Hey all!
It’s my favorite time of the year for listicles…best of the year! We’re going to share some of the book related ones here, alongside a review or two of the books read. Today, I’m sharing the NPR Top 100 Books of 2020.
Of course it’s a good list. Running through it though, I only have 4 of them on my list of books read, with a whole mess of them on my TBR list. I read about 80 books this year, and still only hit 4 of NPR’s top 100. Which goes to show you, there are a TON of good books out there.
If you are looking for a good selection, NPR linked their list online. I talked about the ones I read in various posts and in the podcast, but just as a recap:
Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld – First, Sittenfeld has never, ever disappointed me. The storytelling is always entertaining, and this was no exception. It is the story of Hillary Rodham, and the alternate life she lead having rejected Bill Clinton’s marriage proposal.
The Splendid and Vile by Erik Larson – We covered this one extensively in our podcast, but here I’ll just say again that Larson is a master at the non-fiction narrative, and I always feel like an expert in something after I read one of his books. This book covers the first year of Churchill’s time as Prime Minister, as WWII drops in on the UK. A beast at 700 pages, but take heart – 90 or so of those pages are footnotes! Not on the NPR list, but on mine was Lady Clementine by Marie Benedict…it was interesting to read Larson’s non-fiction examination of Churchill so close in time to Benedict’s fiction-based-in-reality tale of his wife.
The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel – I really loved Mandel’s Station Eleven, and had high hopes for this one. I enjoyed the story, starting with the mystery on page one, which isn’t solved until the very end.
And last, but not least, Luster by Raven Leilani – this came as a recommendation from one my favorite authors and was a quick, intense, story packed into not a lot of pages.
Since we are likely looking at at least a little bit more at home time, I hope to knock out a few more of the NPR best and see how their choices stack up against some other lists.
Happy reading!
Jaclyn