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Top Reads Of 2020

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Reading has been an important part of my life since I can remember. In books, I've always found solace and peace. In books, I've found companionship and happiness. In books, I've lost and found myself. A large part of the person that I am today is because of the books that I've read. They have helped me look at life differently and taught me innumerable lessons. They have helped me groom myself and let me travel to a gazillion places without moving from my seat. In short, books are a vital part of my life and always will be.

My Goodreads challenge for 2020 was set at 50 books. In 2019, I had set a target of 30 books and only just managed to scrape by. Setting a target of 50 books was ambitious and I was having my fingers crossed to get there. Then, the pandemic happened. March and April was tough as we were all knocked off our comfort zones. My anxiety and paranoia was at its peak and I just did not have the focus to read. I couldn't concentrate and hence I couldn't read. While I'm not someone who is worried much about numbers, a personal target always means more. With time, I was able to make peace with the situation and my reading resumed at a good pace. When the lockdown happened, I piled up on ebooks and Audio books thinking that it would be hard to get paperbacks delivered. Soon, Amazon opened up their delivery services and I was back to ordering paperbacks. All this when I had innumerable unread books on my shelf already. When you are a bibliophile, you just cannot help it.

I managed to read 109 books in 2020. I discovered many new authors this year and even managed to read quite a few Indian authors. I read quite a few short stories from Amazon Original stories on the Kindle and some of them have been excellent. It is very difficult to summarize your favorite reads of the year, because every book holds it own charm. I don't want to talk about the details of the books, you can find that on my Bookstagram or on my Goodreads page. In summary, here are my top reads of the year.

Best reads of 2020:

20. The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse by Charles Mackesy
19. The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
18. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
17. Normal People by Sally Rooney
16. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
15. Becoming by Michelle Obama
14. Verity by Coleen Hoover
13. Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
12. The Catcher In The Rye by J. D Salinger
11. 10 Minutes, 38 Seconds In This Strange World by Elif Shafak
10. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
9. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
8. Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo
7. The House In The Cerulean Sea by T. J Klune
6. The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
5. The Stationary Shop Of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
4. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
3. Anxious People by Fredrik Backman
2. A Gentleman In Moscow by Amor Towles
1. The Thirteenth Tale, Once Upon A River and Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield

Best short reads of 2020:

10. Mr Portobello's Morning Paper by Amanda Prowse
9. The Wickeds (Faraway collection) by Gayle Forman
8. Ms Ice Sandwich by Mieko Kawakami
7. The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
6. Let Her Be (Hush collection) by Lisa Unger
5. Two Stories by Sally Rooney
4. Buried (Hush collection) by Jeffery Deaver
3. Zikora by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
2. Evidence Of The Affair by Taylor Jenkins Reid
1. The Best Girls (Disorder collection) by Min Jin Lee

Best Indian reads of 2020:

5. Ghachar Gochar by Vivek Shanbhag
4. The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay
3. Dopehri by Pankaj Kapur
2. Undertow by Jahnavi Barua
1. Bombay Balchao by Jane Borges

Special mentions (Not the top, but almost there):

10. The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
9. The Priory Of The Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon
8. The Picture Of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde
7. Home Going by Yaa Gyasi
6. Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
5. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
4. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
3. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
2. Circe by Madeline Miller
1. Tin Man by Sarah Winman

I'm very happy with the reading I did in 2020. Here's to more reading in 2021.

What are your best reads of 2020?

Comments

  1. I have slacked on the reading front this year, as I focused on other things. I read, but not like before, not intentionally seeking out specific books, genres etc. I just stayed in my comfort zone and sort of coasted. Hoping for a much better, more intentional reading year 2021. And wishing you a great reading year as well.

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    1. It is good that you focused on other things. That matters a lot when you prioritize. Wishing you a great 2021, Shantala.

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  2. I already read a few of your book reviews on instagram and bookmarked them. Your reading stats are admirable! I hope I am able to read half as much this year. :)

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    1. Thank you for being a part of the #DecBookLove challenge, Vinodini. I hope you read a lot more this year :)

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  3. You are a reading whiz my friend - thats some crazy reading stats and I am super duper impressed. I have ear marked loads of books from your list too. Cheers for your reading spree for this year too :-)

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    1. Hahaha, thanks babe <3

      Wishing you an awesome year of reading in 2021.

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  4. Well done, Soumya! Quite an impressive number of books you've ticked off from your list in 2020. I'd be thrilled if I could a quarter of it. Seriously!! I couldn't read much last year as it turned out that I was pulled into too many things on various levels, and for most part of the year, I found myself struggling to keep my sanity intact. This year, though, I started with a plan to read at least three books every month. Going good so far (touchwood)!

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    1. Thank you so much, Esha. Nothing matters more than you and your own sanity, absolutely nothing. Hopefully you are in a better place now. Yay, I hope you keep going this year.

      Love!

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  5. Ah back to your blog just to see this awesome list. And thats an incredible count of 109. Picking up some suggestions from here( like always)

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    1. Yay, nice to have you back here! I'll be looking forward to some suggestions too :D

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