Best Books Read in 2020

Book By Book

Despite all my best efforts, I am still a bit late wrapping up my 2020 reading year, but here it is–I had another great reading year!

First, I’ll share some stats and fun facts about my 2020 reading year, then my top picks, and finally, my Top 10 (or whatever) lists in each category. I read some outstanding books last year, so these were tough choices! You can see a complete list, with links to reviews, of all the books I’ve read in recent years on my Book Reviews page.

Stats and Facts

NOTE: the numbers in ( )  are my 2019 stats, for comparison. 

Total = 81 (87)

Adult Fiction = 47 (50)

Adult Nonfiction = 13 (14)

Graphic Novel/Nonfiction = 9 (15)

Teen/YA = 12 (11)

Middle-Grade = 10 (12)

Audiobooks = 24 (27)

Women Authors: 51 = 63%(54=62%)

Diverse books: 38 = 47% (37 = 43%)

From my own shelves: 44 = 54% (45 = 52%)

Re-reads = 1

Authors read more than once in 2020: Tana French, Stephen King, Ann Patchett

You can also see how I did on my 2020 Reading Challenges. 

Top Picks – Best of the Best

There were some books–like Michael J. Fox’s memoir on audio– that I could have chosen for multiple categories, but I tried to spread out the accolades!

Best Novel

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

(A December read that stole my heart)

Best Adult Nonfiction

The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Centuryby Kirk Wallace Johnson

(Fascinatingtrue story of the strangest crime ever with lots of history)

Best Memoir

NoTime Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality by Michael J. Fox

(Another outstanding memoir from Fox–funny, warm, and powerful)

Best Audio Book

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

(Excellent novel about siblings and read by Tom Hanks)

Best Teen/YA

 Solo by Kwame Alexander

(Novel in verse with music – outstanding on audio)

Best Middle-Grade

Back to Blackbrick by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

(Warm, funny, tender story of family, love, and loss) 

Best Graphic Novel/Nonfiction

Displacementby Kiku Hughes

(Tough choice but this historical fiction graphic novel was powerful and moving)

Top 10 (or Whatever) Lists of 2020

(books listed in alphabetical order and some appear on more than one list)

Top 10 Adult Fiction:

Asymmetryby Lisa Halliday

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Faithful Place by Tana French

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Plainsong by Kent Haruf

Top 7 Adult Nonfiction:

Black Is the Body: Stories from My Grandmother’s Time, My Mother’s Time, and Mineby Emily Bernard

Educatedby Tara Westover

The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Centuryby Kirk Wallace Johnson

An Indigenous People’s History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality by Michael J. Fox

The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois

White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg

Top 8 Teen/YA Books:

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Displacementby Kiku Hughes

Feedby M.T. Anderson

A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena

An Indigenous People’s History of the United States for Young People by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu

Out of Reach by Carrie Arcos

Solo by Kwame Alexander

Top 7 Middle-Grade Books:

Back to Blackbrick by Sarah Moore Fitzgerald

The Great Chicago Fire: Rising from the Ashes by Kate Hannigan and Alex Graudins

Notoriousby Gordon Korman

The Roanoke Colony: America’s First Mystery by Chris Schweizer

Snapdragon by Kat Leyh

Trespassers by Breena Bard

The Way to Stay in Destiny by Augusta Scattergood

Top 5 Graphic Novels/Nonfiction:

Displacementby Kiku Hughes

The Great Chicago Fire: Rising from the Ashes by Kate Hannigan and Alex Graudins

The Roanoke Colony: America’s First Mystery by Chris Schweizer

Snapdragon by Kat Leyh

Trespassers by Breena Bard

Top 10 Audio Books

American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

Educatedby Tara Westover

A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

No Time Like the Future: An Optimist Considers Mortality by Michael J. Fox

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

Solo by Kwame Alexander

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett