Best and worst reads of 2020?

[charlatti]

Out you go, 2020. What were the best and worst books you read during this long and strange year?

[abs]

Such a strange reading year! I had the hardest time concentrating and if it didn't immediately grab me I didn't read it. So many DNF's. Usually I have one or two a year but I think this year it was more like 12.

Best:
The Unhoneymooners-Christina Lauren
Big Lies in a Small Town-Diane Chamberlain
A Woman is No Man-Etaf Rum
28 Summers-Elin Hilderbrand
The Last Train to Key West-Chanel Cleeton ** (Overall favorite)

Worst:
In a Holidaze--Christina Lauren
Rodham--Curtis Sittenfield
A Time for Mercy-John Grisham
Big Summer--Jennifer Weiner

Big books I DNF:
Transcendent Kingdom
Anxious People
The Book of Lost Friends
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue


I have no desire to finish Anxious People or Addie LaRue but do plan to go back to the others at some point.

[meowmaps]

I've read way more than I ever have. Normally I'm the kind of person who zones out with TV but this year I relied heavily on books to help me escape. I'll try to keep my lists as concise as possible.

Best:

American Spy by Lauren Wilkinson
Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia
Wild Game by Adrienne Brodeur
The World That We Knew by Alice Hoffman
Sigh, Gone by Phuc Tran
Afterlife by Julia Alvarez
The Regrets by Amy Bonnaffons
Caste by Isabel Wilkerson
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
Nobody Will Tell You This But Me by Bess Kalb

Worst:

One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus (really disappointing follow-up)
Before & After by Judy Christie and Lisa Wingate (interesting topic matter but poor execution)
Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
Maid by Stephanie Land
Take Me Apart by Sara Sligar
My Year of Rest of Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh (overhyped)
Madness of Sunshine by Nalini Singh
Blood Orange by Harriet Tyce
Luster by Raven Leilani (overhyped)
Spirit Run by Noe Alvarez

Like abs I started and stopped a few books like Deacon King Kong, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and a bunch of others I can't remember right now. It was overall a really great reading year. I had to cut several from my best list to keep it to ten. I read a lot of five and four star books. There's a very small number of books that I wish I hadn't wasted my time reading. I do think I'll be even pickier next year and perhaps focus on some lighter fare.

[charlatti]

I had a lot of rereads and middle grade books, mostly from when my libraries were closed.

Best:
The City We Became by N. K. Jemisin
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend
Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell

Worst:
A Good Family by A.H. Kim — this has great reviews, but I thought it was very poorly written.
Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier — just not for me

[brewco]

I did not rate any book 5* this year

Best:
The Institute by Stephen King
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
The Dutch House by Ann Patchette

Worst:
Untamed by Gelnnon Doyle
The Post Birthday World by Lionel Shriver

[Vespasia]

Best:
The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert
Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh
The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz
The Starless Sea by Erin Morganstern

Worst: 
The Mother-In-Law by Sally Hepworth

DNF:
The Henna Artist

[mrspez07]

Best:
Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow
HarryPotter and theDeathly Hallows by JK Rowling (audio)
Know My Name by Chanel Miller (audio)
Vintage Cakes by Julie Richardson
The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny (audio)
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny (audio)
Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
Read a ton on 4* books that were memorable as well but these were my 5*s

Worst:
Crazy Love You by Lisa Unger
New Waves by Kevin Nguyen (not at all the way it sounded in the summary)
China Trade by SJ Rozan
The Starless Sea by Erin Morganstern (audio)
The History of Love by Nicole Krause
Point of Origin by Patricia Cornwall (I think this series has run its course for me)
The Hellfire Club by Jake Tapper
The Simple Wild by KA Tucker

[tacokick]

WORST:

The Wives by Tarryn Fisher(the first book I read in 2020! It was a sign!)

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner

Filthy Beasts by Kirkland Hamill

If You Lived Here You'd Be Home By Now: Why We Traded the Commuting Life for a Little House on the Prairie by Christopher Ingraham

Honey and Venom: Confessions of an Urban Beekeeper by Andrew Coté


*****

Not sure if the best but my favorites:

All the Pretty Things by Emily Arsenault

Remain Silent by Susie Steiner

The Sun Down Hotel by Simone St James

Almost American Girl by Robin Ha

Sigh, Gone: A Misfit's Memoir of Great Books, Punk Rock, and the Fight to Fit In by Phuc Tran

Monday's Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson

The Searcher by Tana French

Gold in the Air (might called Early Morning Riser, it was an ARC) Katherine Heiny

Leaving isn't the Hardest Thing: Essays by Lauren Hough

Shed No Tears by Caz Frear

[rainbowchip]

I had a really great year in reading and it's really hard to narrow down the best so there's a lot!

Best
The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
Layla by Colleen Hoover
Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld
Un-Trumping America by Dan Pfeiffer
Beach Read by Emily Henry
Why We're Polarized by Ezra Klein
Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory
Open Book by Jessica Simpson
Malorie by Josh Malerman
Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams
Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore
Devolution by Max Brooks
In Five Years by Rebecca Serle
She Come By It Natural by Sarah Smarsh

Worst
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
Good Morning Monster by Catherine Gildiner
The Coyotes of Carthage by Steven Wright

[wesleycrusher]

5 star
-K-pop Confidential by Stephan Lee (YA)
-Open Book by Jessica Simpson (memoir, audio)
-Open: An Autobiography by Andre Agassi (memoir, audio)
-Becoming Superman: A Writer's Journey from Poverty to Hollywood with Stops Along the Way at Murder, Madness, Mayhem, Movie Stars, Cults, Slums, Sociopaths, and War Crimes by J. Michael Straczynski (memoir)
-Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (sci-fi dystopia)
-In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (memoir)
-Me by Elton John (memoir, audio)
-A Very Punchable Face by Colin Jost (memoir, audio)
-Action Park: Fast Times, Wild Rides, and the Untold Story of America's Most Dangerous Amusement Park by Andy Mulvihill (memoir)
-The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 by Garrett M. Graff (non-fiction)
-Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West by Dee Brown (non-fiction, audio)

Not 5 star but still really enjoyed
-The Answer Is. . . Reflections on My Life by Alex Trebek (memoir, audio)
-The Ravenmaster: My Life with the Ravens at the Tower of London by Christopher Skaife (memoir)
-The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger (memoir)
-Percy Jackson series by Rick Riordan (middle grade fantasy, listened to audio with my kids) 

Worst

-A Year Without a Name: A Memoir by Cyrus Grace Dunham (memoir)
-Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters (contemporary romance)
-Family Trust by Amanda Brown (contemporary romance)
-Twisted Tales series by Liz Braswell (fantasy YA, audio)

Did not finish
-Confessions by Kanae Minato (contemporary fiction)
-Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell (non-fiction)

[travella]

Best books of 2020
A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum- this was my favorite of all my top books
The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron
The Love Story of Missy Carmichael by Beth Morrey

Worst books/ DNF books of 2020
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow DNF
The Mother-in-law by Sally Hepworth
My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Baithwaite DNF

[ufcasey]

Top 15 out of 110 books I read this year:
A Promised Land by Barack Obama
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel
It Started With a Scandal by Julie Anne Long
Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren
The Huntress by Kate Quinn
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Fair as a Star by Mimi Matthews
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larson


5 Worst books of 2020:
Midnight Sun (Twilight pre-quel) by Stephenie Meyer
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (Hunger Games pre-quel) by Suzanne Collins
When She Was Good by Michael Robotham
Conviction by Denise Mina

[rootbeerfloat]

Best:
Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating by Christina Lauren
The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See
The Water Dancer by Ta Nehisi Coates
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin

Worst/DNF:
Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
Open Book by Jessica Simpson

[minzy]

I wound up with 77 this year, a “PR” (by one from a couple of years ago, though I’m usually closer to 52). As I usually seem to be, I was almost perfectly split between fiction and non-fiction. 21 were written by men, 56 by women. At least 18 of the authors were people of color, and 8 books were by, or prominently featured, a person who is LGBTQ. At least three directly addressed a mental health diagnosis. The theme of the year seemed to be memoirs (~10).

Five stars went to two non-fiction books:
This is Going to Hurt - Adam Kay
All We Can Save - Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis - Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Katharine Wilkinson, Eds.

I’d say 4.75 to:
The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett (As an identical twin I did not love the way it ended, but still thought it was really good.)

And then so many other really good ones were in the 4.5 star range.
Non-fiction:
Secondhand - Travels in the New Global Garage Sale - Adam Minter
Good Talk - A Memoir in Conversations - Mira Jacob
Eating the Sun - Small Musings on a Vast Universe - Ella Frances Sanders
Rust - A Memoir of Steel and Grit - Eliese Colette Goldbach
Calypso - David Sedaris
Somebody’s Gotta Do It - Why Cursing at the News Won’t Save the Nation, but Your Name on a Local Ballot Can - Adrienne Martini
Gulp - Adventures on the Alimentary Canal - Mary Roach
The Lost Daughters of China - Abandoned Girls, Their Journey to America, and the Search for a Missing Past - Karin Evans
The Feather Thief - Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist if the Century - Kirk Wallace Johnson
Untamed - Glennon Doyle
Know My Name - A Memoir - Chanel Miller
Leave Only Footprints - My Acadia-To-Zion Journey Through Every National Park - Conor Knighton
Brown Girl Dreaming - Jacqueline Woodson
Our House Is on Fire - Scenes of a Family and a Planet in Crisis - Greta Thunberg, Svante Thunberg, Malena Ernman and Beata Ernman
The Future We Choose - Surviving the Climate Crisis - Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac

Fiction:
Weather - Jenny Offill
The Red Lotus - Chris Bohjalian
Miracle Creek - Angie Kim
The Scribe of Siena - Melodie Winawer

I read a few that I didn’t love for reading challenges, but they were older.

[krystee]

I read 64 books, and it was a great reading year!

Best/favorites:
The Heart’s Invisible Furies
This Tender Land
Dutch House
Anxious People
Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Vanishing Half
Know My Name
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter
Dear Edward
The Sun Down Motel
This Time Next Year
Broken Girls

Worst:
The Wives

Biggest disappointments: Big Summer (I usually adore Jennifer Weiner because she was one of the few authors making plus size women the heroines when she started writing) and Starless Sea (such beautiful writing, but it was so confusing and strange, especially at the end).

[ssmjlm]

Best Reads:
Our Way by TL Swan
The Takeover by TL Swan

*not planned to have them both be by the same author.

Worst Reads:
You are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks
Happily Letter After by Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward

DNFs:
One Way or Another by Kara McDowell
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent
You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld
The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

[estrellita]

Late to this but wanted to post

I read 28 books which isn't as many as I wanted, but oh well!

Top 5:
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré
Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo
The Last Flight by Julie Clark
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

Bottom 5 (I didn't hate any of them really, just not that memorable or just ok IMO):
Things in Jars by Jess Kidd
Once Upon a Dream by Liz Braswell
Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight