20 Books of 2020 (Pt. 6)

If you haven't yet read the other parts, then have no fear for they are already published.

Part 1 - https://vocal.media/geeks/my-first-20-books-of-2020

Part 2 - https://vocal.media/geeks/20-books-of-2020-part-2

Part 3 - https://vocal.media/geeks/20-books-of-2020-part-3

Part 4 - https://vocal.media/geeks/20-books-of-2020-pt-4

Part 5 - https://vocal.media/geeks/20-books-of-2020-pt-5

And of course, there is that special edition of our lists for reaching 100. You can read it here: https://vocal.media/geeks/my-top-ten-favourite-books-of-all-time

So, as we move on, I would like to say a big thanks to everyone who is still sticking around. I love reading and the best part about it is that I get to share it with people I like (such as: you guys). Reading is the greatest activity known to humanity. There is something very special about sitting there with a good book, a cup of coffee and possibly (if you're hungry) a salmon salad. The best feeling in the world is normally equated to reading your favourite book inside a lamp-lit room on a rainy day with the curtains open, listening to the sound of the pattering on the window whilst you get lost in the realms of an adventure, a romance, a tragedy or historical drama. It is an incredible emotion that is the greatest pleasure of life. So, without further introduction, let's move on to this list.

Let me remind you why I'm doing this. Last year (2019), I shared what I had read at the end of the year and it really looked a mess. There was over 400 books on it and well, it wasn't necessarily well-organised. So I split it into parts, each containing twenty books for the number of the year. And so, with part six well underway, here we go!

101-110

101. Orson Welles: One Man Band by Simon Callow

I had always been looking for a really good book on Orson Welles. And by 'really good' I mean honest and unrelenting. I don't want a wishy washy fanfic of his life. I want to see the real man because I know that often, he could be a repulsive human being even though he was a genius. He could be an arrogant and horrible man even though he was the greatest of his time. This book gave me just that. From the very first chapter, I could tell that this was an honest look at the real man. From a strange and horrid encounter with Ava Gardner which left her in tears and upset for a very long time to being a loud-mouthed tourist, Orson Welles embodied the tortured artist in a way that wasn't cliché. He was literally tortured because people who knew him just didn't like him. But, there was no doubt about his genius. I really enjoyed the part where it talks about Welles' character on "The Third Man" (1949) because it is one of my favourite films and yet, it explains how arrogant Welles was on set as well as his incredible acting.

102. Charlotte Bronte by Claire Harman

Charlotte Bronte was an incredibly complex human being and I haven't really read a biography that does her personality and family life justice. Claire Harman's biography meets me halfway. It is most of some stuff I've read before about Charlotte Bronte, but to complete it there are often these small assumptions made by the author, but you can see where the assumptions come from. You see the airy nature of Bronte's character and yet, the complex personality shines through as a part of her being like Jane Eyre. Ultimately, the book itself that Harman writes reads something like Charlotte Bronte's most famous novel

103. Love for Imperfect Things by Haemin Sunim

This one is written by a monk. I lent it to my mother after I read it, but I don't think she's given it a try yet. It's a brilliant book because it teaches you about your own emotions, why you're feeling this way and what you can do to prevent feeling too much or becoming overwhelmed. It validates your failures (and trust me, I know about failure!) and teaches you how to deal with them without beating yourself up. It teaches you about relationships and why human connection is important. Even though personally, I don't really want any human interaction (or at least, as little as possible) I can honestly say it was fun to learn.

104. Shakespeare by Peter Ackroyd

I don't think I've read a better book on Shakespeare in a very long time. It's expansive on topics such as Shakespeare's upbringing as well as the way in which he began his career. These things in other biographies and documentaries about Shakespeare are often overlooked. I love Peter Ackroyd's writing and I've read many of his books - it is pure entertainment and the thing I really love is that it isn't written too academically. The primary function of the book is to entertain and inform you on the subject of Shakespeare. And yes, it does its job.

105. All the Way: A Biography of Frank Sinatra by Michael Freedland

(image not available)

I loved this biography of Frank Sinatra because it was fun and raw. It didn't paint Sinatra out to be a perfect human being, it didn't paint him as godlike, it painted him as a human being who makes mistakes. This book paints him as a guy who is just trying to make a living out of singing and performing and states certain things as his uphill struggle and his downfall from fame. It is definitely so in the era of the 50s and 60s when Sinatra's sales are declining. It was very interesting to read.

106. The Establishment by Owen Jones

This book shocked the hell out of me. We all know about the 'establishment' that keeps the poor people poor and the rich getting richer. But we don't really know about all the ins and outs, the racism, the classism, the way in which the rich are trying to pit people against each other and make it look like everyone else's fault except theirs. It's a brilliantly written book about the intended classism, racism, discrimination against the disabled etc. that goes on in our own hometowns and cities.

107. Don’t Be Evil by Rana Foroohar

This book was so incredibly good. It goes through why you shouldn't trust the FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) with any of your data because they are absolute evil. It explains how and why they're using your data and where they would use it. It explains how, in most cases - Facebook knows you better than you do, it can predict your thoughts and feelings, showing you things on purpose. It truly is a monumental book and my god, it is so important to read in today's world.

108. Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now by Jaron Lanier

Well, I can honestly say that this book was fairly strange. I found myself having to understand each reason in my head and be able to counter-act them, which I did. Let's put it this way, if I am able to counteract your argument then you haven't made a very good argument. Yes, we know about the dangers of social media, especially for children under a certain age. But for people like me who don't want friends in real life because they're too high maintenance, but like having a few people here and there to text - well then it's a good thing. Everyone knows social media friendships aren't real friendships and I know that nobody really gives a shit about me - but it's better than having to get dressed and go to the cinema with someone and then for lunch. That's too much effort. This book yes, it is good, but it is too easy to counteract the argument.

109. Leonardo by Frank Zollner

I read the book Caravaggio: The Complete Works, published by Taschen books and so, I found it only acceptable to read the others. I began with Caravaggio and carried on to reading about Leonardo. I found that the Leonardo book goes into more detail, obviously, because more is known about his life. When it begins, it begins with the finding of Salvator Mundi, the lost painting and how it was sold at closed auction. It then goes all the way back to the very beginning of Leonardo's life and tells us the grand story of an illegitimate child who became one of the most well-respected painters/inventors/polymaths in the world.

110. The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt

Forever and a day I have been explaining how nut allergies are on a scary rise in America's children. I have witnessed some crazy things. Even in my home country of England, we have a problem with children and nut allergies here. It's just on a constant rise and I have put it down to the mothers now getting the children used to eating nuts when they are babies and so, they grow up with an intolerance to them. They grow up without having eaten them and so, their digestive system would wonder what was going on if they did eat them. This book begins with just that scenario and how mothers are to blame for their children being allergic to nuts and how that is on a constant rise. I don't remember any child being allergic to nuts at my school but in some schools nowadays, you're not allowed to take in nut products in your lunch box you will have them confiscated. That's how bad it is. I'm not even that old as well! This book goes through how mothers are somewhat responsible for how their children of this new generation born after the millennium are basically overgrown babies. They can't seem to do certain things, eat certain things and they are so privileged that they get to choose to go on organic diets and go vegan. They don't have a single responsibility and that is making them lazy and narcissistic. This book is basically a great monument that brings into focus the biggest problem in America's children, but I argue it can be applied to England too.

(I personally don't believe fathers should take care of children by themselves. They aren't equipped with the correct intuition to look after the young on their own).

111-120

111. Talking at the Gates: A Life of James Baldwin by James Campbell

This book was one of the best biographies of James Baldwin I've ever read. Then again, to be honest, I've never really read a bad biography on James Baldwin. This book though was different. There were quotes and passages from those who knew him at various points in his life. There were people who had spoken to him, discussed with him and the information was so vast it was unreal. Baldwin was an incredible figure and so this biography was not only incredible too, but it was pretty big. It was split into multiple parts and each part went through an aspect of Baldwin's life, as if they were different phases. I read this entire book whilst walking around a room multiple times. I must have been walking for about two hours or so, because I finished the entire book and got upset because it was over.

112. Michelangelo by Frank Zollner

Again, after reading Leonardo's Complete Works, I wanted to move along in my journey and so I bought and read Michelangelo. This one wasn't all that interesting because I was never really very into Michelangelo, I was far more interested in Caravaggio and his use of darkness in the background. Michelangelo though, was very interesting. His life, though there is a limited amount of actual information in comparison with opinion, was extraordinary. His work was intense and his attitude was very arrogant. I would've loved to have met him and I'm sure, his spirit was very obvious here.

113. The People vs Tech by Jamie Bartlett

This book was pretty impressive. I read it in a few hours and it was all about how big tech is basically fooling us all. As you can probably tell, I've been on a binge-read of these big tech books which, last year, I wouldn't have picked up because I didn't care. For some reason, I've been reading a small amount of big tech non-fiction and, as we go on, you'll see it grows and grows. Another 'for some reason' is that I care and I don't know why. It's all very strange. I've been changing lately. The entire book is basically about people, data and democracy. How democracy is being broken.

114. Why Social Media is Ruining Your Life by Katherine Ormerod

This book is very intelligent. It goes through how people only show the nice things about their life online and so, it goes to comparison. Women doing it so much more than men. Women compare their homes, looks, families, lifestyles, clothes, hobbies, looks etc. to other women online in hope of looking more glamorous or more in-line with the socially accepted beauty-norm. As someone who couldn't be further away from the socially accepted beauty-norm, I find myself wishing I looked different a lot of the time too and reading this book really made that loud and clear.

115. What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver

I only read this book because so many other people had told me how incredible it was. Now, I'm not going to lie to you when I read a book and whatever I really think will be written here. I thought it was really soppy for soppy sakes. Not that I didn't like it, I enjoyed the writing style because there was some real intense colour to it. But most of it was about finding true love and loneliness and all these other pathetic emotions that I really just think should not be the main point of a book in any way, shape or form. It makes for really cliché fiction. I wanted to really enjoy it, but that simply wasn't the case.

116. Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Now, I read this book for the first time when I was 16 and I've read it a few times since. It is a very short book and I read it whenever I'm feeling really down just to remind me that this guy, in this book, he has it a lot worse than I do. I read it whenever I'm feeling really upset because it also reminds me that in the face of adversity, I have to keep plodding along no matter how horrible and terrifying it may seem. I spend a lot of my time upset but that's okay - as long as I have my books, I will be alright. This book is all about a man who lives the life of the lowest denomination in Russia. I couldn't believe that Dostoevsky would write such a thing but here we are.

117. The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Saenz

For anyone who has read "Aristotle and Dante", this book is a real treat. It isn't a sequel but it is a similar kind of story which deals with the greater issues of growing up and not just stupid high school stuff. Benjamin Alire Saenz is always deeper and the character of Sal is just brilliant in every way. He is a brilliant representation of difficulty and strangeness, he has the most incredibly three dimensional existence. I have always loved Benjamin Alire Saenz's writing and so, this one was no different. It was just as good as "Aristotle and Dante".

118. The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf

I wanted to read a book which made me think 'how could I hate men any more than I already do?' (because honestly, I didn't think it was possible. I also wanted a book which made me think 'how could I hate white women more than I already do?" (because honestly, didn't think that was possible either). But here we are! This book really made me look at myself and see what I was doing because it goes through a number of different things concerning women's beauty and how men seem to see women as ornaments instead of people. It's an incredible book and should be a required read for any woman who thinks that any man is worth any of her time.

119. Selfie by Will Storr

I really enjoyed this book because it really did teach me a lot. It taught me about how the entire world now seems to revolve around the idea of individualism. And we all know what happened the last time the world revolved around that (*coughs in French Revolution*). Anyways, there is enough evidence here to suggest that we've become so obsessed with ourselves that we actually fail to really know who we are as we're too busy with how others perceive us. It is such an intimate and eye-opening book that I fail to see why you aren't reading it right now.

120. The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Yes, I read it again. I told you, I read it every month and I have been doing so for about thirteen years now. At this rate, I'll keep going until I finally explode from an overdose on Oscar Wilde. He is literature's answer to absinth.