2020 has been a living nightmare so we all needed to find an escape – this book was that escape for me. I’ll admit this book was peak young adult, but its themes, characters, and plot were pure wholesome fun. This prequel to the Hunger Games was everything twelve-year-old me wanted another Hunger Games, typically edgy young adult characters and more Panem lore! Reading this book during the first lockdown was a healing experience. I am unashamedly nominating Suzanne Collins’ The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes as my favourite book of 2020. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins – Maddy Jeffrey My favourite chapters were the ones focused on TV, literature, music, and culture – you should pick up this book for its chapter on Fifty Shades of Grey and fairy tales (yes, both of them) alone. She reveals all, whether that be in relation to horrible events she has survived or just her strong emotional connection to The Hunger Games. It’s extraordinarily personal in all senses of the word. Her writing style is fantastic, it has moments that are incredibly sad, but other moments are insanely funny. Her definition of feminism is intersectional and inclusive. She obviously discusses feminism (and all its complexities), but she also discusses racism, sexuality, body-image, rape-culture and so much more.
Like a lot of people, the weirdness of 2020 meant I simply read more non-fiction this year – this book I picked up over summer for the SCAN readathon.īad Feminist is a collection of personal essays based on Roxane Gay’s observations. I mean, there’s a lot about 2020 that I wouldn’t have believed this time last year. If you’d have told me last year that my favourite book of 2020 would be non-fiction, I wouldn’t have believed you. Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay – Jennifer Kehlenbeck