2020 books
Wednesday, 13 January, 2021 — books
One of the things I like at the end of each year are seeing folks list of books.
My list for the year is here. My easy favorite was Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. By subject matter, the book has been timely from publication, I was just late to pulling it off the shelf. As prose, it is one of the most astonishing written works I’ve ever read. The lines filled with spirit, not one wasted. It is a book I expect to return to often.
Group f.64, by Mary Street Alinder has also been out for a bit, but was another favorite. Alinder is Ansel Adams’ former assistant and biographer. Here, she turns her attention to the photographic community and broader spirit Adams helped found. It is deeply researched, taking the better part of two decades of work to get to publication. The endnotes and references are about one third as long as the book itself. Worthwhile.
Elsewhere, here are some end of the year book posts I appreciated:
- The New York Times, “What Books Should Biden Read? We Asked 22 Writers”
- Blair Reeves, “2020 in books”
- Kottke.org, “The Best Books of 2020”
I’ve started my 2021 books page. I have two books in flight presently, and I’ll add them to the page once I finish the books.