Now I know what you are thinking, there are still two weeks left in the year, so how can I be absolutely sure there won’t be something else I read that breaks its way into my top 5? There might be and if there is, then I’ll admit that fact when the time comes, but I’m fairly sure that these are pretty set on being my top 5 books of the year, so let’s get into it!

Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa – I still haven’t forgiven Julie Kagawa for destroying me with this book, but her Shadow of the Fox trilogy has a distinguished place on my favorites shelf. I can easily see myself reading these books time and again as I loved the characters and world that she created. All three books ended up being 5 stars for me which is saying something when you are talking about a series. I was both scared and excited for the last book, and in the last 50 or so pages my boyfriend had to deal with me sobbing my eyes out and not knowing what was wrong. If you haven’t already, please read these books, they were amazing!

Ghost Squad by Claribel Ortega – This was one of those books that I ended up being so mad at myself about, because I pre-ordered it and then didn’t read it for months! Once I read it I was kicking myself SO HARD because I loved it so much. Even though this was Ortega’s debut I will be checking out her future books based on this read alone. I loved the way she integrated culture, throwback references and her characters are rich and fully fledged. Plus – Chunk alone gets five stars (and all the Goonies references killed me). If you love spooky middle grades that are full of heart and humor, then you NEED to pick this one up.

The Wild Path by Sarah R. Baughman – Oh man, this book. This was another one that had me tearing up because there were definitely parts of it I could identify with. The mystery involving what Claire sees and finds out was a wonderful string to weave through the story and I again couldn’t help but fall in love with the characters and setting. When I originally signed on the the blog tour for this one it was because I was truly interested in the story, but I very quickly fell in love with it. This is another author whose other works I want to check out sooner rather than later not just because of the content, but because her writing style was also such a joy to read.

Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones – Ok, I’ll admit it, because I had enjoyed Mapping the Interior so much I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy this one as well – but I didn’t know how much. I really enjoy his writing style so it was easy to fall right into this one. I pretty quickly devoured it and was so happy I had decided to pick it up. It’s humorous and dark at the same time, with just enough psychological twist that I was really happy. I can’t wait to pick up more of his work and see if I like them just as much.

The books I’ve mentioned up until this point haven’t been in any kind of order, I haven’t assigned certain spots to them, but I can pretty confidently say which book is my absolute number one of 2020. So I’m going to actually include my full review of this one.

Don’t Read the Comments by Eric Smith – I was super excited about this book when I heard about it. Being a gamer myself I’m very aware of the toxicity that can be found in the gaming community, especially when it comes to female players, so having a book that tackles this head on was such a joy to see.

I was not disappointed at all and can easily say that Don’t Read the Comments will likely appear in my favorite books of the year list. It not only discussed the gaming community and how celebrities in that community are treated, but also addressed other issues in the gaming community, different family dynamics and issues and so much more. The discussion regarding how Divya guards her identity and information out of fear of being pursued or doxxed is something that is seen in a number of industries, not just the gaming community.

I fell in love with so many of the characters, even when they perhaps weren’t acting the best. They were all moving cogs within the story that contributed greatly to the plot. There were also wonderfully inserted moments of humor that not only lightened the events, but perfectly added a realness to the story. This was really such a wonderful read and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

So there you have it – my top 5 of 2020. What were your favorite books?

Happy reading!