Merry Christmas/Happy holidays everyone! Here is a picture of my adorable dog in front of the Christmas tree!
I am sure if you follow any book lovers on social media, we are all posting about our favorite books of 2020. I hope that some of the books I have on my list are not too repetitive for you guys. I also am not putting these books in any particular order because that was just too hard for me to pick the order. Anyways here we go! Please enjoy my best books of 2020 list!
Adult fantasy
Rage of Dragons/Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winters
Crescent City by Sarah J Maas
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
Battleground by Jim Butcher
YA fantasy
Brooklyn Brujas series by Zoraida Cordova
Cursebreakers series by Brigid Kemmerer
Black witch chronicles by Laurie Forest
A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J Maas
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Mystery
Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson
There’s someone inside your house by Stephanie perkins
Home before dark by riley sager
Malevolent by Jana deleon
The Whisper Man by Alex North
Romance
Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout
Nightfall by Penelope Douglas
Neanderthal Seeks Human by Penny Reid
The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Middle grade
School for good and evil series by Soman Chainani
The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson
The mark of athena by Rick Riordan
Magnus Chase by Rick Riordan
The last olympian by rick riordan
Horror
The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Shadows by Alex North
Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix
Fiction
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
A Fire Sparking by Julianne Maclean
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
Lovely War by Julie Berry
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
YA Romance/Fiction
What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Bookish and the Beast by Ashley Poston
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed
Only Mostly Devastated by Sophie Gonzales
Nonfiction
You’re Never Weird On The Internet by Felicia Day
Music to My Years by Cristela Alonzo
If You Tell: A True Story of Murder, Family Secrets, and the Unbreakable Bond of Sisterbood by Gregg Olsen
White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin DiAngelo
Life has been insane for the last month and a half. I am getting close to the end of my fall quarter at school so I have been nonstop busy with homework, papers, and projects. Then I spent most of November sick with a bad case of bronchitis (got checked and it was not COVID) so I haven’t had much energy to write up the reviews of the books I read in October and Novemeber. I decided for these two months, I am just going to list off the books I have read and what I rated them as; no reviews this time. That being said; if you want to know my opinion about any of the books on this list, feel free to send me a message on here or on my instagram, @staceyrz! My normal book review setup suddenly came back in December!
Enough rambling!
Here are the books I read in October and November!
October
Market Ghost Stories by Mercedes Yaeger
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tales of the Slayer by Doranna Durgin
Rating:⭐⭐⭐
Cruel Crown by Victoria Aveyard
Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐
Burned to a Crisp by K.A. Miltimore
Rating:⭐⭐⭐
Horrorstor by Grady Hendrix
Rating:⭐⭐⭐⭐
City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Court of Wings and Ruin by Sarah J Maas
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd Jones
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tomie by Junji Ito
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Ravenous by Amy Lukavics
Rating: ⭐⭐
The Whisper Man by Alex North
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Crave by Tracy Wolf
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
A Witch in Time by Constance Sayers
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Wicked Saints by Emily A Duncan
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Malevolent by Jana Deleon
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Rival by Penelope Douglas
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley-Doyle
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Falling Away by Penelope Douglas
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Aflame by Penelope Douglas
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Witch: Unleashed. Untamed. Unapologetic
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
November
Snapshot by Brandon Sanderson
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Battle Ground by Jim Butcher
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Christmas Eve by Jim Butcher
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Inside the Magic: The Making of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Ian Nathan
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Conclave by Penelope Douglas
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Dominicana by Angie Cruz
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Home Before Dark by Riley Sager
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Nightfall by Penelope Douglas
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Diviners by Libba Bray
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
A Kingdom of Flesh and Fire by Jennifer L Armentrout
This was a novella for The Reckoners series. It was a fun, entertaining story that added more backstory to this world. I wish I could have known and read this book between Steelheart and Firefight because it would have added some hints to the mystery behind the Epic’s weaknesses.
The Emperor’s Soul by Brandon Sanderson
4/5 stars
The Emperor’s Soul was another novella by Brandon Sanderson connected to Elantris. It is insane to me how good Brandon Sanderson’s world building can be in a novella under 200 pages. The heroine of this novella was incredible, intelligent and I just loved her. I would say you could read this novella without reading Elantris because although they are in the same world, they are two separate stories.
Secret History by Brandon Sanderson
5/5 stars
Now let’s talk about Secret History. This is a novella connected with the Mistborn series, specifically Mistborn era one. I can’t really say much about this book because it would result in spoilers BUT I will say that if you missed reading about the incredible characters in Mistborn era one, read this book because some of them are back. I got literal chills while reading Secret History, being back in this world with some of my favorite fantasy characters was just so nice.
Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi
4/5 stars
John Scalzi is one of those authors that I always enjoy reading their work. Science fiction books are sometimes hard for me to get into but Scalzi’s writing and characters help me enjoy his sci-fi worlds. Agent to the Stars was another great read from Scalzi for me. The main character is a celebrity agent who is fairly successful so his boss decides to assign him a new client. This client just happens to be an alien whose alien race wants to make themselves known to humanity. This book is full of witty and smartass conversations that make you love the characters.
Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles
4/5 stars
Okay so Where Dreams Descend was a fun book and the promo for this book was so accurate. I kept hearing that this story was a combination of Moulin Rouge, Greatest Showman, and a bit of Phantom of the Opera and if you know me at all, I am a musical theater lover! Everything I heard about this book made me so excited! There was magic, romance, a circus, dark pasts and intrigue; all of these things together make for a great book, in my opinion! Side note: I heard a lot of people comparing Where Dreams Descend to Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern but I disagree. I honestly didn’t like Night Circus, the idea was cool but I don’t like the flowery writing in that book at all. So if you are like me, dislike Night Circus, don’t let that dislike stop you from reading this book.
Hideaway by Penelope Douglas
4/5 stars
Okay we are on book two of Devil’s Night and man, this series is SO GREAT! Penelope Douglas is my favorite Romance writer for sure! The main characters from the first book in the series, Corrupt, are in this book as well but the MCs we follow are now Kai Mori and Banks. Michael and Rika are trying to move on from the events of Corrupt but Kai and Banks are still very much invested in the mysteries that resulted from Corrupt.
The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
4/5 stars
Returning to Riordan’s book worlds has been so much fun. He just never disappoints me at all. I loved how this book connects the Roman gods to the Greek ones we have come to know. Some of my favorite characters from the Percy Jackson series are back again in this series but we do have new teenagers that we are following mainly. I can’t wait to continue with this series!
The Time of Contempt by Andrzej Sapkowski
3/5 stars
This is the second full-length novel in the Witcher series and it was just okay. I wish I was more in love with this series but it is just not my favorite. I know I will continue this series eventually but honestly right now, it will not be my priority.
The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez
4/5 stars
This was a hard book for me to read honestly. It is a heartbreaking story about several Latino immigrant families trying to make it in the United States. The main family we follow is the Riveras from Mexico who came to the US after their daughter Maribel had an almost fatal accident and they came here to get her help. The book ends sadly and there is definitely not a happy ending for the characters but I liked that because life is hard, not always happy.
A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J Maas
5/5 stars
Probably the best book I read in the month of September. I can’t believe I waited so long to read this series. Sarah J Maas has easily become one of my favorite authors especially when I want a fantasy romance book. So ACOMAF is the second book in A Court of Thorns and Roses series. Feyre is about to have a life changing moment but Rhysand had a different plan. Several things are revealed during this book and that is why I have to read the third book in October for sure; I need to know what happens!
Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
4/5 stars
Oh Joe Abercrombie, you definitely know how to write a grimdark world so well! I would definitely consider him my favorite grimdark author for sure! This is the final book in the First Law trilogy and it didn’t let me down at all! Just like the last two books in this series, all the characters continue to surprise me and one of them more than the others! I can’t wait to read the series that follows this world but years later especially after the events in Last Argument of Kings because wow, I did not see that ending coming.
Blood and Honey by Shelby Mahurin
4/5 stars
This is the sequel to Serpent and Dove and it follows the events of our favorite characters from the first book after they escaped near death. The MCs are on a quest to find allies against Lou’s mother and just protective against her and the church that is also after them. The romance between Lou and Reid continues to grow even though it would be easier to not be together. The cliffhanger at the end of this book was incredible and intense! I can’t believe I have to wait now to see what ends up happening with all of these characters!
Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust
3/5 stars
This was a decently good book. It made me think of a fairytale where the princess is cursed and a charming guy wants to save her. I like how this fairytale was reimagined. There were several twists and I loved the different creatures that are found in this book. The book had strong Middle Eastern tones which I loved because I am trying to read more books that are not based around English history.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
4/5 stars
This classic horror book is another haunted house story but that is okay because it was still good. I had watched the Netflix TV show LOOSELY based on this book so I thought I had an idea of what to expect but the book is so different from the book. I liked both though in the end. If you are looking for a classic horror book that is creepy and crazy, check this one out.
Wayward Witch by Zoraida Cordova
4/5 stars
I am so happy that this book is out and I can continue reading about these amazing characters in this incredible world that Zoraida Cordova has created. Wayward Witch is the third installment in the Brooklyn Brujas series and it did not disappoint me at all. We follow the youngest sister in the Mortiz family on an adventure to save a fairy realm and in the process, repair her family back in the human world. People! Please read this series and anything by Cordova, you won’t be disappointed!
Red Sister by Mark Lawrence
3/5 stars
Book one of the Book of the Ancestor series and it has been recommended to me by several people, so I was excited to finally start this series. We follow Nona, a young girl who has had a difficult life, who is now training at the Convent of Sweet Mercy where young girls like her train to be assassins. I liked the magic system and the writing. I will definitely continue this series eventually.
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennet
4/5 stars
I am so glad that Foundryside was the last book I read this month because wow, it was so good!! The writing style reminded me of my favorite author, Brandon Sanderson, and the humor was very much a mix of Sanderson and Jim Butcher (in my opinion, anyways). Sancia, the main character, is a thief who has unique abilities that make her a great thief. She ends up stealing an ancient item that ends up putting her in the middle of a political, action packed situation. All the characters were incredible and there is not one that I hated even the villain. The twist in the end was amazing and I did not see that coming at all, which I love when that happens.