My Favourite Books of 2020

[@Iheartstarkid4sure]

I’ve been searching for a booktuber who reads a lot more outside the typical booktuber hyped books and it looks like I’ve found you!!

[@abigase135]

same! I skipped the video at first and didn't recognize any of the books so I subscribed :D

[@MarilynMayaMendoza]

I'm 70 and I was violently assaulted at 19. I never reported it and I never forgot it. But I know that writing does heal so I want to read Chanel Miller's book. I know the story, but I heard that she also studied writing. I also want to read a few others on your list. I'm Puerto Rican and Jewish from two diasporas and I really respect that you read widely. Aloha

[@CUBS83]

"Small Island" is one of my favorite books of all time. You've convinced me to reread it because I was definitely in my early 20s when I read it, and now, in my 30s, I bet it will affect me even more. Great list! Happy reading in 2021.

[@sarahwallace2585]

I've just found you and really enjoyed this selection of books. I've read a few of these, love the way Danez Smith writes and the Akala . You also reminded me that I have 'The Atlas of Reds and Blues' sitting waiting to be read - I'll get to it sooner having heard your review. Definitely going to watch some more of you now. Thank you 😊

[@vanessalaughtland4417]

Heads of the Colored People was in my top books of the year as well, and I first heard about it from you so thanks for the recommendation!

[@mimi8school]

I always wait a little longer to watch your yearly favourites video... Because each year I ended up buying just about all the books you recommended haha. Just finished Know My Name. Wow. Also, I love the U.S. book cover this time (Kintsugi art is such a great idea for this)! Thank you again for recommending it.

[@Dottiemi]

Thanks for taking the time to make this, really enjoyable. Added quite a few to my list!

[@AmyJaneSmith90]

I'm so glad you did make this video. I was in a reading slump which was getting to me as reading is one of few things can do to escape right now. Then after your last wrap-up I read Frying Plantain and got into it straight away, which felt like such a relief. Now want to read all of these - borrowed some from library, bought a few and some I already owned. I had never heard of The Atlas of Reds and Blues and first page is right up my street. So yeah, thank you for taking the time to do this and your videos generally!

[@judipfancuff1839]

Will be reading/listening to at least half a dozen of these. Thanks, Mercy!

[@jillschroeder9760]

Damn - you keeping making my TBR go way out of control - great discussion, thank you! Really enjoyed The Bass Rock, and Hamnet, and Mr Loverman. You've inspired me to re-read Small Island which I remember with love. Just received Natives from Shakespeare and Co today - all the way out to me in New Zealand. And I pretty well want to read the rest on your list, maybe not the poetry, being a bit lazy.

[@readingwithtara]

So glad I found your channel! I would have not discovered The Atlas of Reds and Blues. Sounds brilliant.

[@whatpageareyouon]

I'm so glad you loved Sigh, Gone! One of my favorite memoirs now, alongside a favorite being Know My Name as well. So affecting, it's been a while since I read Miller's memoir but it has really stayed with me

[@ahbooks3]

All these books sound absolutely excellent and I already own quite a few. I’d never heard of ‘Atlas of Reds and Blues’ before watching your video though and I’ve added it to my TBR

[@valdeane6435]

Well I think this video was well worth waiting for! I loved your enthusiasm for these books. I'm sure it was you who encouraged me to re-read Small Island by audio and like you say - Andrea Levy reading it herself was just phenomenal! It catapulted Small Island onto my list of favourite books of all time! I also loved Hamnet and Silver Sparrow last year too! Maybe I should take a leaf out of your book and try some more short story collections. I'm a bit frightened of them as every time I have bought a collection that has been highly recommended, I end up DNFing! It's the same for poetry too - apart from Raymond Antrobus! Now I need to read the Chanel Miller!

[@CD-rt5pt]

Thank you for the great reviews! I'm going to pick up Silver Sparrow and Mr Loverman when I get a chance.

[@lisag618]

Love this vid! Especially happy to see Mr Loverman (I'll be re-reading that this year on audio) and Small Island - brilliant books! :)

[@Wolfhailstorm]

Ahh, I didn't end up reading heads of the coloured people last year, but am determined to this year!

[@janethansen9612]

Great wrap up. I need to get my hands on the Chantel Miller. I’ve seen it as several people’s top pick for 2020. Your other top 3 also sound good (well obviously).

[@ReadingWithKT]

Great to hear your thoughts on all of these. My TBR has just exploded. The only one I've read is The Atlas of Reds and Blues. I got about 30-40% of the way through Silver Sparrow and ended up DNFing it as I just couldn't find anything to hold on to, but I definitely agree with what you say about Tayari Jones writing characters who are imperfect but so well crafted (I adored An American Marriage). Maybe it's one I'll try again with at a different time. So many great sounding books on this list to look forward to! Thank you 😊

[@clairehansen5677]

One of my favourite videos of the year, thankyou 😁

[@lin0412]

You read SO diversely, I’m in awe.

[@zs4673]

Re-reading is one of the greatest pleasures of reading, I find.

[@yvettemadelaine]

So true, & yet I so rarely do it. Why? (If I am honest I know it’s because I feel I can’t count it towards the number of books I’ve read)

[@sofiagriffith9694]

Yo

[@anothergreatetcetera]

I actually stopped watching your video to book some audiobooks on my wishlist and ended up buying and listening to the first chapter of Mr Loverman! How brilliant is John Goode's narration?! Thank you so much for your recommendation! Andrea Levy and Akala are next on the list 🙏

[@pastorytime2683]

this was so wonderful mercedes! what a great pile of books and i loved how you talk about them. akala is just amazing - i read his book recently and i did struggle a little bit with the historical sections of it - but reckon audio version would have helped that. Hamnet almost made my top ten too ! hahahaha joke. sian xx

[@jacquelinemcmenamin8204]

Love your top 🥰 With you about finding family dynamics fascinating. My mum died in January 2020. She was 93. She was one of 15 children and the last surviving sibling. I’m eldest of 5. We only learn to parent through the experience of being parented.

[@hellomelloyello]

I really loved Hollowpox as well. Jessica Townsend kept the wonder and humor of the middle grade genre while also really raising the feel of the book to an adult level if that makes sense. Really looking forward to the rest of the series.

[@ThatsSoPoe]

For middle grade fantasy, I love the Love Sugar Magic trilogy (beginning with A Dash of Trouble) by Anna Meriano, about a young Mexican-American girl who discovers that her family are brujas and can add magic into their baking. I also adore the Sal & Gabi duology (beginning with Sal and Gabi Break the Universe) by Carlos Hernandez, which is about Cuban-Americans in Miami, focusing on Sal, who can bring things from other dimensions into our own, and his new friend at school, Gabi, who teams up with him to deal with some issues that go down. I've also heard great things about the Tristan Strong series by Kwame Mbalia, and I'm about to pick up Root Magic by Eden Royce.

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Ohhh, thanks for the recommendations! I've got the first two saved on Scribd 🤓 but hadn't heard of the other two so I'll have to track them down!

[@WhoaThereMama]

When I spent time in Atlanta, I realized just how rooted and true-to-life Tayari Jones' writing really is! Silver Sparrow sticks with me even more than An American Marriage

[@jennafra]

I think you may enjoy notes on a silencing by Lacy Crawford.

[@desiree1900]

I bought the Atlas of Reds and Blues because of you and will read it for Black history month, so excited!

[@jacquelinemcmenamin8204]

Some recommendations around family dynamics Dinner At The Homesick Restaurant by Ann Tyler Actress by Ann Enright Magalash by Joe Comeau The Less Dead by Denise Mina After The Silence by Louise O’Neill The Great Offshore Grounds by Vanessa Veleskia Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O’Farrell House On Endless Waters by Emuna Elon All the Lives We Never Lived by Arundati Roy All Among the Barley by Melissa Harrison The Wonder by Emma Donoghue A Woman is No Man Burnt Sugar The Death of Vivek Oji The Death of Noah Glass

[@readsomethingwonderful6546]

Totally agree that tomato sauce lives in the fridge! But bread? I’m conflicted - I feel like it makes it go stale faster. And also I’m not a fan of very cold sandwiches! 🤷‍♀️

[@helenhickey3479]

Small Island and Mr Loverman were two of my favourites audiobooks in 2020, Andrea Levy narrated it herself beautifully. Hamnet was my top book of last year. I love Carys Bray and have When The Lights Go Out on my book shelf, must get to it soon. Some great books there.

[@lauravienna]

You made me add at least 4 books on my list!

[@thedodgymermaid]

Know My Name was my favorite of 2020 as well 💖 brilliant

[@RamblingsOfAnElfpire]

I have the Atlas of Red and Blue on my wishlist but haven't bought it yet. Looks like I'll be buying that one!

[@yvettemadelaine]

Thank you for helping me get over my DNF phobia last year. More time to read things like these ( or not if I don’t click with one.) Things My Mother sounds so up my street- never seen it mentioned before. Will purchase on Kindle for holiday house reading today 👍🏻

[@aed2069]

Also, thank you- I read Know My Name after your recommendation x

[@CJReads]

what my mother and I don't talk about sounds right up my street! just ordered. can't believe that wasn't on my radar before!

[@bettyreads222]

The atlas of reds and blues and heads of the colored people sound so interesting. I need to finally read Tayari Jones. Totally agree that Homie is such a great poetry collection. Danez is amazing.

[@kisiwa82]

Loved Mr. Loverman and Small Island too. I recently posted my faves and disappoints, though we don't have any overlaps. I don't tend to re-read, though do agree with the case you are making for doing so.

[@ameliareads589]

For short story collections I would recommend An Unrestored Woman by Shobha Rao and Antarctica by Claire Keegan.

[@Tutankhamun18Reads]

I want to read Frying Plantain! I just finished Know My Name which I read because of how you spoke about the language in a previouds video. It was AMAZING. Thank you so much for highlighting what a phenomenal author she is! I will be posting a video on friday about trauma and nice words (memoirs) if you are interested id love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

[@amyli5587]

Been looking forward to this video!!

[@yvettemadelaine]

Been waiting for this video M 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@readingwithreeses1274]

I read *A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking* by T. Kingfisher and it was just so charming and adorable. It does deal with some dark themes, but it pulls it off beautifully! It definitely hit that fun, joy-filled reading experience for me and I highly recommend you check it out!

[@RoisinsReading]

Frying Plantain sounds so good. I'm not a huge short story reader but it sounds like it would be a good introduction to the form as I want to read more. I was a little disappointed with the end of The Bass Rock as well, it just felt a little rushed and confused

[@TheNovelSanctuary]

Obviously automatically adding all of these lol

[@danielanjegovan35]

Middlegrade - Vashti Hardy's Brightstorm. It's just lovely. The very beginning is a bit dickensian, which is... not unusual. But the twins are fun, the whole found family thing warms your heart... I'm gonna stop so I don't spoil everything.

[@cynthibook]

Thank you for your video ! :)

[@lizk4843]

I really enjoyed the books of Kai Meyer, when I was a child. I don't know if the translations are any good (i read them in the original German) but I really loved The Dark Reflections Trilogy and the Wave Runners Trilogy :)

[@readingwithlaurane2490]

Corona time I now wake up around 9. Yes, it's super late, but the world sucks. I need my bf to wake me up because I sleep very deeply and alarms don't work. I usually spend some time on my phone before standing up. Breakfast is milk with muesli (although there was no milk this morning so I had tea with delicious pumpkin bread from the oven and jam. Might do that more often as I want to minimise milk products). In normal times, I would read a book during breakfast. But as I wake up late I now start up my laptop. Not that I work, but I feels like at least I'm 'at work' Anyway :P I went to add most of these to my 'to read' list. But most I had already marked as to read.. At least I'm consistent... Totally agree on Mr Loverman, so much fun.

[@Mssfjj]

I don't know if this i just me and if it's too much to ask from you, but I was wondering if you could mention, when you recommend a book, whether there are parts of it narrated in written English dialects. I am myself not a native English speaker (I'm Danish), but I read almost exclusively English literature, however I find it very difficult to read dialects...as an example I loved parts of Sky Atlas, but I had to skip large chunks, since big parts of it is written in dialect. I'm asking now because you mention that parts of Small Island is written in dialect :)

[@aed2069]

Brilliant list. Know My Name has -changed- me. Even if a person has no experience of abuse, or of the legal system, or the University experience, or the repercussions of abuse and victimisation, or gender studies, or trauma... it will teach you.

[@TheEstame]

Well, I had planned on an early night but saw this so nope! 😂 I also loved Say my Name - my daughter experienced a sexual assault a few years ago and it really helped me understand some of the feelings she may not have been able to articulate to me at the time or afterwards. Will always be grateful to Chanel Miller for her strength and absolute magical way with words. Western civilisations idea of justice systems is literally awful and her memoir serves a stark reminder of that. My faves were Hamnet A Woman is no Man- Etaf Rum Both Tayari Jones books The Frieda Klein series by Nicki French The Mothers by Brit Bennett Got to get round to Small Island now 😍 Take Care Mercedes!

[@AJ_Dunn]

I just gave What My Mother and I Don't Talk About to my best friend for Christmas. Don't tell her, but I read it before I gave it to her.

[@FlyingElectra]

As soon as I started to watch your video, I thought about Know my Name and wonder when it will pop up and I agree at 100% with you for this book, the writing is phenomenal and the way she can put on paper what happened to her is well. One of my favorite books and I really hope she writes another book soon ! I have noted a few books. I loved August by Callan Wink last year and mostly non fiction. I just read Rising ouf of Hatred and I highly recommend it if you wanna know how a young white supremacist in the US turned his back on his beliefs. Take care !

[@BookBarrista]

You DNFd thirty??!?!!! I have such a hard time not finishing a book!

[@amisha25211]

Same

[@OhioEddieBlack]

same

[@Iheartstarkid4sure]

How do you find new books, and decide which ones you want to read?

[@cathiealdridge2016]

Middle grade well worth your time Wildwood by Colin Meloy it's a trilogy so plenty to get your teeth into 😊

[@thiadesg]

I don't know if you've read The House in the Cerulean Sea but it might scratch your middle-grade itch in just the right way.

[@SavidgeReads]

So... Carys Bray. Must read. Frying Plantain. Must read. Atlas of Reds and Blues. Must read. Sigh, Gone. Must listen to. Know My Name. Must read/listen to. My jaw dropped when Hamnet was four, then when I saw your top three, well the two novels I have read, I totally got it. Ha.

[@jacquelinemcmenamin8204]

Mr Loverman was brilliant 🥰🤩

[@samcad-ho3ze]

Do you tend to buy hardbacks, if so why?

[@MercysBookishMusings]

Yes, I read more hardbacks than paperbacks because I tend to pre-order new releases :)

[@hannahmay11]

I get mad every time I see a 3 stars for Chanel..... absolute madness.