2020 wasn’t a year we’ll remember fondly — but there was plenty of good reading. For this month’s book column, I want to share my favorite books of 2020. Let me start with my usual disclaimer that I’m not attempting to identify the best books of the year, but just my favorites.
I’ll start with fiction. “This Tender Land” by William Kent Krueger is set in the 1930s and features an orphaned boy who escapes from the boarding school (and a sadistic worker) where he lives. Taking his younger brother, best friend, and an endangered young girl with him, Odie and his troupe set out on a cross-country trek to try to find a safe place for themselves in the world. They discover much about the world and themselves.
In “The Second Home” by Christina Clancy, two sisters and their estranged adoptive brother are brought into conflict and then reconciliation after their parents’ death. Flashbacks show how the brief happy time they shared as teenagers after the boy’s adoption was torn apart by violence and deceit not of their own doing. Don’t despair; there’s a happy ending.
Twin sisters Stella and Desiree are inseparable until the day Stella suddenly abandons her sister in “The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett. The two are light-skinned African Americans, and Stella’s disappearance is due to her trying to pass as white.
Dean Koontz’s books featuring dogs of enhanced intelligence have been among my favorites. “Devoted” is the latest example.
“Shadows of the Dead” by Spencer Kope is the third in the series featuring Magnus “Steps” Craig. A childhood trauma left Steps with the ability to see traces people leave behind which others can’t see, an ability he puts to work for the FBI in solving crimes and tracking criminals.
The remainder of my list is made up entirely of history books. “The South vs. The South” by William Freehling shows that Union supporters in slave states, both those which seceded and those which remained loyal, were a key ingredient in preserving the Union during the Civil War.
“Wilmington’s Lie” by David Zucchino is about the violent overthrow of the city government of Wilmington, N.C., in the 1890s, in which blacks and whites shared power. The deed was accomplished through the murders of many black residents and exile of others.
“The Splendid and the Vile” by Erik Larson (one of my favorite authors) is an account of how Winston Churchill faced down the Nazis and led England through the Blitz.
The last book on my list was published in 2005. I had previously read and been wowed by Ron Chernow’s biographies of George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant. Knowing that his book “Alexander Hamilton” inspired the musical “Hamilton,” I’ve been meaning for some time to also read it. 2020 was the year I finally did that, and it lived up to expectations.
