I reread a lot of my favorite books this past year, so my Goodreads list doesn’t reflect the real total of books I read. However, I have read a lot of new books too. Here are the top books for each month, followed by the Book of the Year. I really enjoyed all of them, but not always for the same reasons. They varied in genre, quality and skill, but something about each one touched my heart or stirred my imagination.
January — Letters to the Lost — by Brigid Kemmerer (YA contemporary)
February — Valley of Dreams — by Sarah M. Eden (historical romance)
March — The Dark Lady (Sherlock, Lupin and Me) — by Pierdomenico Baccalario (Middle Grade mystery)
— The Invisible Library — by Genevieve Cogman (adventure fantasy)
April — Saffy’s Angel and Indigo’s Star – by Hilary McKay (middle grade fiction)
— Thirty-Two Going on Spinster — by Becky Monson (clean contemporary romance)
May — Where the Stars Meet the Sea — Heidi Kimball (historical romance)
— My Loving Vigil Keeping — Carla Kelly (historical romance)
June — Riviera Gold — by Laurie R. King (mystery)
— Love and First Sight — by Josh Sundquist (YA contemporary)
July — A Man Worth Saving For — Michelle Pennington (contemporary clean romance)
August — Midnight Sun — by Stephanie Meyer; (fantasy romance)
— The Ten Thousand Doors of January — by Alix E. Harrow (fantasy)
— What If It’s True — A Storyteller’s Journey with Jesus — by Charles Martin (non-fiction, Christian)
September — Forget Me Not — by Sarah M. Eden (historical fiction)
October — Enola Holmes – The Case of the Missing Marquess — by Serena Blasco (YA mystery)
November — Romancing the Rake and Loving a Lady – by Nichole Van (historical clean romance)
December — The Ickabog – by J.K. Rowling (fairy tale, fantasy)
— The Left-Handed Booksellers of London — by Garth Nix (adventure, fantasy, mystery YA)
— When Love Comes My Way – by Lori Copeland (historical romance)
And now, the Winners: (Mom alert: note that all three contain some swearing.)
Third Prize: The Ten Thousand Doors of January — by Alix E. Harrow (what a fascinating book. Wow!)
Second Prize: The Left-Handed Booksellers of London — by Garth Nix (Wow again. An ingenious story. I look forward to reading the sequel.)
2020 First Prize (Book of the Year) — Letters to the Lost — by Brigid Kemmerer (YA contemporary) (I cried when I read this book and its sequels.)
Happy New Year to everyone, and Happy Reading!
Carol Nicolas 