments in this novel that make it a joy to read again and aagin.
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