You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

December is already half gone, so time to start the end-of-year lists! Waht were your 5 best and worst (or least favourite) books of the year?

My favourite books
In random order, all 5 stars
Daisy Jones & The Six
Once Upon a River
Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures
Norse Mythology
Age of Death

My least favourite books
I suppose these weren't bad, they just didn't work for me. All 2 stars
Deathless
Doc
The Keeper of Lost Things
People of the Book

2020 was a rather lackluster year of reading. I only had six 5 stars and a plethora of 3 stars.

My 5 favourites:
The Mercies
Dead Mountain: The Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident
The Good Hawk
Fool's Fate
A Monster Calls

Least 5 favourites: I didn't have any 1 stars, but had thirteen 2 stars
Until Summer Comes Around
Mutant Message Down Under
The Red Garden
Eon
The Legacy of the Key

Most of my books were in the 3 and 4 star range but I did have 6 5 stars:

Walk the Wire
The Black Swan of Paris
The Handmaid's Tale
Code Name Hélène
Origami Man
White Chrysanthemum
The Winter of the Witch

I'm thinking a couple of those high marks were due to not wanting to see a favorite series end. I liked the characters so much.

I had 3 one stars this year:

Flaubert's Parrot
City of Hope
The Queen's Secret: A Novel of England's World War II Queen

And 3 2 star duds:

The Only Woman in the Room
Mischling
The Deep

I had a good reading year.

Favorites (all 5 stars):

East of Eden
The Mercies
Once Upon a River
Rebecca
My Cousin Rachel


Least favorite (all 2 stars):

Moloka'i
The Sympathizer
El diario de Tita
The Club Dumas
Watership Down

I'm glad to see The Mercies on two lists! It's on my christmas list, but if I don't get it, I plan to buy it myself.

@Sandra: molokai was on my favorites list a few years ago. Sorry to see it wasn't that good for you.

@Peggy, I'm sure you will like The Mercies. It is dark but an excellent historical fiction. It is similar to Burial Rites in style.

I know I'm in the minority regarding Moloka'i. It was super boring to me...

Peggy wrote: "I'm glad to see The Mercies on two lists! It's on my christmas list, but if I don't get it, I plan to buy it myself..."

I'm pleased too. I bpught in a little while ago.

I had a good reading year. No 1-star books, not many 2-star books, but I had to really narrow down the 5-star reads to get to only 5.

Best: (5 stars)
Followers
The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple
Oathbringer
The Starless Sea
The Less People Know About Us: A Mystery of Betrayal, Family Secrets, and Stolen Identity

Worst: (2 stars)
An Ember in the Ashes
And Both Were Young
Midnight Riot
Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God
Trouble in Mudbug

I really had a very good reading year. I had too many five stars to count, so I am going to indicate my series.
I discovered Anne Rice's Vampire Chronicles and read/listend to the first six books - all 5*s.
I discovered and read/listened to all of the Murderbot novellas and the first book - 4 and 5*
I finished all of the Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes books all 5 * reads/listens.
The one book I am still reading definately will be a 5 star read is Once Upon a River!

I had four 2 star books:
The Enchanted April
Passing for Human: A Graphic Memoir
The Spook in the Stacks
and Frog Music

It is hard to pick since I have 18 (and maybe 19 soon) 5 star books with 12 favorite.

My top 5 would be:
The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett
The Travelling Cat Chronicles
Then
The Bridge Home
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon

My bottom 5:
Haunted
Winnie-the-Pooh
Matchless
The Night Watch
September Love

I had 11 5 star reads, but I also read 156 books which is the most I have ever read in a year. I usually don't include DNF, but this year I started several really horrible books.

Top 5 Star Reads
Eventide
Einstein and the Rabbi: Searching for the Soul
They Called Us Enemy
Optic Nerve
On the Horizon

Simply Bad
Salsa with the Pope ★
Actress ★★
Dominicana ★
The Floating Feldmans DNF
Luster - DNF (with 50 pages to the end) -This book is getting all kinds of book love and critical reviews right now, but to me- worse book of the year

I always enjpy this thread. I'm going to have to have a look at my best and worst. I think I'll strugggle with both. I've read quite a few I loved and I've not rated any below 3 stars.

Wow Sarah, sounds like you had a good reading year!

I read a lot of good books this year- My stand out 5 star reads are:
Old Bones 5 star
Hex 5 star
Written in Red 5 star
The Girl from Widow Hills
Dragon Haven

The worst of the worst are:
Summer Magic 1 star
Bitter Seeds DNF
Little Fires Everywhere 2 star

I love to see what all the best and worst reads! My best were

Robin Hobb!!!
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires not for the faint of heart
The Island of Sea Women
The Children of Jocasta
Mr. Loverman
Shadowplay

I have to give The Mercies an honourable mention but I've already bent the rules by slipping Robin Hobb in there!

My most disapping reads were:
My Life as a White Trash Zombie
Sweet Heart
Girl Number One
The Invited
The Lost Letters of William Woolf

In this category The Confession deserves a mention. It was a 3 star read but I had looked forward to it sooo much :(

Hm, I don't know. That's always so difficult to choose, but I'll give it a try:

Selection of my 4 and 5*:
Molly and the Cat Cafe
Wild Horses of the Summer Sun: A Memoir of Iceland
The Darkest Hour
When She Was Bad
Once Upon a River

Selection of my 1 and 2*:
Spilt Milk
Live More Sloth: Slow Down, Chill Out and Live in the Sloth Lane
The Ice Princess
The Binding

Oh Saar, I loved The Binding! Goes to prove there's no universal books :-)

I also enjoy this thread,

I don't keep a book journal. So I am going with what stuck in my head.

Best 5
Daisy Jones & The Six
The Institute
The Outsider
The Starless Sea
The Henna Artist


My 5 worst
The Firelight Girls
The Island of Sea Women
The Clockmaker's Daughter
Orphan Train
The Book of Lost Names

My best 5:
Daisy Jones & The Six
The Institute
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
The Calculating Stars
The Godfather

This has to be the first year ever that my top 5 has not included a fantasy book.

I can't provide my 5 worst as all my reads were 3 stars and above and it would feel wrong to list some of the 3 stars as worst. That has to be a first for me. I didn't even DNF on any books.

I have had a really great bunch of reads so far this year, and it is reeeeaaallly hard to narrow down to a top five lol

Nope, apparently I can't get the list any smaller right now, you get my top 15. And, looking at this list, I had a really heavy year, but they were awesome 😃

Matterhorn
Before We Were Yours
The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row
The Nickel Boys
The River
The Mercies
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
The Huntress
The Alice Network
Daisy Jones & The Six
A Very Long Engagement
All the Light We Cannot See
The Murmur of Bees
My Sister's Keeper
The Giver of Stars

I've got The River on my list for the museum challenge. I'm glad to see it was in your list of favourites.

Jenn wrote: "I have had a really great bunch of reads so far this year, and it is reeeeaaallly hard to narrow down to a top five lol

Nope, apparently I can't get the list any smaller right now, you get my top ..."

You did read some really good books. I loved ( but it was a tough read) The Nickel Boys and also loved Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania and All the Light We Cannot See.

Jenn, I've also liked many of the books in your list. Dead Wake is an excellent non fiction book. Daisy Jones and The Six is creative and very entertaining. And Murmur of The Bees is just beautiful.

I reread a lot of books this year that I gave 5 stars to and I am not going to count them. I also read a lot of non-fiction which I gave 5 stars to but aren't necessarily making my list of favorites. Also, making lists of favorites kinda stresses me out because I feel like there will be some cosmic judge that will hold me to it for eternity, lol! But here is a list of SOME (not all) favorites

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Shuggie Bain
Ninth House
Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures
the Audible book 1 of The Sandman
In the Dream House
Anxious People
and the whole Shadowfell series
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
and all of the Nevermoor books

I didn't really care much for

The Dutch Wife
Out of the Cocoon: A Young Woman's Courageous Flight from the Grip of a Religious Cult
Now & Then
Hated
Eat the Cookie... Buy the Shoes

Renee wrote: "I also enjoy this thread,

I don't keep a book journal. So I am going with what stuck in my head..."

Oh, no, three of your worst are ones I have not read yet, but have been looking forward to reading this year. o.o

I was having the same thought Cherie 😬 which three were you looking at?

Oh dear. I have a feeling I know the ones you are looking at.

Clockmakers daughter had too many twists for me. If you like twisty books you may like it


I am not sure if i need a spoler for island of sea women (view spoiler)[
Island of Sea Woman was almost the exact same story as Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. It did have interesting history but it was not fresh. (hide spoiler)]

Book of Lost Names was well written but I overdid reading books about that aspect of WWII. So it may have been a top for me this year it wasn't.

Sometimes liking or not liking a book comes down to a matter of timing. I read Book of Lost Names and really liked it. If I had read a long string of WWII maybe I wouldn't have (but maybe not).

I need to squeeze in another best book, sorry...

The Evening and the Morning

I saved this fir my xmas Read and boy was it a good one! Great story in spite of the dodgy sex sceens - well, you can't have everything lol

Roz wrote: "Sometimes liking or not liking a book comes down to a matter of timing. I read Book of Lost Names and really liked it. If I had read a long string of WWII maybe I wouldn't have (but maybe not)."

Yes, timing is really important. I've noticed that a lot this year.

From Renee's list, I read and really liked both Orphan Train & The Book of Lost Names. I also thought Daisy Jones & The Six, The Institute, and The Outsider were excellent. I still have planned to read The Henna Artist (hopefully soon) & The Clockmaker's Daughter.

My RL book club read The Island of Sea Women and it seemed to go over well. Something about it just doesn't interest me, so I skipped it.

My favorites from 2020 were

The Marvels <-I need to buy this so I can reread it whenever I want.
Galore
The Red Tent
Rooftops of Tehran<- I gave this five stars but I already don't remember much.
Foxmask

I had three 2 stars:
Alligator
Iron Council
The Sisters of the Winter Wood
And 1 DNF
Deathless Divide

Finished sorting my things out (and not finishing the books I was reading in 2020).

Best:
Washington Black
The Water Rat of Wanchai
Still Life
Crazy Rich Asians
Last place was a bit of a toss up, but let's go with The Cellist of Sarajevo

Worst:
Two star reads -
She Plays with the Darkness
The Time of the Ghost

And the one star read of the year - The Blood Spilt

So tough to keep to max five, but here goes!

Best:
The Indomitable Florence Finch: The Untold Story of a War Widow Turned Resistance Fighter and Savior of American POWs
The Hundred-Year Walk: An Armenian Odyssey
Love After Love
Transcendent Kingdom
Serenade for Nadia: A Novel

Least fav:
The Road to Little Dribbling: Adventures of an American in Britain
Baba Yaga Laid an Egg
America for Beginners

This thread has been very bad for my TBR :)

Christina wrote: "This thread has been very bad for my TBR :)"

No kidding!

Kristie wrote: "Christina wrote: "This thread has been very bad for my TBR :)"

No kidding!"

Haha, me too lol

I love these lists because they cause growth in my TBR

Orphan TrainJenn wrote: "I was having the same thought Cherie 😬 which three were you looking at?"

I was looking at The Island of Sea Women
The Clockmaker's Daughter and Orphan Train - but I may be thinking of The Orphan's Tale.

I own The Clockmaker's Daughter.

Yep, that is the same three that I was looking at lol and I own Orphan Train
I find the worst lists as interesting as the best

Jenn wrote: "Yep, that is the same three that I was looking at lol and I own Orphan Train
I find the worst lists as interesting as the best"

Sometimes, even more so. ;o)

Rusalka wrote: "Finished sorting my things out (and not finishing the books I was reading in 2020).

Best:
Washington Black
The Water Rat of Wanchai
Still Life
[book:C..."

Wow, that is a lot of Canadian Literature in your top 5!!

Best Five

1) How Not to Diet: The Groundbreaking Science of Healthy, Permanent Weight Loss by Michael Greger
I have been reading a ridiculous amount of nutrition and health books this year (and cook books). They seem to have been my pandemic comfort reads. This one was the best, lots of science and studies and practical advice. I think he has a decided bent toward plant based but still, there is plenty of information for you to make up your own mind.

2) The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance by Paul Strathern
Just a straight up great history book on a family I find fascinating.

3) The Adventures of Tom Stranger, Interdimensional Insurance Agent by Larry Correia
Action packed, adventure filled, ridiculous nonsense and totally awesome.

4) Seven by Farzana Doctor
Of all the literary books I read this year and all the CanLit I read, this was by far the best. I loved the story and the writing and was invested in the family from the first chapter.

5) Erotic Teasers by Rachel Kramer Bussel
Now, I was not sure if I should include this book. Not something I typically advertise that I would even be interested in reading, never mind that I actually read. But hey, it's 2020. Life is weird. The world is upended. Why not.
It is a collection of short stories all focused on the 'teasers' part of the encounter. I thought they were well done and effective.

Worst Five

1) Watching You Without Me by Lynn Coady
This is a 2020 Giller Prize longlist book and thus I expected it to be decent, if not great. But what a ridiculous story. Maybe I would feel different if I had any experience with home care but this was just over the top and annoying.

2) How to Pronounce Knife by Souvankham Thammavongsa
The 2020 Giller Prize winner and I barely managed to finish it. I usually enjoy short stories, but this one was uninspiring. It had a theme of immigration and feeling out of place. I just never felt drawn into any story or felt like I cared about any of the characters.

3) Polar Vortex by Shani Mootoo
And a 2020 Giller Prize short list book. Made worse is that this is the third book I have read by this author and the others were so good. So I had high hopes. But I thought the story sucked and the characters were annoying.

4) We Have Always Been Here: A Queer Muslim Memoir by Samra Habib
This was like reading an unfinished tale. It is non-fiction and the beginning tells her childhood story, it was interesting and absorbing, but then, once she immigrates, everything just speeds up and you don't get to care about what is happening. The most annoying part for me is the soap box part at the end. I am pretty liberal but even I felt like I was being hit on the head with dogma.

5) Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality by Sarah McBride
Another soap box book, but this one was that way from the very beginning, and I kinda get it. But along with the Trans activism there was the Biden propaganda and that was just annoying.
I will say that I was kinda stoked when I read that the author had won her seat in the last US election though.

Dawn wrote: "Best Five

1) How Not to Diet: The Groundbreaking Science of Healthy, Permanent Weight Loss by Michael Greger
I have been reading a ridiculous amount of nutrition a..."

Seven sounds really interesting! I added it to my wishlist last July and then forgot about it.

Dawn wrote: "Best Five

1) How Not to Diet: The Groundbreaking Science of Healthy, Permanent Weight Loss by Michael Greger
I have been reading a ridiculous amount of nutrition a..."

I've been on a similar kick. I have a few GR friends that read this one and gave it 5 stars. I just added it to my TBR. Thanks for bringing it to my attention.

I finally took a look back at my 2020 reads. This is always difficult for me to narrow down, but these are my current choices.

My top reads:
The Institute
The Forgotten Home Child
The Girls with No Names
The Book of Lost Names
The Whisper Man

Best Series: Orphan X

Worst of the year:
Red at the Bone
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Believe
Woof
Range Of Motion
How to Bake the Perfect Pecan Pie

Janice wrote: "Seven sounds really interesting! I added it to my wishlist last July and then forgot about it...."

It is a really, really good story. Heartbreaking and uplifting at the same time.

Kristie wrote: "I've been on a similar kick. I have a few GR friends that read this one and gave it 5 stars. I just added it to my TBR. Thanks for bringing it to my attention...."

My Dad found the author when he was researching a plant based diet, after watching Forks over Knives. And he recommended I read him. I liked this book over the the first one. Found it more useful.

Dawn wrote: "Kristie wrote: "I've been on a similar kick. I have a few GR friends that read this one and gave it 5 stars. I just added it to my TBR. Thanks for bringing it to my attention...."

My Dad found the..."

Thanks. I just picked up Fiber Fueled: The Plant-Based Gut Health Program for Losing Weight, Restoring Your Health, and Optimizing Your Microbiome, so How Not to Diet will be my next read after that one.

My library has the audio, but it is pretty long (23 hours 42 minutes). I'm not sure if audio is the best way to go. It might be good for a once over, then I can decide if it's one I need to buy. I think the 608 pages might actually be faster though.

Hmm, that looks like a good one. I will have to see if the library has it.

How Not to Diet is split up into these little sections, like grain or low glycemic. I found it read fast and quite well as a whole book. But what I like is being able to go back to the sections that really apply or appeal to me and review them again.