Books help me live better. This year more than any other year, they have been my coping strategy, entertainment, information resource, best friend, stretch goal, self-help, relationship support, psychologist…you get the idea. Reading opens my heart and mind. I’m grateful to all the authors who do the miracle work of birthing books.
For my fellow readers or those of you looking for a gift for that readerly person in you life, here’s an eclectic 12-book list of my especially noteworthy 2020 reads:
- Soulswift by Megan Bannen – young adult fantasy with a strong female heroine, slow burn romance, and a religious struggle set in a gorgeously imagined world that felt real in all the ways that matter.
- The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin – first published in 1963, this book takes you into the beautiful heart of James Baldwin and is every bit as impactful and relevant today as it was originally. Baldwin considers the consequences of racial injustice within a larger rumination on what it means to be human.
- Forbidden by Beverly Jenkins – I’ve never been a fan of Westerns, but I loved Jenkins’ romances (this is the first of a series, and yes, I read them all) set in the Old West town of Virginia City, Nevada. Conflicted, sweet romance that captures historical details and teaches you Important Stuff™ while also melting your heart.
- This Vicious Cure by Emily Suvada – this was the final book in a young adult sci-fi trilogy about a gene hacker in a high-tech world on the brink of collapse, and oh boy, did I love all three! Driving plot, great characters, and a well-developed world. Yes, please! Can’t wait to see what Suvada writes next.
- The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K Le Guin – science fiction that takes on gender norms. Published twenty years ago, this read holds up surprisingly well. Le Guin immerses readers in such a strange and alien world. The book prompted me to think more deeply about gender and relationships, and really spoke to my experiences as a recent expat in a new country.
- How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi – what I appreciated most about this non-fiction read was how Kendi weaves his own, deeply personal experience into his academic engagement with racial justice. The book gave me new language, helped me better understand how America arrived at the current political moment, and offered ways I can make a more positive difference in the world. I loved it.
- Vera Violet by Melissa Anne Peterson – raw portrayal of an American town on the brink of ruin, a White working-class family’s decent into poverty, and the kids who must face adulthood in the midst of addiction and insecurity. Based in the Pacific Northwest, the novel is brimming with the truth of lived experience. Peterson is fearless, her characters brutally well-crafted.
- Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw – haunting young adult romance about a girl rumored to be a witch who must find the truth about a mysterious boy in the dark, snowy woods. An atmospheric read perfect for a day inside by the fire.
- The Fall of Lord Drayson by Rachel Anderson– if you need a jaunty escape from dreary pandemic life, this sweet Regency romance is a fabulous and very funny distraction.
- The Heart of a Peach by Jess B. Moore– prepare to swoon for this sweet, small town love story set in the delightful southern town of Fox River, North Carolina. Fall for a fiddler in this slow-burn romance.
- The Names We Take by Trace Kerr – this young adult apocalyptic story is set in Spokane, WA features a nonconforming girl desperate to live as herself in a ravaged, unforgiving world. Devastating, yet hopeful read.
- A Duke by Default by Alyssa Cole– talk about a stereotype breaker! This read takes an uppity NYC socialite and throws her into a sword making apprenticeship with a sexy Scottish grump.
