So far it's been a good 2020 for my reading life.  Our library has added a lot of great books to the audio service and I've been able to snag a few good ones as well as some print books.  So the books I've read in 2020 include

Red at the Bone-I'm counting it for 2020 because it was December 30ish when I downloaded and listened to it.  Oh, my goodness!  The generational family ties, brokenness, and race challenges all wrapped up in this gem of a book.  It was lovely and a super quick read!

Talking to Strangers (audible)-so interesting.  I highly recommend listening to this Malcolm Gladwell book.  I decided to go for this one after hearing his interview on Armchair Expert Podcast with Dax Shepherd.  The cool thing about the Malcolm Gladwell book is that he reads the book himself and I love his voice and inflection but he also intersperses actual footage from the events mentioned in his book.  This book also got to me because my town is going through some heated race challenges as a black city councilman is up for recall after declaring a black state of emergency when a police man a few towns over (fort worth) shot and killed an unarmed black lady in her own house playing video games. https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/20/us/atatiana-jefferson-death-officer-indicted/index.html
The lawyer, Lee Merritt listed in this new story has also recently visited my town to be a presence at the city council meeting.  It's messy and I definitely learned how we don't always 'default to good' after this book.  Highlighted but interwoven through other stories to highlight concepts brought forth by Gladwell is the Sandra Bland case.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Sandra_Bland

The Alchemist-Second time reading and I also listened to this one and it is lovely.  A young man finds his way and learns the world is out to help him.

While the City  Slept-I knew nothing about this case but read the description.  It was about a man with mental health challenges and a horrific crime committed that left a beautiful soul raped and murdered.  The story is one of so much more than a specific crime.  It details the lives of the people in this case including homosexuality, school to prison pipeline (although not specifically said that way), the lack of mental health services for those uninsured or underinsured. This book spoke to me because I see this probably daily.  We know of a need but brush it aside because there is not enough to help the people at society's fringes.  We hope they don't do somethign terrible but in some cases can almost predict a bad outcome.  We feel our hands are tied.  It was a hard listen but an important one.  The author won a Pulitzer for his journalism reporting on this case.  It happened in Seattle, which I would have assumed was a very progressive area who worked hard to meet the needs of it's most delicate.  I found that in this case that did not happen.  On a happy note, it was after I read the book and was doing a little digging that I realized the wife of the slain victim did a benefit concert with my musical hero, Brandi Carlile.  I am very happy I stumbled accross this book.  I will never forget this story.