Every December I like to look back over the books I’ve read in the past year and compile a top ten list that serves as a snapshot of my reading during that time. You can say a lot of things about the year 2020, but it was a great reading year for me. It was very difficult to narrow down my list of the best books I read in 2020 to only ten!
Here’s my Best Books of 2019 post.
There are a few things I want to note about this list before going forward. One, the books are in no particular order. They are loosely organized by when I read them, since I went back to the beginning of my 2020 log and worked forward pulling out my favorites, but I rank them all pretty equally in terms of enjoyment.
Two, these books are ones that I read in 2020, not necessarily ones that were published this year. I have several back list books in here, including one that came out way back in 1996.
Three, many of these books are the first in a series, meaning that some of them could technically count as three or more books since I tend to finish a series that I really like. I’ll note which ones those are with an asterisk (*).
All in all, I read a total of about 139 books this year, and I am super excited about the line-up that I’m already looking at for January to kick off the new year. What books really stood out to you this year? Let the world know in the comments so all the rest of us can check them out too!
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The 10 Best Books I Read in 2020
This is one of the first books I read this year and it was definitely a page turner. I avoided it for a long time because I thought it couldn’t possibly live up to the hype it had been getting, but I’m here to say that it really did. I was completely fascinated by the thought of that little girl growing up all alone in the swamp. I admired her smarts and resourcefulness in the face of unbelievable challenges, and I was definitely surprised by the last second twist at the end.
The Secret Life of Sarah Hollenbeck
Y’all know I read a lot of Christian fiction, and I will be the first to say that it can sometimes be a little formulaic. But not so with this book! The story was totally fresh and new, and I adored how the author treated the topic with realistic grace. This is the story of a romance author who finds the Lord and vows to give up the steamy books that have made her so successful. But things get hard when she falls in love with a pastor and her past comes back to haunt her. Despite the serious subject matter, this book is full of really funny moments too! Loved it and proceeded to binge every other book by this author after finishing this one.
Harry Potter and The Sorcerer’s Stone*
In case you missed it, I read the Harry Potter series for the first time in 2020! I flew through all those big old long books as quick as I could get them from the library (which, in a cruel twist of fate, closed due to the pandemic right after I finished the first one in March). I then proceeded to make my husband watch all the movies with me, a task that took us the better part of the fall since we get up pretty early through the week and had to fit them in on weekends. I won’t give any description of this one since the story is pretty much common knowledge; I’ll just say that I should have picked them up sooner.
People seem to have mixed feelings about reading books about disease during a pandemic, but I went all in with a pandemic reading list in April and this book is one that I haven’t stopped thinking about since. As scary as COVID-19 is, it would seem that Ebola in any form is 10x scarier, and if it ever starts spreading in my neck of the woods you won’t see me again for a very long time because I will be hunkered down. Don’t let me scare you away from reading this book, though! It is a fascinating look at the evolution of the Ebola virus and how much we do/don’t know about it.
Here’s another popular book making it onto my list. I simply could not stop reading about a this fictional family of American monarchs and their political and personal woes. It’s an interesting alternate reality and the drama level was just right for me to want to watch all the little train wrecks without feeling like it was over the top. I highly recommend American Royals and it’s sequel, Majesty.
This series is unlike anything else I’ve ever read. It is a fantasy story set in a historical but unnamed time period, in a region with seven Great Houses — families with powers like healing, knowledge, or the ability to manipulate elements. Selene Ravenwood has always felt cut off from the other houses, since they all believe that her house’s gift perished years ago. But a new threat has turned the tables and when Selene comes of age and receives the gift for herself, her perspective radically shifts. This is a powerful allegory that will keep you turning pages throughout all three books as you watch the battle rage between good and evil.
Historical fiction is my sweet spot, and I loved the tale of Silas Ballantyne, a Scottish blacksmith’s apprentice who catches the eye of both of his master’s daughters. As he sets out to finish his apprenticeship and move west, things get more and more complicated until a devastating tragedy brings true motives to light. The description of this series calls it “a sweeping family saga” and that is a very accurate description. You can totally stop with just the first book, but if you continue on you will follow Silas and his family from the 1785 up to just before the Civil War.
This book surprised me in the most delightful of ways. It is a historical fantasy written in a world where some people can change into animals, and of course, those people are feared and hated. With that background, we drop right into the story of Lady Jane Grey, who is set to be married off to a stranger in order to protect the throne of Prince Edward. It’s a charming and creative retelling of history that kept me reading. I didn’t realize until I was writing this post that this one is actually part of a series too, with the next two books featuring retellings of Jane Eyre and Calamity Jane.
It’s been a while since I read a thriller that I was really into, but Mind Games captured my attention from the moment I read the description. It’s about Kaely Quinn, an FBI profiler who is often looked at suspiciously by her coworkers because of her unorthodox profiling techniques — and because she’s the daughter of a serial killer. When a new killer enters the picture with a personal vendetta directed at Kaely, she and her new partner Noah are in a race against time to save lives and stop a psychopath before he comes after his final target — Kaely. It’s an action-packed series that is full of surprises and twists through all three books. Highly recommend!
And here was have a last minute addition to the best of list! I just finished it on December 27th so it barely snuck in under the wire, but I had to include it. This story begins with a series of brutal murders in the New York Museum of Natural History. At first the deaths are attributed to a serial killer, but as more evidence comes to light, two investigators and a handful of museum staff begin to suspect that something more sinister is at play. This is a creepy book with lots of interesting science and a mystery that gradually unfolds. It is slightly dated in terms of the technology and scientific break throughs mentioned (this is the one that came out in 1996), but I found that to be a charming feature. The concept itself is one that I could see as still being viable even with present day scientific knowledge. This is also a series (with 19 books in it!), and I have already placed a hold on the next one.
Here’s to 2021 and the best reading year yet!
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