Top 5 Books of 2020

Happy New Year’s Eve! I can’t believe it’s the end of 2020. Even in this crazy year, reading has still been an important part of my life and one of my favorite hobbies.

Truthfully, with quarantine and more time at home, I didn’t necessarily read more because I took the time to binge shows on Netflix. 😂 I did read 39 books this year which is as many as I read in 2019 as well.

Today, I’m recapping the books I read this year as well as sharing my Top FIVE reads of 2020.

I saw Tanya’s link up, and it’s perfect timing for today’s post.

Before I get to what I read in 2020, here’s my Top 5 books post from 2019.

My 2020 Reads:

January:

• A Woman is No Man
• The Wives
• The Hate U Give

February:

I had the flu in January, and I think I got behind on reading and didn’t post in February…

March:

• American Royals
• The Broken Girls
• Small Great Things
• The Secret to Southern Charm

April:

• Regretting You
• Our New Normal
• The Matchmaker

May:

• Two Girls Down
• The Southern Side of Paradise
• Defending Jacob

June:

• Little Fires Everywhere
• Paper Ghosts
• The Unhoneymooners
• The Simple Wild
• One in a Million

July:

• Our Little Lies
• Ugly Love
• Feels like Falling

August:

• The Family Upstairs
• Maid
• 28 Summers

September:

• Wild at Heart
• In Five Years
• Two Can Keep a Secret

October:

• The Flatshare
• November 9
• The Guest List

November:

• The Jetsetters
• Louisiana Lucky
• Winter in Paradise

December:

• Seven Days of Us
• Mr. Dickens and His Carol
• In a Holidaze
• 25 Days ’til Christmas
• Let it Snow
• Jingle All the Way

Top 5 of 2020:

Before I share my Top 5 reads of 2020, these deserve honorable mention recognition 😉…

November 9 #crazylovestory

The Jetsetters #forcedfamilyfun

Little Fires Everywhere #likeditbetterthantheseries

and…

The Matchmaker #anotherEHfave

Here are my 5 favorite reads of 2020 in no particular order…

A Woman is No Man:

I started off 2020 with this powerful read…and I mentioned it would probably be a to pick for this year…and it is. This novel about arranged marriages, early motherhood, and silenced voices was a book that opened my eyes to other cultures and left me feeling grateful for the choices I have as a woman.

In Five Years

The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle was the last book I read in 2018, and it’s one of my favorite books of all time. I was so excited to read In Five Years by Serle after being on the library wait list for a few months. This was definitely a page turner for me, I loved the characters, and it tugged at my heartstrings. The ending almost lost me with labeling this a fave as I thought, “Huh?!” when I neared the end. Then, as the story wrapped up, I thought, “Ohhhh!!” and those final pages redeemed this book for me as a favorite.

Ugly Love:

I love Colleen Hoover books, and Ugly Love is another fave for me written by her! Miles and Tate had a very complicated relationship with baggage to sort through as they grew as individuals and as a couple. You know I love a book when I share favorite quotes from the story like:

“…that God gives us the ugliness so we don’t take the beautiful things in life for granted.”

I loved this (R-rated at times) book a lot!

August was a great reading month for me with these last two books.

28 Summers:

Y’all know I love Elin Hilderbrand. I was so excited to read 28 Summers. As I mentioned in my August recap, while I’m not about the idea of “28 summers/same time, next year” in real life, I couldn’t stop rooting for Mallory and Jake. I know, I know. BUT…I just kept reading wanting to know how things would end up for them. Also, I loved the structure of the text with a recap of events from that year. It was amazing how time flies for them as well as how they navigated life the other 51 weeks of each year without each other.

Since The Matchmaker was another hit for me this year, Hilderbrand continues to be a favorite author of mine…and I love following her on Instagram!

Maid:

Maid had been on my reading list for quite some time. I was out for a walk this summer and saw it in a neighborhood library. I grabbed it and was excited to dive right in.

This book forever opened my eyes to poverty in America especially as it pertains to single income families. Land’s tenacity to make a better life for herself and her daughter while working at low paying jobs, putting herself through school, and navigating government assistance was inspiring. I literally re-read certain parts to try to fully understand what it must have been like for her choosing jobs based on proximity to where she lived, buying certain foods at the grocery store, and completing paperwork and applications for opportunities all seemed so overwhelming. I was so inspired by her story and amazed by her journey!

So, those are my thoughts on my favorite books from this year. Looking back at my monthly posts, I was really on with my guesses of top reads as I read throughout the year.

Maybe in 2021 I can read 40 books? That’s a good goal, I think!

What have you read this year that you have loved? I’d love to add more books to my ever growing list!

I hope you have a great last day of 2020…I know we all would like to end on a high note, right?

Happy reading!