What are we reading?

Has your reading changed this lockdown year? Are you searching for comfort, distraction, fantasy? I seem to have gone in the other direction. It's been more non-fiction than usual - I've craved a dose of fact to counter the tide of untruths that swirl about! 

As a result, my reading list has veered to all parts of the world: from historic Afghanistan (The Great Game by Peter Hopkirk), to the wilds of the Russian Far East (The Lost Pianos of Siberia by Sophy Roberts, Owls of the Eastern Ice by Jonathan Slaght) to Antarctica (Empire Antarctica: Ice, Silence and Emperor Penguins by Gavin Francis). Plus a sprinkling of autobiography including Michelle Obama's excellent Becoming. And for a taste of rock, it's hard to beat (sorry) Bruce Springsteen's Born to Run. The Boss leads us through his life story with elegant prose and engaging humility. For a little genuine spycraft, I loved Ben Macintyre's The Spy and the Traitor which features, to my mind, the most outrageous exfiltration ever accomplished. 

When I did read fiction, the standout was Where the Crawdads sing by Delia Owens. I first read her work in a series of non-fiction books co-written with Mark Owens when the couple were wildlife researchers in southern Africa (Cry of the Kalahari).
And then there is the charming The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes; The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel's conclusion to her epic Cromwell trilogy; and The Testaments, Margaret Atwood's follow-up to The Handmaid's Tale, both of which kept me awake at night... 

Thank goodness for books!
They've allowed us to roam free even if we haven't been able to get up and go!