Favorite Books of 2020

Hello! It’s my fourth blogoversary for this blog today! Since it’s January 1st, I can also put out my favorite books for the previous year! This list includes books from any year (including ARCs), but it doesn’t include rereads of any kind. So here are the books that stood out to me:

10. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue – V.E. Schwab. Several of the books on this list have things in common with this book: they take place in the 18th or 19th centuries, or they have something to do with France. Addie LaRue is a girl who started her life at the end of the 17th century France and continued her life into the present day. The only thing is–everybody forgets her.

9. A Curse So Dark and Lonely – Brigid Kemmerer. This is a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and this one takes place partly in a 18th century France-like place, and partly in our current world. It has a great main character, and I hope to read the next book in the series at some point.

8. Between Burning Worlds – Jessica Brody & Joanne Rendell. The first book in the System Divine trilogy, Sky Without Stars, was my second favorite book from 2019. So it probably shouldn’t be surprising that Between Burning Worlds made my list this year. It also continues with the whole French theme that so many good books had last year, even though it takes place in the future.

7. The Best Laid Plans – Cameron Lund. This best friends-to-lovers story is just so sweet. It was just the kind of story one might need in 2020, when everything was so topsy-turvy.

6. Fallen Glory – James Crawford. Fallen Glory is the only nonfiction book to make my list this year. It was a book that Marie Lu was recommending last year, and if you read it, you can probably see where some of her inspiration for Skyhunter came from. Who would ever have thought that a book about no-longer-existing buildings would be so interesting? But it’s not really the buildings that are the interesting part: what’s interesting is how these buildings are representatives of civilizations or cultures that are no longer around, but once seemed invincible at the time.

5. Today Tonight Tomorrow – Rachel Lynn Solomon. This is one of those books that just make a person happy, and in 2020, we needed books like that. This is an enemies-to-lovers story that is absolutely wonderful.

4. Skyhunter – Marie Lu. Marie Lu has had a book on every one of my end-of-the-year lists since 2014, I think (yes, before this blog existed). This book will definitely get a reread from me before Skyhunter 2 (which I pre-ordered last year) comes out on September 28th.

3. A Sky Beyond the Storm – Sabaa Tahir. Laia, Elias, and Helene have had an awful past three books. They’ve lost family members, their home, and were put into situations they really didn’t want to be in. You may be afraid to read the final book, A Sky Beyond the Storm. Don’t be. There is hope for our friends, and I was very happy to read this. If it had ended badly, I would have wanted to throw this book against the wall. I didn’t.

2. Chain of Gold – Cassandra Clare. This book takes place in the 20th century, but really early, so it might as well have been the 19th (in fact, sometimes the period between 1789 and 1914 is known as the long 19th century because it’s a span of time that takes place between two world-shaking events). I absolutely adore Cordelia, James, and their friends, and am looking forward to Chain of Iron. I’m rereading The Infernal Devices, Chain of Gold, and the pre-Chain of Gold short stories I own before March 2nd to get ready. Cassandra Clare has had a book on all my best of the year lists since 2018.

1. Everything that Burns – Gita Trelease. I often feel sorry for books like Sky Beyond the Storm that are so amazing but come out at the end of the year, and therefore never make it onto people’s “best of” lists. This is why I always try to put out my list of favorite books on January 1st. I finished reading Everything that Burns (aka Liberté) on December 31st. I shouldn’t have been surprised that I loved it so much, because Enchantée (also known as All that Glitters) was my favorite book of 2018.

This wasn’t the first time that I’ve ever read my favorite book of the year on December 31st. I finished reading Warcross, my favorite book from 2017, on December 31st too.

This book won’t be released until February 2nd, so you still have time to pre-order it, but I absolutely loved it. It has more balloons, more Lazare, and, like Enchantée, has you wondering until almost the very end whether things will work out for our heroine.

So these were some of my favorite books from last year! Despite the fact that last year was a difficult reading year (I read 116 books, down from 156 the year before, and that includes some audio/video courses that are on Goodreads), I actually read quite a few really good books! Hopefully, 2021 will be a great reading year full of amazing books for everyone!