This month I’ve been joining Kim and Tanya of Girlxoxo.com for their annual event A Month of Faves, at least for a few topics. Earlier this month, I posted “My End of Year Bookish Plans.” Last week, I posted “These are a few of my favorite moments in 2020“, “These are a few of my favorite things (at home) in 2020,” and “These are a few of my favorite (Christmas) things.” To learn more about the event, visit Kim and Tanya’s introductory post on the event.
Today’s topic is favorite books (best books you read this year!), Part 1, with Part 2 to be on Wednesday with more favorites if you couldn’t fit them all in one post. While I could have fit them all in one post, I decided to break my favorites into fiction (out of a total of 23 fiction books read this year) and nonfiction (a total of 12 nonfiction books this year), starting with fiction today and nonfiction Wednesday. On Tuesday, I’m throwing in my own topic not part of a Month of Faves: The Series That Didn’t Stick For Me In 2020, with series either I read the first one or abandoned in the middle of the first or sometimes second one.
My top 5 book fiction books read this year, out of a total of 23 fiction books read this year, are (in alphabetical order by title):
- All Systems Red by Martha Wells
- Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke
- Smallbone Deceased by Michael Gilbert
- The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden
As always, I have caveats and explanations:
- I finished The Complete Sherlock Holmes this year, but have been reading over several years. Toward the end, I’m not going to lie that the series petered out for me, but overall, it is, of course, a classic and “must-read” in my book.
- The only 2020 book there is Winter Counts. I read a sample of this on Libby and had to read the book. I wasn’t disappointed.
- All Systems Red is the first in a series of which I only have read the first two so far. They are the only science fiction books I’ve read this year.
- Heaven, My Home is the second in a series by one of my favorite contemporary writers. It also resonated this year because of white supremacists figuring prominently in the book.
- Smallbone Deceased is part of the British Library Crime Classics series and I am including here because if you are a mystery reader, you definitely should seek out this book and the series, many of which are available during Kindle Daily Deals.
So what are your favorite books read this year?
Still an unfinished person... 
I’ve not read any of these. In fact, they are all new to me.
I wrote my top reads post and I think it posts on New Year’s Eve. I didn’t think I had many to include but I did.
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I’ll watch for it.
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The British Library Crime Classics series does contain some gems. I’m surprised how well they have kept up the quality of the books overall
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I liked the Attica Locke book that I read a couple years ago, but haven’t read another one. I’ll have to check out Heaven, My Home and its predecessor.
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She is really good. I like her a lot.
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Our local book club read and loved the first Attica Locke book. Good to know the second book is equally good.
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I actually think that the second one might have been better
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I’ll pass that on to my book club.
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Oh, yay, I’m glad All Systems Red turned out to be one of your favorites! As to the Holmes books, I’ve read some of the stories but in no particular order and I couldn’t find a reasonable priced copy of all of them when I looked, a few years ago (probably when Sherlock was airing). Maybe someday I’ll get around to reading all of them. I think it’s probably best to space them well apart, as you did.
I have no idea what my favorites are. In 2019, I kept favorites in a pile tucked away in the corner of my living room so I could just grab them at the end of the year and take a picture. This year started off so badly with nothing really standing out as exceptional that I didn’t get going on that and never thought to set the favorites aside. So, it’ll be a pain to figure out what exactly I loved, if I decide to bother. Nothing stands out in my memory (except All Systems Red was definitely a favorite for me, as well).
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I still have to read the rest of the series…but there’s always 2021. 🙂
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I like lists of recommendations. One always picks out good reads this way.
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I’ve been considering reading the Sherlock Holmes books. And I just bought the Martha Wells book for my husband for Christmas so I’m glad to see it on your favorites list! Thanks for sharing!
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Luckily, the Sherlock Holmes are short stories mostly, with a few novellas, which makes them easy reads over time, if you choose. No rush.
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