A Year In Review: Books Of 2020
Posted: December 30, 2020 Filed under: Book/Movie/TV Reviews | Tags: book, year in review Leave a commentThis 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 20th 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