There’s no denying that 2020 was a challenging year for pretty much everyone around the world.
Humans are inherently social beings and it goes against our instincts to refrain from seeing friends and family and not to attend communal gatherings such as gigs, festivals, parties, sporting events or even to make trips to the cinema, theatre or place of worship. As the Mexican writer and cultural commentator Octavio Paz wrote in The Labyrinth of Solitude; “(we) are nothing but nostalgia and a search for communion”.
However, at the start of the first lockdown in Italy, I read Kitty O’Meara’s poem ‘And The People Stayed Home’ and took some solace and inspiration from her words about using this period of confinement as a time for reflection and self-improvement. Whilst it was far from ideal to move to a foreign country and barely two months in, to be forced to stay at home, whilst working full-time from a laptop on my kitchen table, I figured it was best to make the most of the situation and try and use this time as productively as possible.
I had read prodigiously as a child up to the age of about 15. When I was younger I devoured otherworldly fiction such as Terry Pratchett and early Anthony Horowitz (I still consider Groosham Grange to be a criminally-underrated classic) and then became obsessed with music writing and more niche biographies as I got older. However, during my early adult life and sadly for most of my 20s, I found myself making less and less time to read and would often painfully work my way through just two or three books a year. Reading was an activity reserved for holidays or just before I fell asleep late at night. Hardly the right time to absorb new literature that may well have been that writer’s life’s work.
During what was an abysmal year for many people, I count myself very lucky that in 2020 I didn’t lose anyone during the pandemic or find myself out of work, like countless others. One of the major positives for me was that I rediscovered the joys of reading again. Reading for entertainment, reading for inspiration, reading for therapy, reading for knowledge.
I read 27 books in 2020, certainly an improvement on previous years in London. Part of this is certainly a result of the large periods of solitary confinement created by the pandemic but there were also less distractions in the past year; my flat in Bari has no TV, I only have one acoustic guitar with me (no electrics or modulation pedals to spend my time mucking about with!) and the number of work-related emails I receive out-of-hours has gone down dramatically. During the warmer months, I also carved out a dedicated reading haven; the small balcony off my living room, overlooking the bustling Madonnella street below. I picked up a folding chair for €10 and some cheap plants from the Chinese shop around the corner and transformed it into my reading spot. The typical Sunday during the spring would see me spending most of the afternoon out there reading, sipping coffee and green tea (or the odd Peroni in the evening) and most likely, listening to BBC 6 Music.
The full 2020 reading list is included at the end of this post but here are five of my most notable highlights – hopefully there’s a little something for everybody there.
Honey from a Weed; Fasting and Feasting in Tuscany, Catalonia, the Cyclades and Apulia – Patience Gray
Patience Gray was a cookery writer, originally from a high society background in London who relocated to the Mediterranean in the mid-20th century with her partner, the Belgian sculptor Norman Mommens. Following “a vein of marble” around the Med, they lived in Tuscany, Catalonia and Naxos before finally settling in a neglected sheep farm Spigolizzi, near Salve and Presicce in the Salento region of Puglia in the 1970s. Here they lived a self-sufficient lifestyle, learning cultivation techniques from their peasant neighbours and growing their own fruit and vegetables, as well as making wine and olive oil. Honey from a Weed is a beautifully-written book; part-memoir and part cookbook. Gray’s wicked sense of humour comes through in her writing too and it’s clear that her and Norman consider their Italian neighbours their tutors. Many cooks today hold Honey from A Weed (along with some of Elizabeth David’s writing) responsible for introducing Mediterranean cooking into the British consciousness.
Wicked Speed – Annie Nightingale
Annie Nightingale is the UK’s first-ever female radio DJ, rising to fame in the 1960s on Radio 1. However, Annie has never rested on her laurels and has always made it her mission to be at the cutting edge of the latest new music. From being pals with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones in the ‘60s, a torchbearer for the ‘70s punk scene to a champion of the late ‘80s / early ‘90s acid house movement, Annie is one of a kind. Bugged in Moscow, drugged in Iraq and almost fatally mugged in Havana, I was also fascinated to read how she spearheaded the first tour of Western artists to the newly-free Romania in 1989. My friend Scott and I’s own trip to Bucharest was tentatively planned for last September as a result but plans unfortunately shelved due to new Covid-related travel restrictions. Now aged 80, Nightingale is still going strong on Radio 1 and is still a regular club DJ.
Taj Mahal Foxtrot; The Story of Bombay’s Jazz Age – Naresh Fernandes
I was recommended Taj Mahal Foxtrot by my relative Tarun as an insight into Mumbai’s glamorous music scene of years gone by and how the inter-war and post-war jazz years shaped the hugely popular ‘bollypop’ scene of today. Its author Naresh Fernandes was kind enough to give me a few minutes of his time on the phone when I visited Mumbai in 2019 and his book is meticulously-researched, brimming with detail and brought to life with interviews and anecdotes from people who were part of the booming Bombay ‘hot’ jazz scene of the time. Makes me want to visit Mumbai again right away. For any Londoners reading this, Naresh’s book was the main source of inspiration behind the decor and ambience of Dishoom’s Kensington restaurant.
Swimming Studies – Leanne Shapton
Swimming Studies author Leanne Shapton is now a successful writer and graphic novelist, however during her teenage years she was a champion swimmer who was in training for Olympic trials. This book tells the story of her life so far, set against a backdrop of the rigours of competitive swimming training. A soulful and meditative read; I was particularly tickled by Leanne’s sketches of various swimming pools around the world, from Olympic-sized pools to bougie hotels’ plunge baths, including several London leisure centres I have used myself – hilariously, Fitness First’s Baker Street branch makes an appearance here.
Sous Chef; 24 hours on the Line – Michael Gibney
I picked up this book in 2015 on a visit to LA but to my shame only got around to reading it in 2020. Sous Chef is a thrilling and visceral insight into the high-pressure, hard-living world of the professional cook. The protagonist endures late night post-work drinking sessions combined with early mornings starts and the book does a great job of detailing the rigorous demands of the profession, as well as the impeccable standards high-quality restaurants consistently require from their staff. A real page-turner.
2020; My Year in Books
‘A Book of Mediterranean Food’ – Elizabeth David
‘Access One Step; The Official History of The Joiners Arms’ – Oliver Gray
‘Christ Stopped at Eboli’ – Carlo Levi
‘Finding myself in Puglia’ – Laine B Brown
‘Honey from a Weed; Fasting and Feasting in Tuscany, Catalonia, the Cyclades and Apulia’ – Patience Gray
‘How Much Land Does a Man Need?’ – Leo Tolstoy
‘Liberation through Hearing’ – Richard Russell
‘Loco-motion; 40 years of live music at The Railway Inn’ – Oliver Gray
‘Meditation; the first and last freedom’ – Osho
‘Pic’ – Jack Kerouac
‘Riffs & Meaning; The Manic Street Preachers and Know Your Enemy’ – Stephen Lee Naish
‘Sous Chef; 24 hours on the Line’ – Michael Gibney
‘Starting a Business for Dummies’ – Colin Barrow
‘Swimming Studies’ – Leanne Shapton
‘Taj Mahal Foxtrot; The Story of Bombay’s Jazz Age’ – Naresh Fernandes
‘The Centaur’s Kitchen’ – Patience Gray
‘The Daily Stoic’ – Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
‘The Gamechangers; Transforming India’ – Vir Sanghvi
‘The God of Small Things’ – Arundhati Roy
‘The Labyrinth of Solitude’ – Octavio Paz
‘The New Me’ – Halle Butler
‘The Other Mexico’ – Octavio Paz
‘The Pillars of Hercules’ – Paul Theroux
‘The Subterraneans’ – Jack Kerouac
‘The Year Of The Monkey’ – Patti Smith
‘Waging Heavy Peace; A Hippie Dream’ – Neil Young
‘What Good Are The Arts?’ – John Carey
‘Wicked Speed’ – Annie Nightingale
