This year I read 150 books, which was 25 more than my goal of 125. It was hard narrowing it down to my favorites, so I ended up choosing my top 20. I am choosing to believe that that says more about how good the books I read this year were than it does about my indecisiveness.
1. The Truly Devious series
I read this series towards the start of the year, and adored everything about it. I adore mysteries, but at the same time I can’t read gore or anything too horror-y, but these books struck just the right balance for me. I just saw today that there’s a fourth book coming out this summer that will be a standalone mystery, and I’m absolutely ecstatic!
2. The Tower of Nero
Rick Riordan’s never written anything I disliked, but the first few books of this series came close. However, in the last two books he really pulled through, and I loved this conclusion. Though it remains my least favorite series he’s ever written, I’m still super disappointed to see it end, especially since he’s announced that it will be the last one centered around Camp Half-Blood. The release of the Percy Jackson, Heroes of Olympus, and later on the Trials of Apollo series have been an annual anchor for me for almost as long as I can remember, so the loss of that is obviously very bittersweet. I am really excited for whatever projects he does next; I’m hoping for something Celtic-centered as a result of his studies in that area, and there were definitely some hints in this book of the sort of crossover event between the Egyptians, Norse, and Greeks that I’ve been hoping for for ages, so there’s definitely still work to look forward to coming from him.
3. Chain of Gold
The Infernal Devices is my favorite Shadowhunters series by far, but I can already tell that The Last Hours is going to give it a run for its money. I love Lucie and Cordelia, as well as Matthew and Anna, though I could probably do without James or Jesse if we’re being honest. This is an exemplary start to the trilogy, and I’m excited to see where it goes when Chain of Iron comes out in a few months!
4. The Queens of Animation: The Untold Story of the Women Who Transformed the World of Disney and Made Cinematic History
I don’t think I’ve talked about it a lot on this blog, but some of my main interests outside of reading are art and musicals. Because of this I adore Disney movies, and take any opportunity to learn about the processes that go into making animated movies. This history of female animators and story artists at Disney catered to that interest perfectly, and I loved every second of reading it. It starts in the 1930s and traces through various movies produced by the studio up through Frozen and Moana, covering the sexism and erasure that women faced and fought against at the studio. I definitely recommend it, even if you don’t have much of an interest in animation.
5. The Queen of Nothing
This was definitely my favorite book in the Folk of the Air trilogy. If I recall correctly, I raced through it in a single sitting. It felt a little bit different in tone from the first two books, but I actually enjoyed that slight shift.
6. The Bear and the Nightingale
I got this book in a Secret Santa exchange with some of my friends, and had actually never heard of the series before receiving it. I was definitely glad to have gotten it, since anything involving Russian folklore (or really any folklore) is right up my alley! I absolutely adored this book, and the second and third books in the trilogy are both on my January TBR list!
7. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before trilogy
I can’t believe I’d never read these books before this year! I’d never really read any YA contemporary that I loved before reading these, but after falling in love with them I made sure to branch out more into the genre later in the year. I love Lara Jean, and I enjoyed how, unlike a lot of YA contemporary books, her interactions with her family and friends were just as interesting as her interactions with her love interest(s). I especially loved the third book and its focus on the college process, which was much more realistic than most YA books on the subject. I applied to boarding schools last year, and decisions came out around the time that I read Always and Forever, Lara Jean, and her experiences with receiving her decisions definitely resonated with me.
8. Instant Karma
I love everything Marissa Meyer writes, and this certainly was no exception. Though I didn’t adore it quite to the extent that I do The Lunar Chronicles, Renegades, or even Heartless, this was still amazing. The little touch of magic was super fun, and overall I really enjoyed the entire experience of reading this book. I’ll definitely be rereading it this summer, since it really just feels made for the season.
9. Persuasion
I just eked this out in the final hours of 2020, and I’m very glad I did. Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite books of all time, but I didn’t really like Sense and Sensibility, so I was happy that this ranked much closer to the former than to the latter in my affections. It’s definitely inspired me to want to read the rest of Jane Austen’s books this year.
10. Tash Hearts Tolstoy
I absolutely adore web series adaptations of classics, such as The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Emma Approved, or Green Gables Fables, so a book about a girl making such an adaptation of Anna Karenina was definitely within those interests. Beyond that, the fact that there was ace rep was great, since that is so rarely represented in the media.
11. The Last True Poets of the Sea
This was such a gorgeous, wistful book. I definitely wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
12. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
Is there anything Hank Green can’t do? I’ve been following his and John Green’s YouTube channel, Vlogbrothers, for years, as well as their podcast, Dear Hank and John, and I was really excited to learn he had a book coming out, since he’s always been my favorite of the two (I’ve never really enjoyed any of John Green’s books). This is a really fun yet insightful book that simultaneously deals with the perils of fame and a conspiracy theory about a seeming alien invasion. I don’t know why I haven’t gotten around to reading the sequel, A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor, yet, but I hope to get to it soon.
13. How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories
I loved this book, and it definitely would have been higher up on the list if it was a bit longer. I definitely enjoyed the insight into Carden’s POV that we got from it though, and the illustrations are gorgeous.
14. Girls of July
This was a really fun book about four girls who end up staying together in a rural house for a summer. I’m holding out hope for a sequel, though it definitely seems unlikely.
15. Five Dark Fates
I enjoy everything about the world-building and magic system of this series, and I was glad that this finale did not disappoint in terms of plot either. None of the characters are simple in terms of morality, and this definitely isn’t an uplifting series, but I love it aI love it for that complexity.
16. We Ride Upon Sticks
This is another book that I wasn’t expecting to like as much as I did. It is told in the first person plural for large amounts, which was unusual and very interesting to read. It follows a field hockey team in the 1980s near Salem Massachusetts who decide to use witchcraft to win the state championships, and find that it actually ends up working, and they miraculously start doing extremely well in all of their games. The character dynamics among the team are definitely the most intriguing part of the book, and I definitely recommend it to almost anybody.
17. The Prose Edda
I read this for English last year when we were allowed to choose what we wanted to study, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s the basis for much of what we know today about Norse mythology, so it was definitely interesting to read that sort of primary source.
18. Queen of Air and Darkness
Honestly I wasn’t expecting for this book to make this list at all, considering that I didn’t really like the first two books of the trilogy, owing to the fact that I hate Julian as a character, and only mildly like Emma. Nevertheless, the side characters in this book, especially Ty and Christina, really make it for me. I’m glad I won’t have to deal with Emma or Julian as main characters in the future though.
19. The Falling in Love Montage
This was such a cute book! I loved the setup of the two protagonists intentionally going through all of the dating cliches while promising to break up at the end of the summer was already great, but the fact that it also provided a much needed dose of “lesbian relationship that ends relatively happily and is also the focus of the book” to the YA contemporary scene was wonderful.
20. Verona Comics
Modern Romeo and Juliet retelling revolving around the comics industry? I knew I would love this book simply from it’s premise, and I must say that it did not disappoint in any way, shape, or form.
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