The Ultimate Best Books of 2020 List from Literary Hub - An amazing list sourcing 41 lists to present the most frequently found titles. (The book that landed on the most lists was The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett.)
NPR's Book Concierge - A great place to browse, with categories such as Staff Picks, Book Club Ideas, books For History Lovers, etc.
Goodreads Staffers Share Their Top Three Books of the Year - This list includes 2020 titles as well as older ones.
Library Journal: Worst Year, Best Books 2020 - 144 titles across 15 categories such as Literary Fiction, Biography and Memoir, Graphic Novels, etc.
The Amazon's Editor's Best Books of the Year - Including customer favorites as well as staff picks.
This year I do not feel motivated or qualified to make a list. Usually I analyze my Goodreads list and pick the 5 star reads to write about. But during this pandemic year, I scrounged around my house for books to read during the time the public libraries were closed. Then a childhood friend who now lives in Los Angeles started sending me boxes of books which I then passed along to other friends. All well and good, plus eventually when the libraries reopened, I could reserve books again. But I fell out of the habit of writing reviews here or on Goodreads. Maybe that habit will return, I don't know. I will say that my all-time favorite book of the year was 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand. It was one that everyone I knew who read it wanted to talk about! Here are the only books I blogged about here this year Hidden Valley Road:Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker, This is Happiness by Niall Williams, and In the Distance by Hernan Diaz.
I also noticed my attention span for books was not quite as strong as usual. And I started streaming various series from around the world. I got hooked on Heartland (Canada) and Offspring (Australia), both very long running series. I was also making art and sewing. And there were some months at the beginning of the year that our family was busy helping my husband retire and move out of his large wood shop. Somehow we managed to sell his table saw and other large tools, so that was a big success. He is happily ensconced in his man cave now called the Hideout located in a wing of our rebuilt garage.
And so ends a most trying year. 2021 has got to be better! I count our blessings that no one in our families contracted the virus, and that my brother came through heart surgery AOK. I am grateful for the blessings that my secure retirement from Harris County Public Library brings me. All over the world, so many people are suffering and there are many repercussions yet to come. Hopefully there will also be improvements in disease prevention, the environment and world unity. May it be so.
