Reading
What with the libraries closing down for a large chunk of the year, you wouldn't think that I could have found all that much to read... and you'd be right, mostly. The thing is, although I generally do make a habit of going to the library quite frequently... I also do have a fair amount of books that I own that I haven't read yet, so while all that was going on, I took the opportunity to get through some of those books! Then the libraries reopened (for no-contact hold pickups, anyway) and I was able to at least get a few books at a time... But at any rate, rather than just giving you December's books, I decided to go over all the 40+ books I read this year, and give you "20 books for 2020", my Top 10 Indie Books (the Reader's Reviews from this year) and Top 10 "Standard" books--a mix of library checkouts and bookstore purchases!
In more or less "Ranked" order, they are:
#20: Song by Jesse Teller
The breakout read of the year--the book I had no "thematic context" for, I had no idea what I was in for, a book that's been sitting in the queue for a year, at least, and lo and behold: I liked it! You can follow the hyperlinked text to read my
Official Reader's Review about it!
#19: Prey by Michael Crichton
One thing for sure: Crichton books are
always a good time. He has a tendency to start out slow, setting up all the "science" behind his ideas, drawing from both real sources and fictionalized entries--but once the plot gets going, the payoff is
always worth it!
Prey is no exception. It starts out kind of funky, a little boring, and it takes a deep dive into creepy quasi-horror after about the halfway mark! A computer programmer whose wife works for a company that has developed medical-grade nanotechnology, except that his wife goes missing and then he gets called out to the development lab, where he finds out that they need his help because they've "lost" a swarm of these nanobots that are learning and evolving as they are loose in the Arizona desert!
#18: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
A friend recommended me this book after I talked about how much I enjoyed
A Monster Calls--and then the movie was announced, and I just
had to give in to my curiosity! The premise was fascinating and the execution managed to stay interesting all the way through, keeping the plot moving at a good pace. There were a few stylistic choices that ranged from
unorthodox (using font styles and art to illustrate text, kind of like the way
The Book Thief and
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close did the same thing) to
annoying (misspelling intentionally to highlight the narrator's education level--the teacher in me died a little bit every time I came across those words!!) but on the whole, I really liked it, and in particular I'm actually really excited about the way the movie is depicting the "Noise" that is the key to the whole premise!
#17: Deception by Katika Schneider
Talk about sitting on the queue for a while! This one had to wait for quite a while because of the way I felt about the ending of the first book--but as it turned out, viewing this book and its predecessor as two halves of the same book really does wonders for my mental state! Follow the hyperlinked text to read my
Official Reader's Review about it!
#16: Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter
Charming Victorian-era paranormal investigations--the whole Jackaby series is absolutely rife with that period goodness, and some good old-fashioned urban fantasy that I definitely enjoy! This one, especially, delves into the background of one of the ghost characters who was fascinating enough in the first two books, but now she gets her own time in the spotlight, bringing her out of the shadows, as it were, while also moving the series arc along and giving further connections to a villain that just keeps popping up when he's least wanted! Fantastic book.
Another indie title that was sitting in my queue for a very long time, written by a friend-of-a-friend--I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, and upon the next trip to the library (actually, the last and only "trip inside the library" I would take all year!), imagine my surprise to find the sequel sitting right there on the shelf! The world-building is the most awesome part of it, and the lore developed for the series is absolutely amazing! You can read my Official Reader's Reviews for these books by clicking on the hyperlinked titles above.
#14: The Fallen by David Baldacci
The fourth book in the Amos Decker series, this one was pretty decent, and I liked it the best between the two Baldacci books I actually read this year, mostly because I really like his character Decker, and the dynamic between him and his "partner" through most of these conflicts, the female federal agent Jamison. I really appreciate the way Baldacci writes his characters, with a realistic level of flawed, not too many "overtly perfect" characteristics--granted, he still has a long way to go in the realm of writing stories from the perspective of a female protagonist, but at least his female "sidekicks" are realistic enough and relatable to boot! His mysteries are, of course, all twisted and keep you guessing and on your toes and one or the other of the main characters ends up in mortal danger--a great addition to an excellent series!
These aren't part of the same series, but they're both by the same author so I decided, instead of eliminating one or the other, I simply
had to have both of them included in my Top 10!
Aftermath is Copen's first foray into the intergalactic setting, and she pulls off her plot with the same level of finesse she displays in all her paranormal/urban fantasy settings!
And Fortunate Son was a welcome glimpse into the pre-Paint-Rock Judah Black, before she became a federal officer, back when she was on the force in Baltimore. You can read my Official Reader's Reviews for these titles by clicking the hyperlinked text above!
#12: Blood Rites by Jim Butcher
I had one thing to say after reading this book: "HARRY DRESDEN YOU ABSOLUTE HOBGOBLIN!" Not even kidding... Much of the subject matter of the actual crime he is called in to solve is pretty cringey stuff, but it was the subplot that
really got me going! I don't want to spoil it too much, but out of all the books in the series thus far, THIS is the one that you shouldn't miss!
#11: Veiled Rose by Anne Elisabeth Stengl
I read
Heartless, the first book in the Tales of Goldstone Wood series, on the recommendation of a friend...
six years ago. I enjoyed it, moved on and forgot about it for a few years after that, and only recently have I been looking and waiting for a copy of this book to magically show up at the library, after seeing a few other books in the series. (I like to read them in order, so what??) It was just my luck that putting this book on hold meant that it was there for me at last this year--and I can confirm that it was well worth the wait. The stories don't seem to connect, other than I think they occur within the same fantasy world, but the style is just so breathtakingly beautiful that you want to read books like this really slow, to drink in all the rich and vivid detail!
#10: In Numina by Assaph Mehr
Boy! This was
the year to get around to reading sequels
so many years after reading the initial books, am I right? This one too... I read the first book in the series,
Murder in Absentia, about four years ago. In my defense, this one didn't exist
at the time, but I admit it's been out for at least a year and I'm only just now getting to it... but again,
worth the wait. You'll see why when you follow the hyperlinked text to read my Official Reader's Review about it!
#9: Verona: The Complete Mermaid Tales by Pauline Creeden
It's
mermaids, duh! What's not to like? This one was interesting to read through because although it's a series of four novellas, two of them are basically the same core sequence of events, told from different perspectives, and those serve as the prequel to the initial novella, from which the reader can then go on and read the sequel, which wraps everything up so nicely. I'd read one of the prequels, and the initial novella, but to have the additional information of the second novella, and to read how it all ends up was a fascinating experience! You can read my thoughts about it in the
Official Reader's Review by clicking the hyperlinked text!
#8: Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
This one was an impulse checkout, I'll admit. I had been interested in it most of all because of the strong suggestion of dragons on the cover, (I'm
always curious about dragon books!) but I didn't really know what to expect--and I
definitely didn't expect what I got! It's a rich and vivid world, with plenty of amazing lore and a variety of characters that each had their own personality... I absolutely loved it, and it was really a bright spot in the month when I read it!
#7: Ace of Clubs by Patricia Loofbourrow
Three books in, and I've loved every moment of this wildly inventive series! The Red Dog Conspiracy is prime reading for anyone who loves steampunk, murder mysteries, and clever wordplay! You can read my Official Reader's Review by clicking the hyperlinked text to find out more about it!
Once again, I couldn't make up my mind between two books by the same author--I will say that, left to her own devices, Hopkins is a masterful storyteller and her Talented series is on-par with my all-time
favorite fantasy series(es... whatever the plural is...)!
Splash of Truth was a spectacular treat of a read!
Dawn of Destiny only felt like a slight departure, because
technically she was writing in conjunction with another author (in this case, Michael Anderle), so there was already some established background and parameters she had to work with, but she did do a fantastic job, at any rate! You can read the Official Reader's Review on both of these titles by clicking the hyperlinked text above.
#5: Spinning Silver and Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
These were very close, but in regards to the scope of the story and how much I actually loved (rather than just skimmed through),
Spinning Silver is the reason these two are in my #5 spot. I absolutely
adore the way Novik writes her fairy tale style, from the call-backs to tales like "Beauty and the Beast" for
Uprooted, and now
Spinning Silver, which smacks of classics such as "Rumplestiltskin" but also "The Snow Queen" (
not the Disney-ified version! The
original Hans Christian Andersen tale!)
As for Throne of Jade, I appreciated it because of the unique way she's infused dragons into an alternative version of the events surrounding the Napoleonic Wars... but at the same time, she's done so well mimicking the adventure novel style of the era that it reads rather textbookish! (Can you imagine... a textbook with dragons!)
#4: Behind The Mask by J. D. Cunegan
Oh, we're getting near the top of the list! And of course, this one is here--I absolutely love the Jill Andersen series, dare I say even more than the TV show that served as the biggest inspiration for the characters! You can read more about it in the
Official Reader's Review by clicking the hyperlinked text.
#3: Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence
In an age when "men writing women" is the subject of ridicule all across the Internet, it pleases me to report that Mark Lawrence definitely qualifies as "one of the good guys"! His
Book of The Ancestor trilogy is an absolute triumph, treating not just the cast of majority female characters with due respect and admirable realism, but also showing strength and dignity in disabilities, making those realistic and relatable as well.
Holy Sister rounded out the trilogy with a sense of immense satisfaction and enough movement through the whole plot, even as it flipped back and forth between the present and the past, so that it never once felt boring or dragging. I highly,
emphatically recommend anything this man writes!
#2: The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman
But of course, the Number 2 Spot
must be given to the book that has just about every kind of fantasy world-building facet all rolled into one: a magical library, Fae lore,
and Dragon lore!
Masked City delivered on every level, both in character development, twisty mysteries, gut-clenching peril, and absolutely glorious visuals! Irene travels through alternate stages of reality to rescue her protege, Kai--when you work for The Library, the concepts of "only in books" and "only in the real world" are entirely interchangeable! It was so good, in fact, that I actually sat in the library parking lot and blitzed the last few chapters so that I could finish it before I had to return it! This is definitely a series I want to own someday.
And finally, my pick for The Number One Book Of 2020 is...
#1 They Must Be Stopped by Kelly Blanchard
Everything I loved about every other book on this list, pretty much, comes as a feature in the Chronicles of Lorrek series: the massive lore, the fantastic medievalish fantasy worlds, cyberpunk elements as well, dragons, intrigue, danger, excellent food for thought, fantastic wordplay, spectacular characters--I mean, this series has
everything! You can read more details about it in the
Official Reader's Review by clicking the hyperlinked text.
Of course, those twenty-plus titles weren't all the books I enjoyed this year! As I said, I had to weed out quite a few to get down to the Top 10, so the main ones I still wanted to mention, I'll list down here, as "Honorable Mentions"!
In the "Standard Book" category, the runners-up were: Lethal White by Robert Galbraith; Until We Meet Again by Michael Korenblit; Anatomy of The Soul by Curt Thompson; Magnus Chase and The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan; and Final Witness by Simon Tolkien;
Out of the Reader's-Reviewed books, the ones worth checking out (by of course clicking the hyperlinked titles) are:
Hugo by Pamela Poole;
Anamatus by Derrick Tribble;
Excelsior by George Sirois; and two novellas,
Head Over Heels by S. E. Anderson (tying in to her Starstruck Saga series); and
Grave Tidings by R. R. Virdi (a tie-in to his series The Grave Reports)
I hope you enjoyed this list! What are some books YOU enjoyed in 2020? Leave your recommendations in the comments!
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