My Reading Year 2020

It was a year for reading and little else.

FICTION

Cold Storage, David Koepp

Heaven’s Prisoners, James Lee Burke (reread)

Night Boat To Tangier, Kevin Barry

The Crucifix Killer, Chris Carter

A Spy In The House Of Love, Anais Nin

The War In The Dark, Nick Setchfield

The Second Sleep, Robert Harris

Spring, Ali Smith

Wanderers, Chuck Wendig

Quichotte, Salman Rushdie

The Prisoner Of Heaven, Carlos Ruiz Zapon

The Wire In The Blood, Val McDermid (reread)

A Good School, Richard Yates

Unsub, Meg Gardiner

The End Of The Affair, Graham Greene

The Institute, Stephen King

The Topeka School, Ben Lerner

Silverthon, Raymond E Feist (reread)

Agency, William Gibson

The River Capture, Mary Costello

Warlight, Michael Ondaatje

The Skin Collector, Jeffery Deaver

Strange Hotel, Eimear McBride

Apeirogon, Colum McCann

Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell

The Man Who Saw Everything, Deborah Levy

The Blade Itself, Joe Abercrombie

IQ, Joe Ide

Transit, Rachel Cusk

The Secret Guests, B W Black

Kudos, Rachel Cusk

The Never Game, Jeffery Deaver

Shadowplay, Joseph O’Connor

Actress, Anne Enright

Platform Seven, Louise Doughty

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, Ocean Vuong

The Motion Of The Body Through Space, Lionel Shriver

The Black Echo, Michael Connelly

The Liar’s Dictionary, Eley Williams 

The Dirty South, John Connolly

Rivers Of London, Ben Aaronovitch

A Theatre For Dreamers, Polly Samson

Broken, Don Winslow

What Are You Going Through, Sigrid Nunez

Men Without Women, Haruki Murakami 

Survivor Song, Paul Tremblay

A Sabbatical In Leipzig, Adrian Duncan

Summer, Ali Smith

If It Bleeds, Stephen King

That Old Country Music, Kevin Barry

The Mystery Of Henri Pick, David Foenkinos

Utopia Avenue, David Mitchell

Eden, Tim Lebbon

Are Snakes Necessary?, Brian De Palma And Susan Lehman

Pietr The Latvian, Georges Simenon

NON- FICTION

Five Decades 1960s-2000s, Brian Burke

Outgrowing God, Richard Dawkins

A Life Of My Own, Claire Tomalin

Time Lived, Without Its Flow, Denise Riley

Parisian Lives, Deirdre Bair

The Secret Life Of Books, Tom Mole

The Shapeless Unease, Samantha Harvey

White, Brett Easton Ellis 

Yellow Notebook: Diaries Volume 1, Helen Graner

In My Mind’s Eye, Jan Morris

Autumn, Karl Ove Knausgaard

Thinking Again, Jan Morris

The Destiny Thief, Richard Russo

handiwork, Sara Baume

Facts And Fiction, Michael Holroyd

The Cost Of Living, Deborah Levy

Living With Buildings, Iain Sinclair 

Meet Me In Buenos Aires, Marlene Hobsbawn

Notes From An Apocalypse, Mark O’Connell

Apropos Of Nothing, Woody Allen

Catch And Kill, Roman Farrow

The Future Of Humanity, Michio Kaku

The Hero, Lee Child

Fathers, Sam Miller

The Man In The Red Coat, Julian Barnes

Intimations, Zadie Smith

How To Argue With A Racist, Adam Rutherford

Consider This, Chuck Palahniuk

How We Live Now, Bill Hayes

Rendez-Vous With Art, Philippe Montebello and Martin Gayford

The Pursuit Of Art, Martin Gayford

Trick Mirror, Jia Tolentino

The Red Parts, Maggie Nelson

Humankind, Rutger Bregman

What Is Beautiful In The Sky, Michael Harding

The Golden Flea, Michael Rips

Dear Reader, Cathy Rentzenbrink 

A Working Diary, Adrian Lester And Lolita Chakrabarti

A Ghost In The Throat, Doireann Ni Ghriofa

She Said, Jodi Kantor And Megan Twohey

To The End Of The World, Rupert Everett

Ex Libris, Michiko Kakutani

Aftermath: On Marriage And Separation, Rachel Cusk

Genesis, Edward O Wilson

Silences So Deep, John Luther Adams

Dark Mirror, Barton Gellman

Mantel Pieces, Hilary Mantel

PLAYS

One Day When We Were Young, Nick Payne

Mosquitoes, Lucy Kirkwood

For Peter Pan On Her 70th Birthday, Sarah Ruhl

Albion, Mike Bartlett

True West, Sam Shepard (reread)

Bang Bang, Dermot Bolger

Reasons To Be Pretty, Neil Labute

The Messenger, Dermot Bolger

Rope Knots, Dermot Bolger

Waiting To Be Found, Dermot Bolger

All My Sons, Arthur Miller (reread) 

Cyprus Avenue, David Ireland

Blue/Orange, Joe Penhall

Dumb Show, Joe Penhall

Wild Turkey, Joe Penhall

Boston Marriage, David Mamet (reread)

Leopoldstadt, Tom Stoppard

Yen, Anna Jordan

A Very Expensive Poison, Lucy Prebble (based on the book by Luke Harding)

Human Animals, Stef Smith

Cyrano de Bergerac, Edmond Rostand (freely adapted by Martin Crimp)

Princess And The Hustler, Chinonyerem Odimba

Faustus: That Damned Woman, Chris Bush

Mr Burns, Anne Washburn

Faustus, David Mamet

Romance, David Mamet

Tartuffe (the Imposter), Moliere (in a version by John Donnelly)

Uncle Vanya, Anton Chekhov (a new adaptation by Conor McPherson

Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp., Caryl Churchill

Some Voices, Joe Penhall

Pale Horse, Joe Penhall

Love And Understanding, Joe Penhall

The Bullet, Joe Penhall

Happy Days, Samuel Beckett (reread)

The Twilight Zone, Anne Washburn

Girl From The North Country, Conor McPherson & Bob Dylan

Death Of A Salesman, Arthur Miller (reread)

Fleabag, Phoebe Waller-Bridge

The Crucible, Arthur Miller

A Memory Of Two Cities, Arthur Miller

A View From The Bridge Arthur Miller (reread)

A Touch Of The Poet, Eugene O’Neill

Fred & Alice, John Sheehy

The Importance Of Being Honesr, Malachy McKenna

Cirque des Reves, Katie McCann

All Honey, Ciara Elizabeth Smyth

Normal, Caitriona Daly

Wringer, Stewart Roche

Beat The Day: A Covid Monologue, David Hare

Birdsong, Sebastian Faulks (Stage version by Rachel Wagstaff)

Tongues, Sam Shepard and Joseph Chaikin (reread)

Savage/Love, Sam Shepard and Joseph Chaikin (reread)

Faith Healer, Brian Friel (reread)

Buried Child, Sam Shepard (reread)

Curse Of The Starving Glass, Sam Shepard (reread)

The Tooth Of Crime, Sam Shepard (reread)

La Turista, Sam Shepard (reread)

Beginning, David Eldridge (reread)

In A Forest, Dark And Deep, Neil Labute

In A Dark Dark House, Neil Labute

Fat Pig, Neil Labute (reread)

Superior Donuts, Tracy Letts

The Shape Of Things, Neil Labute (reread)

The Sound Inside, Adam Rapp

Red, John Logan (reread)

Betrayal, Harold Pinter (reread)

Old Times, Harold Pinter (reread)

Incomplete And Random Acts Of Kindness, David Eldridge 

No Man’s Land, Harold Pinter (reread)

Market Boy, David Eldridge

The Knot Of The Heart, David Eldridge

Monologue, Harold Pinter

Family Voices, Harold Pinter (reread)

The Stock Da’wa, David Eldridge

A Kind Of Alaska, Harold Pinter (reread)

Victoria Station, Harold Pinter (reread)

Greta Garbo Came To Donegal, Frank McGuinness

Precisely, Harold Pinter (reread)

One For The Road, Harold Pinter (reread)

Mountain Language, Harold Pinter (reread)

The New World Order, Harold Pinter (reread)

The Effect, Lucy Prebble

Party Time, Harold Pinter (reread)

Night Is A Room, Naomi Wallace

Visitors, Barney Norris 

Low In The Dark, Marina Carr (reread)

Eventide, Barney Norris

The Mai, Marina Carr (reread)

While We’re Here, Barney Norris

Portia Coughlan, Marina Carr (reread)

Endgame, Samuel Beckett (reread)

Nightfall, Barney Norris

Act Without Words, Samuel Beckett (reread)

By The Bog Of Cats, Marina Carr (reread)

Tinderbox, Lucy Kirkword

After The End, Dennis Kelly

Freefall, Michael West

It Felt Empty When The Heart Went At First But It Is Alright Now, Lucy Kirkword

Moment, Deirdre Kinahan

Forgotten, Pat Kinevane (reread)

Small Hours, Lucy Kirkword And Ed Hime

Drum Belly, Richard Dormer

NSFW, Lucy Kirkword

Planet Belfast, Rosemary Jenkinson

POETRY COLLECTIONS

Way More Than Luck, Ben Wilkinson

Devotions, Mary Oliver

Say Something Back, Denise Riley

Deaf Republic, Ilya Kaminsky

Naked: New & Selected Poems, Susan Millar DuMars

Kingdomland, Rachael Allen

Cult Of Two, Michael Faudet

Salt Water, Andrew Motion

Aimless Love: New And Selected Poems, Billy Collins

Life Of The Party, Olivia Gatwood

Frolic And Detour, Paul Muldoon

If All The World And Love Were Young, Stephen Sexton

Selected Poems, Patrick Kavanagh (reread)

The Gravity Wave, Peter Sirr

The Mother House, Eilean Ni Chuilleanain

New Collected Poems, Eavan Boland

Gaudent Angeli, Mary O’Malley

Loss, David Harsent

Of Memory And Furniture, Bron Bateman

I Want! I Want!, Vicki Feaver

Wing, Matthew Francis

Paper Aeroplane: Selected Poems 1989-2014, Simon Armitage

Zonal, Don Paterson

Completing The Circle, Anne Stevenson

Rendang, Will Harris

Postcolonial Love Poem, Natalie Diaz

Poems, Sylvia Plath (chosen by Carol Ann Duffy) 

Homie, Danez Smith

An Upside Down World, Knute Skinner

Found Architecture: Selected Poems, Sinead Morrissey

Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass, Lana Del Rey

Randomly Moving Particles, Andrew Motion 

How To Fly, Barbara Kingsolver

SCREENPLAYS

Ad Astra (2016 script)

Avengers: Endgame

Two Besides (Talking Heads)

GRAPHIC NOVELS

Detective Comes #1000: The Deluxe Edition

House Of Whispers 1: The Power Divided

Superman: Action Comics 1: Invisible Mafia

Batman: Damned

Doomsday Clock 1

Justice League/Aquaman: Drowned Earth

Catwoman 2: Far from Gotham

The War Of The Realms

Justice League 3: Hawkworld

Superman: Action Comics 2: Leviathan Rising

The Batman Who Laughs 

The Umbrella Academy 1: Apocalypse Suite 

Outcast 2: A Vast And Unending Ruin (reread)

Star Wars 1: Skywalker Strikes (reread)

Superman 2: The Unity Saga: The House Of El

Justice League 4: The Sixth Dimension

Superman: Year One

John Constantine: Hellblazer 6: Bloodlines (reread)

Batman 5: Zero Year – Dark City (reread)

John Constantine: Hellblazer 7: Tainted Love (reread)

Heroes In Crisis

Batman 4: The War Of Jokes And Riddles

Batman 6: Graveyard Shift (reread)

John Constantine: Hellblazer 8: Rake At The Gates Of Hell (reread)

Outcast 3: This Little Light (reread)

Batman 7: Endgame (reread)

Justice League 2: Graveyard Of Gods

Astonishing X-Men 1: Gifted (reread)

Astonishing X-Men 2: Dangerous (reread)

Astonishing X-Men 3: Torn (reread)

Astonishing X-Men 4: Unstoppable (reread)

Uncle Sam: The Deluxe Edition (reread)

Black Cat 1: Grand Theft Marvel

The Umbrella Academy 2: Dallas

Daredevil: End Of Days (reread)

The Punisher 1: On The Road

The Punisher 2: End Of The Line

The Cape: 1969

Hawkeye 1: My Life As A Weapon (reread)

Hellboy Omnibus 4: Hellboy In Hell

Hard Boiled (reread)

Hawkeye 2: Little Hits (reread)

Hawkeye 3: LA Woman (reread)

Catana Comics: Snug

The Wild And Twisted World Of Rubes

ApocalypiGirl: An Aria For The End Times

Lazarus 1 (reread)

Star Wars 2: Showdown On The Smuggler’s Moon (reread)

Preacher: Book One (reread)

Rusty Brown 

The Umbrella Academy 3: Hotel Oblivion

Freak Angels 1

Lazarus 2 (reread)

The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Collection 2 (reread)

Lazarus 3 (reread)

Lazarus 4 (reread)

Lazarus 5 (reread)

Lazarus: X +66 (reread)

Batman 11: The Fall And The Fallen

Venom 2: The Land Before Crime

Freak Angels 2

Batman: Detective Comics 1: Mythology

Venom 3: Blood In The Water

Freak Angels 3

Glass Town

Big Nate: Payback Time

Batman: Last Night On Earth

Freak Angels 4

Batman: Detective Comics 2: Arkham Knight

Freak Angels 5

Justice League International 1: Born Again

Freak Angels 6

Lucifer 2: The Divine Tragedy

Cat’s Cafe

The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Collection 3 (reread)

The Dreaming 2: Empty Shells

The Amazing Spider-Man: Ultimate Collection 4 (reread)

King Thor

Civil War: Spider-Man

The Avengers 2: World Tour

The Crow: Memento Mori

Invisible Kingdom 1: Walking The Path

Black Panther 1: A Nation Under Our Feet

William Gibson’s Archangel

Wolverine: Old Man Logan 1: Berzerker (reread)

Wolverine: Old Man Logan 2: Bordertown (reread)

Captain America: Steve Rogers 2: The Trial Of Maria Hill

Wolverine: Old Man Logan 1: The Last Ronin (reread)

Marvel 1602 (reread)

Guardians Of The Galaxy: New Guard 4: Grounded

The Mighty Captain Marvel 1: Alien Nation

The Occultist Omnibus

Captain America: Steve Rogers 3: Empire Building

3 Story: The Secret History Of The Giant Man (Expanded Edition)

All-New Wolverine 1: The Four Sisters

Black Widow 1: The Finely Woven Thread

Badlands

Trinity 3: Dark Destiny

Dragman

Green Lantern by Geoff Johns: Book 2

Spider-Man: Back In Black

American Gods 3: The Moment Of The Storm

Trinity 4: The Search For Steve Trevor

Absolute Carnage

Bog Bodies

All New-Wolverine 2: Civil War II

Hawkeye 4: Rio Bravo

Aliens: Defiance (Library Edition) 

Hawkeye 5: All-New Hawkeye

Black Widow 2: The Tightly Tanged Web

Hawkeye 6: Hawkeyes