A Year In Review: Books Of 2020

This year, I’ve branched out from my usual fare of sci-fi/fantasy and non-fiction to include more mystery and drama/romance. Also, this is the first year in a while that I didn’t read a single Discworld book. But I tend to save them for “rainy days” when I don’t feel like reading anything else, and this year has been filled with interesting books, so they can wait (plus, I’m rationing them because I don’t have that many left that I haven’t read!) Anyway, here’s a look at my reading of 2020:

Best book you read in 2020:

– Crime/Mystery: The Enola Holmes series by Nancy Springer

– Horror/Thriller: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo (this is more of a fantasy/horror, but I’m including it in this category anyway.)

– Sci-fi/Fantasy: Piranesi by Susanna Clarke

– Romance/History/Other: Time Stops at Shamli and Other Stories by Ruskin Bond

– Non-fiction: Catch & Kill by Ronan Farrow (I debated between this and Ace, but in the end, this wins because it was more engaging to read. Ace is impactful but on a more personal level.)

– YA: Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

Most surprising (in a good way) book of 2020: Agatha Christie – an Autobiography (I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did, since I almost never read biographies and certainly not autobiographies, but her description of life in Britain in the early 20^th century is great.)

Book that you read in 2020 that you recommended most to others: Ace by Angela Chen, Catch & Kill, the Enola Holmes series

Best series you discovered in 2020: Enola Holmes

Favorite new author you discovered in 2020: Ruskin Bond

Book you were excited about and thought you were going to love but didn’t: Let’s Talk about Love by Claire Kahn, Around the World in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajesh

Best book that was out of your comfort zone or was a new genre to you: Time Stops at Shamli and Other Stories. I don’t usually read “slice of life” books like this, but sometimes you just want something uncomplicated.

Book you read in 2020 that you’re most likely to read again: The Romanovs by Simon Sebag Montefiore, A Campaign in Tonkin by Charles-Edouard Hocquard (they’re good as reference books)

Favorite book you read in 2020 from an author you’ve read previously: Piranesi, Ninth House

Best book you read in 2020 that you read based SOLELY on a recommendation from somebody else: Time Stops at Shamli and Other Stories – this isn’t a recommendation from someone else, but rather because I saw a cover of another book by the same author and thought, “I would like to read something like that.”

Favorite cover of a book in 2020: These three

Book that had the greatest impact on you in 2020: Ace, Read My Pins by Madeleine Albright

Book you can’t BELIEVE you waited until 2020 to read: The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (too bad it turns out to be a disappointment)

Book that had a scene in it that had you reeling and dying to talk to somebody about it (a WTF moment, an epic revelation, a steamy kiss etc.): The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton (I wasn’t reeling or anything, but the plot definitely merits some discussion)

Favorite relationship from a book you read in 2020 (be it romantic, friendship etc.): June and Toby in Tell the Wolves I’m Home, Alex and Darlington in Ninth House

Most memorable character in a book you read in 2020: Enola Holmes, Piranesi

Genre you read the most from 2020: Non-fiction

Best 2020 debut: Followers by Megan Angelo (I’m still a bit hazy about this category – does it mean a book published in 2020 or an author that debuts in 2020? I went with the latter, which is why I chose Followers. If it’s the first, then it’s Piranesi. I may axe this from future reviews.)

Book that was the most fun to read in 2020: the Enola Holmes series, Ninth House

Book that made you cry or nearly cry in 2020: Tell the Wolves I’m Home

Total Number of books read in 2020: 47

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