My Top 5 Reads of 2020 That You Should Read in 2021

 

Happy 2021 everyone! 

Boy, I think we can all agree that 2020 was a roller-coaster of a year both globally and personally. For me, it was a year of big changes, included prioritizing my life and happiness, changing jobs, dealing with personal life crises, oh, and getting engaged - YAY! It was also a year where I was able to slowly rekindle my love affair with books, including these five which I think you need to read in 2021, in no particular order, of course. 

1. The Outsiders by S.E. Hilton ★★★★★

I know, starting off with a Classic that is required reading for so many students, how cliché. Normally, I would agree with you, but this wasn't required reading for me, and having read it now in my mid-20s, I kind of wish it had been. Despite it being written and published in the mid-1960s I think it is still relevant in its messages, just be prepared for the fact that due to the time period it was written in that there are some tasteless and offensive terms used in the novel. 

The main takeaway from this novel is that you never really know what anyone else is going through, so don't judge others off of preconceived notions of who or what they must be - at least not without getting to know them first. Here it's presented in terms of the poor and the rich, but this is a sentiment that can and has been extended to gender, religion, race, nationality and sexuality - basically anything that makes someone even remotely different from the person who is judging. 

This book also does a surprisingly good job at breaking some of the boundaries of toxic masculinity by showcasing boys and men having affection and looking out for one another, whether they're family or friends. It also does a great job of presenting those same boys and men, even the ones perceived as the strong ones of the band of misfits, as being vulnerable during very serious events. This, for me, more so than reminding people not to judge and hate blindly, is what really elevated the book for me, because vulnerability is something that is still such a struggle for so many, even in books. 

2. The Chimp and the River: How AIDS Emerged from an African Forest by David Quammen ★★★★

What's more relaxing and cathartic in the year of a global pandemic than reading a non-fiction novel about another illness that has caused a pandemic? Nothing, I say!

All jokes aside, this book does a great job of getting past all of the fearmongering and homophobia associated with AIDS and just gets to the facts of where exactly AIDS came from and how it blossomed into the pandemic that terrorized the globe in the 1980s. It also put to rest some of my preconceived notions of how AIDS originated, which, spoiler, did not in fact jump to humans by way of people eating monkey brains like I'd been told my whole life. 

David Quammen does a fantastic job of breaking down some of the science of what this syndrome is, the research that has and is continuing to go into it, and some of the squabbles that have gone on behind the scenes from various scientists and players in the game. He does all of it while adding a little humour and levity to what would otherwise be a very dry and serious topic - and at no point does he condescend or make the reader feel dumb for not knowing these things in advance. A definite A+ in my books.

Being able to trace back the origins of AIDS, including all of it's variations - yep, there's more than one strain of AIDS - and explaining how and when these changes could have or did occur I think allowed me to be able to better conceptualize what exactly is goes on with other viruses and contagious ailments. Especially COVID-19. It's also put into perspective why something like COVID-19 was able to travel and mutate so quickly, whereas something like AIDS took quite a while for it to occur, and how in the future more viruses and contagious ailments could do the same thing. Definitely a great read if you want a better understanding of the current pandemic but without directly facing the current pandemic. 

3. Wild Embers: Poems of Rebellion, Fire and Beauty by Nikita Gill ★★★★

Poetry isn't everyone's cup of tea, I understand that, but hear me out, Nikita does a wonderful job of blending in larger, denser texts with sparse poetry that we may be used to. The topics range from forgiving oneself, to just getting through the pain of trauma, to rising up from the ashes and becoming empowered. 

I'll be honest, the first 20% of the poems in this collection were lost on me as I just didn't connect with them. I think when I was younger and was still trying to understand myself and my self-worth and value, those poems would have connected to me more. That being said, as I continued, the poems started connecting with me, the poems of empowerment and of wanting to change the outdated expectations and norms are for future generations, to be a leader and an example and not just to fall in line. That's where the true power and value in this book was for me.

This compellation is one that I think is important for all genders and all ages to read, but especially those who are vulnerable and those who are still young and impressionable, because I think it'll help them to connect and not feel alone. Nikita is fairly candid in how when she was younger she had those very same struggles and that she worked to get out of those and found herself and her worth, which is something that could help inspire others to do the same. It also, I think, helps put into easy to conceptualize feelings and words what it is like to be a woman, to be vulnerable, so it would make those who read it better allies and defenders of the vulnerable, while empowering the vulnerable to also help themselves. Yes, this sounds preachy, but like I said at the top, this one isn't for everyone, even though it should be.

4. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen ★★★★★

Another Classic, I know, and a romance at that, how droll. Say what you will, I loved this book and managed to devour it in all of two days. 

For this, I did the big faux pas by many book enthusiasts accounts and watched the movie first - the 2005 version with Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen to be exact, and boy am I happy that I did. As someone who is only dabbling in these older works occasionally, I find it hard to get through some of the text, especially when Austen decides to put most of the sisters into a room together but only refer to a character who is speaking by their last name. Which Ms. Bennett do we mean here Ms. Austen? 

What I love, and find infuriating about this whole novel is that a large part of the drama has to do with the fact that there is a severe lack of good communication, which I think was also a bit of a hot take on society at the time by Ms. Austen. Aptly named, this novel deals so much with people's pride and their prejudices getting in the way and wasting time that it really throws you for a loop and makes you consider your own communication skills, even in the modern age where being more open with your thoughts and feelings is encouraged. 

5. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari ★★★★★

Our final book is brought you by a well-explained and digestible history of humankind. Boring? Think again. Yuval guides you through man from very early on in our development through some of the major changes that revolutionized society and humankind for the time and changed the course of where we'd end up.

This is not one of those sociological books that fills you with existential dread and immense guilt for even existing and aiding to the destruction of the planet - well, maybe a little, but I think that says more about me than it does Yuval. What is laid out is a roadmap of where and how humans evolved, and how those changes created our modern societies and may even influence future societies. This is a topic that could be incredibly interesting, or incredibly boring, and I think Yuval does a great job of making it interesting, easy to understand and conceptualize, and to link it all together. 

He does an especially good job, in my opinion, of making it a global history too, and not just focusing on Africa, Mesopotamia, Greece, China, Rome, England, and then America, which is what a lot of texts like to do in almost that exact order. Instead, he expands upon that and includes other major players, especially once he gets more into commerce and colonization for wealth, such as the VOC (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or Dutch East India Company). 

Overall, for something that is a broad and dense topic, Yuval makes it manageable and gives you plenty of food for thought. He doesn't just present history but uses it to explain the how and why of the past and to speculate a little about what the future may hold for us as a species. 

Those are my recommended reads from 2020 that I think you should add to your shelf in 2021. Have you read any of them before? Do you agree with my ratings? Are you planning on reading any of these in 2021? What should I be reading in 2021? Let me know! 

Cheers!