This list is shorter than the one that I came up with in 2019, but the quality is just as good! For such a rough year, it feels good to be bringing it to a close with a recollection of my favorite books this year. I decided to not include fan fiction, and also won’t be ranking the books listed. So, here are my top 5 favorite books from 2020!
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo: It’s been almost a year since I read this one, and I still have no news on the sequel!! I initially wasn’t going to read this book because of the bad reviews that I was seeing, but this was one of those cases where I’m glad I didn’t listen too closely to the hype. Depending on how the rest of the story shapes up, this could very well end up being my favorite book series by Bardugo. Read this book if you like dark academia, secret societies, stories about misfits making their own way, and revenge fantasies.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2
Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas: I hate being so basic, but this is my favorite book of the year. I enjoyed it immensely, and didn’t ever want it to end. Reading this book felt like coming home, and it was incredibly healing to read a story like this after being so heart-broken by a certain Saga ending that came out last December. Maas has become one of my few go-to authors because I trust that she’ll write something I love no matter what. I can’t wait for anything that she puts out, and I’m beyond thrilled that it looks like I’m getting two books by her in 2021!
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Chain of Gold by Cassandra Clare: One of the very best things about this terrible year was getting back into the Shadowhunters books. I didn’t realize how much I missed this world until I came back. This book was such a promising start to a new series, and I’m dying to read about what comes next. I really have no fear that I’ll love the rest of this series regardless of it going the way I expect it to, and it feels really nice to just be along for the ride, to trust the author!
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Down Comes The Night by Allison Saft: This book isn’t even out yet, and it already rocked my world! I love that it sits amongst so many greats as an unreleased debut… It’s a beautiful thing. I can’t wait to finally start seeing other readers’ thoughts and hopefully seeing merch for it begin to come to life too! This atmospheric, wintry, lgbtq+, enemies-to-lovers, Jane Eyre-feeling masterpiece is going to be so beautiful on my shelves come March, I can hardly wait!
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
How The King of Elfhame Learned To Hate Stories by Holly Black: Rounding out the list, and coming out just in time to finish out the year, is this amazing little short story about one of my all-time favorite characters ever! I enjoyed this book so much more than I had even dared hope to. Like Crescent City and Chain of Gold, it left me feeling so much satisfaction and warmth during and after reading it, which is what I want most of all from the media I’ve consumed during this heartbreaking year.
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing this out filled me with so much warmth and honestly put a smile right on my face. In my closing sentences for this year, I want to suggest a few of my favorite shows from the year too! Dark on Netflix is probably the best thing I’ve watched in a long time, and I’m dying to watch it again! Also, Normal People, Fruits Basket (2019), It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, and Bridgerton are some really great shows that immediately come to mind that I watched this year. I hope next year is even better for media, and that things start to look up in our world as soon as possible. Happy New Year!
Magic and Mysteries 