The Most Memorable and Most Disappointing Books I Read in 2020
When I went through and made a list of the most memorable books in 2020, I realized that this list seems kind of random. These are not necessarily my favorite books, just books that I noticed something special about, something memorable if you will. I truly do not have one singular favorite book, and it's also rare for me to specifically dislike a book, which is why I only have three books that I was really disappointed in.
The Most Memorable Books I Read in 2020
The Street by Ann Petry
This was the first book I thought of and I loved it in the most unexpected way. Honestly, I picked up this book because the cover was stunning, I read the book synopsis and it sounded interesting enough. It was the first time I had heard about it and I am a little surprised. The writing all throughout this book was absolutely beautiful and I enjoyed it all because of it. The ending surprised me, it wasn't exactly a good ending and I didn't want it to end, something else has to happen but the readers will never know. Here is a short synopsis:
The Street tells the poignant, often heartbreaking story of Lutie Johnson, a young black woman, and her spirited struggle to raise her son amid the violence, poverty, and racial dissonance of Harlem in the late 1940s.
The Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson
Yes, this is a trilogy and not just one book but I make the rules here. This was recommended by my Dad and brother, and it took me a while to get into, mostly because I listened to the audiobook version and I don't have much time to listen to audiobooks, but once I did get into it, I found chores and crafts and anything I could do to listen to these books. They still took me a really long time to get through because they are super long but it was worth it. I haven't read any fantasy book anything like this before, I honestly haven't read much fantasy in general though, there's no reason for that and I don't have anything against it. If you want a really good audiobook, something really fun and different, you should try Graphic Audio's version of Mistborn.
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani
I read this earlier last year and it stands out to me for one particular reason, it is written in second person. I would be interested to know if you have read a book written in second person because it's really interesting and unusual. Nisha is keeping a diary, in it she writes letters to her mother who died when Nisha was a baby, and she uses it to illustrate her family's journey from Pakistan to India after India has been separated into two countries in 1947. This is a time in history that I haven't heard much about and it interested me.
It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders.
Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home. The journey is long, difficult, and dangerous, and after losing her mother as a baby, Nisha can't imagine losing her homeland, too. But even if her country has been ripped apart, Nisha still believes in the possibility of putting herself back together.
The Flavia De Luce Series by Alan Bradley
I realize now that I should have made clear that I would not only be talking about stand alone books. I adore this series, the characters, especially Flavia, are so interesting and easy to follow. Each book follows a different mystery that our wonderful Flavia solves. Some of the mysteries do have darker themes but, because of the way it is written, it doesn't feel like it. I feel like the best types of books to read in 2020 were light ones that would transport you into another world and this did it for me. There are 10 books in the series. I actually started this series in 2019 but continued it throughout 2020. I also haven't read the last three books yet but they are on my list. This is the synopsis of the second book, it's one that I re-read this year, not necessarily my favorite, I just can't pick a favorite.
Flavia de Luce, a dangerously smart eleven-year-old with a passion for chemistry and a genius for solving murders, thinks that her days of crime-solving in the bucolic English hamlet of Bishop’s Lacey are over—until beloved puppeteer Rupert Porson has his own strings sizzled in an unfortunate rendezvous with electricity. But who’d do such a thing, and why? Does the madwoman who lives in Gibbet Wood know more than she’s letting on? What about Porson’s charming but erratic assistant? All clues point toward a suspicious death years earlier and a case the local constables can’t solve—without Flavia’s help. But in getting so close to who’s secretly pulling the strings of this dance of death, has our precocious heroine finally gotten in way over her head?
The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
I don't know why I liked this book as much as I did, but I warned you, some might seem kind of random. My mom read this book aloud to me as I oil painted and I had a lot of fun with that. I really enjoyed the main character, she almost reminds me of Elizabeth Bennet from Pride and Prejudice. I love how brave Kit, the main character, is in the situation she is put in that is so different from what she is used to. I absolutely loved when she taught the little girl and I loved the time she spent with Hanna, but I will not talk too much about what happened especially if you haven't read it.
Orphaned Kit Tyler knows, as she gazes for the first time at the cold, bleak shores of Connecticut Colony, that her new home will never be like the shimmering Caribbean island she left behind. In her relatives' stern Puritan community, she feels like a tropical bird that has flown to the wrong part of the world, a bird that is now caged and lonely. The only place where Kit feels completely free is in the meadows, where she enjoys the company of the old Quaker woman known as the Witch of Blackbird Pond, and on occasion, her young sailor friend Nat. But when Kit's friendship with the "witch" is discovered, Kit is faced with suspicion, fear, and anger. She herself is accused of witchcraft!
Moon Over Manifest by Clair Vanderpool
I think this is a good time to say that I am not listing these books in any order whatsoever. I read this book this year for the second time and I loved it. I think the main character, Abilene, was such a fun character. The plot was so full, there was always something happening and I found it interesting. There are two timelines, one around WWI and the other during 1936. It mentioned prohibition, the great depression, Spanish influenza, immigration, bootleggers, the dust bowl, and more. I also dressed up as Abilene Tucker for a costume party and had a lot of fun. I had to explain to almost everyone but it was worth it.
Abilene Tucker feels abandoned. Her father has put her on a train, sending her off to live with an old friend for the summer while he works a railroad job. Armed only with a few possessions and her list of universals, Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kansas, aiming to learn about the boy her father once was.
Having heard stories about Manifest, Abilene is disappointed to find that it’s just a dried-up, worn-out old town. But her disappointment quickly turns to excitement when she discovers a hidden cigar box full of mementos, including some old letters that mention a spy known as the Rattler. These mysterious letters send Abilene and her new friends, Lettie and Ruthanne, on an honest-to-goodness spy hunt, even though they are warned to “Leave Well Enough Alone.”
Abilene throws all caution aside when she heads down the mysterious Path to Perdition to pay a debt to the reclusive Miss Sadie, a diviner who only tells stories from the past. It seems that Manifest’s history is full of colorful and shadowy characters—and long-held secrets. The more Abilene hears, the more determined she is to learn just what role her father played in that history. And as Manifest’s secrets are laid bare one by one, Abilene begins to weave her own story into the fabric of the town.
The Most Disappointing Books I Read in 2020
Cinder by Marissa Meyer
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless Lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. . . . Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg.
She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.
The Bookshop by Penelope Fitzgerald (not related to F. Scott Fitzgerald)
I rated this book three out of five stars, definitely not the worst. The only reason I was disappointed is because I was expecting so much more, and maybe that was my fault, but I feel like this story could have gone so much farther. In the end, it just feels like it's pointless, that the main character Florence Green, went nowhere and learned nothing. I feel like the characters were flat and uninteresting. But, oh! The cover is so beautiful and it didn't match up! But it was short and I didn't feel like I wasted too much of my time, it could have just been so much better.
In 1959 Florence Green, a kindhearted widow with a small inheritance, risks everything to open a bookshop - the only bookshop - in the seaside town of Hardborough. By making a success of a business so impractical, she invites the hostility of the town's less prosperous shopkeepers. By daring to enlarge her neighbors' lives, she crosses Mrs. Gamart, the local arts doyenne. Florence's warehouse leaks, her cellar seeps, and the shop is apparently haunted. Only too late does she begin to suspect the truth: a town that lacks a bookshop isn't always a town that wants one.
Enslaved by Ducks by Bob Tarte
I almost feel bad for writing about this one because I am not quite finished. But I have something to say, I think I figured out why I don't like it (we're looking at a one or two-star rating right now). First, the premise of this book is fun and I was excited about it so maybe my expectations were a little too high. Alright, are you ready for my big realization? Here it is: this book is what happens when you have a heavily plot-driven book, to the point where the characters are not interesting at all. That is what happened in Enslaved by Ducks. These are the books that taint my perception of non-fiction!
When Bob Tarte bought a house in rural Michigan, he was counting on a tranquil haven. Then Bob married Linda. She wanted a rabbit, which seemed innocuous enough until the bunny chewed through their electrical wiring. And that was just the beginning. Before long, Bob found himself constructing cages, buying feed, clearing duck waste, and spoon-feeding a menagerie of furry and feathery residents. His life of quiet serenity vanished, and he unwittingly became a servant to a relentlessly demanding family.
That's it! As I said most of the books I read I mostly like. I will name some honorable mentions: The Book Thief, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (the book was better), Murder on the Orient Express, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, The Dreamer, One of Us is Lying, The Song of Achilles, and Circe. That was a lot!
Thank you for reading!
Before I leave you I have to ask, what were some of your most memorable books from 2020? Have you read a book in second person? Are there any books that particularly disappointed you? What books are you most excited to read in 2021?
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