I asked a few of my women friends who I know to be discerning readers, and who are well known in the mystery community, if they would share some of their favorite reads of 2020.
But not just mysteries.
We decided not to limit the books in any way. Just some favorites we'd like to share with others.
And, with that we ended up with a wonderfully fun mix of fiction, non-fiction, children's books, crime fiction, romance, fantasy, photo books, young adult, etc etc etc.
Nor did we stick with books published in 2020 which made it fun to see some old classics along with a few books to look forward to in 2021.
Most of you who read Meanderings and Muses know some, if not all, these women. And what an amazing group they are; readers, book advocates, librarians, teachers, reviewers, publicists, webmasters, bloggers who support authors - male AND female - and the world of books.
You might run into any of them at any time at a book convention (when we're all able to actually start attending book conventions again).
Consider this list of holiday recommendations our gift to you.
Marlyn K. Beebe is a librarian, blogger, and book reviewer who lives in Southern California with her husband, and Puck (the jungle panther)
Asebedo, Miranda. A Constellation of Roses
Darke, Minnie. The Lost Love Song
Fader, Molly. The Bitter and Sweet of Cherry Season
Harbison, Beth. The Cookbook Club: a novel of food and friendship
Fogelson, Aliza. The Lending Library
Nugent, Suzanne. Brunch and Other Obligations
Roberts, Nora. The Awakening (The Dragon Heart Legacy #1)
Verant, Samantha. The Secret French Recipes of Sophie Valroux
Wiggs, Susan. The Lost and Found Bookshop
Zimmerman, Vicky. Miss Cecily’s Recipes for Exceptional Ladies
Sarah EC Byrne lives in Canberra, Australia. Police have ruled her out as a Person of Interest
The Nancys – RWR McDonald
The Wife and the Widow – Christian White
Weather – Jenny Offill
Invisible Women – Caroline Criado Perez
Goodnight, Beautiful – Aimee Molloy
Strangers At The Gate – Catriona McPherson
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman
See What You Made Me Do – Jess Hill
488 Rules for Life – Kitty Flanagan
Worst Case Scenario – Helen Fitzgerald
Slow Horses (the whole series) – Mick Herron
Little Eyes – Samanta Schweblin
Eight Lives – Susan Hurley
Troubled Blood – Robert Galbraith
Lollyscramble – Tony Martin
Interior Chinatown – Charles Yu
If I Had Two Wings – Randall Kenan
A Thousand Ships – Natalie Haynes
The Index of Self-Destructive Acts – Christopher Beha
The Mermaid of Black Conch – Monique Roffey
Jen Forbus is a former English teacher and
blogger who currently works for a small education publisher, shoots sports photography for a local newspaper and reviews children's books for Shelf Awareness. Her reading this year has been driven by current events and
her review assignments for Shelf.
M'Lou Greene - "My grandmother taught me to read at age 3, and I've never stopped!"
Jess Lourey, Unspeakable Things
Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works in IT during the day and reads mysteries at night.
Death at the Medical Board by Josephine Bell
Dead Woman Walking by Sharon Bolton
To Wake the Dead by John Dickson Carr
The Boy from the Woods by Harlan Coben
The Shadow Broker by Trace Conger
The Harassed Hero by Ernest Dudley
A Murder of Crows by Margaret Duffy
Lesser Evils by Joe Flanagan
Death of an American Beauty by Mariah Fredericks
Summertime, All the Cats Are Bored by Philippe Georget
The Country House Burglar by Michael Gilbert
The Reckless Oath We Made by Bryn Greenwood
The Man in the White Linen Suit by David Handler
Dead Man's Mistress by David Housewright
The Elephant of Surprise by Joe Lansdale
The Blues Don't Care by Paul Marks
The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda
The Right Sort of Man by Allison Montclair
The Ringmaster by Vanda Symon
Crush by Phoef Sutton
Lesa Holstine, a book lover since she was a year old, is an award-winning librarian and book reviewer who blogs at https://lesasbookcritiques.com
Maddee James, Mistress of xuni.com, loves dogs, books, color, photography, her kids… not in that order.
Patti Cheney Lang - Reader, wife, librarian, coloring aficionado, both nerd & geek, friend, daughter, sister, aunt, feminist, transplanted Michigander.
Dru Ann Love is an award-winning mystery blogger at https://drusbookmusing.com/
A Bad Day for Sunshine by Darynda Jones
Erin Mitchell is a reader who is lucky enough to get to work for authors and publishers.
Kathy Boone Reel is a book blogger who reviews mystery/crime novels, with an occasional exception, at her blog The Reading Room, but she has been on a bit of a hiatus and now getting back to her passion with a Favorite 2020 Reads, to be posted in the next week.
Turn to Stone by James Ziskin
The Lucky One by Lori Rader-Day
The Lantern Men by Elly Griffiths
Hid from Our Eyes by Julia Spencer-Fleming
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Death of a Mermaid by Lesley Thomson
Rules for Being Dead by Kim Powers
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
Riviera Gold by Laurie R. King
Exit Strategy by Jen Danna
The First to Lie by Hank Phillippi Ryan
The Last Mrs. Summers by Rhys Bowen
Key Lime Crime by Lucy Burdette
Scot on the Rocks by Catriona McPherson
Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier
All the Devils are Here by Louise Penny
Mortmain Hall by Martin Edwards
One by One by Ruth Ware
And Now She’s Gone by Rachel Howzell Hall
Til Death by Annette Dashofy
- Box, C.J. (2020) – Long Range
- DePoy, Phillip (2019) – Sidewalk Saint
- Disher, Gary (2019) – Peace
- Eskens, Allen (2019) – Northing More Dangerous
- Finch, Charles (2020) – The Last Passenger
- Fredrickson, Jack (2020) – The Black Cage
- Gardner, Ashley (2019) – Death at Brighton Pavilion
- Johnson, Craig (2020) – Next to Last Stand
- Harris, C.S. (2020) – Who Speaks for the Dead
- Leon, Donna (2020) – Trace Elements
- Lovesey, Peter (2020) – The Finisher
- Penny, Louise (2020) – All the Devils Are Here
- Robb, J.D. (2020) – Shadows in Death
- Robotham, Michael (2020) – When She Was Good
- Siegel, Sheldon M.(2020) – The Dreamer
- Stabenow, Dana (2020) – No Fixed Line
- Thomas, Will (2020) – Lethal Pursuit
- Tuti, Ilaria (2020) – Painted in Blood (aka, The Sleeping Nymph)
- Westerson, Jeri (2020) – Spiteful Bones
Maryglenn McCombs Warnock has worked in the book publishing world for over 25 years. She lives in Nashville.
Hanging Falls by Margaret Mizushima
And here's my contribution - - -
All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny
Perestroika in Paris by Jane Smiley
The Awakening by Nora Roberts
The Ladies of the Secret Circus by Constance Sayers
A Time for Mercy by John Grisham
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
The Velvet Hours by Alyson Richman
The Sweet Taste of Muscadines by Pamela Terry
The Last Correspondent by Soraya M. Lane
The Wizard's Butler by Nathan Lowell
Pale Morning Light with Violet Swan by Deborah Reed
Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman
Paris is Always a Good Idea by Jenn McKinlay
The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand
South of the Buttonwood Tree by Heather Webber
5 comments:
Great lists! So much variety on them. That was fun, Kaye. Thanks for asking us!
Great lists. Wish I could have gotten one together for you in time, but reading all these I now have so many books to add to my TBR! Thanks, Kaye, for this!
Thanks for your input, Lesa! It was fun.
Janet - be prepared; I plan on asking you again next year!
xxoo
Oh I love this, and so delighted to find someone else (Aubrey Hamilton) who has read Summertime: All the Cats are Bored by Philippe Georget. (I’ve read the sequel too.)
Thank you to Lesa for directing me to this!
How wonderful and what a gift! Thank you!
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