I wouldn’t normally do a books of the year post. But with the year that has been in it, reading has been an enjoyable escape for so many people, not to mention there have been an abundance of brilliant books published this year. So I decided to look back at all the books that I have read this year and pick some of my absolute favourites as quite often there are some brilliant books that deserve to be read and that may have evaded the attention of people. I was originally going to pick five books but I couldn’t narrow it down so I have gone with ten and they are in no particular order as I found it very difficult to rate these chosen books from one to ten. Without further ado, here are my top picks from 2020.
https://shazsbookblog.blogspot.com/2020/01/emmas-review-three-hours-by-rosamund.html
No books of the year could be complete without the utterly brilliant Three Hours by Rosamund Lupton. It’s not normally my genre of choice but all the hype and praise lauded on this phenomenal book was definitely worth it. I read it back at the very beginning of the year and it has stayed with me ever since. I recommended it to so many friends who then went on to read it and they loved it just as much as I did. It’s powerful, tense, gripping and a book that you will not leave out of your hand until you finish it.
Set during a blizzard as a school community becomes cut off from the world it follows three hours where the lives of all involved are turned upside down. A maniac stalks the grounds and has taken the pupils and staff hostage. How much can change in three hours? Will they escape with their lives in tact?
Rosamund Lupton captures so perfectly the sheer terror and hell each and every character is experiencing. From the students locked away with their teacher in the schools theatre who continue to rehearse MacBeth as a way of not giving into the situation they find themselves in, to the teacher in the pottery room in the woods with a group of younger children who hide under their desks continuing to make figurines oblivious as to what stalks the woods right outside the window. It’s a stunning read that leaves you breathless, I can’t wait to see what Rosamund Lupton brings us next.
https://shazsbookblog.blogspot.com/2020/11/emmas-review-violinist-of-auschwitz-by.html
As historical fiction is my favourite genre, I couldn’t not include a book from this category. I read The Violinist of Auschwitz by Ellie Midwood towards the later end of the year and it completely blew me away. When you read so much in the same genre, and specifically books set during World War Two, you can become tired of reading about the same subject matter even though what you are reading about has had such a lasting and devastating impact on the world. Ellie Midwood was a brilliant find and renewed my faith in the genre as she shone a light on a story told many times - the incarceration of so many innocent people in the Nazi death camps. Yet she brought something new, fresh, innovative and gripping to the subject matter and I thought this was an amazing read that I raced through as I was so engrossed in the story unfolding.
Right from the opening line, this story is absorbing, thrilling, tense and very very powerful and is a stark reminder lest we should not forget of the horror and suffering endured by so many because of the actions of a mad man. You run the gauntlet of emotions with each of the characters and at times this is a very difficult book to read as the images and situations written about are horrific and the picture built up in your mind is a very difficult one to shake. The writing is exceptional throughout this book and there were endless paragraphs or even a simple sentence that I had to stop and reread several times just to fully appreciate what was being conveyed and the impact it was making.
No doubt about it The Violinist of Auschwitz is a book that deserves great success and to be read by as many people as possible. I cant wait to read her next book The Girl Who Escaped Auschwitz coming in March.
https://shazsbookblog.blogspot.com/2020/03/emmas-review-lost-lights-of-st-kilda-by.html
Elisabeth Gifford is a vastly under rated writer who I discovered by chance many years ago when I found one of her books in my local library. The author weaves an incredible love story but what sets this book apart from any other in the genre and makes it much more than just a tale of people is the spectacular and imaginative descriptions of an island community clinging on to the old ways of life isolated on their own unique and remote archipelago cast adrift from the mainland and the modern ways of the world.
The Lost Lights of St. Kilda was a fascinating read and you know the author has done impeccable research and brought a forgotten time to life when you want to go and look up yourself about the island. It follows a small band of people that follow the traditions of many hundreds of years where heritage and custom is so important and amongst them is a young girl called Chrissie whose life will be changed for ever by the arrival of the son of the owner of the island Archie and his college friend Fred. It's a deeply moving and satisfying read with a powerful romance story at its heart and one not to be missed. I have seen lots of people mention this book throughout the year and it deserves every bit of recognition and acclaim it has achieved.
https://shazsbookblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/emmas-review-bird-in-bamboo-cage-by.html
When I finished reading The Bird in the Bamboo Cage by Hazel Gaynor I said this was the author’s best book yet and I still firmly stand by that statement. It’s an absolute stunning read and even though the subject matter is tough, devastating and heart-breaking this book was written in such a beautiful way that it really opened my eyes to the traumas that occurred during the Japanese occupation of China and other areas in the Far East during World War Two.
It follows a group of children and their teachers from a missionary school as they are taken prisoner by the Japanese and interred in a prisoner of war camp. The reader is taken on an incredible journey and one that is not easily forgotten. The subject matter is not easy to write about and your mind is really opened up to the horrors the characters endured whilst never knowing if they would see the camp gates open and be allowed back into the world once again. I hope Hazel will choose to write something set during this period in history again as she showed such a deep empathy, understanding and knowledge of the time.
https://shazsbookblog.blogspot.com/2020/01/emmas-review-telephone-box-library-by.html
What an absolute gem of a book The Telephone Box Library was by Rachael Lucas. I hadn’t read anything by this author in quite some time but boy was I glad I decided to pick up this wonderful read. This is simply a gorgeous, warm read that you will easily lose yourself in for a few hours and when you reach the end you will be so glad you picked it up.
The Telephone Box Library if you were to just judge it upon its cover you'd be forgiven for thinking this is just another run of the mill romance story but instead Rachael Lucas has given us so much more. I love any books set in small villages but then add in the historical element and this just brings the book up another level not to mention the inclusion of the lovely transformation of the telephone box. Lucy and Bunty are marvellous characters at the centre of an engaging, captivating and fascinating story with some lovely messages to be learnt and there were lots to be taken from the many themes that arise. I feel this is a book that many people may have missed and this really shouldn’t be the case. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend that you do.
https://shazsbookblog.blogspot.com/2020/03/emmas-review-river-home-by-hannah.html
Hannah Richell first came to my attention back in 2012 with her debut novel Secrets of the Tide. This year she brought us The River Home and it was an utter triumph for the author as we follow the lives of the Sorrell family as they have gathered at the family seat in Somerset for a last minute wedding. It is an emotional, raw and very powerful read with words chosen to make the reader stop and contemplate their meaning and significance with regard to whatever character you are reading about. You feel deep compassion for every family member, each one of which is struggling with secrets, pain and heartache although you may not like all of them.
Initially it is a slow paced read but preserve with it because it is more than worth it as the revelations that spill forth are utterly shocking. It’s an incredibly well written book and an outstanding read exploring family dynamics. I really hope that Hannah is hard at work on something new for us in 2021.
https://shazsbookblog.blogspot.com/2020/03/emmas-review-sleeper-lies-by-andrea-mara.html
I couldn’t not include an Irish author in my top books of the year and that accolade falls to the brilliant author that is Andrea Mara, I feel she deserves so much more attention than she has gotten. With her moving to a new publisher and a new book, All Her Fault to come in June 2021, I really hope her books reach a much wider audience and that so many more people get to see what a brilliant writer she is. I have loved everything she has published so far and this year she brought us The Sleeper Lies.
Set during the snowstorm that brought Ireland to a halt in March 2018. It’s a real creepy, page turner of a read. So many red herrings are thrown in and similar to her previous two books I really was led up the garden path and thrown completely off track as to who the actual culprit was that was messing with our main character Marianne's mind. The Sleeper Lies was so carefully constructed and plotted and right from page one your suspicions are raised and so many questions emerge. Andrea Mara provides her readers with a mind blowing twist and a deeply satisfying conclusion to what is an absorbing, haunting, tense and thrilling read and is once again an utter triumph for the author.
https://shazsbookblog.blogspot.com/2020/07/emmas-review-summer-on-seashell-island.html
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Sophie Pembroke’s Summer on Seashell Island. I picked it up expecting the usual run of the mill romance story but got so much more from it. I remember spending a glorious afternoon in the garden during the summer reading this book and read it all in one sitting. God those summer days where we were in lockdown seem but a distant memory now and here we are still in lockdown and no end in sight in the immediate future. But this book certainly took my mind off everything going for a few hours at least and I loved every minute of it.
It’s the most wonderful read that gives everything you could possibly want from a book and much more. The characters come alive off the pages each with their own problems they are trying to navigate their way through but what shines through is the love they have for each other as a family and also how much the island and their home place of the Lighthouse bed and breakfast actually means to them even if they don’t realise it all the time. Lots of problems arise for the characters to deal with and it was joy to read how they went about solving them. It really did give me that warm, cosy, feel good feeling that I crave when I read a book in this genre.
https://shazsbookblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/emmas-review-starcross-manor-by.html
How can I not include a book from my absolute favourite series Love Heart Lane by Christie Barlow? I have raved endlessly about this series and even as I write this I have just finished writing my review for the latest instalment The Lake House. How lucky were we to get three new additions to the series this year and really I could have picked any of said three. I more or less closed my eyes and my hand landed on Starcross Manor and that’s what I chose to include in my books of the year list. I’ll say no more because all my reviews are on the blog but suffice to say I LOVED Christie’s books this year and am so glad there are five more books to come in the best series ever, well in my mind anyway.
https://shazsbookblog.blogspot.com/2020/08/emmas-review-below-big-blue-sky-by-anna.html
The long awaited follow up to The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes by Anna McPartlin was worth every minute of the long tortuous wait. Well it felt like that. Below the Big Blue Sky was everything I wanted it to be and more. My own personal circumstances had changed since reading the first book and I read this in a different mindset and it affected me all the more for it. Yes I was slightly apprehensive about reading it, for the above reason, but I needn’t have worried in the slightest as all my apprehensions about starting the book immediately dissipated within the first chapter or two.
Once again the Anna McPartlin gently takes the reader by the hand and leads them on a journey following the Hayes family and some extended friends as they cope with the loss of their remarkable daughter, sister and mother. There is a huge void left in their lives which affects each and every one of them in a different way but it’s how the author handles the topic in just the same caring and considerate manner as she did with the previous book that makes Below the Big Blue Sky one of the best books that I have read this year. I am so glad we got to read more of the Hayes’ story and such justice was done to it.
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