Favorite Books of 2020 (And a Few of My Least Favorites)
I really upped my reading game in 2020, a combination of staying inside, being stressed, and joining a book club got me to read 43 books this year (my original goal was 100 but ya know sometimes things just aren't apart of God's plan). I'm really lucky to have read so many amazing novels, memoirs, and plays this year but I wanted to take time and reflect on those that stood out and made me do a little reflection. But there were a few that stood out in a negative way and I kinda just want to drag them. These are all books I've read in 2020 but not necessarily written or published in 2020!
"A romance writer who no longer believes in love and a literary writer stuck in a rut engage in a summer-long challenge that may just upend everything they believe about happily ever afters.Augustus Everett is an acclaimed author of literary fiction. January Andrews writes bestselling romance. When she pens a happily ever after, he kills off his entire cast.They’re polar opposites.In fact, the only thing they have in common is that for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block.Until, one hazy evening, one thing leads to another and they strike a deal designed to force them out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something happy, and January will pen the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (obviously). Everyone will finish a book and no one will fall in love. Really."
This novel was super unsuspecting but was absolutely a delight to read! If you are looking for a compelling but simple read that just leaves you with a smile, look no further! My only critique is that the cover makes it look like it takes place in a place like Florida, but the beach is actually a lake in the Midwest that is in like 3 chapters,
"Here are fifteen invaluable suggestions--compelling, direct, wryly funny, and perceptive--for how to empower a daughter to become a strong, independent woman. From encouraging her to choose a helicopter, and not only a doll, as a toy if she so desires; having open conversations with her about clothes, makeup, and sexuality; debunking the myth that women are somehow biologically arranged to be in the kitchen making dinner, and that men can "allow" women to have full careers, Dear Ijeawele goes right to the heart of sexual politics in the twenty-first century. It will start a new and urgently needed conversation about what it really means to be a woman today".
I do not have a daughter, but I definitely got a lot out of this book. Adichie shares messages we can all use to better ourselves and the way we interact with others to form a more inclusive, powerful society. It's a super quick read that really packs a punch and leaves you analyzing how you live your life.
"When America won the Revolutionary War, its people offered General George Washington a crown. Two and a half centuries later, the House of Washington still sits on the throne. Like most royal families, the Washingtons have an heir and a spare. A future monarch and a backup battery. Each child knows exactly what is expected of them. But these aren't just any royals. They're American. As Princess Beatrice gets closer to becoming America's first queen regnant, the duty she has embraced her entire life suddenly feels stifling. Nobody cares about the spare except when she's breaking the rules, so Princess Samantha doesn't care much about anything, either . . . except the one boy who is distinctly off-limits to her. And then there's Samantha's twin, Prince Jefferson. If he'd been born a generation earlier, he would have stood first in line for the throne, but the new laws of succession make him third. Most of America adores their devastatingly handsome prince . . . but two very different girls are vying to capture his heart."
I loved this book! I loved the whole world McGee created and I was honestly ready to pack my things and move into their world. It was the mix of Crazy Rich Asians, Gossip Girl, and The Crown that I did not know I needed. I do think it lagged a little in the middle and I feel like Nina's storyline was just to have the readers someone to relate to (think Piper in Orange is The New Black) and could have been without or several revamped.
"Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn't exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there's a moment of pure magic...and then her bus drives away. Certain they're fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn't find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they "reunite" at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It's Jack, the man from the bus. It would be. What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered."
A literal hug in a book! I personally would recommend this to any 20-somethng who is struggling with finding their dream job, their dream partner, or even just their true selves. As cheesy as it sounds, I feel like I needed this book to remind me everything is going to be okay and work out.
"It's the eve of Rachel Chu's wedding, and she should be over the moon. She has a flawless Asscher-cut diamond, a wedding dress she loves, and a fianc willing to thwart his meddling relatives and give up one of the biggest fortunes in Asia in order to marry her. Still, Rachel mourns the fact that her birthfather, a man she never knew, won't be there to walk her down the aisle. Then a chance accident reveals his identity. Suddenly, Rachel is drawn into a dizzying world of Shanghai splendor, a world where people attend church in a penthouse, where exotic cars race down the boulevard, and where people aren't just crazy rich ... they're China rich."
This is the second book in the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy and I honestly think this one might even be better than the first! There is more of a focus on Astrid (and if you know, you know she's fabulous) and the twists and turns were just so much. I read this at the very beginning of the year and it was an amazing way to kick off the decade.
And a few that just missed the mark for me this year,..
"Six years after the fight that ended their friendship, Daphne Berg is shocked when Drue Cavanaugh walks back into her life, looking as lovely and successful as ever, with a massive favor to ask. Daphne hasn't spoken one word to Drue in all this time--she doesn't even hate-follow her ex-best friend on social media--so when Drue asks if she will be her maid-of-honor at the society wedding of the summer, Daphne is rightfully speechless. Drue was always the one who had everything--except the ability to hold onto friends. Meanwhile, Daphne's no longer the same self-effacing sidekick she was back in high school. She's built a life that she loves, including a growing career as a plus-size Instagram influencer. Letting glamorous, seductive Drue back into her life is risky, but it comes with an invitation to spend a weekend in a waterfront Cape Cod mansion. When Drue begs and pleads and dangles the prospect of cute single guys, Daphne finds herself powerless as ever to resist her friend's siren song."
OK. So I wanted to love this book so much, I love a good beach read and I love a main character who is plus size and has the confidence of her straight sized friends (even if it is a fake it till you make it thing sometimes) but I just felt like it was given all of this needless hype. I found it boring, and the twist was shocking but made the book feel disconnected and random.
"Before Colton Underwood captured the hearts of millions on The Bachelor, he was a goofy, socially awkward, overweight adolescent who succeeded on the football field while struggling with personal insecurities off it. An All American gridiron hero, he was also a complex, sometimes confused, soft-hearted romantic wondering how these contradictions fit together. Old-fashioned and out of step with the swipe right dating culture of today, he was saving the most intimate part of life for the love of his life. If only he could find her...
Now, in The First Time, Colton opens up about how he came to find himself and true love at the same time via the Bachelor franchise. Unencumbered by cameras and commercial breaks, he delivers a surprisingly raw, endearing, and seriously juicy account of his journey through The Bachelorette, Bachelor in Paradise, and The Bachelor, along with what has happened with him and Cassie Randolph since his season wrapped. He opens up about being dumped by Becca, his secret dalliance with Tia, what it was like to be the world's most famous virgin, his behind-the-scenes conflicts with production, and how his on-camera responsibilities as the Bachelor nearly destroyed him after he knew he had already fallen in love with Cassie."
So even ignoring the fact that Colton is now "kind of weird" this book is just horrible. I've read bad Bachelor Nation memoirs before but this was just too much. I listened to the audiobook and it was literally just Colton saying "chill" and "vibes" and talking about Cassie in a weirdly possessive way (shocking, I know). I'm not some literary snob who only reads iambic pentameter but this was just too low brow for me personally.
"The Testaments braids together three separate first-person testimonies, each of which corresponds to one of the novel’s three narrators. The first narrator, Aunt Lydia, composes her account in a manuscript known as “The Ardua Hall Holograph.” The other two narrators, Agnes and Daisy, each give spoken accounts, which appear in the novel as transcripts of witness testimonies. Each of the three narrators tells the story her role in a conspiracy to topple the patriarchal and theocratic regime of the Republic of Gilead."
So I am a huge fan of The Handmaid's Tale like its sickeningly good and used it as an inspiration for my senior play in college, but this was the definition of unnecessary. I started out interested in the characters, but by the end they were completely unrecognizable. The only reason this book exists is to play off the popularity The Handmaids Tale has received in recent years. The characters change too much and break the rules of their own personal worlds and not in a kick ass kind of way, but in a "is this the same book" kind of way. It had all the making to be glorious but it seemed like Atwood just got lazy, as it doesn't even seem like her voice anymore.
So of course, all opinions are my own and if you do not agree with me it is totally valid! Reading is a highly personal experience and I would love to hear all of your opinions!
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