December 28th will mark the two-year anniversary of Laura’s Books and Blogs. My site underwent big changes in 2020. Most notably, my blog transformed primarily into a book blog. Along with continuing to read and review books for LitPick and Horrorscreams Videovault, I also added my site to The Indie View and Indies Today reviewers lists.
As a result, I was flooded with requests for book reviews. This forced me to become choosy in what I decided to read. However, I offer all authors the opportunity to promote their work in an author interview, and many took me up on that offer.
This process has worked well for me as I got to read a ton of great books this year. I’ve also hosted a bunch of successful book giveaways and thank all who participated in helping to support indie authors. I hope after you win or buy a book from an indie author that you leave them a crucial review on Amazon and Goodreads.
Incidentally, nearly every book on this list was written by an indie author, the majority of which were sent to me to review on my blog. This should help to trample the myth that indie books aren’t quality books.
I hope to continue to support the writing community and indie authors with this blog. As my site grows, so will my ability to offer more exposure, incentives, and resources to both readers and writers. For now, here are my top 10 books of 2020 (links open in a new tab). This post contains affiliate links, and I will earn a commission on any sales.
1. Scotland with a Stranger by Ninya
Genre: travel memoir
Book Summary
After a number of life altering events, Ninya is desperate to take a trip that will recharge her batteries and help her learn more about herself. So when a fellow member of a Facebook group and total stranger offers to take her backpacking through Scotland for two weeks on an affordable budget, Ninya signs right up. What she doesn’t anticipate is how grueling, uncompromising, and devious her tour guide will be and how navigating their travel situation while taking in the once-in-a-lifetime sites does change Ninya for the better. You can read my full review here.
Why It’s Great
The premise alone is what made me say yes to Scotland with a Stranger. Why would you take a trip with a person you don’t know? Wouldn’t it be a disaster? The answer to that is “yes.” But that’s what makes the book so entertaining, putting yourself in Ninya’s shoes.
Some readers may grow frustrated with her passive aggressive way of dealing with her “tour guide” Erika. Others, like me, would say they’d probably have let her push them around too.
Either way, you’re entertained, living vicariously through the author who took a chance on a once in a lifetime trip and got it, even with all of its ups and downs. And her energetic and candid writing style and inner-monologue keeps you turning the pages as fast as you can read.
2. The Cry Wolf Series by Jacque Stevens
Genre: fantasy series
Book Summary
Belle is the daughter of a lowly sheep farmer in a small French town when her father is killed by a wolf in the woods. Seeking revenge, Belle pursues the animal and is wounded in the chase. She wakes up in the ruins of an old castle being tended to by a half man half beast who calls himself Howl. As Belle heals, she and Howl develop a friendship and later a romance which pulls them between the human and animal worlds. You can read my full review here.
Why It’s Great
I don’t usually read fantasy, but this is a very familiar story thanks to The Walt Disney Company, and I was curious to see what the author did to make it her own. Hollywood should hire Jacque Stevens to adapt classic tales for modern audiences. She knows how to work in modern ideas and strong female characters fluidly into a period piece without feeling like she’s spoon feeding us some PC version of an overdone story.
I love how this series comes in short, cliffhanging installments. I also love the horror element that she incorporates into the fantasy side of the series. Without giving too much away, I’ll leave you with one key word that makes this story a game changer: silver.
3. Anna Incognito by Laura Preble
Genre: fiction
Book Summary
Anna is a germophobic shut in with a compulsive hair pulling habit that has left her nearly bald and an attitude that isolates her from most of humanity. Her only love is her therapist who does not share her feelings. But when Anna receives a wedding invitation for a ceremony being held across the country, she sets off in her car, compulsions and all, to stop the wedding and win him over. But almost as soon as she takes off on her road trip, things don’t go according to plan, and Anna must face her fears, her past, and the truth about herself while on the road. You can read my full review on LitPick.
Why It’s Great
It is so rare these days to find a novel with an unlikable character who becomes likeable. That’s what makes Anna Incognito work. She’s the Ebeneezer Scrooge for a new generation, someone who has been through a traumatic past, who has cut herself off from the world, and relies on a small group of new characters to show her the way back into society. She begins an absolute mess and comes out of it a hopeful mess.
Throw in a road trip element mixed with a germophobic, self-harming, narcissistic traveler and a neglected teenage girl, and you’ve got yourself an unorthodox buddy road trip dramedy that I’d love to see adapted into a film one day.
4. Twine by Dorriah Rogers
Genre: memoir
Book Summary
Dorriah Rogers recounts her childhood growing up in California with her brother and her violent and neglectful parents. Flip flopping between past and present, Rogers shares her best and worst memories and how they shaped her character by teaching her what not to do as a person, a parent, and as a daughter. You can read my full review on LitPick.
Why It’s Great
Years ago, when I finished reading The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, I wanted to find more books like it. Twine is one of those books. It’s raw, emotional, and even suspenseful as Rogers relives some of the most traumatic events of her childhood. It’s a reminder that we can’t let our pasts dictate our future, whether that means making something of ourselves or putting aside our hostility towards our pasts to do the right thing and help those who don’t deserve it.
5. Hawthorn Woods by Patrick Canning
Genre: adult mystery
Book Summary
In the summer of 1989, Francine Haddix spends two weeks in Hawthorn Woods, IL house sitting and babysitting for her sister while they visit Paris, France. As she’s getting acclimated to the neighborhood, a string of mysteries emerge from around the neighborhood. Putting on her Nancy Drew hat, Francine begins to investigate with shocking, dangerous, and even deadly consequences. You can read my full review here.
Why It’s Great
I’m a sucker for stories about suburbia. It’s a world that I know well and a setting that seems picturesque but can harbor as much evil, hatred, and danger as any place. Throw in a late 80’s setting, a multitude of strong subplots, and plenty of witty dialogue from a crazy collection of characters, and you’ve got an unorthodox mystery. Hawthorn Woods is a refreshing addition to the genre that’s hard to predict but easy to maneuver through and keep you on edge until its climactic finale.
6. The Broken Shade by Michele Poague
Genre: historical fiction
Book Summary
In 1986, Freja O’Connell purchases a rundown home in Denver, CO and proceeds to fix it up while earning big tips as a waitress at a strip club. Between waitressing and remodeling, Freja makes friends with and investigates the death of a ghost of a young woman in her 20’s who haunts her new house and rejects the advances of several men who pursue her, including the mysterious man who works the registers at the local hardware store. As the house starts to come together, so do the numerous mysteries that surround Freja along with a better understanding of herself. You can read my full review on LitPick.
Why It’s Great
The Broken Shade is a story that you can’t quite pin down. Another mystery set in the 80’s, this novel hits on some unorthodox situations that you don’t usually read in novels. From detailed yet interesting descriptions of trial-and-error home remodeling to the unappealing yet profitable world of strip club waitressing with a ghost story thrown in, there’s a lot going on in this book, yet it manages to balance all of its seemingly disconnected elements and even its far-fetched moments with ease. Another great choice if you’re tired of the same old tropes and formulaic writing.
7. What Death Taught Terrence by Derek McFadden
Genre: urban fantasy
Book Summary
One afternoon, 55-year-old Terrence McDonald falls asleep on the couch watching a football game and wakes up to his dead mother offering to help him move. It turns out, he too has died in his sleep, and his life is now under review to determine whether or not he gets to return to the afterlife or cease to exist at all. All he has to do is figure out what his life, with all of its ups and downs, taught him and what he will do with that knowledge should he survive oblivion. You can read my full review here.
Why It’s Great
The title of this book brings up a lot of questions, sucking the reader in from the beginning. We all want to know the meaning of life, if not during our life then at least in the afterlife. This book literally tells our hero’s life story with the intention of figuring that out. It take a very optimistic view of death and our struggles in life. Even our worst moments are there to teach us something. As you read on, you’re rooting for Terrence to overcome his life’s obstacles and find happiness before that fateful nap. You come out of the other end feeling hopeful and a little wiser as the result of reading this book.
8. Out of the Pantry: A Disordered Eating Journey by Ronni Robinson
Genre: memoir
Book Summary
Author Ronni Robinson chronicles her life long eating addiction from childhood through motherhood and how food was used like a drug to help celebrate her highs and comfort her during her lows. It’s not until she sees a segment about eating addiction on TV that she realizes a problem and seeks out help in overcoming it. You can read my full review here.
Why It’s Great
Out of the Pantry is great because the author is candid, reflective, and honest about her eating struggles. I definitely related to her relationship with food, both in its celebratory and comforting nature. Weight loss is an extra sensitive topic these days, and Robinson recognizes this. But she also recognizes that in her personal case, she needed help to fight the secretive, obsessive, and unhealthy habits that had dictated her life for so long. In treating her addiction, she not only managed to overcome these all-consuming habits, but she took that determination and discipline and used them to push her body in a way she never had before. And in doing so, she learned just how capable she is in both body and mind.
9. Travels with Hafa by Nathan Pettijohn
Genre: travel memoir
Book Summary
After a tough break up, Nathan Pettijohn and his German Shepard puppy rent an RV and spend three-and-a-half weeks traveling up the Pacific Northwest from California to Washington state and back. Sometimes traveling with a companion, sometimes alone, Hafa (short for Rafael) is always by his side as they camp out night after night, eating bad bar food and walking the trails to get in tune with nature and escape their daily problems for a few weeks so that they can return to their normal lives recharged, refreshed, and ready to plan the next trip before COVID-19 cuts travel short for everyone. You can read my full review on LitPick.
Why It’s Great
I’m not a dog person, but I decided to read this book after checking out the first few pages because Pettijohn’s writing style grabbed me right away. His story reads like journal entries, leapfrogging from one destination to the next until he reaches the top of the continental US before circling around and heading back home. This book isn’t about a life-changing trip full of adventure and finding oneself. It’s more of a guide on what it’s like to travel via RV and the challenges and experiences that come with it. If you love travel but want to read about real travel that anyone can pull off, this is the story for you.
10. Then Came Darkness by D.H. Schleicher
Genre: suspense thriller
Book Summary
In the 1930’s, Joshua Bloomfield learns about Samuel Kydd’s buried fortune and seeks out to take it for himself. Kydd, a traveling salesman, has left his fragile wife and neglected children to fend for themselves. It’s up to his two youngest children to outsmart the would-be thief, find their father’s treasure, and save themselves. You can read my full review here!
Why It’s Great
Part East of Eden and part Night of the Hunter, Schleicher’s story is sinister, suspenseful, and ultimately satisfying. I love how the perspective switches from the incompetent adults to the survivalist children who do a lot with very little information. The book begins with a journey and ends with one, first as a hunt and later a chase. There are so many twists and turns and unexpected body counts along with a cast of well-rounded characters and a historical setting that ties everything together so succinctly and makes for a truly intense read.
What are the best books that you’ve read this year? Leave your answers in the comments below!
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This is a great list. We’re still working on our list. Chain of Gold was our favorite so far.