While everyone else was perfecting their sourdough bread recipes in 2020, I was reading 150 books. This post lists the titles and which ones I would recommend and which I probably wouldn’t.
I just love a book list. What reader doesn’t?
So I’ve decided to offer up my 2020 book list for your perusal in hopes that you might find a few new favorites, a reminder of some old ones, and maybe something to curl up with in 2021.
These books are a mish-mash of fiction and non-fiction, young adult, classics, and contemporary. Some are books for homeschoolers, others for those interested in Christianity. Some are clean, others more open-door.
But they were all, to varying degrees, good reads.
I will say that I don’t think I read any really bad books. Some weren’t to my taste, but that doesn’t mean they were bad.
In fact, some I knew were good. But there are plenty of amazing stories that just don’t hit the right notes with certain readers and I think that’s absolutely okay. Diversity is important in our reading lives.
With that being said, here we go…
Books I Read in 2020
[Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links. Please see below for more details]
The Good Reads…
Non-Fiction:
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
The Little Book of Lykke by Meik Wiking
Silent Night by Stanley Weintraub
Anger by Gary Chapman
The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking
The Extremely Busy Woman’s Guide to Self-Care by Suzanne Falter
The First 20 Hours by Josh Kaufman
Deep Work by Cal Newport
Quiet Power by Susan Cain
How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
The Manager Mom Epidemic by Thomas Phelan
Memoir:
Eat Cake, Be Brave by Melissa Radke
Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic by Michael McCreary
Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins
The Girl’s Guide to Homelessness by Brianna Karp
Relish by Lucy Knisley
How Reading Changed My Life by Anna Quindlen
Educated by Tara Westover
Fiction:
The Greatest Gift by Philip Van Doren Stern
Strange Weather in Tokyo by Hiromi Kawakami
What to Say Next by Julie Buxbaum
Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim
The Sea Captain’s Wife by Beth Powning
The Love that Split the World by Emily Henry
Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Love Walked In by Marisa De Los Santos
The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Mary Poppins by P.L. Travers
The Stationary Shop by Marjan Kamali
Strike Me Down by Mindy Mejia
Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner
The City We Became by N.K. Jemisin
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand
I’d Give Anything by Marisa De Los Santos
From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
Hello Girls by Brittany Cavallaro and Emily Henry
Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris
Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan
These Happy Golden Years by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Romantic Suspense:
Night Diver by Elizabeth Lowell
Hard Target by Pamela Clare
Hard Asset by Pamela Clare
Cold Truth by Mariah Stewart
Classics:
Persuasion by Jane Austen
Charles Dickens’ Christmas Stories by Charles Dickens
A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare
Romance:
Archangel’s Prophecy by Nalini Singh
Archangel’s War by Nalini Singh
Faker by Sarah Smith
The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory
Falling Hard by Pamela Clare
Party of Two by Jasmine Guillory
Tempting Fate by Pamela Clare
Recipe for Persuasion by Sonali Dev
Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn
Alpha Night by Nalini Singh
Close to Heaven by Pamela Clare
Holding On by Pamela Clare
The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez
Chasing Fire by Pamela Clare
Fight or Flight by Samantha Young
The Great Reads…
Non-Fiction:
Homeschool Bravely by Jamie Erickson
The Unhurried Homeschooler by Durenda Wilson
Plan Your Year by Pam Barnhill
You Are Special by Fred Rogers
The Read Aloud Family by Sarah Mackenzie
The Wondering Years by Knox McCoy
The Gift of Fear by Gavin de Becker
All Things Reconsidered by Knox McCoy
Many Ways to Say I Love You by Fred Rogers
The Lifegiving Table by Sally Clarkson
The Body by Bill Bryson
White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo
In the Manger by Max Lucado
Loving My Actual Neighbor by Alexandra Kuykendall
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
Notes from a Blue Bike by Tsh Oxenreider
An Unhurried Life by Alan Fadling
Girls’ Club by Sally, Sarah, and Joy Clarkson
At Home by Bill Bryson
Insight by Tasha Eurich
Sacred Ground, Sticky Floors by Jami Amerine
Faith Unraveled by Rachel Held Evans
C.S. Lewis’ Little Book of Wisdom by C.S. Lewis
Memoir:
Sea Stories by Admiral William H. McRaven
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Wintering by Katherine May
Mastering the Art of French Eating by Ann Mah
Fiction:
The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
Sea Wife by Amity Gaige
This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan
The Switch by Beth O’Leary
I Was Told it Would Get Easier by Abbi Waxman
Musical Chairs by Amy Poeppel
A Million Junes by Emily Henry
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler
Throw Like A Girl by Sarah Henning
Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Clap When You Land by Elizabeth Acevedo
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The End of October by Lawrence Wright
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo
Admission by Julie Buxbaum
The Darwin Affair by Tim Mason
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
This Won’t End Well by Camille Pagan
Romantic Suspense:
The Widow of Rose House by Diana Biller
Classics:
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Romance:
Act Like It by Lucy Parker
The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez
Outmatched by Kristen Callihan and Samantha Young
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Mysteries:
A Dangerous Collaboration by Deanna Raybourn
Only Ever Her by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn
A Treacherous Curse by Deanna Raybourn
The Mother-in-Law by Sally Hepworth
Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson
The Awesome Reads…
Non-Fiction:
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Memoir:
The Year of Less by Cait Flanders
Fiction:
Simon the Fiddler by Paulette Jiles
The Late Bloomers’ Club by Louise Miller
The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
Delicious! by Ruth Reichl
Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Lovely War by Julie Berry
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
Classics:
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
Romance:
My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan
Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
Beach Read by Emily Henry
The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary
Mysteries:
The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny
Celine by Peter Heller
A Fatal Grace by Louise Penny
I hope you check out some of these awesome books, or even just the ones in your favorite genres. You’re going to love them!
Looking for more great reads? Check out these book list posts:
Best Jane Austen-inspired Books to Read
How to Encourage Variety in Your Reading Life
20 Best Book Series for 2nd Grade Boys & Girls
2020 Summer Reading List for Elementary School Kids
[Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a commission, at no additional cost to you. All opinions are my own and I never recommend anything I haven’t used myself and loved.]
Leave a Reply