Dear BookBrowsers,
It's been a long and stressful year for many of us. One thing we can probably all agree on is that books can have a therapeutic effect when times are tough — they distract us from our troubles, they help us understand ourselves and other people, and they often remind us to be grateful for what we have. In this issue, we present a roundup of the 20 books rated Best of the Year by our members and subscribers (in total, more than 9,400 votes were cast). Among them are three write-in candidates for which we're written reviews and beyond the book articles you won't have seen before:
Deacon King Kong by James McBride,
Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker, and
The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel. If you took part in the voting, thank you!
The award for Best Fiction goes to V.E. Schwab's
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue. It's the story of a young woman granted immortality by a mysterious spirit but cursed to be forgotten by everyone she encounters. This novel has the same great writing and characterization fans loved in Schwab's Shades of Magic series, with a touch more realism and history as readers watch events like the French Revolution and World War II unfold through Addie's eyes.
Erik Larson is well-known for making historical events come alive, so it's no surprise our readers voted his latest,
The Splendid and the Vile, the Best Nonfiction book of the year (and, incidentally, the highest rated book overall). Larson focuses on Winston Churchill's first year in office as British Prime Minister during World War II, encompassing events such as the evacuation of Dunkirk and the Blitz, which are narrated in the author's signature breathtaking prose.
Our award for Best Young Adult release goes to the novel
We Are Not from Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez, a heartrending account of three teenagers from Guatemala attempting a perilous journey to the United States.
Our award for Best Debut goes to
The Mountains Sing by Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai, a generational novel following a Vietnamese family over the course of the 20th century. It is a lyrical and sweeping account of Vietnamese history that received rave reviews from our First Impressions readers.
This issue contains reviews for all of the top 20 books, along with their Beyond the Book articles, some of our recommendations for book clubs in 2021, previews of early 2021 releases, our Big Holiday Wordplay and more.
If you haven't already, make sure to check out our free report on
Book Clubs in Lockdown, featuring information gleaned from a survey of 4,000 participants on how book groups are faring during the pandemic.
Enjoy!
Your editor,
Davina
About the BookBrowse Awards
BookBrowse's Best of the Year Awards are an excellent barometer of great reading. The awards are particularly noteworthy because voting is only open to BookBrowse members and those who are subscribed to our free newsletters at the time the voting opens - so no vote stuffing by rabid fan bases. Also, instead of just voting for a book (which favors the most widely read titles) each participant rates the books they've read that are on the shortlist, and the winners are the books with the highest overall rating. Such considered selection results in truly outstanding books being feted every year. 2020 is no different in that regard. Over 9,400 votes were cast this year. If you took part in the voting - thank you!
See 21 years of
Best Books and the annual
Award Winners.
Read This Issue