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.

For this year’s top reviewed you can find a list here. What were your favorites?

Some good picks again this year at a time when one might need a little something to read, mostly from book club options (marked with*). I did skip one book club pick this year, Circe, but picked it up in 2020 (spoiler alert, I liked it). I think the following are noted in the order read, or close to it. Some of the specifics get a little forgettable, this year I am vowing to write this as we go, or closer since it’s already March, which could also help me be timelier.

• Who Is Vera Kelly* by Rosalie Knecht – A fun take on spy drama though not quite a traditional mystery we follow our protagonist into Cold War infiltration of a student group in Argentina.
• Asymmetry* by Lisa Halliday – Two of the three distinct sections were more compelling but overall worthwhile to look at these stories of people, from a young editor and her relationship with an older known author and an American man detained on a visit to see his brother in Kurdistan, from the relationships themselves to relationship between the various stories.
• Freshwater* by Akwaeke Emezi – An interesting and very odd take on the many selves within a woman (literal or psychological?) as we see her raised from Nigeria to the US.
• The Witches of Eastwick* by John Updike – This was a holdover from 2018 which I honestly had trouble getting through, though the witchiness will always have an appeal.
• The Barbarian Nurseries* by Hector Tobar – This one was also a slow start for me, and I ended up picking it back up after book club, eventually enjoying the tale of a family and their maid’s personal and societal drama and their quest to find family across cultural lines.
• An America Marriage* by Tayari Jones – One of my favorites of the year this heartbreaking tale of a newlywed couple where the husband is sentenced for a crime he didn’t commit, we get to know each through their journey together and apart.
• The Mars Room* by Rachel Kushner – I appreciated much of this book but never completely engrossed by the relatively brutal story of a woman incarcerated with extenuating circumstances as it goes through multiple POVs that sometimes add and sometimes detract.
• Lake Success* by Gary Shteyngart – A novel that is very of the time following a hedge-fund manager at a midlife crisis point that although at times amusing I found our unsympathetic narrator a little off putting.
• Transcription* by Kate Atkinson – More espionage, this time our also female protagonist gets involved with MI5 and we see various points of time in this fun enough British WWII and beyond spy novel, told from a nice POV but didn’t fully drawn me in with twists and characters over the years.
• My Sister the Serial Killer* by Oyinkan Braithwaite – Oddly light in tone this story of two very different sisters both enmeshed in each other’s lives, one of which has a tendency to kill her boyfriends.
• My Year of Rest and Relaxation* by Ottessa Moshfegh – The group was so put off by the earlier reading of Eileen that this got raised a few times before folks agreed, but well worth the push for the dark yet comic protagonist drugging herself through depression.
• Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng – Having really enjoyed Everything I Never Told You I was very intrigued by this follow up two families crossing in a suburban community bringing great themes together, very well done (now a Hulu series).
• My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent – Compelling even with the tough subject matter it creates a world and characters that draw you in hoping for our tough young protagonist.
• Tell the Wolves I’m Home* by Carol Rifka Brunt – I quite enjoyed this coming of age tale with a young girl dealing with her favorite uncle’s death from AIDS and her new relationship with his unknown, to her, partner.

For critical picks I’ve gravitated to the consolidated LitHub list, and since we’re at a decade digging into their best novels of the decade. All good fodder for reading in 2020. What were your favorites?

Another good year with book club as well as additional titles I was able to fit in. Book club options noted with* (I only missed There, There this year which was supposed to be quite good) and mostly listed in order read.

• Rules of Civility* by Amor Towles – A great way to start the year we all really enjoyed this tale of a woman’s life in NY taking a turn in the year of 1938, many went on to also enjoy A Gentleman in Moscow.
• The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware – Underwhelming if entertaining enough mystery.
• Pachinko* by Min Jin Lee – Very enjoyable Korean drama starting in 1910 in a small Korean village and through into Japan and beyond.
• The Heart’s Invisible Furies* by John Boyne – A little uneven but overall engaging look at 1940s to present day Ireland through the life of an adopted boy and his surrounding ‘family.’
• Moonglow by Michael Chabon – Enjoyed the latest fictional autobiography as he listens to his grandfather’s story.
• Exit West* by Mohin Hamid – Really pulled into this magical realism story of two young lovers who meet and are swept up by unrest in their city and escape through doors to other places.
• Euphoria by Lily King – Three young anthropologists in the ’30’s caught me up in both their study of other cultures but their love triangle that threatens more than their work.
  
• A Manual for Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin – I can’t believe I had never ready any of her work, the stories gathered here are compelling and heart breaking and humorous.
  
• Maps & Legends Reading and Writing Along the Borderlands by Michael Chabon – This collection of essays goes a little more in detail on subjects that are clearly favorites of the author’s but maybe not for everyone.
• Elmet* by Fiona Mozley – This was one of two books we picked this year that we questioned the balance of good to bummer as the story of a family living basically off the grid in Yorkshire and let’s just say it doesn’t go well.
• Eileen* by Ottessa Moshfegh – This was the other but bummer, and it’s making us a little dubious about My Year of Rest and Relaxation getting lots of buzz for this last year.
• Less* by Andrew Sean Greer – I’ve mostly enjoyed the rest of Andy’s work I’ve read but this latest really pulls it all together as a struggling author travels the world to avoid a wedding is mostly amusing in its mishaps but also a little poignant.
• How I Became a Famous Novelist by Steve Hely – Slacker decides to game the system mostly to get back at an ex has some amusing areas but a little too turned off by the protagonist.
• The Good Girl by Mary Kubica – Ditto The Woman in Cabin 10.
• All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld – A woman’s present and past are told with a bit of sheep shearing has some interesting aspects but overall might not add up to a whole lot.
• Manhattan Beach* by Jennifer Egan – While overall I enjoyed this book it covered a lot at maybe some expense and our discussion turned more toward the three versions of the book we might have liked better.
• Floating in My Mother’s Palm by Ursula Hegi – Another on my Hegi backlog this was a lovely story of the characters of small town in Germany where we met many in Stones From the River.
• Not That Kind of Girl by Lena Dunham – This collection was a gracious gift from my City Arts & Lectures attendance but I enjoyed hearing her speak more than I enjoyed the personal essays.
• Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan – I loved the idea of the culture, food, and fashion that make up the ingredients of this book but overall the story and characters didn’t make it for me.
• This is My Best: Great Writers Share their Favorite Work – Fun to ready a bunch of stories from a wide range of authors, not all my favorites but a lot of great gems.
• Sourdough* by Robin Sloan – A fun fictional look at food and culture though maybe not as satisfying as a loaf of sourdough.
• The Man Who Fell In Love With the Moon by Tom Spanbauer – This book wasn’t quite my jam as we followed a western feeling group of whore house protagonists.
• The Perfect Nanny* by Leila Slimani – Not everyone loved the book for various narrative and nonfictional reasons but some good ingredients for a good discussion.
• News of the World by Paulette Jiles – Recommended to me by lovers of this book from page one, and while it took me a bit to get into I ended up won over by this Civil Wartime reader of the news and his goal to reunite a young orphan with her fam after being raised by Indians.
• The Witches of Eastwick* by John Updike – I’m technically still not quite done with this and most of our group didn’t finish this tough to get into lengthy descriptions.

We’ll keep our eye on Lithub list as these come out in paperback and for a more comprehensive list of best book lists you can check Large Hearted Boy.

What were your favorite picks?

I should abandon the ‘best’ language since this is just all the books that I’ve read. There were some gems but if nothing else I’ve read more books this year! Listed in order read with months indicating my book club’s pick.

• The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead (Jan) – This was sort of the book of 2016 and definitely appreciated the fictional, somewhat fantastical, and yet illuminating journey seeking freedom.
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins – This book was certainly readable but I didn’t buy the story ingredients that our heroine gets herself wrapped up in.
• Tenth of December by George Saunders – Another on my list because of high regard, I really enjoyed this collection of slightly off kilter short stories.
• Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer (Feb) – I’ve read a few of his books and this tale of a woman time traveling between lives struck about the same balance in being a little unusual and basically enjoyable.
• The Nix by Nathan Hill (Mar) – This was one of my faves of the year, if not the fave, as it wove a very smart story with great cultural awareness and enjoyable characters as we follow a man who gets reconnected with the mother who abandoned him and a whole lot more.
• Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (Apr) – After really enjoying the short story collection earlier I was excited for this much buzzed about book, and I don’t want to say I hated it but I just could not get into the odd format and tale of Lincoln and the living and dead characters.
• 1984 by George Orwell (May) – This year just seemed like a time for a reread, and while the book was still enjoyable what was most interesting about the reread is the parts that I did and didn’t remember.
• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi (Jun) – I’d had this on my list since someone being interviewed at City Arts & Lectures (and I can’t remember who, maybe Zadie Smith) raved about it and it’s well worth a read to follow through the stories of the lineage of two sisters born in 18th century Ghana.
• Everybody’s Fool by Richard Russo (Jul) – Even though this wasn’t one of my favorites of his, his writing is still some of my favorite and was glad to revisit this town from Nobody’s Fool and some of its interesting characters.
• The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini – This had been on my shelf for years and I was glad to pick up and dive into the poignant tale of two friends unfolding their story from Afghanistan and beyond.
• Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel – A great journey with the end of the world as we know it and finding how tales current and during the initial breakout all tie together with compelling characters and stakes.
• In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware – Also readable but didn’t really get into the unbelievable bachelorette weekend gone darkly awry.
• All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders (Aug) – This fantastical book covering technology, magic, romance, and the complications these can bring was fun enough if not totally successful for me.
• Razorgirl by Carl Hiaasen – You can’t go wrong with a campy Florida caper and this one is very typical Hiaasen.
• The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (Sep) – I really enjoyed this quirky rom com of a book following a socially awkward scientist trying to boil down the ingredients to marriage with the help of a slightly less by the book female.
• The Brookly Follies by Paul Auster – Another off the shelf, this protagonist comes to Brooklyn to die only to reconnect with life, very enjoyable and I have some Auster backlog still to do.
• Everyman by Philip Roth – Speaking of backlog, I haven’t done a ton of Roth but I enjoyed the look at one man’s life through illnesses.
• Before the Fall by Noah Hawley (Oct) – As a fan of his television work I was curious about the writing and enjoyed the story of the last survivors of a private plane crash and its look at media.
• Intrusions by Ursula Hegi – I had a stack of old Hegi options after falling for Stones From the River and this book about an author mixing her life, her in progress novel, and talking to her characters was odd and entertaining enough.
• Golden Hill by Francis Spuffold (Nov) – I almost stopped reading the heavy handed language of this novel of old world New York but stuck it out because others said it got better, and it did in that the treatment of the protagonist, the story, and the writing got less annoying but though it moved to have some entertaining moments I can’t quite endorse.
• I Remember You: A Ghost Story by Yrsa Sigurdardottir (Dec) – Well it was definitely a ghost story, and although I didn’t read it late at night I thought it did an appropriate job of being spooky and tying a few yarns of creepy abandoned remote island house and creepy kids of years gone by together.
• The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood – This was sort of a year of Atwood so I picked up another one of the books on my shelf and while the overall story wasn’t completely successful for me I really enjoyed the stories of three women and their relationship to a college ‘friend’.

For a more consolidated list of critic picks check out Largehearted Boy or Literary Hub. What were your favorites?