December 13, 2020
2020 Reading Roundup
I love the tradition of giving an annual list of recommendations from the books I read in the past year, and always look forward to similar lists from other writers and readers. I'm doing mine a little early this year because, frankly, the rest of my month is going to be insanely busy with work and holiday stuff. So, without further ado, my list of 2020 recommendations.
Okay, a little ado. I read 66 books in 2020, which is a smidge below my annual goal of 80, but I got a lot of writing done and it really ate into my casual reading time. I also read a lot for reviews and interviews that I wrote for Book and Film Globe.
The following books are not from any specific year, although most of them were published in 2020. It's also worth noting I am only listing books I FINISHED, meaning the stack of 20+ partially-read books on my table don't count (at least this year).
Okay, no more messing around. Here are books I read in 2020 that I think you should all read, too:
Last Words - Michael Koryta
Bag of Bones / If It Bleeds / Blockade Billy - Stephen King
The Immeasurable Corpse of Nature - Christopher Slatsky
The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon
Malorie / Carpenter's Farm - Josh Malerman (Read my interview w/ Josh HERE)
The Living Dead - George Romero, Daniel Kraus (Read my interview w/ Daniel HERE)
Unsub - Meg Gardiner
The Chrysalis - Brendan Deneen
As Summer's Mask Slips - Gordon B. White
Worse Angels - Laird Barron (Read my interview w/ Laird HERE)
Basketful of Heads - Joe Hill
The Blackening - Seán O'Connor
Survivor Song - Paul Tremblay (Read my interview w/ Paul HERE)
The Return - Rachel Harrison
Lost River - J. Todd Scott
Only Good Indians - Stephen Graham Jones
More Better Deals - Joe Lansdale
We Need to do Something - Max Booth III
Blacktop Wasteland - S.A. Cosby
Mr. Cables - Ronald Malfi
Red Hands - Christopher Golden (Read my interview w/ Christopher HERE)
The Raven - Jonathan Janz (Read my interview w/ Jonathan HERE)
Coraline - Neil Gaiman
The Night Will Find Us - Matthew Lyons
Relic - Preston & Child
Open Season - C.J. Box
Memory, Sorrow and Thorn Trilogy - Tad Williams
To Sleep in a Sea of Stars - Christopher Paolini
This is cheating, but books I've started but not finished that are really great (so far) include:
Mexican Gothic - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Loop - Jeremy Robert Johnson
Denis Johnson - Train Dreams
Wanderers - Chuck Wendig
Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires - Grady Hendrix
Desert Notebooks - Ben Ehrenreich
The River - Peter Heller
Until the End of Time - Brian Greene
Lovecraft Country - Matt Ruff
The Witch Elm - Tana French
Perdido Street Station - China Mielville
Look Homeward, Angel - Thomas Wolfe
Devil's Creek - Todd Kiesling
Fathoms - Rebecca Giggs
Killers of the Flower Moon - David Grann
...and so many others. But they'll have to wait until next year! In the meantime, enjoy the list and get reading.
(Some books waiting patiently for 2021…)