These are all of the five star books I read this year that were published in 2020! They are ordered by the date that I read them, from earliest in the year toward the end. There are thirteen, because limiting this list to just 10 books was insane and not a helpful exercise.
- Long Bright River by Liz Moore – Gritty, twist police procedural with a family at the center.
- Tweet Cute by Emma Lord – Cute teen romance featuring a love of burgers and grilled cheese.
- Oona Out Of Order by Margarita Montimore – Time jumping contemporary fiction that ponders what it means to live.
- Heartstopper Vol. 3 by Alice Oseman – Coming of age comic full of heart-eyed teens who play lacrosse.
- The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez – Swoony second chance romance full of wit.
- The Office (An Oral History) by Andy Greene – Retelling and behind the scenes of all of the key moments that made the T.V. show famous
- Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev – Food writing blended into a romance featuring a big family
- A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor (Carl #2) by Hank Green – Quirky science fiction that looks at “What if Amazon (or Apple) really did control everything?”
- Hench by Natalie Walschots – The henchman rise up to fight the superheroes who hold them down! Action packed with an interesting looking at superhero worship
- Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Solomon – teen hijinks the night before graduation, with a healthy dose of romance
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab – Fiction about an immortal woman whom no one can remember for 300 years, until someone finally does…
- The House in the Cerulean Sea by T. J. Klune – Wholesome magical realism fiction following a man who breaks out of the role society has forced him into
- Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall – Romance featuring the ‘fake dating to lovers’ trope, set in London and best listened to on audio featuring the British accents
If I had to pick a few books I would say that were the creme de la creme, it would be The House in the Cerulean Sea, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, and Heartstopper Vol. 3 (also, the other volumes). I devoured all of these and spent the entire time engrossed in the stories. A book I think everyone would enjoy is Long Bright River because of how gripping it was. A book for your Dad is Hench, and for your Mom is The Happy Ever After Playlist. You’ve heard me gush about these books already throughout the year, sorry about that (not sorry).
6 of these books also made it into my ‘Top 20 of 2020…so far‘ post from back in September. That post was an amalgam of all of the books I had already read in the year, whereas this post had to narrow it down to books that were published in 2020. I stand by recommending all of those, and none of their glow has diminished over time. Choosing ‘favorites’ or ‘best of’ is quite subjective. Above all, all books are good books, and not every book is for every reader. Keep on reading, my friends!
SJP Books 