2020 Reading Roundup

Top 10 Fiction

1. Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi Two adorkable college students try to rise above some serious problems while falling in love. Perfect for Rainbow Rowell fans.
2. Love Lettering by Kate Clayborn A professional wedding invitation letterer is confronted by a former client whose engagement fell apart.
3. The Heir Affair by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan Sequel to my beloved The Royal We. If you know, you know.
4. Happy and You Know It by Laura Hankin A musician who just missed her former band’s rise to fame takes a job as singer to a fancy Manhattan playgroup. Drawn into the moms’ social circle, she accidentally uncovers a whole lot of drama. I loved the twists in this one.
5. A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness It’s Twilight for academically minded adults, but it’s also an onion of a plot. You won’t get to the last layer almost until the end.
6. Beach Read by Emily Henry Two writers, former college rivals, find themselves living in adjacent beach houses and challenge each other to swap their (very different) writing genres.
7. Break the Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli Timely YA about Olympic gymnasts, trying to keep their team together after their coach is arrested for sexual abuse. All the competitions and such are a little repetitive, but that didn’t bother me. One of the few books I actually cried over this year.
8. American Royals by Katherine McGee Alternate history in which George Washington established an American monarchy. Now, in the present day, the young adult royals are preparing for Princess Beatrice to become America’s first queen. This series is similar in tone to the mid-2000s Luxe novels by Anna Godbersen, which I loved.
9. The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall A literary novel covering several decades about two couples, the husbands serving as co-pastors of a NYC church. It fell short of my high life-changing expectations, but it’s still lovely.
10. Emily Eternal by M.G. Wheaton A self-aware AI, created to help humans cope with the end of the world, discovers she actually has bigger problems.

I notice this is a mostly fluffy, lighthearted Top 10, but in 2020 especially, I make no apologies. This was a year for reading whatever makes you happy.

Top 10 Nonfiction

1. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond I read this with my church book club. It’s long, but I cannot recommend it enough if you want to understand poverty in America.
2. Untamed by Glennon Doyle A deeply reflective memoir that challenges us all to confront how we’ve been “tamed” and how that affects every aspect of our lives. It’s hard to even take it all in on one reading, and I expect to return to it many times.
3. Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans A book that really freed me to engage with the Bible differently.
4. A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons by Ben Folds If you’re a Ben Folds fan, you will love this.
5. Nobody Will Tell You This But Me: A True (as Told to Me) Story by Bess Kalb My favorite book of 2020: a love letter to Kalb’s late grandmother, told in her voice. I’ve never read anything quite like it. Note: I realize I probably have extra emotional resonance with it because I, too, have a Jewish grandmother from New York.
6. The Art of Showing Up: How to Be There for Yourself and Your People by Rachel Wilkerson Miller Another book to have on hand for future reference, this will guide you in supporting yourself and your loved ones through all kinds of situations.
7. Placemaker: Cultivating Places of Comfort, Beauty, and Peace by Christie Purifoy Another unique memoir about home, finding and caring for your place in the world, and, equally and unexpectedly, about trees.
8. What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism by Dan Rather This man has Seen A Lot and is here to share his gentle wisdom at this difficult moment in our history. A must read for all Americans.
9. Here for It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America; Essays by R. Eric Thomas If you’re not familiar with R. Eric Thomas, read a few of his hilarious articles for Elle and then read this. It’s moving, entertaining, and insightful.
10. The Hidden Life of Trees: The Illustrated Edition by Peter Wohlleben A beautiful book about forests, how trees live, symbiotic relationships with other plants, etc. I read this in September and am still referencing it in conversation at least weekly.

Other Fiction

1. All Grown Up by Jami Attenberg
2. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
3. Villette by Charlotte Bronte
4. When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton
5. The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (re-read)
6. Strangers and Cousins by Leah Hager Cohen
7. Tides by Betsy Cornwell
8. Vivian Apple Needs a Miracle by Katie Coyle
9. If, Then by Kate Hope Day
10. Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self by Danielle Evans
11. Sea Wife by Amity Gaige
12. Extracted by R.R. Haywood
13. The Happy Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez
14. A Tale of Two Kitties by Sofie Kelly
15. The Incendiaries by R.O. Kwon
16. After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall by Nancy Kress
17. We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
18. Roomies by Christina Lauren
19. Tweet Cute by Emma Lord
20. Majesty by Katherine McGee
21. Rose in Three Quarter Time by Rachel McMillan
22. Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer
23. The Life Below by Alexandra Monir
24. My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
25. How to Tell Toledo from the Night Sky by Lydia Netzer
26. Weather by Jenny Offill
27. Island Affair by Priscilla Oliveras
28. If I Loved You Less by Tamsen Parker
29. Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth
30. Three Story House by Courtney Miller Santo
31. Startup by Doree Shafrir
32. You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld
33. Red at the Bone by Jacqueline Woodson

Other Nonfiction

1. The Lazy Genius Way: Embrace What Matters, Ditch What Doesn’t, and Get Stuff Done by Kendra Adachi
2. Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden: Grow, Harvest, and Arrange Stunning Seasonal Blooms by Erin Benzakein
3. Reading People: How Seeing the World through the Lens of Personality Changes Everything by Anne Bogel
4. Pastrix: The Cranky, Beautiful Faith of a Sinner & Saint by Nadia Bolz-Weber
5. Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved by Kate Bowler
6. Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh
7. Rachel Calof’s Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains by Rachel Calof
8. I’ll Have What She’s Having: How Nora Ephron’s Three Iconic Films Saved the Romantic Comedy by Erin Carlson
9. All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung
10. The Conscious Closet: The Revolutionary Guide to Looking Good While Doing Good by Elizabeth L. Cline
11. Native: Identity, Belonging, and Rediscovering God by Kaitlin B. Curtice
12. A Second Blooming: Becoming the Women We Are Meant to Be by Susan Cushman, ed.
13. Poser: My Life in Twenty-three Yoga Poses by Claire Dederer
14. Something Other than God: How I Passionately Sought Happiness and Accidentally Found It by Jennifer Fulwiler
15. The God Who Sees: Immigrants, the Bible, and the Journey to Belong by Karen Gonzalez
16. My Sergei: A Love Story by Ekaterina Gordeeva (re-read)
17. How We Fight for Our Lives by Saeed Jones
18. Nothing Like I Imagined (Except for Sometimes) by Mindy Kaling
19. Blessed Are the Nones: Mixed-Faith Marriage and My Search for Spiritual Community by Stina Kielsmeier-Cook
20. I Want to Be Her!: How Friends and Strangers Helped Shape My Style by Andrea Linett
21. So Here’s the Thing…: Notes on Growing Up, Getting Older, and Trusting Your Gut by Alyssa Mastromonaco
22. Love & War: Twenty Years, Three Presidents, Two Daughters and One Louisiana Home by Mary Matalin and James Carville
23. Assimilate or Go Home: Notes from a Failed Missionary on Rediscovering Faith by D.L. Mayfield
24. The Color of Life: A Journey toward Love and Racial Justice by Cara Meredith
25. Dot Journaling: A Practical Guide: How to Start and Keep the Planner, To-Do List, and Diary That’ll Actually Help You Get Your Life Together by Rachel Wilkerson Miller
26. Shalom Sistas: Living Wholeheartedly in a Brokenhearted World by Osheta Moore
27. Real Food for Pregnancy: The Science and Wisdom of Optimal Prenatal Nutrition by Lily Nichols, RDN
28. My Jewish Year: 18 Holidays, One Wondering Jew by Abigail Pogrebin
29. Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life by Amber Scorah
30. Open Book by Jessica Simpson
31. Fading Feast: A Compendium of Disappearing American Regional Foods by Raymond A. Sokolov
32. Heart Talk: Poetic Wisdom for a Better Life by Cleo Wade
33. Hungry Heart: Adventures in Life, Love, and Writing by Jennifer Weiner
34. What You Become in Flight by Ellen O’Connell Whittet
35. Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong
36. Woman of Color by LaTonya Yvette

2020 Total

I was on track for 100, until reading made me nauseous for several months. I made up a little ground in December by identifying the shortest books on my TBR and checking some out from the library. Still, I’ll celebrate 89, as it’s probably the highest annual book total I’ll get until my unborn child is in college. Yay books!