procrastinator’s best books of 2020

While these are the best of what I read, in honesty this just continues to be a list of books I read last year. I left them in mostly chronological order and there’s an * next to those that I read for book club, we do a lot of picking from previous year’s top reviewed. This year for book club my one miss was Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo which I bought but just couldn’t get to but the group liked it so in the backlog.

The Fifth Season by NK Jemisin* – A much acclaimed sci-fi selection, and I enjoyed it and liked the world created but it felt too much like a setup of the trilogy than a complete first book, and while intrigued my backlog is too great to read on.
Luminaries by Eleanor Catton – I started this epic 1866 New Zealand prospecting tale on my trip to New Zealand in 2019 but didn’t finish it at the time, interesting twists of various characters but not the most compelling (I’m sure hindered by my mid book break).
Circe by Madeline Miller – A holdover from a missed 2019 book club reading, I found this an enjoyable trip through the stories of the Gods from our protagonists’ POV, and liked the new view on an old tale.
Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett* – A depressing but engaging look at family dynamics and the impact of mental illness.
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward – This was much discussed for a book club pick but various people ended up reading on their own, glad to pick it up in between for a tough and interesting portrait of Mississippi family road trip/ghost story, though it didn’t totally pull me in.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – I actually bought this book for my sister years ago after hearing her speak, and glad I finally picked up her loan back to me for a captivating tale of the young and in love starting in Nigeria, journeys together and apart, with looks at race through relations and locations.
Normal People by Sally Rooney* – Some in the book club loved this one (fave of the year), and while I liked this complicated relationship tale, and the tv series that followed, I wasn’t fully drawn in.
Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson – This was a pick in book club from before I joined that had come up repeatedly as a fave and I found it incredibly compelling and tough as our social worker and father deals with spiraling personal and professional drama.
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons* – A good smart, fun and funny take from 1932 on a heroine cleaning up her extended family as she heads to a more rural location.
Where’d You Go Bernadette – I had heard this book often referenced when people were saying that I want to read something like this, so I felt I should go to the source, and was greatly rewarded by this fun page turner where the what happened format really worked as did the subject layers.
Dare Me by Megan Abbott* – I had actually watched the series first, which sadly was canceled, but still enjoyed the source more for the fun of the cheerleading cult than for the mystery.
Lucky Alan & Other Stories by Jonathan Lethem – I always enjoy a Lethem though you never know what you’re going to get, his short stories offered a fun look at multiple options.
Girl, Woman, Other by Benardine Evaristo* – Some very good elements but a little distracted by less than strong connections and quantity of interrelated stories.
Songbook by Nick Hornby – I bought this ages ago and flipped through the music essays, and listened to the included cd, but finally sat down and read through, it holds up and would love more from music fans on music/moments.
There There by Tommy Orange – Another book club catch up, for an absorbing ensemble of connected Native Americans, though maybe a little too connected.
The Whites by Richard Price* – Enjoyed the place and characters and while I could quibble with a couple of plot elements overall engaged by the cop revenge tale.
Fleishman is in Trouble by Taffy Brodesser-Akkner* – This ended up being more depressing than funny, the original goal of this pick, though there were amusing characterizations of the elite, dating apps, and yoga tank slogans.
Nickel Boys by Colton Whitehead*– Pretty unanimous enthusiastic recommendation from book club and while it’s a tough, heartbreaking subject the tone and balance make it so readable.
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett – I’m a fan of her earlier work and this does not disappoint, what an captivating and intriguing tale of a pharmacologist’s trip to drug research in the jungles of Brazil.
Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson* – I thought his earlier work The Family Fang was a lot of fun and this was no disappointment as a follow up, two kids who spontaneously combust and their new caretaker, what a fast and fun and flammable pick.
Inland by Tea Obreht* – Two parallel narratives that one could argue either add to or detract from the other, a frontierswoman dealing with drama and the lack of water and an immigrant Muslim and outlaw haunted by ghosts, while I enjoyed many of the parts of this the sum of things didn’t totally capture me.