Hello, lovelies!
In the midst of reflecting on all that 2020 was and all it wasn't, I decided to delve into the less-serious sides of 2020. Namely, my reading material over the past 12 months.
I read 81 books in 2020, which sounds good compared to 68 in 2019, but lousy compared to 201 in 2018 or 168 in 2017... Still, it was a nice number, in light of the limited reading time I had for most of the year.
So yeah, I picked my top five reads in three categories to spotlight! I removed a few books from this list that were Christmas, since I'd already talked about them during 12DoC, or were re-reads to help narrow down the list. Because...I'm terrible at picking favorites. *throws up hands*
F I C T I O N
A Rumored Fortune by Joanna Davidson Politano
/ beautiful eloquent prose / deeply woven mystery / pretty names: Tressa, Trevalyn, Donegan / vineyard setting / one first person POV & one third person POV / oceanside estate / buddy read /
Untitled by Jesseca Wheaton
/ raw, heartfelt prose / WWII - war in the pacific / brotherhood / harsh war fiction / painful / indie fiction / totally broke me / spotlighting the untitled, forgotten ones /
Never Say Goodbye by Sarah Grace Grzy
/ single father trope / bookstore vibes / broke my heart and put it back together / stunning cover art / sequel to Live Without You / adored the audiobook /
Tattered Wings by Kassie Angle
/ working dog rep / spunky girl MC / strong brotherhood relations / fragments of a memory / wounded soldiers / tattered wings still fly /
He Wore Brass Buttons by Willowy Whisper
/ beautiful historical collection / intoxicating writing style / one novelette + three short stories / The Tiny Gift was my fav <3 /
N O N - F I C T I O N
All Along You Were Blooming by Morgan Harper Nichols
/ thoughts for boundless living / free-style poetry / inspiring artwork / encouragement for every heart /
He Chose the Nails by Max Lucado
/ lingering at the foot of the cross / soul-stirring thoughts and reflections / well-done audiobook /
War Letters compiled by Andrew Carroll
/ genuine letters from America's wars / revolutionary war through Iraqi conflict / over 500 pages of history / a total treasure / aside from being abridged, epic audiobook /
Do Hard Things by Alex & Brett Harris
/ inspiration to use the middle and high school years as something more / teen encouragement / upstart of the Rebelution blog / late to the party on this one / best suited for teens /
Steal Like An Artist by Austin Kleon
/ "10 things nobody told you about being creative" / insight into the life of an artist / humorous / oddly inspiring / includes original art /
S H O R T S T O R I E S
Off Course by Angie Thompson
/ sibling relationships / foster care and juvenile detention rep / cemeteries always get me / might have cried a lot /
A Touch of Purple Paint by Hailey Rose
What the Cat Dragged In by Angie Thompson
/ perfect winter story / adorable little kid / foster care rep / reunited / sibling relationship /
Lockdown by Angela R. Watts
/ prequel to the Infidel Books / 2020 vibes / all the feels / "America forgets too much." /
Tin Can Serenade by Amanda Dykes
/ epistolary historical story / adorable story / deeper story than I expected / precious Christmasy tale /
Fun list!!
ReplyDeleteLove your new blog look, BTW. 😍
thank you! :)
DeleteI like the new blog look, Faith!
ReplyDeleteThis post was so fun!
A Rumored Fortune was really good! I want to read Never Say Goodbye and All Along You Were Blooming.
Two of my top books from 2020 were Once Upon Eliza and Happily Ever Ashten by Erynn Mangum. :)
Thanks! I started working on it on a whim last night; I'm pleased with how it turned out :)
DeleteBoth are total gold <3
Those look so good! I need to read that author.
😍
ReplyDeleteI read Do Hard Things- it was wonderful!!😍
Okay- so out of that while list, which do you too recommend for me? 😄
it was so inspiring!!
DeleteOOhhh, gonna test me, huh? xD Um, I would definitely suggest Never Say Goodbye—very good, very sweet, very clean. Tattered Wings, too, was amazing if you want a military thread/vibe. A Touch of Purple Paint would be SO good for all ages, if a bit weepy... And I've loved all of Angie Thompson's short stories! Sooo, haha, there's a handful of recs xD
Thanks Faith!!!!
DeleteAhhh, girl. I about cried this AM after seeing LOCKDOWN on here. Thank you.♥
ReplyDeleteALSO YES UNTITLED WAS!!!! BEAUTIFUL.
brooooo *tackle hugs*
DeleteRIGHTTTT <33
This was an AMAZING list!! Wow! And I love the new look, btw!
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks! <3
DeleteAhhh! I love this!! I've read A Rumored Fortune, Do Hard Things, and Tattered Wings this year - and allllll of them were amazing. <333333
ReplyDeleteUntitled and Never Say Goodbye? I need sooooo badly to read these!!!! <333
SOOOO good! <3
DeleteYes yes, those were both fantastic :)
Love the new blog look!! <3
ReplyDeleteNever Say Goodbye was really good! And Untitled is special! Both I got to beta read which was awesome!
Also, you read a lot of books compared to what I read last year.... *hides*
Thank you! Not a huge change, but I like it too. Feels fresh :D
DeleteYesssss <3
Okay but, to be fair, several of those "81" were shorter works ;P
Okay, my blog notification are all messed up, but I totally didn't expect to see my stories on this list! Thank you so much! <3
ReplyDeleteAnd I concur with the rest of these that I've read! :D
Of course! I love your stories <3
DeleteThese look good. Def going to check them out. I've been looking for good audio books. The series All the Wrong questions, by Lemony Snicket was some great reads.
ReplyDeleteThere's lots of good audiobooks on Scribd! I've been using it a lot the last few months. :D I'll have to look into those!
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