Favorite Books of 2020

The only plus to a pandemic is more time for reading! 

Favorite books read in 2020:

• The Custard Protocol series (Prudence, Imprudence, Competence, Reticence), Gail Carriger – fiction, steampunk/vampires/werewolves/dirigibles.
• Untamed, Glennon Doyle – memoir and empowerment.
• Around the World in 80 Trees, Jonathan Drori – nonfiction, an ode to trees, with gorgeous illustrations. Did you know there is a tree called the Sève Bleue, which concentrates nickel in its sap, making the sap a crazy turquoise color? It’s being looked at for phytoremediation, using plants to remove toxic metals from the environment.
• Curators: Behind the Scenes of Natural History Museums, Lance Grande – nonfiction by a paleontology curator at the Field Museum in Chicago.
• The Relentless Moon, Mary Robinette Kowal – fiction, #3 of the Lady Astronaut series, alt-history/space travel/post-apocalyptic.
• The Stand, Stephen King – fiction, one of the three best pandemic stories ever (along with Wanderers by Chuck Wendig and World War Z by Max Brooks).
• Archaeology from Space, Sarah Parcak – nonfiction, using satellite imagery and remote sensing to discover thousands of new archaeological sites (Egyptian, Viking, Maya, etc.) and to combat looting and antiquities trafficking.
• Lovecraft Country, Matt Ruff – fiction, horror/sci-fi/racial injustice.
• Monarchs of the Sea, Danna Staaf – nonfiction, extinct and extant cephalopods and why they’re cool.
• The Book of Eels, Patrik Svensson – nonfiction about eels! Yes, eels! Science, history, mythology, and memoir.

  

  I heart cephalopods