My Favorite Reads of 2020
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
Synopsis: Lyra is rushing to the cold, far North, where witch clans and armored bears rule. North, where the Gobblers take the children they steal--including her friend Roger. North, where her fearsome uncle Asriel is trying to build a bridge to a parallel world.
Can one small girl make a difference in such great and terrible endeavors? This is Lyra: a savage, a schemer, a liar, and as fierce and true a champion as Roger or Asriel could want--but what Lyra doesn't know is that to help one of them will be to betray the other.
Thoughts: I had not read the His Dark Materials Series until this year. I have always heard amazing things about it, but just never got around to reading it. I cannot believe that I waited so long! Reading this series gave me the same nostalgic feeling as when I read Harry Potter, or The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe for the first time. If you haven't read this series yet, I 100% recommend it!
Anxious People by Frederik Backman
Synopsis: Looking at real estate isn't usually a life-or-death situation, but an apartment open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes a group of strangers hostage. The captives include a recently retired couple who relentlessly hunt down fixer-uppers to avoid the painful truth that they can't fix up their own marriage. There's a wealthy banker who has been too busy making money to care about anyone else and a young couple who are about to have their first child but can't seem to agree on anything, from where they want to live to how they met in the first place. Add to the mix an eighty-seven-year-old woman who has lived long enough not to be afraid of someone waving a gun in her face, a flustered but still-ready-to-make-a-deal real estate agent, and a mystery man who has locked himself in the apartment's only bathroom, and you've got the worst group of hostages in the world.
Each of them carries a lifetime of grievances, hurts, secrets, and passions that are ready to boil over. None of them is entirely who they appear to be. And all of them—the bank robber included—desperately crave some sort of rescue. As the authorities and the media surround the premises, these reluctant allies will reveal surprising truths about themselves and set in a motion a chain of events so unexpected that even they can hardly explain what happens next.
Thoughts: This year I started a Book of the Month subscription, and this was one of my picks! Once again, I had always heard amazing things about Frederik Backman's books, and had never gotten around to reading them. I had the pleasure of buddy reading this one with @hannreadsbooks on instagram, and we both adored this book! I think Backman as a really unique writing style, and the way he twists a story into fruition is phenomenal.
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Synopsis: Set in England's Downs, a once idyllic rural landscape, this stirring tale of adventure, courage and survival follows a band of very special creatures on their flight from the intrusion of man and the certain destruction of their home. Led by a stouthearted pair of friends, they journey forth from their native Sandleford Warren through the harrowing trials posed by predators and adversaries, to a mysterious promised land and a more perfect society.
Thoughts: Maybe this year was the year of backlog reading? Once again I had always heard amazing things a .bout Watership Down, and just never got around to it. My friend and I went to a locally owned used bookstore, Winding Way, here in our hometown. (They have an instagram page, plus they ship)! He pulled it off the shelf and told me it was amazing! I originally thought that we had different reading tastes, but I have loved every single book that he has recommended starting with this one. I really didn't think a story told about bunnies was going to be my thing, but I was proved wrong. The writing is rich and descriptive, and the underlying allegory about tyranny and freedom.
Call Me by Your Name by Andre Aciman
Synopsis: Call Me by Your Name is the story of a sudden and powerful romance that blossoms between an adolescent boy and a summer guest at his parents' cliff-side mansion on the Italian Riviera. Unprepared for the consequences of their attraction, at first each feigns indifference. But during the restless summer weeks that follow, unrelenting buried currents of obsession and fear, fascination and desire, intensify their passion as they test the charged ground between them. What grows from the depths of their spirits is a romance of scarcely six weeks' duration and an experience that marks them for a lifetime. For what the two discover on the Riviera and during a sultry evening in Rome is the one thing both already fear they may never truly find again: total intimacy.
Thoughts: Where do I begin? I read this in the beginning of July, and it has stuck with me since. I loved Elio, and his path to discovering himself. I loved the setting of an idyllic town in Italy. I loved, loved, loved this book. I could gush about this one forever. Basically, I read this in one setting, cried, watched the movie (Timothee Chalamet!!), cried some more, and went to bed. Then in the middle of the night woke up thinking about Elio and Oliver. I just adored this book *gush.
Lobizona by Romina Garber
Synopsis: Some people ARE illegal. Lobizonas do NOT exist. Both of these statements are false. Manuela Azul has been crammed into an existence that feels too small for her. As an undocumented immigrant who's on the run from her father's Argentine crime-family, Manu is confined to a small apartment and a small life in Miami, Florida. Until Manu's protective bubble is shattered. Her surrogate grandmother is attacked, lifelong lies are exposed, and her mother is arrested by ICE. Without a home, without answers, and finally without shackles, Manu investigates the only clue she has about her past--a mysterious "Z" emblem—which leads her to a secret world buried within our own. A world connected to her dead father and his criminal past. A world straight out of Argentine folklore, where the seventh consecutive daughter is born a bruja and the seventh consecutive son is a lobizón, a werewolf. A world where her unusual eyes allow her to belong. As Manu uncovers her own story and traces her real heritage all the way back to a cursed city in Argentina, she learns it's not just her U.S. residency that's illegal. . . .it's her entire existence.
Thoughts: I was lucky enough to be gifted a copy of this book via Netgalley (review found here). I read this during our first lockdown. I have always wanted to travel to Argentina, and this book made me crave it more. I loved the Argentinian folklore, and customs that were infused in this book. Garber's writing was beautiful, and made it so easy to visualize everything that was going on in the book. I am impatiently waiting for book two!
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Synopsis: A young girl in Harlem discovers slam poetry as a way to understand her mother’s religion and her own relationship to the world. Debut novel of renowned slam poet Elizabeth Acevedo. Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighborhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking. But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. So when she is invited to join her school’s slam poetry club, she doesn’t know how she could ever attend without her mami finding out, much less speak her words out loud. But still, she can’t stop thinking about performing her poems. Because in the face of a world that may not want to hear her, Xiomara refuses to be silent.
Thoughts: I have journaled for years, but this book also got me into writing poetry. I loved this book. I highly recommend everyone add this to their TBR's! I think this book will stick with me forever.
5 Star Reads
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon
The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Lost by Natasha Preston
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom The Murder House by James Patterson and David Ellis
Here Lies Daniel Tate by Cristin Terrill
Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
A Paris Year by Janice McLeod
Toys by James Patterson and Neil McMahon
Night by Ellie Wiesel
At Home in the World by Tsh Oxenreider
The Wonderling by Mira Bartok
The Elephant's Girl by Celesta Remington
The Woman in the Window by AJ Finn
I Will Always Write Back by Caitlin Alifienka and Martin Ganda
The Cabin by Natasha Preston
Lobizona by Romina Garber
Yakuza Moon by Shoko Tendo
The House Guest by Mark Edwards
Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica day George
The Bookweaver's Daughter by Malavika Kannan
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
The Prince and The Dressmaker by Jen Wang
Love & Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
Call Me By Your Name by Andre Aciman
The Safe Place by Anna Downes
At The Wolf's Table by Rosella Postorino
Mercy by Jodi Picoult
Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
The Insomniacs by Marit Weisenberg
Sleeping Murder by Agatha Christie
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
Love Your Life by Sophie Kinsella
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca
The Golden Compass by Phillip Pullman
The Subtle Knife by Phillip Pullman
In A Holidaze by Christina Lauren
The Afterlife of Holly Chase by Cynthia Hand
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel
Chlorine Sky by Mahogany L. Browne
To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
4 Star Reads
The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
Paris for One and Other Stories by Jojo Moyes
There's Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins
Private London by James Patterson and Mark Pearson
The Games by James Patterson and Mark T. Sullivan
Private Down Under by James Patterson and Michael White
Private India by James Patterson and Ashwin Sanghi
The Family Lawyer by James Patterson and Robert Rotstein
Bone Gap by Laura Ruby
The 13-Minute Murder by James Patterson and Shan Serafin
The First Lady by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois
The President is Missing by James Patterson and Bill Clinton
Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander
Chef by James Patterson and Max DiLallo
Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne
The Store by James Patterson and Richard DiLallo
The Twin by Natasha Preston
Never Never by James Patterson and Candice Fox
The Peasant's Dream by Melanie Dickerson
The Leaving by Tara Altebrando
Emergency Contact by Mary H. K. Choi
Dreamland by Sam Quinones
Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella
Alma Underwood is Not a Kleptomaniac by Lacey Dailey
The Summer of Chasing Mermaids by Sarah Ockler
Bring Me Back by B. A. Paris
The Gallery by Laura Marx Fitzgerald Always Never Yours by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegermund-Broka
The Escape Room by Megan Goldin
Crazy House by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonet
Love Me Like You Do by Aimee Brown
1984 by George Orwell
Wilder Girls by Rory Power
The Patient by Jasper DeWitt
Lifeguard by James Patterson and Andrew Gross
Awkward by Gupreet Kaur
Odessa by Jonathan Hill
When in French: Love in a Second Language by Lauren Collins
Ghosters by Diana Corbitt
Throwaway Girls by Andrea Contos
Song of the Sparrow by Lisa Ann Sandell
The Book of Hidden Wonders by Polly Crosby
The Poppy and The Rose by Ashlee Cowles
Lamb by Christopher Moore
A Soul as Cold as Frost by Jennifer Kropf
All I want for Christmas by Wendy Loggia
Five Total Strangers by Natalie D. Richards
One Day in December by Josie Silver
The Last Bear by Hannah Gold
3 Star Reads
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena
Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding
Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum
Take Me With You by Tara Altebrando
Take What You Can by Heather Garvin
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
The Night Country by Melissa Albert
The Fall of Crazy House by James Patterson and Gabrielle Charbonet
The Companion by Katie Alender
At Risk by Patricia Cornwell
The Front by Patricia Cornwell
This Time Next Year by Sophie Cousens
2 Star Reads
Are You Listening by Tillie Walden
Come When I Call You by Shayna Krishnasamy
A Thousand Salt Kisses by Josie Demuth
Hush, Hush by Becca Fitzpatrick
Crescendo by Becca Fitzpatrick
1 Star Reads
Functional Characteristics of Aspiration by Sophia Kaankuka
Crystal Shadows, Gripping New Blood by R. J. Parker
Sweet Dreams are Made of Teeth by Richard Roberts
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