2020 Reading Roundup

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…)