I love looking back over the year and reflecting on some of my favourite reads. These might be a rediscovery of a book I haven't read in a while, a new read to me that will over time become a favourite or a much loved favourite read for the hundredth time. This year I also undertook a Good Reads reading challenge to read 100 books. Spoiler alert I only read 84 books out of the 100. But I love the statistics that Good Reads provides. In this post I am going to do a quick recap and then talk about some of my 2020 favourites.

• Books Read - 84
• Pages Read - 29,295 pages (at least 25,000 were in The Stand hehe)
• Longest Book read - The Stand by Stephen King
• Shortest Book Read - Village Christmas by Miss Read
• Average Book Length - 344 pages

Favourite Rediscovery of the Year

In no particular order, my favourite rediscovery of the year books were:

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. This was such an enjoyable reread for me and found me down a rabbit hole of researching books about Japan. It's beautiful and utterly fascinating.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier - I read this years ago and found it dark and oppressive. But there is something about re-reading a book at a different time in my life that made me appreciate it further. I am still reeling from the fact that we never learn the narrator's name, something I hadn't picked up on before. Dark, gothic and at times terrifying.

Winter Solstice by Rosamunde Pilcher - This was definitely a reminder to slow down at Christmas. It's beautifully crafted with the most wonderful characters. I tend to read this most years and it remains a firm favourite.

Favourite Fiction Novel

Again in no particular order, these are reads new to me that I have read this year.

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. I recommended this EVERYWHERE and bought quite a few copies for people to read, I loved it so much.

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams - Brilliant winner and well deserved Book of the Year at the British Book awards. I can't wait for her new book in 2021.

Pine by Francine Toon - This could also win the award for wrong category as well. Do not read this as a crime book, it is a literary horror instead. This made my skin tingle. Beautifully written, atmospheric and very eerie. I had chills it was that good.

Favourite Crime Novel

Fifty Fifty by Steve Cavanagh - This was a 2am read, I could not put it down and it led to a good discussion by our book group. Brilliant concept that was well told.

The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths- I love a Dr Ruth Galloway novel and this one certainly delivered. A great crime and lots of lovely mystical archaeology to delight.

The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman - This has deservedly topped the bestseller charts and is a sweet crime novel featuring a group of Septuagenarian amateur detectives. Funny and poignant.

Honourable Mention

I re-read The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater for #12 Books of Christmas and it was wonderful. It is a beautiful book with lots of lovely recipes, but also delightful titbits about Christmas traditions and folklore.

So there we have it, it's been lovely looking back. I'll be back on Thursday with my final post of the year. xx