Trudy’s Best Books of 2020
This year, I read somewhere between 90-95 books, which is lower than previous years — and lower still when you realize that a sizeable chunk (maybe close to 20?) or those 90+ were rereads of old favourites. There were weeks during the height of the COVID lockdown here in March/April when I couldn’t wrap my brain around any new reading and just reread books I already knew and loved and felt safe with. Despite that, I did manage to read some stunning new books this year.
I found it super hard to narrow down even just my fiction reads to a Top Ten list this year — I went through my reviews for the year and made a note of all those that were “five star reviews” in my mind (not that I give stars, but you know what I mean). That left me with a Top 16, which would be fine except … I just like round numbers, multiples of five, Top Ten lists generally.
The ten novels I finally narrowed it down to as absolute favourites are listed below with links to my reviews. They’re listed in the order that I read them during the year, not in a ranking from 1-10 – that would be impossible!
Top Ten Fiction:
Such a Fun Age , by Kiley Reid
The Mirror and the Light , by Hilary Mantel
The Book of Longings, by Sue Monk Kidd
The Empire of Gold, by S.A. Chakraborty
Some People’s Children, by Bridget Canning
Hamnet and Judith, by Maggie O’Farrell
Piranesi, by Susanna Clark
Jack, by Marilynne Robinson
Watching You Without Me, by Lynn Coady
Transcendent Kingdom , by Yaa Gyasi
As I said, very tough choices. Some great books got left off the list, but you can look back through all my reviews for the year to see all the ones I raved about.
I wanted to do non-fiction as a separate list this year, because although I didn’t read as much of it (and thus have only a Top Five not a Top Ten), there were some real stand-outs on that list too.
Top Five Non-Fiction:
What the Oceans Remember, by Sonja Boon
How to Be an Antiracist, by Ibram X. Kendi
The Skin We’re In, by Desmond Cole
Pale Rider, by Laura Spinney
Native, by Kaitlyn Curtice
