As we turn the page on 2020 hopefully this is the last recap post you read. This is my 2020 in books.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I finally reached my annual goal to read 50 books. As happy as I am to have done it, the actual books were a mixed bag.

Best – 5 stars

The Forgotten Man – Robert Crais
PS I Still Love You – Jenny Han
Chasing Darkness – Robert Crais
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Diaz
Flash Boys – Michael Lewis
Suspect – Robert Crais
The Sentry – Robert Crais
Taken – Robert Crais
The Last Olympian – Rick Riordan
Born a Crime – Trevor Noah

Good – 4 stars

The Late Show – Michael Connelly
Let it Burn – Steve Hamilton
Dark Sacred Night – Michael Connelly
Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi
Demolition Angel – Robert Crais
The Titan’s Curse – Rick Riordan
The First Rule – Robert Crais
The Fall – Guillermo del Toro
The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway

Average – 3 stars

The Watchman – Robert Crais
Die a Stranger – Steve Hamilton
The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins
Anthem – Ayn Rand
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – JK Rowling
World War Z – Max Brooks
Brave New World – Aldous Huxley
A Long Way Gone – Ishmael Beah
The Room of White Fire – T. Jefferson Parker
The Battle of the Labyrinth – Rick Riordan
American Sniper – Chris Kyle

Meh – 2 stars

The Sea of Monsters – Rick Riordan
G is for Gumshoe – Sue Grafton
The Border Lords – T. Jefferson Parker
Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut
Dead Man Running – Steve Hamilton
Killing the Blues – Michael Brandman
H is for Homicide – Sue Grafton
The Jaguar – T. Jefferson Parker
Trinkets – Kirsten Smith
You – Caroline Kepnes
The Last Straw – Jeff Kinney
The Night Fire – Michael Connelly
The Promise – Robert Crais
Cop Town – Karin Slaughter
Mexican Gothic – Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Bad – 1 star

The Girls – Emma Cline
The Road – Cormac McCarthy
Cross Country – James Patterson
I is for Innocent – Sue Grafton
A Farewell to Arms – Ernest Hemingway

Look at all those 2 star ratings! Just a little surprising. It’s hard to explain the difference between a 1 star rating and a 2 star. Typically there is no aspect of a 1 star book I enjoyed. Those are usually close to becoming a DNF. I only had one this year.

Though I did read 26 mysteries, I’m happy with the different genres and authors I read. I read 15 authors for the first time. On the other hand I read Robert Crais a whopping 9 times. The beauty of that trade off is now Robert Crais only has 2 books I haven’t read, so I’ll be looking for new authors to read in 2021.

2020 was rough for so many people. But I managed to accomplish a reading goal I’ve had for more than a decade, reach new financial goals I set months ago, and put myself in a great position to start 2021.

Now let’s get back to some semblance of normalcy sometime this year.