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.
