I've been doing these top ten of the year lists now for nearly 20 years. What the heck!? I wonder if I can keep it up for at least that much longer!
Anyway, I wasn't blown away by anything much this past year, but I did have a few five starred books...so here they are with a few others that made the cut for top ten....posted here along with a blurb from my review.
TOP TEN BOOKS I READ IN 2020
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
As with all magic realism books, sometimes I have a hard time wrapping my head around what's going on, because it can all be very confusing. This book is no exception to this, but the thing is.. I didn't care! Because everything is just so beautiful and poetic and romantic and... just... cool. Pretty sure I'm not going to be able to find words to describe this one!
The Body by Bill Bryson
Anyway, I feel just a touch smarter for having read this one, and a lot more appreciative of my body, this thing I have that is quite a miracle even when I hate it and curse it all the time! We need to take better care of ourselves and our body will give back if we do.
Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
So yeah...there's lots of underlying craziness and interesting twists to go along with this basic story. And I loved it. The banter, the social media aspects, the food... everything. So much fun.
Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen
Another awesome book by a favorite author! This one is about resistance fighters during WWII. We follow the story of one girl who gets kicked out of her Jewish ghetto in Poland and ends up joining a resistance gang. They spent a lot of time sneaking food and news in the ghettos, and, in one instance anyway, sneaking out babies. And also sabotaging the supplies of the Nazis who were occupying their cities.
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Great story. Great life lessons. Great thoughts on what it means to be a family. I really enjoyed it.
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North
It's all actually quite fascinating and crazy and confusing and messes with your brain in a crazy time travelling sort of way. And makes you think what you would do if you had endless lives. And could actually remember everything from all the previously lives.
Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
It sounds so simple doesn't it. But it's really quite a complicated story. And so very engaging. I loved the writing style and would love to read more by this author.
Scythe by Neal Shusterman
This one is CRAZY! It takes place in a not so distant future, where everything bad about the world has been eliminated. Even death. All people are immortal. However, even this ends up causing a problem, which is... over population. It is realized that people still need to die. And so certain people who are called Scythes, are appointed (after a rigorous testing period) to be the ones who decide who dies and who lives.
Love and First Sight by Josh Sundquist
So as you might guess, it's a great lesson on what makes a person beautiful, and also what we base our relationships on. But it does so in a really great non-preachy way, lots of humor mixed in with lots of deep moments.
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins
I'm really glad to have decided to read it! It feels like part of the story that we need to know now. Do it if you are still on the fence about it. Do it!
What were your favorite books this year? Do we share any?
