Happy Juneteenth!
OK, peeps. We’re halfway through 2020–a year I’ll be thrilled to see the back of–and I want to know: What’s the best book you’ve read this year? And why?
Go!
Happy Juneteenth!
OK, peeps. We’re halfway through 2020–a year I’ll be thrilled to see the back of–and I want to know: What’s the best book you’ve read this year? And why?
Go!
Late, per usual, but here is my list of favorites read (not published) in 2020:
o Love Lettering by Kate Claiborne: A little bit too much detail about fonts, although it’s always nice when we get proof that the hero or heroine, who is described as good at what they do, actually is good at what they do. I adored Reid. He is a quant, a numbers person, to Meg’s artistry and letters. He is so intense and focused, so protective and honest. When he reveals how alone he feels other than with his family, your heart breaks for the little boy pushed ahead in school but left without friends because he is so much younger (and smarter) than his classmates. And there is more that the reader (and Kate) only discover near the end of the book, something that makes Reid even more of a hero. Be still my beating heart.
o Meet Me at the Museum by Ann Youngson: An epistolary novel. In Denmark, Professor Anders Larsen, an urbane man of facts, has lost his wife and his hopes for the future. On an isolated English farm, Tina Hopgood is trapped in a life she doesn’t remember choosing. You see how they come to know themselves as well as each other through their correspondence. Not a romance because the HEA is not spelled out, but there is definitely hope for one.
o Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck: The novel tells the story of Richard, a widower and retired classics professor who lives in Berlin. He lives a routine existence until one day he spies some African refugees staging a hunger strike in Alexanderplatz. Curiosity turns in to compassion and an inner transformation as he visits their shelter, interviews them, and becomes embroiled in their harrowing fates. The book is an indictment of Western policy toward the European refugee crisis and also a touching portrait of a man who finds he has more in common with the Africans than he realizes. I liked how at first Richard gives the men nicknames because he can’t quite keep their names straight, but as he comes to know them he calls them by their true names.
o Miss Buncle’s Book by D.E Stevenson: Saw this mentioned somewhere online (here?). It was written in 1936 so could have been simply dated, but instead I found it charming. It’s about Barbara Buncle, a spinster in an English village who is in a financial bind (it is the Depression, after all). She says she has no imagination so writes a book based on the people she knows in her village. Luckily, it becomes a best seller, and even luckier for her, she published it under a pseudonym because the people in her village are not necessarily happy to see themselves, and their foibles, in print. Most definitely light reading, with HEA for all those who deserve it, including Miss Buncle.
o Only a Kiss by Mary Balogh: A reread of the next-to-last in her Survivors series, and probably my favorite of the series.
I adored Kate Clayborn’s Love Lettering and I agree that Reid is a special hero. I did enjoy the topic of calligraphy in a very geeky way because I collect fountain pens and love playing around with font styles. I think too that Clayborn did a lovely job portraying both character’s careers. As a former Manhattanite, I loved a novel set in NYC and thought Clayborn did justice to the city itself and urban living today. Since the pandemic, I’ve thought back on this book a lot as it really resonates with me as a novel that celebrates city living – the good and the bad. Clayborn has rapidly become one of my favorite romance authors.
I feel like I’m late to the party but here’s my list! For books published this year, some of my favorites are:
Historical romance:
Chasing Cassandra – Lisa Kleypas (I know it didn’t get the greatest reviews but I keep going back and re-reading parts and just love it)
NA romance:
The Third Best Thing – Maya Hughes (I guess would be classified as a football sports romance but the sport doesn’t play a big role in the story and it is a really sweet, sexy story)
Contemporary romance:
One Moment Please – Amy Daws (hero is a grumpy ER doctor!)
One Night with the Sexiest Man Alive – Ainslee Paton (hero is a Hollywood actor)
Pregnant by the Playboy – Jackie Lau (I love her Canadian settings)
YA:
A Heart So Fierce and Broken – Brigid Kemmerer (sequel to A Curse So Dark and Lonely, which was equally good YA fantasy)
Mystery/Thriller:
Alone in the Wild – Kelley Armstrong (latest in the Casey Duncan series taking place in Rockton, Alaska)
Then there are contemporaries I read this year that were published last year or before:
Faking Ms. Right – Claire Kingsley (I love the aloof hero falls in love storyline)
Dirty Secret – Mira Lyn Kelly (hockey romance)
Loveless brothers series – Roxie Noir (funny and steamy with great sibling interactions)
The One I Love to Hate – Amanda Weaver (the first in a trilogy about 3 sisters, all good but I liked this first one the best)
My absolute favorite book that I read this year so far was not published this year and I discovered the author due to recommendations on this site. The book is Rule Breaker by Lily Morton. I don’t remember how it came about but I read a review of her book Oz here. I read that and then the rest of the Finding Home trilogy then the Mixed Messages trilogy. I have bought the rest of her catalog and am doling them out to myself gradually so I don’t go through them too fast. Her books are SO GOOD! Thanks to everyone here who recommended them!
I loved the Rule Breaker trilogy. Finding Home was a bit too sweet for my taste, though lovely. Summer of Us is also excellent. :-)
I love the Casey Duncan series as well. I got hooked on it not long before this newest book was published. I enjoyed this one a lot but I was hoping for more stories that include her sister acclimating to life there and more on his brother.
I have more or less been in four months and have been rereading Mary Balogh’s entire Survivor series one after the other! The good news is I hardly remember them the first time around. Age has its blessings. As for new I really enjoyed Madeline Hunter’s Heiress For Hire.
I’ve been enjoying a lot of contemporaries during the quarantine, even though I’m much more of an HR reader. I really enjoyed WORST BEST MAN by Mia Sosa (I actually reread that one immediately after finishing it!). I also enjoyed THE HONEY DON’T LIST by Christina Lauren – they always write compelling stories that I enjoy. I also highly recommend THE HAPPY EVER AFTER PLAYLIST by Abby Jimenez (but THE FRIEND ZONE should definitely be read first). As for HR, while this isn’t a new release, I just finished and loved THE WIDOW OF ROSE HOUSE by Diana Biller (I know – I’m late to the party on that one!!). I’m currently reading WHERE THE LOST WANDER by Amy Harmon, which isn’t an easy read especially during quarantine, but It’s so well written.
Oh, and I forgot BEACH READ by Emily Henry, which is especially good in audio with Julia Whelan narrating!
The Widow of Rose House was one of my favorites of 2019. I follow Diana Biller on Twitter and she just posted that she has a second book coming out.
Excellent!! I wonder if it’s a follow up book? I’d love to read Henry’s story.
Henry is one of my favorite secondary characters in recent books I’ve read and so I’m with you there!
I don’t read much non-fiction but four people in my family read and gushed about Erik Larson’s The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz. I read it last week and it would call it the best book I’ve read this year.
I don’t tend to be able to read recent releases immediately so often my lists are of books that have been out for some time. When possible, I do read recent releases on auto buy authors but these are becoming less and less and when they do publish something, I read mostly for loyalty and they might not turn out to be 5 stars reads.
Checking GR, I only gave 5 stars to three books, so far, this year.
Is it that I’m becoming too picky or the books in general just don’t seem to be as perfect-looking as in the past….something to think about.
The Last Kiss by Sally Malcolm. I wish I could find more books written like this.
My favourite romance reads this year are – C.S. Harris’s Who Speaks for the Dammed (it may not qualify as a romance) from 2020 and Alyssa Cole’s An Extraordinary Union, read this year but published in 2017.
So far it is a toss up between two Kristin Hannah books- “The Nightingale” and “The Great Alone”. Both are about areas that I am not that familiar- France and the resistance during WWII and Alaska. The characters are strong and complex, especially the women. I am leaning toward “The Nightingale” because I am a fan of historical fiction but each book touched me (and made me cry) for a variety of reasons. There is domestic violence in each so beware but the storytelling is wonderful and detailed.
A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane is my favourite so far, Headliners by Lucy Parker and The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon are not far behind
I really need to read The Boyfriend Project asap.
I have read, and absolutely loved, Sherry Thomas’ Lady Sherlock series. Charlotte and Lord Ingram has the slowest of slow burn romance and it’s delicious.
If anyone has an ARC of Murder on Cold Street that I could borrow to read I’d love them forever! And I’d make a donation to their favourite charity.
Other favourites have included mysteries such as the Truly Devious YA series, Sharon Bolton’s The Split, Eight Detectives (not out just yet) and Girl A (also not out yet but just fantastic).
Finally Beth I am very envious that you are getting to read so many wonderful HR. Sherry Thomas and Julie Anne Long are my favourites along with Tessa Dare and Julia Quinn. Enjoy!
Sorry, can’t share – but I’ll be reviewing Murder on Cold Street here :)
Ah it was worth a try! Look forward to reading your review
Their burn, especially in book three, was a little too slow for me. Sherry said she felt the same way so I’m hoping book four gives us more of them as lovers!
Yes it needs to speed up a bit as I think they will be great together in a committed relationship and I will look forward to reading about their continuing adventures. Will be interesting to see how she can be married yet independent :)
I’ll be interested to see if they get married. There seems to be a new trend in HR where the protagonists don’t.
God, either Pregnant by the Playboy or American Sweethearts. Or These Violent Delights!
Whose Violent Delights? There are quite a few on amazon… thank you!
i know which other two book you mean.
I’ve read some really great books this year.
Of books newly published, my absolute favourite is Blue on Blue by Dal Maclean.
Runners up are Slippery Creatures by KJ Charles and Wayward by Gregory Ashe.
My favourites of older books, that are new to me this year, are Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid and Glitterland by Alexis Hall. I’m very jealous of the people who have already read his new book!
If it helps, I wish I could read Boyfriend Material again for the first time – I genuinely envy you that experience! Also, it’s not too long a wait now, at least.
Glitterland is one of my favorites of his.
KJ Charles’ Charm of Magpies trilogy.
Unfortunately quite a few of my past favorites have stopped writing or moved on the other genres (Sherry Thomas…); I’m very jealous of Beth who still has so many good authors and backlists to explore.
I loved K.J. Charles’s “Slippery Creatures”, but Alexis Hall’s “Boyfriend Material” is the best romance I’ve read so far. I cannot wait for it to be released so I can recommend it to people and gift it to all my friends.
I haven’t had that much look finding romances I really loved, but in non-romance fiction I cannot recommend “The City We Became” by N.K. Jemisin highly enough, it’s such a fantastic book. Urban fantasy set in New York – the premise is that at a certain point, cities’ souls manifest in people, but not every entity is happy with that. It addresses so many of the issues we’re currently all grappling with – racism, police brutality and gentrification, for example, but it does so in this really accessible way. And it has such a wonderfully diverse cast. I loved this one so much, and it does have romance in it!
And Hilary Mantel’s conclusion to her Thomas Cromwell trilogy was terrific, too.
(And as a last addendum, while it may sound pretentious and it certainly wasn’t published this year, I am currently reading Proust’s “In search of lost time” and I’m blown away by how good this is.)
I forgot that Mantel finished her trilogy. Thank you for posting that info. I’ve been so absorbed in her beautiful writing over the years that she began the series and will definitely read the conclusion.
The Jemisin sounds really good and thought-provoking and perfect reading for moments like these. Ha, yes, Proust is heavy going but so worth it. You have some great books listed here!
I was really nervous when I started “The Mirror and the Light” because the first two books were so good. But it doesn’t just hold up, it completes it perfectly. These books are definitely among the top ten things I have read in my life, because they are so many things at once. I read it during quarantine, and her prose gave me something to cling to.
Reading Proust is an unexpected delight – I’ve made an effort to read more classics for a while now, and loved and liked a lot of them, but there is something about the way he writes that makes something click in my brain. It’s incredibly satisfying.
And last night, I even found a new romance that’s looking like it could be good, so I’m a happy reader now :)
I loved Boyfriend Material – watch this space for my review. I admit, I didn’t think about including books that aren’t out yet, or that would have been on my list, too!
The best book that has come out this year I think is Julianna Keyes’ “Bench Player” about ex-con and returning MLB player Connor Whitman who–quite accidentally–gets into a hot relationship with his team’s PR director, no-nonsense Allison Whyte. The relationship develops slowly and nicely as both heal and grow. I fell in love with both grouchy characters, who weren’t so grouchy by the end. The other books that I have enjoyed this year were ones that came out in previous years, and of course. “Bench Player” sent me back to my favorite Julianna Keyes books: “Going The Distance,” “In Her Defense” and “Team Player.”
I have to say, Beth, your list is EXCELLENT so far–all my favorite historical romance writers. I would add to your list author Cecilia Grant. You’ve got some delightful reading ahead!
I did read A Lady Awakened and loved it…have her other 2 on my TBR…she is in my top 20!
Ooh! I loved A Lady Awakened too. But I read it last year, so I couldn’t put it on my list for this AAR. :)
Bench Player is on my list of my five favorite romances I’ve read this year. I loved it.
I don’t want to give my whole end of year list away! But this one’s on mine, too.
Beth: Liz Carlyle has a massive back catalog – I read her close to my early days of reading romance. I think you will enjoy her books.