10 Best Fiction Books I Read in 2020
Just moonlighting as Louisa May Alcott on a cold winter’s day.
In 2019, I made it my mission to read more. I set a goal of 100 books in a year and I completed that goal, but at the expense of my sanity. I read a lot of books that weren’t good because I felt like I had to finish them, so I entered 2020 deciding not to set a number but to continue to read voraciously. The major benefit was that I got into the habit of reading more often, so it became second nature.
I ended up reading 75 pretty solid books. I definitely gave up on books that I didn’t love, but there were still a few duds because I was interested enough to see them through, hoping they would get better. They didn’t. (Looking at you, Mexican Gothic).
Here are the 10 best fiction books I read this past year:
The Giver of Stars - JoJo Moyes.
I don’t even remember why I read this, as it’s not my typical style of writing. But I loved it! It’s somewhat historical fiction (based on the traveling libraries of the New Deal era) and takes place in the South. There’s murder, female comrarderie, race relations, heated debates, pregnancies out of wedlock, romance, revenge… and a satisfying ending!
My Dark Vanessa - Kate Elizabeth Russell.
This is the book for all the people who watched A Teacher and thought, “Wait, this doesn’t feel right” for the wrong reasons. This novel truly showcases the effect of gaslighting on a vulnerable young woman. It’s a teacher/student romance that goes wrong, but she doesn’t feel as though she was taken advantage of. She even stays friends with him throughout her adult life.
As the reader, it was so obvious to see how she was taken advantage of, but it was refreshing to see a main character come to that on her own. It was so relatable, as someone who has easily been gaslit by most of the men in her life and barely notices.
Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi
I can’t stop talking or thinking about this book. The first two chapters were so tough to read that I had to put it down for a week. (I started reading it while getting a haircut, so not quite the light, fluffy material for that environment.) I picked it back up and finished it within two days. It’s gut-wrenching but enlightening.
I read a lot of non-fiction by Black authors this year, explaining race and how we got where we are in the U.S. This novel accompanies that material really well because it puts it all into perspective and provides real characters and circumstances. It starts with the slave trade and follows the descendants of two characters - one who married a rich English man in Ghana, and one who was sold to the U.S. You follow the stories of the direct impact slavery had on Black people in both nations, but it’s particularly awakening as to how it impacted Black Americans.
Anxious People - Frederik Bachman
I’m a big fan of this Scandanavian author. He also wrote Bear Town and A Man Called Ove, which are two of my other favorite books. This book was a quick read about a bank heist gone wrong. It shows the perspective of the cops, the robber, and the hostages he has in an open-house apartment showing. It’s hilarious and has a good twist.
The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennet
Black, but light-skinned, twin sisters were born in a Southern town. They both skip town and move to New Orleans. One gets a secretary job where she passes as white and decides to stay that way. She marries her boss and abandons her sister/family.
The other sister, identifying as Black, marries an abusive, dark-skinned man and eventually escapes back home to her mother’s house with their dark-skinned daughter who stands out in the lighter-skinned town.
The book follows their separate paths, and descendants, and showcases how Black people were/are treated, and the opportunities and benefits for the sister who decided to live as a white woman.
One by One - Ruth Ware
I read pretty much every thriller released in a year, and I hate a lot of them. Psychological thrillers are the new trashy romance novel, some are done right and others are just churned out using buzzwords (the killer next door! The couple next door! The affair… next door!)
Ruth Ware’s most popular book is The Woman in Cabin 10 and I enjoyed it, but it is not my favorite because it has the same cliche that every other thriller has: alcoholic/addicted crazy woman that nobody believes.
One by One didn’t have that, and it was fantastic. It felt fun, original, and new despite essentially being an Agatha Christie formula. It takes place at a tech company’s corporate retreat in a snowed-in ski resort, and all attendees go missing one by one (get it?) It was the “page-turner” I was hoping for with the right amount of surprise.
When We Were Vikings - Andrew David MacDonald
Another book that I never would have expected to like, but I LOVED IT SO MUCH. Two siblings live together after losing their parents. The older brother raises his younger sister who was born with fetal alcohol syndrome. He struggles with addiction and maturity issues. His ex-girlfriend, AK-47, is also a prominent figure in his sister’s life.
The story is told from the sister’s perspective, so it’s amazing to see the world from the point of view of a mentally handicapped person. She is obsessed with Vikings, and thinks of her life as a Viking tale, and wants to do heroic things and lives by the Viking code. It’s heartbreaking, but inspiring, as she is forced to take on more responsibilities (like getting a job and taking the bus somewhere she isn’t familiar) and tries to be the Viking hero who saves her brother and their family. It’s one of the loveliest books I’ve ever read, and although it sounds crazy, I suggest you read it right now.
Invisible Girl - Lisa Jewell
When I first discovered Lisa Jewell, I was hesitant because she puts out 1-2 books a year. However, all of the books I’ve read of hers are pretty good! They’re different from the usual thriller cliches. This was her latest (it came out in late 2020) and takes place around the holidays. Nobody is a raging alcoholic, nobody is batshit insane… it just has good characters, twists, and is a solid psychological page-turner.
The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas
This came out a few years back and had great reviews, but for some reason, I stayed away because it was YA. I don’t know why I think I’m above YA when I’m basically a 13-year old girl. However, it’s fantastically written, and the audiobook narrator is AWESOME. It’s a young girl, growing up in a mostly black, tough neighborhood but goes to a mostly white school. Her life is obviously different from her white friends (and boyfriend) and she finds herself playing two versions of herself.
She ends up witnessing her childhood best friend die at the hands of a cop after being pulled over and it becomes more difficult for her to keep playing two different characters in her life. This is another one that accompanies the non-fiction I’ve read, and just the news, by providing characters and a story to follow. You see how it ripples through her life, her family’s life, her neighborhood, and the whole country. You see how the media gets involved, activists get involved, and how divisive it gets even within their own circle.
Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
Okay, hear me out. Was this book published in 1868? Absolutely. However, it’s the book WE NEED RIGHT NOW! Little Women (90’s version) is my favorite movie, and it has been since I was a child. I had never read the book until 2020. It is the best book for now because it was PROGRESSIVE for its time, as it took place during the Civil War and not much was expected of women. Jo was steadfast in her belief that she never wanted to marry (a woman’s only expected duty at the time) and wanted to write and make money for her family.
It’s also disgustingly wholesome. There are some serious moments where my eyes rolled into the back of my head and got stuck there, but I also needed that. I needed to get lost in a world, and a time, when kindness mattered and people helped each other and they had to make their own fun because TECHNOLOGY DIDN’T EXIST.
So, that’s it. My top ten favorite works of fiction during a disaster of a year. We couldn’t go anywhere, we couldn’t do anything, so I read. A lot. And I drank. A lot. Here’s to more of both in 2021.
Also, I’m bad at GoodReads, but here is my profile if you want to follow along with what I’m reading. I’m already down seven books this year! (None of which have been updated on GoodReads… so, yeah.)