Apparently I never even finished a part one with a part two in 2021. So before I even mention audiobooks I listened to in the last year we better cover 2020...
Some of my favourite reads of 2020 were audiobooks, including Kiley Reid's Such a Fun Age. Following Emira in a chain of events kickstarting from being falsely accused of kidnapping a white child, a child she is actually the hired carer for.
Be ready for a ride, but probably not the one you assumed you would be getting.
From questions around the 'right' thing to do to, the face of feminist blogging, the power of the internet in mistreatment and privilege, Such a Fun Age drives conversation amongst a brilliantly clever novel having you laughing at human behaviour one second and questioning it the next.
A novel about two best friends living their best life? Ya got me.
Emma Jane Unsworth's Animals follows Laura and Tyler, best friends drinking and dancing their away around Manchester. But of course, it doesn't stay that way with engagements, careers and family changing their paths. These women are not necessarily likeable, but that's what I love about them - they are real.
I'm a sucker for a small story within the complexities of two people. Animals bring the very truth and pain of 'growing up' or facing real adulthood. The honesty this thirty-year-old feels.
Finding the beauty of every day and the unsustainable hedonistic.
Notes on a Nervous Planet by Matt Haig
I realise all I did was moan about Matt Haig's Reasons to Stay Alive, but I am a firm believer in not having an opinion on something till you've experienced something. Well, I disliked this too, not as much but still.
But again, if it has helped you then at least it has done some good.
Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit
Another standout book of 2020 was Rebecca Solnit's Men Explain Things to Me, essays that had me laughing, frozen in thought and crying.
From Virginia Woolf and mansplaining to rape culture, feminity and discrimination, Solnit's essays have this beautiful way of creating tension in sentences that are reflected in the self when reading. Taking gender-based issues and tearing them down to the human right they align with.
Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller
If you happen to find an interest in this book because you work in marketing, take it from an English and Creative Writing graduate who has ended up in the world of marketing - read Christopher Booker's The Seven Basic Plots instead.
Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
One the last books in read in 2020 was also one of the best. Reni Eddo-Lodge's Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race grew from a blog post to this incredible book, delving deeper into the feelings that drove such a strong response to the blog post and the need for an open discussion.
This is a must-read for everyone for a country in denial.
Maybe I'll get to 2021 audiobooks sooner rather than later... let me know you're favourite audiobooks below!
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