Top Ten Tuesday: Favorite books read in 2020
Honestly, this list is just a list of books I liked. There were few standouts this year except Lonesome Dove, which dominated the whole year after my husband and I both read it and then watched the mini-series, and The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse, which is by far my favorite above all books this year. All other books I liked enough to recommend. It was such a strange year, as you all know, and my reading choices reflected this strangeness. As you see, only five novels made my top seventeen books, normally my list would be populated with them.
1. The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy (Illustrated, inspirational)
2. Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah (Memoir; audiobook)
3. Dancing at the Pity Party by Tyler Feder (Graphic memoir)
4. Close to Birds: An intimate Look at Our Fine Feathered Friends by Mats Ottosson (Photography)
5. Stamped by Jason Reynolds (YA, black history, anti-racism, e-book)
6. Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtrey (Western novel)
7. The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman (YA novel, #2 in The Book of Dust series; audiobook)
8. Letters of Note compiled by Shaun Usher (Letters and correspondence)
9. Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine (Poetry and essays, e-book)
10. The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Revised history novel, magical realism)
11. Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King (Thriller/mystery novel, audiobook)
12. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett (Literary fiction, audiobook)
13. Playlist: Rebels and Revolutionaries of Sound by James Rhodes (Music and musicians)
14. How We Got to the Moon by John Rocco (Illustrated, history)
15. The Honeybee by Candace Fleming (Children's nonfiction)
16. The Velocity of Being by Maria Popova (Letters to young readers in the future)
17. Some Writer: The Story of E.B. White by Melissa Sweet (Junior Biography, illustrated)
-Anne
I am really interested in checking out The Vanishing Half, it sounds so good. Hope you enjoy your New Year's!
ReplyDeleteI'm so curious about The Boy, The Mole, The Fox, and The Horse.
ReplyDeleteMy post.
Yes, on 2,6, and 10. I liked 12 but not the ending. I also loved "Virgil Wander" (didn't we read that at the beginning of this year or was it last year?) and enjoyed "Redhead by the Side of the Road."
ReplyDeleteI'd like to read more Westerns, actually. Haven't read one since I was a kid. You have a nice mix here as well.
ReplyDeleteAwesome list of books! I'm intrigued by The Water Dancer and The Velocity of Being. :)
ReplyDeleteI think I may have seen The Boy, the Mole, the Fox, and the Horse first on your blog? In any case, I loved this little book of wonders too. It's so much like Winnie the Pooh, all lovely quotes and lovely artwork. Wish it could be longer though. Happy 2021 to you!
ReplyDeleteI thank you for recommending How We Got to the Moon. I'm interested in reading The Velocity of Being.
ReplyDeleteStamped was brilliant! I might have to try Kendi's as well.
ReplyDeleteGreat list of books. The few that I've also read are really good. I am surprised about Lonesome Dove as I think of it as a Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton TV show. Maybe I need to spend some time watching it.
ReplyDeleteMy dad is a huge fan of western books and movies. My sister and I kind of hate them since we either had to watch with him or go find something else to do on Sunday afternoons when he took over the one tv. We got to choose the rest of the time so I shouldn't have complained but I did. So I don't know what possessed me to read Lonesome Dove and then love it! I was pleasantly surprised by the mini-series as well.
ReplyDeleteI have seen The Boy, The Mole, etc on a lot of lists already. I picked it up once in B&N and meant to check it out from the library afterward but forgot about it. I seriously need to correct that.
Happy New Year!
Stamped made my list as well. I ran out of time to read "The Vanishing Half" but I hope to read it this year.
ReplyDeleteI loved Lonesome Dove years ago, I haven't read any of his for ages though. And The Vanishing Half was on my best of the year, too!
ReplyDeleteI haven't read any of these yet, but several are on my tbr. Happy Reading in 2021!
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