Top Books I've Read in 2020
With winter upon us, and the need to hunker down inside as much as we can (based on our jobs and mental health needs) for the next few months this is a good time to curl up on the couch with a good book. I read fewer books than normal for me this year. With the pandemic its been hard to motivate myself to read much of anything other than fan fiction half of the time. But I did read, or reread, a few dozen books this year. And out of those, here are some of the ones that stood out to me. So if you’re at a loss of what to read during this winter, maybe you’ll pick up and enjoy one of these.
Romance: Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory
I’ve already written about how I love Jasmine Guillory’s books. This is her most recent novel and my favorite. I’m already on my second rereading of it and it came out in June. I don’t know if it’s the California/DC combo of the book that made it rise to the top for me or just how much I love Olivia Monroe, our protagonist, but even though it’s LA-centric it became my favorite romance novel of this year. And while technically part of a series, it can easily be read as a stand alone book.
Non-Fiction: The Worldly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner
The Worldly Philosophers is a brilliant history of Western Economic theories and trends. The author used a different trend, or a specific famous economist to explore the economic conditions and theories of the time. It’s fascinating and the author is incredibly clever and funny in many places.
I’m lucky my family and friends didn’t hate me for the 6 weeks I read this book because with every chapter I read they’d get a quote, or a bunch of texts about something that I found interesting and wanted to get into a discussion about.
Historical Fiction: A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
If you enjoy wonderfully atmospheric prose, you will enjoy this book. It’s plot, if you can call it that, is an exploration of decades of a Russian aristocrat placed under house arrest in a hotel in Moscow. It is beautifully written and all about the interior life, the interior life of a person and life inside a specific place. I started this novel right before Covid hit and it was a lot harder to read when on lockdown, so there is that. But if you are up for it, it’s an excellent book.
Fantasy: The Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty
I love books that are unexpected, particularly in fantasy, the genre I know the best. I was excited seeing this book as it drew from Middle Eastern mythic traditions - I’m always looking for different kinds of fantasy novels. But even beyond the setting the story itself surprised me. The world building was so original and encompassing, and the plot managed to envelop and surprise me, which is actually pretty rare. I loved this series so much, and highly recommend it.
Science Fiction: A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
This book won the Hugo for Best Novel in 2020 and after reading it I can say it is very much deserved. This book is a perfect space opera - a political thriller set in a galactic empire on the edge of unrest. There are definite influences from Star Trek in the concept of the imago - a machine that keeps the memory of a person and then gets implanted in their successor - which was fun for a huge Star Trek fan like me. I cannot wait for the sequel.
Random: Death Wins a Goldfish by Brian Rea
This picture book for adults is a charming story where one of the Grim Reapers at Death, Inc. has to take a year sabbatical because they haven’t used any of their vacation time. The Grim Reaper tries going to college, online dating, and wins a goldfish at a carnival. A fun reminder of how life is what happens when we aren’t working.
