2020 End of Year Book Survey

Thanks as always to host Jamie at The Perpetual Page Turner for this awesome end-of-year book survey! This is my sixth time participating, and it’s always a delight looking back on the books I read and sharing some of my favorites with you. Like in years’ past, I won’t be using rereads for any categories.

Number of Books You Read: 66
Number of Rereads: 12
Genre You Read the Most From: fantasy and science fiction

Best Book You Read In 2020?

Adult: The Great Offshore Grounds by Vanessa Veselka

I wrote about Veselka’s astonishing debut, Zazen, back in 2013. The wait for her second book has been long but well worth it. The Great Offshore Grounds is an ambitious and sweeping novel chronicling one very dysfunctional family’s journey through poverty, self-discovery, love, death, and everything in between. Sometimes that journey takes place on road trips, sometimes on fishing boats in Alaska, and sometimes in a homemade castle on the side of a road somewhere in Texas. It can be meandering and messy, like families, like life. It’s screamingly funny in places and heart wrenching in others, never sentimental, always sympathetic, and unapologetically gritty in its depiction of the working class and poor. I don’t have the words to do justice to Veselka’s writing, I can only highly recommend it and continue to hope she gets the recognition she deserves as one of our most talented writers.

YA: With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Like last year, Elizabeth Acevedo gets my vote for best YA. Unlike last year’s pick though, which was a book written in verse, this one is a straightforward story told in prose (although also very poetic). One thing I love about With the Fire on High that really sets it apart is the emphasis on strong and healthy family relationships. Teenage mother Emoni is unequivocally devoted to her child and to her grandmother; for her it’s family first, always, but she is willful and determined and finds ways to make room for her dreams of becoming a chef.

MG: Hatchet by Gary Paulsen

A lot of my best middle grade book recommendations come via my youngest. Gabe read this one in fourth or fifth grade and was notably impressed. Hatchet, a classic in the survival fiction genre, tells the story of a thirteen-year-old boy who crashes into the Canadian wilderness with only one small tool for survival. Can you guess what it is? I talked my son (now thirteen) into reading Hatchet to me this year, and I’m totally taking credit for it. Hey, audiobooks count, so why not?

Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Maybe it was the wrong time, I don’t know. I adore Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility but failed to connect with Anne Elliot, who is considered Austen’s most mature heroine. I agree—she is very mature, and intelligent, and steady, and dependable, and quiet, and patient, and … what’s her flaw again?

Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?

Dawn by Octavia E. Butler

In a good way. I’m always pleasantly surprised when I connect with a work of science fiction as it’s never been my favorite genre. Still, I shouldn’t have been surprised that Butler’s book about tentacally aliens taking over the human race in a post-apocalyptic world would be completely accessible and easy to love—her writing tends to carry you along effortlessly. Dawn is the first entry in the Xenogenesis trilogy; the final two I read immediately after this one, and my only complaint about this series is that it ended.

Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Surely you’ve heard by now of this slowly unfolding, chillingly atmospheric Gothic suspense/horror novel featuring a glamorous, headstrong socialite and set in 1950s Mexico? I’m assuming you have because the hype for Mexican Gothic was unreal. Also, completely deserved.

Best series you started in 2020? Best Sequel of 2020? Best Series Ender of 2020?

The Xenogenesis series by Octavia E. Butler

Dawn

Sequel: Adulthood Rites

Ender: Imago

Favorite new author you discovered in 2020?

Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?

The Rise of Skywalker by Rae Carson

I don’t read a lot of movie novelizations, but I loved The Rise of Skywalker so much and you can only watch a movie so many times and, well, here we are. Rae Carson did an impressive job staying true to the characters’ voices, capturing the excitement of the action sequences, and adding depth to some secondary characters. I especially loved her inclusion of Zorri Bliss’s point-of-view, including her history as a Spice Runner and the harrowing escape from Kijimi.

Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?

Kindred by Octavia E. Butler

Octavia E. Butler’s fantasy/science-fiction-y/time-traveling/slave narrative is as good as you’ve always heard it to be. From page one, I could not put it down.

Book You Read In 2020 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a must-read-again. It falls into so many categories that I love. Gothic. Horror. The Slow Burn. Moreno-Garcia writes with total confidence, taking her sweet time letting the story unfold. It’s one of my favorite things about this menacing and mysterious story, and I can’t wait to get lost in it once more.

Favorite cover of a book you read in 2020?

Mexican Gothic

No contest. This cover is an absolute beauty.

Most memorable character of 2020?

I hate to admit it, but probably Rufus Weylin. There’s just no denying the antagonist of Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred is a deeply compelling character. Part of this is Butler’s skill as a writer, part of it is the fact that we first meet Weylin when he’s a young and innocent child, the son of a slave owner in the Antebellum South. Watching as he grows and struggles with his tendencies toward ownership and control and his genuine regard, maybe even love, for the women he makes his victims, is grotesquely fascinating. Is he a product of his time? Is he evil? Is he redeemable? Rufus kept me guessing throughout the book as to which of his dueling natures would win out. In case you haven’t read the book, I won’t say.

Most beautifully written book read in 2020?

How to Fly (In Ten Thousand Easy Lessons) by Barbara Kingsolver

I was once such a fan of Barbara Kingsolver, from earlier novels like The Bean Trees and Animal Dreams to her thoughtful and thought-provoking essay collections. But somewhere along the way, the perfect balance of story and politics she struck in The Poisonwood Bible toppled and her novels became more like lectures, preachy and sanctimonious. Eventually I stopped reading them. It was therefore refreshing to see Kingsolver come out with a book of poetry, something slimmed down and vulnerable, touching on subjects like nature and friendship and motherhood like she did so poignantly in High Tide in Tucson and Small Wonder. I missed this voice.

Most Thought-Provoking/Life-Changing Book of 2020?

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Aside from being exceptionally written, Brit Bennett’s tale of two sisters grappling with racial identity and family secrets makes you think long and hard about what you’d be willing to give up in an effort to belong. It’s disconcerting, uncomfortable, and genuinely thought-provoking.

Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2020 to finally read?

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

My kids have loved Percy Jackson forever and ever, and Rick Riordan is such a beloved and celebrated author, known for championing diversity and inclusion in his middle grade and young adult novels. The Lightning Thief is an action-packed, super fun first entry into the Olympians series, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Better late than never!

Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2020?

My favorite passage is from an unlikely source—a textbook. (I spent 2019 in a teacher certification program.) The book is called Phonics from A to Z and includes this delightful quote from Alberto Manguel:

“At one magical instant in your early childhood, the page of a book—that string of confused, alien ciphers—shivered into meaning. Words spoke to you, gave up their secrets; at that moment, whole universes opened. You became, irrevocably, a reader.”

Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2020?

Shortest: A Study in Scarlet (Sherlock Holmes #1)

Longest: A Promised Land by Barack Obama

Book That Shocked You The Most

Mexican Gothic

There’s a point where this story takes a turn from creepy atmospheric Gothic to something entirely different, and it is a disorienting thrill.

OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)

In Vanessa Veselka’s masterful The Great Offshore Grounds there is a potential relationship that may or may not come to fruition but, darn it, I just can’t tell you who it is! Because you have to read the book. Go on, read it.

Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year

The multigenerational bond between Emoni, her daughter, and her grandmother in Elizabeth Acevedo’s With the Fire on High was a thing of beauty.

Favorite Book You Read in 2020 From An Author You’ve Read Previously

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

And again! Simone St. James was my pick for this category last year as well; she is, to me, simply flawless. Although her Gothic ghost stories/Romances usually take place in the early 20th century, this one switched it up a bit and offered dual timelines—one present day, one in the 1980s. You can never go wrong with the ‘80s.

Best Book You Read In 2020 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.:

The Whisper Man by Alex North

This was the book everyone was talking about in the latter half of 2019, and when I finally got around to reading it this year, I was not disappointed.

Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2020? 

Hun-Kame, the Mayan God of Death in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s outstanding Mexican fairy tale, Gods of Jade and Shadow.

Best 2020 debut you read?

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

Elatsoe is a magical, mythical murder mystery featuring an asexual Lipan Apache teenager with a ghost dog. So it’s got a lot going for it! Little Badger weaves Native American mythology with her own uniquely imagined world and gifts us a delightful main character who, although seventeen, has the charm, innocence, and optimism of someone much younger. This book is being marketed as young adult but reads very much like middle grade; luckily, I happen to love both, so for me it was a perfect fit.

Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

WOW. In the first book of The Broken Earth trilogy, N.K. Jemisin introduces us to her imagined alternate Earth, The Stillness, and the beings who inhabit it (humans, orogenes, stone-eaters, obelisks, guardians). This is a very dense, very dark novel—it is not an easy read—and the series only gets darker. I will admit, I discovered toward the end of The Fifth Season (and in subsequent books in the series) that the genre, grimdark—one characterized by utter bleakness, endless war, and very little hope—is not for me. That’s not to take away the absolute brilliant worldbuilding and storytelling here though. Jemisin’s Broken Earth trilogy won the Hugo Award three years running, and if you can handle the grimness of it all, you’ll see why she is one of the most celebrated fantasy/science fiction novelists today.

Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?

Let’s see, which of Jenn McKinlay’s Cupcake Bakery Mystery books should I choose? Cozy mysteries have become my guilty pleasure, and this year I happily indulged in half a dozen. I just can’t get enough of the comfortingly formulaic plots, the scrumptious descriptions of desserts, and the groan-worthy and absolutely hilarious punny titles like Vanilla Beaned and Dying for Devil’s Food. Since I must choose one, I’ll go with Sugar and Iced, which features a deadly beauty pageant and a dish of sweet revenge.

Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2020?

 A Promised Land by Barack Obama

For so many reasons. Barack Obama’s presidency spanned nearly a decade of my life that’s entwined with memories of my children growing, of me growing as a mother, and the moments both wonderful and terrible that marked our lives in that period of time. The Great Recession, the historic election, the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, the Arab Spring, the Birther Movement and birth of the Tea Party, the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the promise of hope and change. Many times while reading I had to stop and close my eyes as those memories burned. Mostly though, I laughed. Obama is a skillful storyteller and writes with such warmth and humor that the little moments in particular shine. Yes, his moments as leader of the free world, but also his moments as a friend, a husband, a father.

Hidden Gem Of The Year?

Goodbye From Nowhere by Sara Zarr

I feel like Sara Zarr in general is a hidden gem, even after earning a National Book Award nomination, even after having a novel adapted into a movie directed by Kyra Sedgwick and starring Kevin Bacon. Zarr is a quietly dependable author, blessing us with one solid YA read after another. And yet her April release, Goodbye From Nowhere, has thirteen ratings on Amazon. Obviously Amazon ratings are not an indicator of quality, but they certainly reflect a novel’s popularity. Why so few, then? I have no idea. I keep telling you guys about her, I mean, come on. Go read this one—a story about a boy whose life is upended when he discovers his mother is having an affair.

Book That Crushed Your Soul?

The Fifth Season

Most Unique Book You Read In 2020?

Not a book but a story. “The Life of Chuck” in Stephen King’s new collection, If It Bleeds, is a lovely little piece—sweet, succinct, and strange.

Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?

The Fifth Season, for Essun’s fateful decision you saw coming a mile away that, as noted above, resulted in the crushing of my soul.

1. One Book You Didn’t Get To In 2020 But Will Be Your Number 1 Priority in 2021?

The List of Things That Will Not Change by Rebecca Stead

I didn’t read enough middle grade in 2020, and this one sounds pretty special.

2. Book You Are Most Anticipating For 2021 (non-debut)?

Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

As you can tell by now, Moreno-Garcia is a total auto-buy author for me at this point.

3. 2021 Debut You Are Most Anticipating?

Waiting for the Night Song by Julie Carrick Dalton

Childhood secrets! Woodsy small town summers! And that cover!

4. Series Ending/A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2021?

For Batter or Worse (Cupcake Bakery Mystery, #13) by Jenn McKinlay

Although it batter not be a series ender.

5. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading/Blogging Life In 2021?

As always, my goal is to read at least 52 books, preferably in addition to any rereads.

6. A 2021 Release You’ve Already Read & Recommend To Everyone (if applicable):

N/A

Here’s to 2021! Things can only get better, and there will always be books.