I have already shared my top ten reads of the year, but I wanted to take the time to highlight all of the books that I gave five stars to in 2020. I read 112 books in 2020, and 27 of them were five star reads, which is just under 25%. I am quite happy with that number!
These seven books are my top nonfiction reads of the year! Click here if you want to read more about why I loved them. The fact that seven of my 27 five stars are nonfiction tells me I need to prioritize nonfiction in 2021.
Once Upon an Eid is my favourite anthology collection. Each and every story is beautiful and touching. I took so much away from these stories and learned about some of the ways that Eid is celebrated. It is something I would recommend to everyone and anyone.
I always say that Tiffany D. Jackson was my greatest discovery of 2020, and Let Me Hear a Rhyme was the book that started me on this journey with her books. The fact that this book is set in the 90s makes it feel nostalgic, but it is also such a heartbreaking story about grief and the power of music. I loved the friendships in this!
I read The Mothers after reading and loving The Vanishing Half (I gave it 4.5 stars!) earlier in the year. I didn’t expect to rate The Mothers even higher, but there is something about the slice of life element to this story that I connected with. It is a quieter story, and I found myself deeply invested in Nadia. I distinctly remember reading this through tears. It was incredible, and I cannot wait to see what Brit Bennett publishes next!
I have rated every volume of the Heartstopper graphic novels five stars! Nick and Charlie are the best and I love seeing how their connection grows throughout each volume. I always turn to this when I need to read something I know will warm my heart, and they never let me down.
On another day, Cemetery Boys could have been in my top ten. As I am typing this, I am questioning why I didn’t include it! This book completely blew me away and Yadriel and Julian are two of my favourite characters. I loved their banter so much! I cannot wait to read more from Aiden Thomas, who has a new book coming out in 2021!
I feel like people are sleeping on The Subtweet, and it is such a shame! It is just over 200 pages, extremely fast-paced, and is an interesting commentary on social media- something that I have been fascinated about in fiction lately. It is also an honest look at female friendship and on how women, particularly women of colour, are often pitted against one another. A book I need to reread at some point!
Even though the title prepares you for what is going to happen, The Death of Vivek Oji absolutely shattered me! I think it is the book that has haunted me the most this year and is one of the most incredible books about grief- and as you may know, I have read many. Akwaeke Emezi is truly a genuis.
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I finally finished The Illuminae Files this year, and Gemina was definitely the standout in the series. It was action-packed, and the connection between Hanna and Nik was my favourite- they had great tension and banter. Just talking about this book makes me want to reread it. I need to read more books told in this format.
Aphrodite Made Me Do It was my first read of 2020, and what a way to start the year! I am not someone who is drawn to poetry, but this collection has stayed with me. I loved how Aphrodite was weaved into the collection, and the artwork throughout is also really beautiful. I highly recommend this even if you are not a poetry lover!
Anxious People was not at all what expected, and I think I loved it for that reason. No one writes a book quite in the same way as Fredrik Backman, and that is why he continues to be one of my favourite authors. This book ended up being quirky and funny while also being moving and touching on some difficult themes. Loved it!
What were some of your five star reads of 2020?
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Aphrodite Made Me Do It made it onto my honorable mentions list for the top books of 2020 because of it being a poetry book and not fitting in with the rest, but totally agree here!! Also, I adored Quiet when I read it. Glad it was a 5 star read for you too.
Aphrodite Made Me Do It makes me want to try more poetry but I struggle to find out what kind of poetry I enjoy!
Quiet was an eye opening experience for me!
I struggle with finding poetry that suits me as well. Have you tried Love Her Wild by Atticus for example?
I loved a lot of these books this year too ❤️ and many of the others are on my TBR.
We definitely have similar reading tastes!
Great list! I am so interested in Cemetry Boys and Subtweet so hopefully I can get to them this year!
Loved both of those. Can’t wait to see what you think!
these all look so good, I’m glad you enjoyed them!
I really did!!
I’ve just bought the death of Vivek Oji, can’t wait to read it
So heartbreaking but beautiful. Can’t wait to see what you think! I just bought their YA novel, Pet.
Great post, Kristin💜 One out of 4 books read being 5-star rated sounds about right to me. And, I’ll be checking out The Subtweet.
Can’t wait to see what you think about The Subtweet!
I love that some of my TBR books are on this list!
(www.evelynreads.com)
I love that too!
The Subtweet was so good! It didn’t get a 5 star from me but I’m glad it was a 5 star read for you!!! I wish more people would read it also! Great list, I’ll definitely check out some of the titles I haven’t read!
I thought it had a lot of important things to say. I agree-more people need to read it!
I’ve just bought myself Aphrodite Made Me Do It after seeing it on your list! I’m a massive fan of poetry, but I haven’t read any in quite a while. The premise for this collection sounds wonderful 😍 Can’t wait to read it!
The Midnight Library was a five star read for me as well. It’s not normally the kind of book that I go for, but it was the November read a book club that I’m in. I was honestly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. Not only was it a beautiful story, I found it very thought-provoking too.
I hope your 2021 is filled with lots of five star reads!
I love that you bought Aphrodite Made Me Do It! You’ll have to let me know what you think.
I think The Midnight Library was the perfect book to read in 2020!
I hope the same for you!
I love Backman for the ambitious themes! A brilliant writer!
So true!
I really loved Aphrodite Made Me Do It but haven’t seen anyone else talk about, so glad you enjoyed it too! You read some great books this year, hope 2021 is just as good!
It’s such an underrated poetry collection. So happy you loved it too!
wow that’s a great post
Completely agree with your points about The Mothers. I loved how quietly simple it was. Bennet had me thinking about her book for weeks afterwards it was so beautiful! I will have to check out The Vanishing Half too.
It is one that I grew to appreciate more and more as time has gone by. I need to reread it!
Really like the sound of cemetery boys and anxious people!
Agreed about Backman and O’Farrell… I really want to read The Mothers (I tried to get the ARC before it was published, but they denied me access) but for some reason, The Vanishing Half just doesn’t appeal to me. Maybe my instincts are right about these two books.
I really enjoyed The Vanishing Half, but The Mothers is more my kind of book! Curious to see what you think.
Ooo! I have a few of them on my 2021 TBR.
I wanted to read them in 2020 but could not.
Also, a little selfish of me here but, did you know? You were one of my top five fav bloggers of 2020. I really love your posts, you as a book blogger inspire me :). Loads of love.
This honestly made my day! It’s motivating to know that someone loves my content!
Ahh sounds like a lot of amazing books! Some of them just must make it onto my read pile this read!
Love hearing that!!
I’m about to start Midnight Library and I’m so excited!
Ah it’s such a good one!
I seriously need to pick up some of Tiffany Jackson’s books this year. I keep meaning to get Mondays Not Coming so hopefully I’ll read that st the very least. And I’m glad to hear that you enjoyed Plain Bad Heroines so much. I’m planning to order it into the library sometime. The story sounds fascinating but the humour side makes me somewhat wary for some reason. You have some fantastic sounding books listed here though and so many of them are on my TBR.
I hope 2021 brings even more 5 star books your way.