 Welcome back to my channel. I hope you're well. Today we're going to be chatting about my best books of 2020 That's quite dramatic. I am so excited to chat about these I've read so many good books in 2020 and I'm just so excited to chat about them all in one place Before we get into it make sure you subscribe and ring the bell if you haven't already because that would really help me out I read a total of 25 five star books this year Wanted to have a top 10 like this really should be a top 10, but I couldn't limit myself and so it's 11 I wouldn't like to defend myself, but sadly that's the truth I hope you can all forgive me one extra book. I just felt bad not including that book It was weighing heavy on my consciousness Conscience conscience not consciousness. I think she looks very good in this. That's a beautiful very flattering shot But she's so stupid. These are in no particular order. I'm not ranking them in this video I'm gonna be doing a book awards at the end of the year in my last video I think we'll be going up on New Year's Eve where I will give my favorite book of the year I haven't decided it yet like I can't choose. It's gonna be really hard like other years I've had like a clear cut top two. I don't like it's anyone's game So if you have any arguments as to why one of these books should be my favorite year Feel free to tell me because I'm open to suggestions So first one of the earliest books I read this year And it is Gemina by Amy Coffman and Jay Kristoff. This book and the next book I'm gonna have to talk about it was hard to not just have all of this series and all of the other series in this top 10 Like Illuminae and Obsidio, which are books one and three of this series could have easily been here And Illuminae was until the very last minute, but Gemina is my favorite in the Illuminae files series This is a series told completely in mixed media format. So you have web pages You have chat logs your surveillance camera footage and it is a sci-fi about this kind of wall that's happening between corporations That's a very uninteresting way of telling you about it. Don't get bitter. Just get better. It's not really about the war It's more about like the people affected and in each of the books We follow some different teenagers who are affected by this in some way and what's going on in their ship We have some like biological warfare We have the AI in this is a very big part of the series in this we're following a girl Who is the daughter of a captain on this particular ship and a kind of like bad boy. I Loved this one. This was my favorite in the series. I think I just really liked the Characters in this one. My favorite character in the whole series is in this one Ella who is the cousin of Nick Who's the I really just love the tone of voice in this and the humor it's like a very Sarcastic tone and it's just a really imaginative way of storytelling like you will be turning the page so quick because it's just all these chat logs and Diagrams and drawings. It's just so brilliant. I think if you're looking for like maybe an introduction to sci-fi This was kind of one of my first sci-fi books and I really like sci-fi like this now that's like a set of files That's my preferred medium to consume it in. It's so high stakes Like you will feel so tense up reading this like your heart will be pounding. It will feel sick I felt so sick already some of this too much drama for me And you'll just constantly be turning the page So I really really recommend reading a series Gemina the second one is my favorite that Illuminae is really really good too So another one my favorite books of the year is Heartstopper by Alice Oseman. I've chosen volume one Just because I feel like it's the most sentimental to me like it was the first in a series So it's where I first fell in love with these characters. It's also the first graphic novel I ever read So it got me into reading graphic novels. I am sure if you've already on my channel You've heard me speak about this a thousand times, but you just got to sit here and listen. So this is about Nick and Charlie He fills my heart with warmth Who are these boys who go to this grammar school in the UK and they basically fall in love This one in particular is the story of them starting to fall for each other And so I think that part of a relationship is so fun to read about like when you just start And it reminded me a lot of my relationship because I fell in love at a boys grammar school Girls were allowed in in the sixth form And so it just reminded me a lot of my relationship in that way And like how awkward it is and how you're not sure if the other person likes you But Nick and Charlie are just like the softest cinnamon rolls in existence The facial expressions in this like will make you cry like you'll cry it like I love them so much The whole graphic novel series is incredible. I cannot wait to read more in this series The next one coming out next year. I'm literally gonna read it straight away like literally straight away A classic? Classic. Not debatable. Not afraid to beat If you're looking for a graphic novel or maybe your first ever graphic novel Please pick this up. I know it just came out in the US and it's got like blue pages Like all of these illustrations have blue tones to them which I'm like I'm fuming I'm fuming that we don't have that But if you're looking for a first graphic novel pick this up because it is just amazing And it was my first one. So I love them. They're just so soft Let's talk about some thrillers next. Are we surprised? Are we surprised? Nothing new. Nothing changed. Same old shit. The guest list by Lucy Foley is definitely up There is one of my favorite books this year. This is a book. I have not shot up about I do have two copies. I have the UK one and then this is the book of the month one I want to reread it soon rereading this copy Basically, this is about a murder that occurs on this remote island at a wedding Of these really kind of rich people and you don't know who's been murdered for a large chunk of this It's close setting isolated. You know someone on the island has murdered that person Everyone has these secrets that keep getting uncovered very slowly. Everyone has a motive That's suspicious That's weird It's just like such a brilliant who done it. I love who done it mysteries Like I love that classic Agatha Christie and if you love that as well, this is it I think the tension was amazing. The characters are really interesting Something Lucy Foley always does really well is write horrible rich people She just knows how to write those people who are so rich and privileged That normalcy just like escapes them like they just don't know what is normal for people Pretty much none of these characters are likable apart from I would say one And they're kind of your eyes and ears into what's going on. It was just the perfect murder mystery thriller Like it just has everything I'm so happy that this book has kind of exploded the way it did this year Because I remember kind of just read it on a whim right when it came out I went to an author signing for it and I was like, okay I haven't had anyone speak about this but I'll read it and then it just kind of blew up this year And I'm so happy for it. It literally is simple but effective Characters you'll hate. I really love characters that I hate Like I I love going to a book and not liking any of the characters It's campy It's so much fun and the tension is just built so well with us flashing back and forth between the night before the murder And in the night of the wedding of the murder and just the way That who did it and all these different secrets and motives are revealed and stacked up Is in my opinion masterfully done so Loved it and then another favorite of the year it's on my favorite shelf really as you can tell is No Exit by Taylor Adams I think this is quite underrated. I've heard a few people speak about it But I think definitely more could read it. So this is about Darby She's driving home and she has to pull over into this station like this waiting station because it's snowing She basically gets stuck there and there's a few other people there And she goes out to the parking lot and she realizes that one of the cars there has a girl locked in the back And it's the story of basically it's not a who done it like you find out Pretty quickly who the villain is and then the rest is just Darby trying to survive the night with this girl So she can rescue her. I have never I've never been so tense when reading a book. How many people are scared? Me too. I was really really scared I felt sick. I had heart palpitations. I've never felt so on edge Oh, it was horrible. Like I had to just race through it to find out what happened I think the timing of this is so well done like the pacing. It's amazing Like you'll just fly through it. You are so on edge for Darby You're just like girl get through this and honestly what that girl manages to do like you'll be shocked Like you'll be shook at the heroics Darby pulls She's a businesswoman a tv star a host a producer an actress a philanthropist She's one of the most influential popular Wealthy women in the world because she's like not like a heroics kind of gal when she comes into this situation And then she's like, okay, I guess I gotta step up to the plate. It's just me I just think if you're in need of a fast-paced thriller, this is the best I've ever read holding that tension throughout a whole book There is not ebbs and flows of tension the tension doesn't build you come into the book tension's here like right You're okay And then you go to here and you're like holy shit We're at the ceiling and it just carries onto the whole book until suddenly it's up here like it It like it goes above the ceiling. It is amazing So I'd really recommend picking this up and in the last book that's kind of categorized as a thriller But it's kind of a mystery Suspense just weird book is Catherine house by Elizabeth Thomas. Are you surprises on here? This is a book that not many people like I just respectfully disagree or maybe not so respectfully I don't I don't know there's nothing wrong with my views or beliefs because I have freedom of speech and everything I'm saying is true You go into Catherine house knowing that you are not going to be able to leave for three years Like you are stuck there for three years. It's a very prestigious school and Ines goes there And it's the story of her being there for three years and like this is a cult basically When I'd got in there, I realized that actually This is serious Stuffed and when I got there, I just felt Haha, this is not for me. No weird shit happens like some weird weird weird shit happens Like some super weird shit happens and you just kind of sit there and you're like Huh, and I just thought the writing was amazing. It was so claustrophobic. You felt so trapped I think it's one of those things that makes you feel like you're going a bit bonkers while you're reading it And Ines is a really interesting character because for a lot of the books She's not really interested in finding out what's going on. She's like that ain't my business That ain't my business I don't give a fuck. I pretend I do not see it. I pretend I do not see it So if you're looking for a weird ass book Pick this up because it's amazing Next let's talk about my favorite nonfiction of the year and that is Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay I loved this so much. So this is basically a collection of essays by Roxane Gay About feminism and race and class and there were just so many parts that I highlighted I saw this before and I'll say it again. My favorite essay in this was the one about scrabble and her love for scrabble I was just it's so much fun to read about. I don't know why number one. Please judge me. Number two Please hate me because number three. I love it It also has a lot of really interesting takes on a lot of things in pop culture a lot of really popular movies books TV shows stuff like that it taught me a lot about that and I really enjoy Reading personal essays with a personal touch when it comes to topics like gender race sexuality class I think sometimes those kind of books that are very statistical based can feel kind of cold And I think reading from a black woman about her experiences is much more powerful and effective and also Educational I think we learned so much more from personal experiences. So I love this I'm ashamed they took me this long to get around to it. I can't wait to read everything the Roxane Gay Puts out in the future I'm gonna make my way through all of her stuff because this was just incredible the one top book I don't have to hold up is the strange case of the alchemist daughter by Theodora goss You'll know if you watch my vlogs how much I love this book in this series No, I don't think you understand I'm up I cannot wait to read the last one. So in this we follow Mary Jekyll as she meets her sister Diana Hyde And eventually meets Catherine Morrow, Beatrice Rappuccini and Justine Frankenstein who are all girls Who have some link or their fathers are men from a classic gothic victorian literature It's them trying to figure out what the I love saying this The men in their life belonged to this society and the society's a bit dodgy Like there's some dodgy shit going on it's them trying to figure out what is going on and it's amazing Like it's so good these girls these girls These girls I would die for them You know how I feel about you if there was any hope that I could actually be or It's when I aspire to You know, you're the one they are some of the best characters I've ever read Diana Hyde is so so funny This book is written as if the girls are writing it particularly Catherine The other girls will break the fourth wall and cut in and speak about what she said if they're not happy with what she's said It adds so much to the characters. I think it's really interesting that we don't meet Catherine in this first book until towards the end But we know she's the one writing it and so so much of her characterization We learn just to how she's writing a book. I think it's such an interesting character device For the book to be an embodiment of that character in a way in very subtle ways I think this is just the perfect kind of girl gang book. They're just All so well-rounded fleshed out interesting characters. It's fun It's got Sherlock on Watson helping the girls out solving mysteries together and I just loved it So I cannot wait to finish this series next year. Next is the poppy wall by i f quang This is about Rin as she joins this military academy Starts to find her power attending this academy and learning military tactics And suddenly becoming more and more powerful throughout this book This book is the perfect exemplification of not knowing what is right and what is wrong Rin is a very morally gray character, particularly by the end of this book Oh It's based on a lot of real history There are some horrific things that happen in this book that you need to be aware of going into it There's trigger warnings for murder genocide rape almost everything horrible There are trigger warnings for going into this. It is amazingly written I can't believe how young i f quang was when she wrote this the fantasy and this is so vivid Rin is one of the best characters I've ever read like Rin is such an interesting character With so many different aspects to her. I cannot wait to read dragon republic and the burning god, but I'm very scared My dad's reading the burning god right now He has read the dragon republic and he keeps telling me just how sad and worried he is and how he can only read it Like 10 pages at a time So I am terrified, but I am I love Rin Even though she's a bit crazy, but it's so good military war Battle if you like that kind of thing the puppy war is for you next favorite is the night circus by erin morgenson aren't we just obsessed with this edition like I cried it whenever I look at it. She's huge, but she's so beautiful The starless sea by erin morgenson was my second favorite book last year And this definitely didn't disappoint when it came to Carrying on erin morgenson is one of my favorite authors erin morgenson's books Like impossible to explain I can't I can't I've tried it and I failed But in this a circus arrives without warning And it is about a circus that springs up and goes away in the middle of the night And it's magical and whimsical and it's a story of these two individuals Who are battling against each other in this unknown battle that they don't really know is happening And it's been set up without their consent But their lives revolve around this battle and it's a story of how the circus moves around them It's impossible to describe erin morgenson's writing. It does something to me. It kills me erin morgenson's writing Is the best like objectively the best it is beautiful and whimsical and magical And just full of fairy dust like it's the most beautiful writing I'd ever read I think in terms of lyricalness and beauty and poetry and prose erin morgenson's my favorite writer Like it's absolutely amazing if you're a plot heavy kind of gal this this may not be for you Like it just may not not a lot happens. Is there even a plot debatable? I haven't got the slightest idea Some people find it boring, but I didn't I just thought it was so beautiful and magical And I feel like I'm constantly chasing trying to find this kind of book again I want to reread both this and the starless sea I we I will reread the starless sea first, but it's just like when like when am I gonna feel ready to do that? I don't know read and morgenson Please okay, this book is one that almost didn't make it on the list But I had to mention it and that is middle game by shawen maguire This is about twins roger and dodger who have been created by this alchemist to help him ascend to godhood And one of them is really skilled in language and one of them is really skilled in numbers And it's a story of them coming together and coming apart throughout their lives It's almost impossible again to describe. I can't do it. You can You can do it. You can You can I seem to like folks that are really difficult to describe that don't have a clear cut plot It is written in such a cool way. This is so imaginative So well written like it just pushes the boat out like it It pushes the bar of what a book can be and should be like it's so imaginative and out there It's really smart. I love smart clever Creative books and that's what this is what I loved about this book was always feeling like you were a step behind I don't know if I'm just like dumb But I constantly felt like I was always just a step behind the book Like always just missing a little bit of something because of how clever these these twins are It was so good. And then the last on my favorite list is actually a contemporary I don't give like young adult contemporaries like my favorite that often but one this year Really was outstanding to me and that is with the fire on high by lisbeth atavado So this is the story of amoni as she is a young teen single mom to her daughter And she just loves to cook like she just wants to cook. She loves to cook this class That's at school for cooking But it is difficult for someone in her position to fully invest in it and it's just the story of family That's something that lisbeth atavado does so well is family and loving your family But also the difficulties of family and her figuring herself out as this person who has all these kind of difficulties and Aspects to her life that a lot of other people don't have to deal with and trying to be a good mom to her daughter And it was just so beautiful Lisbeth atavado's other two books are in prose so they're like poetry But this is told like in a more traditional format And I really loved that because you had all the lyricalness and all the beautiful prose of atavado's writing But you had longer with the characters because her other two books because they are in prose. They're very quick They're kind of short. I had longer with the character and I felt like I really got to know her and love her And I just think this is like generally the best young adult contemporary I've ever read. It's beautiful It's hard hitting but soft and kind and light and fluffy all at the same time If you're going to read any young adult backlist contemporary next year Generally read this because it's just perfection. So there we have it. That is my 11 favorite books of the year 2020 Let me know if you've read any of these. Let me know if you loved any of these I had a pretty good reading year this year And it's going to be really hard at the end of the year for me to pick my favorite out of all of these I've got a few that are like up there. I think it's maybe between two three Three that I can choose between. I'm not going to tell you them yet But thank you so much just I'm going to be saying this loads throughout the end of the year But thank you so much for all your support on my channel this year It has gone crazy like beyond what I ever could have imagined So thank you so much for all of your support Let me know what your favorite books of the year so far were So that I can have a little eye out for any that I should be picking up early next year And thank you so much for watching. I will see you very very soon. Bye