That 2020 has been an unfortunate year for most of us is a fact.
Books are a means of going to another world, enjoy it and learn from it altogether. Indulging in a book will, therefore, be a productive way to escape 2020 temporarily.
This article will provide the best reads that befit 2020.
1. "A Promised Land" by Barack Obama
Former US president Barack Obama said he wrote this book with the aim of accounting for his tenure as president, to bring to light the challenges facing the nation, and to seal the cracks of division that have been plaguing America since time immemorial.
The book begins with young Obama trying to find his niche in society. He explains that there was nothing spectacular about him; he was neither the unbeaten valedictorian nor the apparent leader.
However, he took in what was happening around him, drawing inspiration from the outliers of his time like Dr. King, John Lewis, and Bob Moses.
What follows is a candid look into his senatorial and presidential campaigns. Obama acknowledges the role of luck in his 2004 campaign where both his Democratic Party rival in the party primaries and Republican rival in the general election had to drop out after damning allegations arose about their character.
His most potent strength during the presidential campaign is he gave people hope.
Obama pulls back the mask on being a US president, a role that put him at the helm of decision making on trivial national and international issues. The book ends with a look into the assassination of Osama Bin Laden.
2. "Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings" by Neil Price
A lot, and I mean a lot, has been said about the Vikings. Most of what we know are stereotypes from the people who interacted with the Vikings and not from the Vikings themselves.
Neil Price has written a book purely based on valid archeological evidence and accounts of the Vikings themselves. This book exhausts aspects of religion, culture, beliefs, political structure, and trading exploits of the Vikings.
Moreover, the book looks at how Vikings' interactions with many other groups of people led to the exchange of knowledge, ideas, and beliefs that ultimately resulted in changes in all the involved groups.
3. "Let Love Rule" by Lenny Kravitz
This book is the music icon Lenny Kravitz's memoir. It details the first 25 years of his life. These early years, as we can all attest, are what mold a person.
He writes about how it felt to be a person of two races that could not be more different from each other.
His mother, Roxie Roker, a musician and performer, introduced him to the world of music. However, it was when he attended performances by the Jackson 5, James Brown, and Led Zeppelin that he really fell in love with music.
When he was 19, his father cheated on his mother. As his mother was throwing his father out, his father told him "You will do the same too". These words, he adds, have haunted him for the rest of his life. Nevertheless, Lenny notes that he still loved his father.
That same year, he moved out of home. With no stable source of income, he had to live in his car for a while. During this time he received several proposals for record deals, all of which he turned down because he felt they did not resonate with his style of music.
This is a great book on optimism, forgiveness, and chartering your own path. Once you are done reading, join us in waiting for a sequel that Lenny promises will now contain stories of stardom and his life after 25 years.
4. "The Glass Hotel" by Emily St. John Mandel
My take of this book's plot is that the characters have monsters in their past they are trying to run away from, but eventually, they get caught.
Paul, a college student without friends, tries to make some at a club by giving them pills. Unfortunately, one of his acquaintances dies from the pills. Paul then flees to Vincent's, his sister's, place.
Paul and Vincent find work in a luxurious hotel five years later. Jonathan Alkaitis, the hotel's rich investor, falls in love with Vincent, and they soon move in together. Vincent's life is transformed into that of affluence and subjugation to Alkaitis.
It is soon discovered that Alkaitis got his wealth from running a Ponzi scheme. He is sentenced to 172 years of imprisonment. He is continuously haunted by those he stole from.
Vincent finds work in a shipping freight and seems to have found happiness and even a new love interest. Unfortunately, she goes missing and is presumed dead. Her case falls to the hands of a police detective who lost his savings to Alkailitis' Ponzi scheme.
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