Greetings Friends!
What a year!?!
I don’t want to spend a lot of time talking about that which made this year so unbelievably terrible. We all have had our own unique experiences, and hopefully, this year will be much better for us all!
Overall, I did end up having a fantastic reading year, completing 82 books. While the year as a whole provided an abundance of really good reading material, some books stood out when I looked at all of them all together. Here are my TOP 10 OF 2020! Some of these authors are now new favorites, and I will definitely be on the look out for future releases!
In no particular order, here are my favorite books of 2020!
This was an absolutely beautiful and touching tribute to the heartbreaking years following World War II. While this is a middle grade story, I highly recommend it to readers of all ages. Glory Bea’s precious coming of age story is captivating as she navigates life, love, and loss.
They say my daddy was lost in France on a beach in Omaha. I am still waiting for him to be found.
Every once in a while, a book will come along and stamp itself on your soul, and this was definitely one of those for me. This is a powerful and poignant story that begs readers to question everything they ever thought they knew about themselves and others, even those they trust. A heartbreaking, yet heartwarming exploration of our humanity. I can’t recommend this one enough!
Carry me inside you as a light that brightens your world and makes everything better.
This is an incredibly written debut that honors humanity and celebrates compassion. Alternating between past and present timelines, readers follow the paths of many broken people as they seek love and redemption.
This time I’m counting blessings instead of things that were never in my control in the first place.
Alternating between the perspectives of a teenage boy and an older man, this sweeping saga spans the historic southwest into Texas, documenting the deeply-rooted pain that follows these two tragically linked individuals. This debut is a stunning masterpiece and fresh voice in the western genre. Compelling, unapologetic, raw, and relevant. Highly recommended!
A man owns only his decisions.
Told in a series of online posts, this story chronicles a young psychiatrist’s efforts at treating one patient at a mental institution in New England. Readers learn early on that this particular patient is considered the most difficult and dangerous case ever encountered – a 40 year old man who entered the facility at the age of six. This is a brilliant genre-bending story that is fast-paced and short, making it a fantastic choice for a one-sitting read. Dark, unsettling, and deeply twisted!
Maggie restores old homes and decides to return to the house made famous by her father’s bestselling horror memoir. Is the place really haunted by evil forces as her father claimed or are there less sinister forces hiding within its walls? If you were a fan of The Haunting of Hill House on Netflix, this will surely fill the void!
“Every house has a story. Ours is a ghost story. It’s also a lie. And now that yet another person has died within these walls, it’s finally time to tell the truth.
What if you found out the family you thought was yours, wasn’t? Pete and Maddie discover that their two year old son was switched at birth, and thus begins their nightmare. This is a fast-paced story that never eases up on the tension. Just when you think things can’t possibly get any worse, they do! None of the characters are at all likeable, but the horror of the experience keeps you rooting for the lesser of two evils. Absolutely twisted and highly recommended!
It was just an ordinary day.
This one oozes tension that makes it hard to relax until the very end, but even then, the questions and what-ifs will have your mind racing. Nothing new is brought to the thriller genre with this one, but it was just an entertaining read that was so hard to put down! I love the fatal attraction trope, and this one did not disappoint. It was certainly difficult to find a new read after this one. I’ve read all the author’s books, and this was one of her best!
I really enjoy this author. One of my all-time favorites from him is The Kind Worth Killing. This book is the perfect homage to classic murder mysteries, so much so that many complain it spoils the books it is inspired by! I loved every uncomfortable moment spent with Malcolm as he tries to figure out who the killer is before he becomes the next victim!
Books are time travel. True readers all know this. But books don’t just take you back to the time in which they were written; they can take you back to different versions of yourself.”
Speaking of time travel…wow! This was perhaps my book club’s favorite read of this year. Oona doesn’t get to live her life in chronological order, rather, at the stroke of midnight on her birthday, she is thrust somewhere in her life to live that year with all its trials and tribulations. From 18 to 50 and back again, we travel with Oona as she discovers her life out of order. This book is also a celebration of the music that defines us, inspiring me so much that I made a playlist on Spotify of all the songs mentioned in her travels. I can’t wait to read where the author takes us next!
“Time heals all. But what if time itself is the disease?
So those are the books that I absolutely loved in 2020! What were some of your favorites!
That's What She's Reading 