Your Top Ten books of 2020

Cafe Society
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Last year’s thread: Your Top Ten books of 2019

Doesn’t matter when they were published, but you read 'em and loved 'em in 2020. And please tell us, in a sentence or two, why you liked 'em.

I’ll post mine a little later tonight.

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I can’t narrow it quite that far, but here are my top 14 for 2020:

F&SF/speculative
Originality, strong voice, playful with genre tropes, world-building

The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth, #3)
Jemisin, N.K.

Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)
Wells, Martha

This Is How You Lose the Time War
El-Mohtar, Amal & Gladstone, Max

Pilgrimage/Camino de Santiago
Also works as general interest, strong voice, interesting narrative or descriptions

Pilgrimage: Europe’s Most Inspiring Pilgrim Routes
Brabbs, Derry

A Furnace Full of God: A Holy Year on the Camino de Santiago
Scott, Rebekah

I’ll Push You: A Journey of 500 Miles, Two Best Friends, and One Wheelchair
Gray, Patrick

Wanderlust: A History of Walking
Solnit, Rebecca

Fiction
Interesting themes and language

The Grammarians
Schine, Cathleen

Meaning or the history of meaning
Engaging thematic focus, pulls ideas together, provides historical or other information

The Great Transformation: The Beginning of Our Religious Traditions
Armstrong, Karen

The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins
Tsing, Anna Lowenhaupt

If All the Seas Were Ink: A Memoir
Kurshan, Ilana

A Smell of Burning: A Memoir of Epilepsy
Grant, Colin

The Honey Month
El-Mohtar, Amal

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In order in which I read 'em:

  1. The History of Ancient Israel: a Guide for the Perplexed, by Philip R. Davies. He tends to be a bit vague, but that’s reasonable considering how tangled the subject is, and the fact that there appears to have been at least three different ancient Israels. Somewhat eye-opening.

  2. Tragically, I Was An Only Twin: The Complete Peter Cook, edited by William Cook. Many (especially in the U.K.) consider Peter to be the funniest man who ever lived, and this shows why. I’m a lifelong fan, and there are scripts in here I’ve never run across before.

  3. Myths and Mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism, by Elijah Hixon and Peter J. Gurry. A relatively good summation of the directions textual criticism has gone in the last few decades, but the errors they point out are often pointed out as possibilities in the works they reference.

  4. Down and Out in Purgatory, by Tim Powers. Short story collection by my all-time favorite author. If you like his stuff, you’ll like this stuff.

  5. Stories from Ancient Canaan, edited by Michael D. Coogan and Mark S. Smith. Probably pre-biblical tales well translated and arranged, with obvious import as to where some of the Old Testament was dervived. The opening piece draws you right in. "“I have a word to tell you,
    a message to recount to you: the word of the tree and the whisper of the stone, the murmur of the heavens to the earth, of the seas to the stars. I understand the lightning that the heavens
    do not know, the word that people do not know, and earth’s masses cannot understand. Come, and I will reveal it.”

  6. Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife, by Bart Ehrman. America’s favorite atheist Bible scholar makes some good points about the ideas we have of the afterlife, and how they’ve steadily evolved over the centuries. Better than many of his works.

  7. The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable To Read It, by Peter Enns. Great book for anyone who wonders what’s the point of studying the Bible if it can’t be considered historically accurate.

  8. The Epistle of Jude: Its Text and Transmission, by Tommy Wasserman. Benefiting from the era of computer databases and the ability to instantly source texts that previously required trips to many different libraries throughout the world, this intensively in-depth treatment discussing all of the variant readings in hundreds of manuscripts of this very short book of the Bible. Not for the beginner, to put it mildly.

  9. Shakespeare For Squirrels, by Christopher Moore. The third (and, I think, funniest) of Moore’s Fool series which I just read this year. This one lovingly trashes A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

  10. Veritas: a Harvard Professor, a Con Man and the Gospel of Jesus’s Wife, by Ariel Saber. An investigative journalist goes to great lengths to discover in this true story how a noted biblical scholar was tricked, showcasing the environment in modern American collegiate scholarship. And there’s a twist at the ending.

  11. The Rook (and its sequel Stiletto) by Daniel O’Malley. Truly innovative fantastic hidden government agency type story, with much, much humor.

I know that’s eleven, not ten, but it was a good year.

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Sorry, I don’t have time to write up why I liked each one. I did, however, do a Top Ten for both fiction and non-fiction. The top one of each list is my favorite and second favorite overall, respectively.
Fiction

  1. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke
  2. This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
  3. Come Tumbling Down, by Seanan McGuire
  4. Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, by K. J. Parker
  5. Circe, by Madeline Miller
  6. Artemis, by Andy Weir
  7. This Body’s Not Big Enough for Both of Us, by Edgar Cantero
  8. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemison
  9. The Pursuit of Love, by Nancy Mitford
  10. The City and the City, by China Mieville

Non-Fiction

  1. The Best Cook in the World: Tales from My Momma’s Table, by Rick Bragg
  2. The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh
  3. Operation Sea Lion: The Failed Nazi Invasion the Turned the Tide of War, by Leo McKinstry
  4. Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World, by Tracy Kidder
  5. The Pentagon: A History: The Untold Story of the Wartime Race to Build the Pentagon—and to Restore It Sixty Years Later, by Steve Vogel
  6. The Zookeepers’ War: An Incredible True Story from the Cold War, by J. W. Mohnhaupt
  7. All Creation Waits: The Mystery of New Beginnings, by Gayle Boss
  8. The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently…and Why, by Richard E. Nisbett
  9. The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life, by David Quammen
  10. If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska, by Heather Lende
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I think we’d enjoy each other’s bookshelves.

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Stories from Ancient Canaan, edited by Michael D. Coogan and Mark S. Smith

Added to my wishlist.

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As requested in the OP, please tell us a little about why you liked them (if not now, soon, please). Lists of books, without more, aren’t particularly interesting IMHO.

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Here are my Top Ten for the year, in no particular order:

Tool of the Trade by Joe Haldeman - Re-read this Cold War sf favorite of mine, in which a Soviet sleeper agent discovers a practical method of mind control, and then goes on the run with both the CIA and the KGB chasing him. Tense and clever, with a very, very satisfying ending.

Raylan by Elmore Leonard - A laconic but supremely capable deputy U.S. marshal takes on Kentucky pot dealers, bank robbers and organ-nappers. Among Leonard’s best, I’d say.

Blockade Billy by Stephen King - A Fifties baseball player hides a secret even as he helps his struggling New Jersey team towards the playoffs. Not a typical King story, but darkly nostalgic and engaging.

The Last Emperox by John Scalzi - Last in a trilogy about an interstellar empire facing collapse, and the leader trying to hold everything together. Very readable and more than a little bittersweet.

The Letter of Marque by Patrick O’Brian - Former Royal Navy Capt. “Lucky Jack” Aubrey commands a privateer during the Napoleonic wars while his friend and ship’s surgeon, Dr. Stephen Maturin, seeks a reconciliation with his estranged wife.

The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - Re-read this high fantasy classic aloud with my teenage son. Magnificent as always.

Tuf Voyaging by George R.R. Martin - Another re-read, of a terrific collection of interrelated sf short stories about environmentalism, genetic engineering, absolute power, psionic cats and the merits of mushroom wine. Very, very good stuff.

JFK: A Vision for America, ed. by Stephen Kennedy Smith and Douglas Brinkley - Well-illustrated coffeetable book with essays by folks ranging from Jimmy Carter, Elizabeth Warren and the Dalai Lama to Conan O’Brien and Norman Mailer, exploring what President Kennedy meant - and still means - to the nation and the world.

Prisoner of Trebekistan by Bob Harris - Very funny, occasionally oddly-touching memoir by a top Jeopardy! contestant. Highly recommended for anyone who likes the show.

Desk 88 by Sherrod Brown - Ohio’s Democratic U.S. senator tells the story of American progressivism through short bios of eight of the senators who occupied his desk, including Hugo Black, Bobby Kennedy and George McGovern, among others. Interesting history as well as a rousing call to action.

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Lists are fine by me on the other hand. Whether fiction or non-fiction is helpful.

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Here are my annotated “Top Ten” book lists.

Fiction

  1. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, by Susanna Clarke (Fantasy. For its characterization, brilliant plotting, and everything else. Best book I read this year. The Man with Thistledown Hair is especially memorable.)
  2. This Is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (SF. For its language and imagery.)
  3. Come Tumbling Down, by Seanan McGuire (Fantasy. A brilliant ending to my favorite story arc in the author’s Wayward Children series.)
  4. Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City, by K. J. Parker (SF. Because it comes closer than any other book I’ve read by an author {other than Pratchett} to the “feel” of Discworld.)
  5. Circe, by Madeline Miller (Fantasy. Because of its language.)
  6. Artemis, by Andy Weir (SF. A fun plot with dialog that reminded me of The Martian.)
  7. This Body’s Not Big Enough for Both of Us, by Edgar Cantero (SF. Because of its humor and plotting. Also, the first chapter could stand along as a brilliant short story.)
  8. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by N.K. Jemison (Fantasy. Stunning imagery.)
  9. The Pursuit of Love, by Nancy Mitford (Roman a clef. Because of its witty dialog.)
  10. The City and the City, by China Mieville (SF. Because of its imaginative plot.)

Non-Fiction

  1. The Best Cook in the World: Tales from My Momma’s Table, by Rick Bragg (Biography/Memoir/Cooking. Because it does all three so well. Second best book I read this year. Great family portrait. Fascinating family anecdotes.)
  2. The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh (History. Fascinating historical anecdotes.)
  3. Operation Sea Lion: The Failed Nazi Invasion the Turned the Tide of War, by Leo McKinstry (History. More fascinating historical anecdotes.)
  4. Mountains Beyond Mountains: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer, A Man Who Would Cure the World, by Tracy Kidder (Biography. Inspiring portrait of a public health physician working in the Third Word, primarily. Also, year’s best opening sentence: “We met because of a beheading, of all things.”)
  5. The Pentagon: A History: The Untold Story of the Wartime Race to Build the Pentagon—and to Restore It Sixty Years Later, by Steve Vogel (History. Still more fascinating historical anecdotes.)
  6. The Zookeepers’ War: An Incredible True Story from the Cold War, by J. W. Mohnhaupt (History/Biography. Even more fascinating historical anecdotes.)
  7. All Creation Waits: The Mystery of New Beginnings, by Gayle Boss (Religious/Biology. Inspiring prose poem with interesting explanations of how animals survive the winter.)
  8. The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently…and Why, by Richard E. Nisbett (Sociology. Yet again, great historical anecdotes. Seeing a pattern here?)
  9. The Tangled Tree: A Radical New History of Life, by David Quammen (Biology. I read several books this year about evolution. This was the best, although the hardest for me to understand, since I don’t have a scientific background.)
  10. If You Lived Here, I’d Know Your Name: News from Small-Town Alaska, by Heather Lende (Memoir. Because of the chapter about the sinking of a fishing boat crewed by the children of one of Lende’s neighbors. I believe it’s called “The Sinking of the Becca Dawn.” That one chapter is powerful enough to put it on my list.)
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I actually read less this year due to the pandemic, not more. However, I still read here and there. My favorite books I read this year, in no real order, were:

  • The God Who Sees by Karen Gonzalez - should be a must-read for Christians who support Trump-like immigration policies. A view of illegal and legal immigration in the Bible.

  • The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents by Terry Pratchett - I only read a couple Discworld books this year and this was the best one. A top 5 Discworld book for me. Loved it.

  • The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin - For kids? I guess, but it’s my favorite mystery book and I read it this Christmas break with my kids. It still holds up. A great book and a lot like Harper Lee, Raskin only had one great novel in her.

I read quite a few other books, but none were all that amazing. Those were the three that stood out to me.

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I read fewer books in 2020 (52, exactly one per week, on average) than I had in 2019 (68), too. I don’t quite know why.

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I use a combination of audio books and normal reading. I read less audio books since I did way less driving. I still read at home and with my kids, but a lot less than normal.

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I was down 11 books from my goal this year.

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Yeah, that pretty much all describes my reading last year, too.

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I read 116 books last year, which may be a record for me. In 2019 I had read 83.

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I read 177 books last year, which is almost certainly a record for me. I read while I was jogging on the treadmill, which helped.

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I’m going to do a top 11, since there were 11 book that I rated 5 stars last year.

Nonfiction:

  1. Columbine by Dave Cullen - An account of the Columbine shootings and their aftermath by a journalist. The author did a tremendous job of gathering together many different perspectives, and treating all the various players with kindness, dignity, and respect (but without excusing their actions). He also successfully kept himself out of the main narrative, which many nonfiction writers cannot do, and made the subject engaging.

  2. The Joy of Movement: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connection, and Courage by Kelly McGonigal - McGonigal writes great books, and this one is no exception. Imagine a self-help book, but backed by much more solid research and evidence than most self-help books contain, and you’ll get this gem.

  3. Why Won’t You Apologize?: Healing Big Betrayals and Everyday Hurts by Harriet Lerner - This book delved far beyond the standards of apologizing to offer some cool new insights. One tip I particularly liked is to keep both grievances and apologies brief, as long lectures or explanations can encourage a listener to tune you out and detract from the key message you’re conveying. You can always revisit anything that’s been left unsaid in a separate conversation later.

  4. The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff - The book examines “cancel culture” on college campuses. Since I’m not a college student and don’t have any children, this didn’t apply to me, but the larger issue in this book is examining how kids are becoming increasingly depressed, anxious, and feeling unsafe around dissenting viewpoints. That aspect of the book hit home for me and showed me some tips for not retreating or feeling overwhelmed during uncomfortable situations.

  5. Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions by Johann Hari - This book addresses the increasing rates of depression in modern society, and then shows how this is caused by a disconnection from meaningful connections and values on a societal level. Then it examines some ideas of what we can do as a society to change that.

  6. Genome: The Autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters by Matt Ridley - Each chapter in this book is a self-contained essay about some aspect of human genetics and what we’ve learned since sequencing the human genome and trying to discern meaningful information from it. It’s a rather old book, but I found it very educational without being dry.

  7. With Winning in Mind by Lanny Bassham - The book examines the psychology of winning, how to have a winning mindset, and how to employ the training and techniques necessary to be both physically and psychologically prepared for competition. I used to roll my eyes at the thought of positive thinking and visualization, but this book tied those ideas in with the solidity of developing a good training regimen, and when coupled together as they were, it made a lot of sense to me.

  8. The Joy of X: A Guided Tour of Math, from One to Infinity by Steven Strogatz - This book was great, because it didn’t fall into the trap that math writers often fall into, of falling all over themselves trying to prove that math is useful in the real world and you should learn it for that reason. Instead, Strogatz shows you the beauty of math, the surprising patterns and fun puzzles and elegance that elevate it to an art form, rather than purely something of utility.

Fiction:

  1. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas - A black girl watches her black friend get killed by a policeman. This book certainly deals with hot button issues, but it manages to do this while (a) Still being a solid story in its own right, and (b) Being respectful towards law enforcement.

  2. Miracle Creek by Angie Kim - This was a mystery/thriller, but with way more depth than I’ve seen out of any other such book. Several people were killed in an accident, and as the writer gradually unveils the story of what actually happens and whom is responsible, it explores concepts of loyalty, secrecy, family values, intentionality, and culpability.

  3. Dark Matter by Blake Crouch - The main character is thrust into a parallel universe and needs to find his way back to his wife and son. The book contains the standard action and excitement, but also explores issues of identity and the road not taken, that actually helped me work through some personal issues in my own life.

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Thanks for the thread, Elendil’s Heir!
In no particular order (because that sounds hard):

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke. This is a story about a man with few memories, who lives in an endless house of marble statues. I loved being in his beautiful, dreamlike world…and I loved finding out what the heck it was and how he got there.

Zoe Punches the Future in the Dick by David Wong. This is the second book in the Zoey Ashe series, about a very young woman who is suddenly thrown into a role of incredible wealth and power. And she has a lot of enemies. And it’s set in the future. I always have so much fun with David Wong’s books, and I admit I gave this one an extra star just for the title.

Anyone by Charles Soule. Anyone is a sci-fi novel set in a world where people can transfer their minds into different bodies. Like Mr. Soule’s other books, I think this could be a good movie.

The Wesleyan Anthology of Science Fiction. This is an amazing collection of the best and most important science fiction stories of the last hundred and fifty years. So much mind-blowing good stuff here, I can’t tell you. This is one I’d like to own (although it’s so thick, I’d really prefer a nice hardcover version).

If It Bleeds, four novellas by Stephen King, in which Mr. King proves that he remembers how to write the good stuff. My favorite story was Rat, but there’s also a tale starring character Holly Gibney, if she’s what floats your boat.

Circe by Madeline Miller. The mythological adventures of a witch living on a magical island. You know, that’s what I always wanted to be when I grew up.

Horrid by Katrina Leno. (young adult) When a teenage girl and her mother move back into their family’s old haunted house, it turns out to be a bad idea. I love it when that happens.

The Hollow Places by T. Kingfisher. A horror novel inspired by Algernon Blackwood’s classic story The Willows. This was a truly frightening tale, but I really liked the characters and at times found them very funny.

For He Can Creep, by Siobhan Carroll. Okay, this technically doesn’t belong here because it’s a short story. But I loved it so, so much, you guys. I’ve read it several times this year. It’s a story about cats who fight the devil. Look, you can read it for free, right here! For He Can Creep | Tor.com

Honorable mention:
Network Effect, by Martha Wells. The latest book in the Murderbot series.
The Seventh Bride, by T. Kingfisher. A young adult (?) novel based on the story of Bluebeard.
Exhalation, short stories by Ted Chiang. I will be reading all future endeavors from this guy.
Utopia Avenue, by David Mitchell. The story of a British rock band rising to fame in the sixties. If you’re of the right age, you may like the parts involving non-fictional musicians.

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I don’t set goals for how many books to read in a year, because I low-key think I read too much. Since reading is, if not my favorite activity, in my top three, it feels like a guilty pleasure since sometimes maybe I should be getting out of the house or interacting with the outside world more than I am.

Also, since we’re talking about how many books we’ve read this year, I started 57 and finished 48, not including a few books that I re-read on audio. My record was in 2018, where I started 95 and finished 82. That was due to (a) a hold-up at work where I had to wait for a lengthy approval process to take place before I could resume the project I was working on, which meant days at the office with nothing to do, so I read, (b) my husband leaving me, so I really didn’t want to face the real world at the time, and (c) being out of work for a couple weeks because I contracted pneumonia.

Also, I forgot to mention, but the order of my list indicates the order in which I read the books.