My Goodreads goal for 2020 was 24 books again. It’s a nice even number for 2 books a month. Last year I did 32 but I don’t like to exert myself so 24 was the plan. Plus who knew that the panny was going to rob so many of us of so many things including the ability to focus on anything. I didn’t have a commute to the office anymore so I haven’t listened to many audiobooks. I have 3 Audible credits stacked up right now. And while it wasn’t a women-only year again, I still tried to read mostly women authors.
Anyway here’s the list (linked to the Goodreads page) with a 5 unit rating system. A 5 is where’s I’ve already gushed about the book in real time on Twitter and probably forced it upon a few people and chimed in on any bookstagram pictures of it.
Title: Nothing To See Here
Author: Kevin Wilson
Rating: 4/5
Read This If You Like: Quirky things with no explanation. The kids spontaneously catch on fire. Spoonbenders.
Title: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill
Author: Abbi Waxman
Rating: 4.5/5
Read This If You Like: Planners and predictable Rom-Coms.
Title: Fleishman Is in Trouble
Author: Taffy Brodesser-Akner
Rating: 4/5
Read This If You Like: White people problems
Title: Evvie Drake Starts Over
Author: Linda Holmes
Rating: 4/5
Read This If You Like: Predictable Rom-coms
Title: American Royals
Author: Katharine McGee
Rating: 3/5
Read This If You Like: Rambling alternate realities (like if America had a monarchy). A series of YA books since this is supposed to be the first of 3?
Title: The Deep
Author: Rivers Solomon (and Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, Jonathan Snipes
Rating: 4/5
Read This If You Like: The rap they did on This American Life episode about Afrofuturism, Black sci-fi, novellas,
Title: Followers
Author: Megan Angelo
Rating: 4/5
Read This If You Like: hating social media, dystopian deep state surveillance
Title: Heads of the Colored People
Author: Nafissa Thompson-Spires
Rating: 5/5
Read This If You Like: Incredible short story collections that you can’t stop thinking about.
Title: The Worst Best Man
Author: Mia Sosa
Rating: 3/5
Read This If You Like: Jasmine Guillory books. Romance novels with steamy sex scenes but plots that are just general misunderstandings? So basically any romance novel.
Title: Wow, No Thank You
Author: Samantha Irby
Rating: 4/5
Read This If You Like: Samantha Irby. Seriously, sign up for her newsletter where she tells you what happened on the Judge Mathis episode she watched that day.
Title: Writers and Lovers
Author: Lily King
Rating: 3.5/5
Read This If You Like: books based in the 90s, books about writers?
Title: Ask Again, Yes
Author: Mary Beth Keane
Rating: 5/5
Read This If You Like: Generational white family dramas, being wholly consumed by a book
Title: Salt Slow
Author: Julia Armfield
Rating: 3.5/5
Read This If You Like: Mystic realism but almost too gross to enjoy at some points? Short story collections that are *out there*.
Title: Big Summer
Author: Jennifer Weiner
Rating: 3.5/5
Read This If You Like: Chick lit mysteries? But don’t make this your first Jennifer Weiner. Read Good In Bed instead.
Title: The Vanishing Half
Author: Brit Bennett
Rating: 5/5
Read This If You Like: Generational Black family dramas. The 60s. The 80s. The South. Creoles. I suggest the audio book because the narrator is phenomenal.
Title: The Family Upstairs
Author: Lisa Jewell
Rating: 3/5
Read This If You Like: shit British mysteries
Title: Royal Holiday
Author: Jasmine Guillory
Rating: 3.5/5
Read This If You Like: any other Jasmine Guillory book, although this was probably the weakest so far.
Title: Luster
Author: Raven Leilani
Rating: 5/5
Read This If You Like: Quirky Black girl quarter life crisis.
Title: Take a Hint, Dani Brown
Author: Talia Brown
Rating: 5/5
Read This If You Like: Diverse British romance series
Title: Topics of Conversation
Author: Miranda Popkey
Rating: 1/5
Read This If You Like: wasting your time with terrible women
Title: All Adults Here
Author: Emma Straub
Rating: 4/5
Read This If You Like: Generational white family dramas (it’s not funny like the blurbs say)
Title: Real Life
Author: Brandon Taylor
Rating: 3/5
Read This If You Like: being sad as shit
Title: Gods of Jade and Shadow
Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Rating: 4/5
Read This If You Like: Adventure, mythologies, Mexico
Title: Such A Fun Age
Author: Kiley Reid
Rating: 4/5
Read This If You Like: White lady microaggressions, quarter life crises
Title: The Bromance Book Club
Author: Lyssa Kay Adams
Rating: 4/5
Read This If You Like: predictable RomComs
Title: The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
Author: Deesha Philyaw
Rating: 5/5
Read This If You Like: Remembering what it used to be like to be in a church society. Black women.
Title: We Ride Upon Sticks
Author: Quan Barry
Rating: 4/5
Read This If You Like: The late 80s, witchcraft, field hockey, high school hijinks
Title: Beach Read
Author: Emily Henry
Rating: 3.5/5
Read This If You Like: Every other chick lit book
Also Goodreads makes a nice Year In Books infographic thing now.
Happy Reading in 2021!
Luster, The Vanishing Half, and Writers & Lovers were probably three of the most well-written books I read this year.
My aunt sent me her copy of Evvie Drake to read in the fall. I’ll get to that this year.