5 Star Reads of 2020

As an avid reader, one of the most impossible questions I get asked is “what is your favorite book?” This question makes me freeze up and want to melt into a puddle. I cannot possibly narrow it down to one!!! In a similar way, I have a hard time listing my top ten books of the year. This year I have read almost 100 books and picking out the top ten is like trying to pick a favorite child. I love all my children – sometimes I love them each for different reasons, though! Ha!

Books are a little bit different from children, though, in that there are many that I have really liked, several that I have truly enjoyed, some that have taught me hard truths and some that were just plain awful.

So for the sake of this blog post, I will share all of my 5 star reads of 2020. Five stars do not come easily to me, but these are the books that I just want to hand to strangers on the street. These are the books that I cannot stop thinking about and cannot stop recommending to everyone I know! And now I’m going to recommend them to you! So pull up your library website and put these books on hold!

Meg & Jo

As far as novels go, I don’t dole out many 5 stars. But this modern day retelling of the two oldest Austen sisters really appealed to me. I like the dialogue and how the characters were build, and I loved the modern retelling while also being familiar with the original Austen. Some people hate retellings, but this one was just right for me!

The Next Right Thing

Emily Freeman has the most relaxing voice and the most practical life tips! I love listening to her podcast and found this book to be extremely soothing to my easily decision fatigued soul. She walks through the basics of just taking the next right step in each decision of our lives- big or small. I found so many practical tips and will for sure be picking this one up again to read!

Praying God’s Word

I read this book very slowly throughout 2019 and into 2020. I loved how each chapter was split into various struggles the Christian life may have, and packed with Scripture that related to that struggle. I read the chapter on fighting depression with Scripture over and over again.

The Arc of Scythe Series

Theo and I read through this series during our lockdown quarantine. It was the best sci-fi/alternate reality series I’ve read in a long, long time. Scythe is set in a future time where humans have managed to eradicate death. No one can die of natural causes, but in order to prevent overpopulation, a group of people are selected to be the Sycthe’s and to take the lives of people. Scythedom is not taken lightly, and each Scythe has a certain quota to meet each year. But that is just the beginning of this crazy 3 book series with so many plot twists and turns it hardly feels like we are reading the same books at the end of the series! There is love and friendship and the fight between good and evil. We both really liked this series, but just a warning that it can be dark in some places.

The Only Plane in the Sky

Wow. Just wow. If we have talked books in the last year, I can guarantee that I have brought up this telling of the day of September 11, 2001. I don’t know how a day about so much trauma and loss can be wrapped into this beautiful and humbling story, but that is exactly what happens. This book is the retellings of those who were there that day. The retellings are not just compiled from different points of view, but instead it focuses on the timelines of the day and each person shares their perspective from throughout the day. POWERFUL. This book is heavy and MUST be read with a box of tissues nearby. But I cannot recommend it enough. I’ve also heard that it is fantastic on audio, but be warned that they use actual cockpit transmissions and news casts from that day in the audio version.

Long Bright River

This was exactly the novel I needed this summer. It deals with issues of race, class and the clash between police and citizens, but it does it in a way that didn’t feel SHOUTY to me. The plot twists and turns in this one took me for a ride and I loved almost every moment of it- even gasping out loud once or twice! The main character is a police officer who is fighting crime in one of Philly’s most dangerous neighborhoods. Then, girls who are known in those parts to be addicts and prostitutes start showing up dead. The problem with this is that the officer’s sister is one of those girls, and every call she goes on she is afraid she will find her sister, murdered. This book was heavy and powerful, but also light enough to not feel depressed.

Mom Enough

This is a re-read for me, and it’s such a little book that packs a powerful punch. The book is full of short essays that answer the question “Am I Mom Enough?” And the answer is NO. I am not. But Christ is enough in me.

Women of the Word

Wow! What has taken me so long to read this book?!? This book is an incredible HOW TO read the Word of God for ourselves. Jen Wilken walks through WHY it is important that we can read the Bible for ourselves- and not just read it, STUDY it. She then walks through HOW to do that- cross referencing, comparing translations, taking notes, etc. If you think a book like that would be boring, you would be wrong! It is incredibly interesting and one of the best tools I’ve ever owned for Bible studying.

12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You

This book changed me. If you are a Christian and you own a smartphone, you need to read this book. Instead of just warning about the addictive nature of smartphones, the author instead takes us on a journey of 12 deep ways that phones seem to be affecting our relationships and our society. This was a fascinating read and I can’t wait to go back and read it again! Highly, highly recommend.

Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World

Sometimes I grieve the fact that my kids don’t get to be raised in a third world country like I was. I know that sounds crazy, but the ways that I learned about the world and how blessed I am have truly carried over into my adulthood. Entitlement is “normal” in the development of a child, but as we raise and train our children, we want them to become more others-focused than me-focused. Trust me on that. This book was just a beautiful little reminder that we can put in the hard work to help our children choose gratefulness instead of entitlement.

Salt Fat Acid Heat

I am going to admit that I haven’t cooked a single recipe from this book, and I don’t really plan to. But I loved reading through the first 2/3 of the book that explained the elements of salt, fat, acid, and heat, and how they should all be used in cooking. This really sparked a passion in me to be more creative in the kitchen, and ever since I’ve read this book I have cooked more by taste and instinct than by following recipes!

Zoey and Sassafrass

I had to throw in our favorite read aloud chapter books from this year, the Zoey and Sassafrass books! These perfects are just PERFECT for my kids age and are so, so cute and informative, too! Zoey and her cat Sassafrass discover that they can see magical creatures (think unicorns, monsters, mermaids) and they have been tasked with helping these creatures when they need it. Using the scientific method, Zoey discovers how to help the animals get rid of mold, heal an infected wound and recover from malnutrition.

To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series

Gah, I just really enjoyed this light and fluffy teenybopper series. Lara Jean is in high school and writes a love letter to every boy she’s ever “loved”. Her little sister sends the letters out- and so begins several romantic trails that Lara Jean really had no intent of following! She is sweet and I love the development of personality over anything else in the story. Who does she actually love and who will fall in love back?

The Quintland Sisters

This book wins for my most fascinating read of the year. In the 1940s, a pair of quintuplets was born in the rural United States. All five girls survived and became a local tourist attraction. The parents were deemed unfit to care for the girls (along with their multiple other siblings) and the quints were removed to an institution build by the government just for them. They had nurses and private doctors and every toy and food item that they wanted- but it came at the high cost of practically becoming a zoo for people to come and see the sisters. This book was fairly tragic, and to hear how the lives of each sister eventually lived out is heartbreaking. But it was a fascinating read on the sociology of people and how they interact with one another.

Of Curses and Kisses

This was a novel that pleasantly surprised me! Based loosely on Beauty and the Beast, a princess and a gruff and grumpy boy fall in love at boarding school. He believes that he is cursed and the so keeps himself way from any meaningful relationship. She believes that she can win him over. The ending was unexpected and I can’t wait for the other books of the series to come out!

It was a good year of reading! If you pick only one book from this list, make it The Only Plane in the Sky. That book will go down as one of my top ten of all time.

What are some of your 5 star reads this year? Have you read any of my list? Do you agree or disagree with my ratings?