Holiday-ish: Day 4

One of the few good things to be said about 2020 is that it gave us plenty of time to read. Of the dozens of books we borrowed, bought, Kindled, and Audibled, each of us had one stand-out favorite. Presenting our top book picks for 2020, perfect for gifting to yourself or others. 

Ellen: I never in a million years would have picked up Sonali Dev’s Recipe for Persuasion but for the fact that it was the second pick in a book club I joined in July because a) why not; and b) the books are all written by Chicago-area women. 

So when I sat down to read on the Saturday before the club’s virtual meeting with the author, I had no idea I was about to start a romance novel. Nor did I know how much I would enjoy it. 

Dev’s publisher describers her as “an award-winning author of stories with a Bollywood beat,” and that’s exactly what this book is. In a nod to Jane Austen’s Emma, Recipe for Persuasion tells the story of Ashna Raje, a young chef in the San Francisco Bay area who is determined to save her father’s restaurant. With money running out, Asha joins the cast of “Cooking with the Stars,” a celebrity competition that pairs her with Rico Silva, a World Cup champion soccer star who, it turns out, was Asha’s first love, Ricardo. 

The story zips along through a viral social media encounter; Asha’s dysfunctional relationship with her overbearing mother; the secrets of her large, extended family; fascinating details about Indian food and culture; and insight into the generational roles of women in Indian society. 

It’s a refreshing, well-written story that surprised me and made me happy. What else can one ask for as this year comes to a close? 

Runner up: The Street, by Ann Petry. Published in 1946, the novel tells the story of Lutie Johnson, a single mother trying to raise her young son in post-war Harlem. Lutie’s world is a cruel one, but the social injustices Petry writes about resonated even more this summer during the Black Lives Matter protests. It’s a beautifully written novel but a heartbreaking, all-too-familiar story.

Cathi: A fan of the romance genre since stumbling upon The Wolf and the Dove by Kathleen Woodiwiss many summers ago as a youngster, I’ve always appreciated novels with a romantic touch. But this dismal year I found myself turning to them more often than usual, finding them a delightful escape from the gloom and doom of the world outside. After all, who among us isn’t yearning for a guaranteed happy ever after?

Of the many excellent releases this year my favorite was the funny and touching Beach Read by Emily Henry. Former college classmates January and Gus, now in their late 20’s, find themselves unlikely neighbors in a Michigan beach town. Both are writers who are struggling financially, personally and creatively.

January is a romance author who, after her beloved father’s death, discovers that he left her a beach house bought during a secret extramarital affair. Gus, who’s dark first novel was a literary sensation, owns the house next door where he’s working on his second book about a local doomsday cult. When writer’s block threatens their careers, they agree to swap genres in an attempt to jumpstart their stalled works-in-progress.

Can a romance writer who no longer believes in true love and an unhappy novelist who has trouble seeing through the dark find happiness? I don’t want to spoil the ending but I think you can guess where this is headed.

Runner up: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett tells the story of Identical twin sisters Stella and Desiree Vignes who hail from a small Southern town populated with light-skinned Black families. Once inseparable, their paths diverge when Stella disappears into the world, passing as a White woman. We follow the lives they lead, the lies they tell and the consequences they face as each of them struggle with making their way through the world as one-half of a whole.