My Top 12 of 2020

It's been a heck of a year, 2020. I know I'm not the only one who poured themselves into their TBR piles and purchased more books than they could possibly read.  I managed to make a relatively large dent in my stack though.

I will post my overall progress on the first but in the meantime, I present to you my top 12 of 2020. These are the books that stayed with me the most throughout the course of the year. Some are new releases in 2020 and others were re-reads.

​Let me know in the comments if you've read or liked any of these.  Do you have any suggestions of other books I may enjoy based off these reviews?

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Three Women is a re-read for me. I read this in 2019 and was blown away then. Something about this year made me want to listen to it as an audiobook. 

I'm so glad that I did. Listening to these stories narrated helped them take on a whole new depth for me. I still was gutted by the needs of the three women.

While this book won't be for everyone, I would highly recommend it if you like deep emotional dives into sometimes unlikable characters.

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To say I was excited for another Hollows book would be a VAST understatement. American Demon did not disappoint.

I continued my journey with Rachel and the gang through audiobooks as I have from day one. Marguerite Gavin is back with her signature voices for the wide cast of characters. 

While Hodin was an excellent addition to the 'verse, I did miss having Al around and wish he had a bigger part to play.

​I can't wait for the next book in the series.

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Oof. Addie LaRue.

This book is a journey. It's not action packed and fast paced. It's slow and nuanced and achingly beautiful. It's hope and love and joy and forgiveness.

This one really spoke to me in a way that most fiction does not.  There were a lot of people who didn't like it because "nothing happens". I disagree.  LIFE happens.

Don't expect Schwab's usual swashbuckling tales in this one and I think you'll love it too.

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Another re-read for me but this time as an audiobook.

Whenever I see a post asking for little known or underrated series, this Miriam Black series is my go-to.  She's sassy and foul mouthed and she thinks she's hard as a rock.

She just wants to be loved. And maybe be able to touch someone without seeing how they die.

Think Mia from Nevernight but in a modern setting and less revenge.

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Bad Feminist is a series of essays revolving around Feminism as a concept and practice. I picked this one because I love Roxane Gay.

She has a style of writing that is deceptively simple. Her ability to explain complex subject matter in a way that is palatable is second to none.

I've read her other books of essays and will continue to do so. Highly recommend this one for anyone who struggles sometimes with their feminism.

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This is an 800+ page behemoth of a novel. There is so much world building in this book that it can be off-putting at times. You might get 200 pages in and wonder when something of substance will actually happen.

This book made me cry. It made me want to scream. I have never cheered on a main character as much as I did Bryce.

My only real complaint was Maas's typical phrase repetition. Otherwise, I cannot WAIT for the next one.

​And BTW...THAT COVER!!

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Say you're me, and you slogged through the Dark Artifices because you enjoy Clare as a whole and you don't want to miss part of the universe. And you're thinking maybe this is where I jump off the ride...

DON'T DO IT. Come back into the fold with Chain of Gold (not sorry). This is the book we've been waiting for. Its focus on the generation after Clockwork Angel is exactly what the 'verse needed to revitalize itself.

The next one is out in 2021 and it can't get to my doorstep fast enough.

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I've been putting this series off for a very long time. Not just because I wanted it to finish being published, but because I wasn't sure if maybe it would be too dark for me.

And it's dark...and horror-y. Mia as a main character is layered in a way most aren't.  Think Aelin from Throne of Glass but with a little less conscience at the start. The entire prologue is gruesome and bloody and skillfully told. It just carries on from there.  The entire series is fantastic but this one deserves top billing as it is the first.

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One of the main things I dug about this book is that you're actually hard pressed to name a cishet couple in it. Go on...I'll wait while you think on it...

This had a real Night Film vibe along with some mind bending false narratives.

Even as a reader, what you think is real isn't. And what you think is fake is constantly called into question.

It does run a bit long but the overall arc is worth the ride.

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Romeo & Juliet set in the 20s with the Chinese Mafia.

If they don't make this into a movie, I'm going to be very upset. It's surprisingly part of a series which is right up my alley because I do love my series.

A monstrous infection is killing everyone and the two heirs of the warring gangs in the city must work together to figure out how to stop it before it's too late.

This should be on the top of everyone's TBR.

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This has been hailed by reviewers far more prolific than I as to one of the best Sapphic love stories created in this decade.  I'm inclined to agree.

Red and Blue travel throughout time and space and parallel worlds trying to preserve and end history, the world, and eventually each other.

Their gradual love for each other is beautifully conceptualized in the letters they "write" to each other in the fabric of time.

Highly recommend as an audiobook.

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​Sarah Gailey is one of my favorite new authors and is an auto-buy for me. Even if they weren't, the tag line would have pulled me in.

This book is about so many things, but I think first and foremost it's about learning your truth even when you aren't "allowed" to show it to the world.

My one and only "compliant" for this one is that it's criminally short. I could read book after book about this universe and the women in it.

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Honorable Mentions