juniperusashei: 2020 Top BooksTo start this blog off, I’ll repost my favorite books from 2020!
juniperusashei: 2020 Top BooksTo start this blog off, I’ll repost my favorite books from 2020! That year, I read 43 books, which is more than I had ever before. Some of my choices are a bit baffling to me now, but all are still very solid reads so I stand by this selection. 1. Dead Astronauts by Jeff VandermeerAnnihilation is one of my favorite books ever, and this is definitely my second fave of Jeff’s. It’s very different though, really modernist, the prose itself is a character. It’s one of the only books I wanted to reread immediately after finishing it… I’m not even sure if I can describe what it’s about but there’s a shapeshifting lesbian made of moss (I think)2. Les Amants du Spoutnik by Haruki MurakamiI first read this book three years ago and it really resonated with me but I didn’t know why. Despite a lot of the narrator’s creepiness bothering me, this reread (read in french this time around) solidified Sputnik Sweetheart as one of my fave books of all time. It’s definitely flawed but I’m still really attached to the characters…3. The Masker by Torrey PetersThis is one of the most uniquely terrifying books I’ve read where nothing that scary happens. It’s sort of like situation horror (like situational comedy but the other way around.) Me and one of my friends are trying to make a movie of this book (2021 note: this didn’t happen). It has a lot to say for everyone about the entrapments of gender roles.4. Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae BrownSome books have so much detail that its hard to imagine they didn’t actually happen. Sort of like To Kill A Mockingbird, or this one. Maybe I just associate the two cuz they’re both Southern and about evil girls.5. Sappho: A New Translation of the Complete Works translated by Diane RayorI didn’t have a physical copy of this version for the pic. But Diane Rayor’s translation of Sappho’s poetry is the decidedly gayest interpretation I’ve come across.6. Little Blue Encyclopedia (for Vivian) by Hazel Jane PlanteThis is like metafiction like Pale Fire except this one is actually good and made me cry a lot. I read this sort of early last year so I don’t remember much so I’m probably due for a reread soon. But I wish the TV show she talks about was real.7. Woman Hating by Andrea DworkinDespite a final chapter full of weirdness that the author herself later disavowed this was a bitter, poetic, and difficult digestion of modern and historic gender politics. I was lucky to get to read a physical copy from the PCL library, but since it’s been out of print hard copies are hundreds of dollars to buy, which is a big shame because I think the world would be a lot better if more people read this book.8. All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane AndersA friend from another city sent this over to me and I went into it not knowing what to expect. It honestly reminded me of those books I’d stay up all night reading when I was a kid, except this is decidedly not a kids book. I did stay up pretty late though. It’s a fun way to combine sci fi and fantasy, like the genres are at odds and so are the characters that represent them. Sort of meta if you think about it.9. Post Office Girl by Stefan ZweigThis is one of the most visual books I’ve ever read and if I was a successful Hollywood producer I’d want to adapt this. It’s about how customer service jobs are soul sucking and even though it takes place in pre-WW2 Austria and Switzerland it absolutely applies to today’s economic climate.10. Intercourse by Andrea DworkinDid not like this as much as Woman Hating cuz this one is much more a work of literary criticism than sociology and I don’t really like reading about books I haven’t read. Nonetheless I gotta give credit to it because this is what really opened my eyes. -- source link
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