Flair Reads: What to Read in 2020

At the start of every new year, a new booklist comes out predicting the must-reads of the year. This list is often compiled before many of the books are even published nevermind read and reviewed. 2019 was an incredible year for publishing, from fiction to poetry and everything in between— it was easy to miss a great read amidst the avalanche of new releases. We have rounded up the best books of the last year so you can catch up on anything you might have missed.

“The answers to making it, to me, are a lot more universal than anyone’s race or gender, and center on having a tolerance for delayed gratification, a passion for the craft, and a willingness to fail.” 

If you need a good laugh then grab Ali Wong’s latest book and jump in! Her Netflix comedy, Baby Cobra captured her hilarious thoughts on everything from being a working mom to her views on modern marriage. This unfiltered collection gives fans more of Ali’s wisdom as she shares her life in the most personal and hilarious ways. 

“In fact I need you to know it was all true. The friendly guy who helps you move and assists senior citizens in the pool is the same guy who assaulted me. One person can be capable of both. Society often fails to wrap its head around the fact that these truths often coexist, they are not mutually exclusive. Bad qualities can hide inside a good person. That’s the terrifying part.” 

Most people know her story but very few know her name—until now. Emily Doe was the sexual assault victim of Stanford swimmer Brock Turner who assaulted her on campus and sparked the conversation around white privilege, #MeToo, and the fault lines in the U.S. criminal justice system. The story of the Stanford rapist was front-page news for weeks but this memoir gives the power back to the victim and tells the story from her point of view allowing readers to get to know the real Chanel Miller.  

“We must be the masters of our own destinies. I did not learn that until it was too late. You have to fight to take back control of your life. Sometimes you will hurt the ones you love the most. But in the end, it will always have to be your choice.” 

This Young Adult (YA) novel is perfect from start to finish and gives insight into the world of third culture kids. Being a teenager is hard enough but what happens when your home life doesn’t quite match the world you live in?  Seventeen-year-old Rukhsana Ali tries desperately to be a good daughter and friend—with a scholarship to Caltech she can’t live up to her conservative parents’ expectations. Will she be able to become the perfect Bengali daughter or will she lose it all to become her true self?

“I heard Carl shout, and I turned to see Roland now on fire, though not as bright as his sister. Carl simply kicked him into the pool, where he fell like a rock, extinguished.” 

This book is impossible to put down—quirky characters, unique plotline, and ridiculous dialogue make it one of Kevin Wilson’s best books. The story is about two unlikely friends, Madison and Lillian, who met at an elite private school but were separated for years after a scandal that got one of them kicked out of school. The other stays in school and leads a life of privilege thinks she has everything figured out until her husband’s ex-wife dies and she is now responsible for her twin stepchildren. The friends reunite as they try to keep the stepchildren from going up in flames—literally. 

“Home is never the same for anyone not just refugees. You go back and find that you have grown and so has your country. Home is gone. It lives in the mind. Time exiles us all from our childhood.”

Dina Nayeri is a brilliant wordsmith who crafts the most beautiful stories by weaving in her personal narrative into each of her books. At age eight, Nayeri fled her native Iran with her mother and brother to Italy finally calling America home. The brilliance of her words has earned this book notoriety and was a finalist for the 2019 Kirkus Prize in Nonfiction. 

This is maybe the most creative poetry book to come out this year because it is not only a work of art but a  collage of President Trump’s words like they have never been seen before. Rob Sears has hand-crafted the tweets, speeches, transcripts, interviews, writings, and musings of the American president into sonnets, haikus, and free verse poems. While this might not be the read-of-the-year for everyone it is a refreshing take on the 45th President’s musings.

“Once a story you’ve regarded as true has turned false, you begin suspecting all stories.”

Canadian author Margaret Atwood has been famous in her native country for decades but took center stage internationally when Hulu released the series The Handmaid’s Tale in 2017. Based on her chilling novel, the series shocked audiences to the core and left everyone wanting to know more about the disturbing dystopian society of Gilead. Atwood picks up the story more than fifteen years later in this long-awaited sequel. Will the protagonist Offred face freedom, prison, or death? 

“Back in the main corridor—what Luke now understood to be the residents’ wing—the little girls, Gerda and Greta, were standing and watching with wide, frightened eyes. They were holding hands and clutching dolls as identical as they were. They reminded Luke of twins in some old horror movie.” 

The undisputed king (no pun intended) of horror writing is back with a new book to give you nightmares. In the quiet suburbs of Minneapolis, a murder takes place leaving Luke Ellis kidnapped and taken to The Institute. The Institute is a place where people are checked in but so far, no one has ever checked out. This psychological thriller is reminiscent of Stephen King’s earlier work and is a must-read if you are a King fan.

“By embracing your calling and refusing to hide your glow, you wouldn’t just make your world brighter, you’d light the way for the women who come behind you.” 

A bit of self-help can’t hurt! Author and the founder of a multimillion-dollar media company, Rachel Hollis is here to remind women that they are often not living up to their full potential. In this #1 New York Times bestselling book Rachel writes about the positive behaviors to adopt, the things to let go of, the path to growth, and the ways to better believe in yourself.

“It’s because I’m tired of being branded a terrorist; tired that a human life lost in my country is no loss at all.” 

The East is often seen only through the gaze of the West. Underlying that reality is the fact that the region is often only spoken about my males in the media and the complex stories of women are often lost. In this collection of essays, nineteen female journalists discuss their homelands and how reporting on conflicts in the region has given nuance to the women who are often misunderstood as stereotypes.