Best Reads of 2020

 

While we can all acknowledge that 2020 was a burning dumpster fire, I exceeded my 2020 reading goal of 24 books by reading 51. In this post, I'll be recapping my favorite reads of 2020, seeing as most of us won't be out of quarantine anytime soon.

Series: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

I binge-read almost every book Sarah J. Maas has ever written this summer after being introduced to her by one of my best friends, Lauren. Sarah J. Maas creates such vivid, unbelievably detailed, and realistic universes within her novels and fills them with heartwrenching, wonderful, flawed characters. In this series, a young woman named Feyre is damned to spend the rest of her life in a magical kingdom for accidentally murdering a faerie. There, she falls for her captor and aims to break an ancient curse plaguing everyone in the kingdom. This book is full of twists and turns and has one of my favorite characters of all time. I finished this series in October and genuinely think about it almost every day. I would do anything to re-read these for the first time and cannot recommend them enough!  

Author Spotlight: Meg Wolitzer

A little over a year ago, I decided to read as much Meg Wolitzer as humanly possible while planted on a beach in the DR with my boyfriend. In those few days, I read The Interestings, The Ten-Year Nap, Sleepwalking, and The Female Persuasion. The Interestings has very quickly become one of my top favorite books, and I thoroughly enjoyed everything I read of Wolitzer's. She has such a unique, distinct voice and her writing is incredibly gripping and engaging. If you're looking for books that make you think and tug at your heartstrings in the same breath, Wolitzer is the way to go. 

Individual Novels:

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

I thoroughly enjoyed following along with the story of Queenie Jenkins, a 25-year-old Jamaican British woman "straddling two cultures and slotting neatly into neither." Queenie struggles with a lot of the things many millennials are struggling with, too. Questions of "what are you doing? Why are you doing it? Who do you want to be?" are things we've all asked ourselves at one point or another. I very quickly plowed through this book and highly recommend it! 

The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe

Based on the experiences of Dita Kraus, a woman imprisoned at the Auschwitz internment camp, this story is about a young, fourteen-year-old Dita, who risks her life to keep "the magic of books alive" during the Holocaust. I feel as though there are a limited amount of books folks turn to when informing themselves - and their students - on the Holocaust. While those books are incredibly important, it's also important to focus on fresh perspectives and new voices. If you are looking for a "fresh" take on what life was like in Auschwitz - or want to reaffirm to yourself or your students how education is a major privilege - this is a great book to pick up. 

The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett

I think this was on every bookworm's shelf at one point in 2020. This breathtaking novel is about two light-skinned twin sisters, born in a small southern Black community, who decide to run away from home and re-invent their lives. As they grow up, one sister abandons her Black identity and decides to commit to passing as white. The other ends up marrying a dark-skinned Black man and gives birth to a beautiful daughter. The Vanishing Half follows these sisters from their adolescence into adulthood and, as Roxane Gay said, this novel is "completely absorbing. Intricate prose. Deep characterization. Bennett exceeded my expectations with her second novel."

If you pick up any of these novels, please let me know what you think! You can connect with me on Instagram @ashleylevines. 

- a.