The last day of 2020 is here. It is time to say goodbye to 2020, a year that was hard on every one of us. A year of a pandemic, one which refuses to go away. A year which has shown how vulnerable we all are. Two things which have helped me get through this year are my family and reading. Many things which were outside of our control couldn’t be done this year due to the pandemic. Some yearly rituals had to be done away with this year. But writing the yearly top reads post is in my control, which I shall do.

This year turned out to be surprisingly better in terms of books. Perhaps, not commuting to work had its advantages giving me more time to read. Listening to audible also helped. Stuck with household chores audible came as a welcome respite. I could do something I love, reading, while doing what I had no interest in, cooking and cleaning. Also, not having to wake up at the crack of dawn, with both school and office needing no travel, gave me the luxury to read late into the night.

The universe conspired, as a result, I could read as many as 127 books this year. Out of those, I’m going to give you a list of 30 of my absolute favourites. Hang on tight for I have a huge book list coming up for you.

Top 6 Reads of 2020

• The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

I will never forget Addie LaRue. What a book! Anything I say won’t do justice to it so let me just leave you with its blurb from Goodreads. France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets.

Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world.

But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name. 

I will post a more detailed review on it but for the moment think of it as a two-hundred-year-old battle between Addie LaRue and the devil, an eternal struggle where Addie doesn’t give up her soul no matter the tricks the devil tries to play with her.

• Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez: 

Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez is one of the best books I read this year. And I believe it is a book that must be read by all men and women.

The penalty for being a woman is to have a world unfairly designed only for men. It reminds us constantly that we are the other, the scaled-down versions of men. It is a world where our life experiences are considered secondary even though we form one half of the world. This book shows through researched data, and even the audacious lack of it, how in every sphere of our lives we have been pushed into the corner by a world which worships the male default.

It reminds us why gender-neutral might not be gender-equal, something that needs to be screamed from rooftops. If you don’t agree with me, read the book and I dare say, you will too.

If you have some time, you can also read my post on this book.

• Anxious People by Fredrik Backman

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman is such a good book that I must tell you at the onset to pick it up. And if you are one of those readers who also listens to audible, then I suggest you listen to it on Audible next. 

Now, about the book. It is an intelligent comedy about a bank robbery that never took place, a hostage situation that was unlike any other, about human compassion and relationships. It is a story about awkward people and love in its varied forms. Most importantly, though, it is a fun read. I found myself laughing at so many places while listening to it.

I don’t want to say much about the plot and what goes on because I want you to be as pleasantly surprised as I was. Let me just say that it is a typical Fredrik Backman book. That should tell you how intricate the interactions would be between the characters.

So, go for it. I’m sure you won’t regret it.

• A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende

Before picking up this book, I had no idea that Pablo Neruda termed Chile, his long and narrow coastal homeland, a long petal of the sea. 

A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende is the story of two young people who flee the aftermath of the Spanish Civil war, in search of a place to call home. It is the tale of survival, of their voyage on the SS Winnipeg, a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda, to Chile. It is the story of their trials and tribulations while setting up their lives in a new country and waiting for a time when they will be exiles no more. It is the story of friendship and love. It is an epic saga about finding a place to belong to.

I listened to it on Audible and enjoyed it. There is something about historical fiction that entices me so. This one was no different. I also loved listening to a story that took me to the continent of South America. It was like travelling through the book into a new setting, a different setting from most of the books I usually read. And I must confess, I had no idea what it was about just from its title. It was one of my best reads this year.

Top Reads of 2020. A list of all the great books which I read this year. Take a look, you might find your favourite book here. #booklist #bookswithnaba Share on X

• Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo

This book is a feminist essay from the perspective of black women living in Britain. Bernardine Evaristo gives us an experience of a lifetime as she takes us through the lives of these women. You see life through the eyes of black women who are of different thoughts, beliefs and social circumstances. Despite the hardships they may have gone through, somewhere the grit of these women in surviving against odds comes through.

You can think of this book as a kaleidoscope of black British experience through the eyes of some extraordinary ordinary women stretching across generations. And somehow, there are threads which connect them all. It is a book that talks about racism, lesbianism, and so much more. It is a modern feminist bible where you get a glance at the feminist movement from different perspectives.

I loved this book, and the narration made it even better. I think it is an experience that cannot ever be described in words. I can only ask you to listen to it on audible. Yes, trust me, you’ll love it.

• The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

How do I even begin to describe this book? Just thinking about it makes me so full of warmth. Yes, it’s just that kind of a read for someone who loves a world of books.

Erin Morgenstern takes you on a journey of a lifetime through this epic fantasy. The book is a bit like Alice in Wonderland if Alice were to step through a door, a magical portal into a world of books. A world below the world you live, a world where you can write a note and send it down to the ‘kitchen’ for cupcakes and freshly brewed coffee at the blink of an eye while losing yourself in books. It is a world which ties narratives together. It is a story of stories.

The book follows the son of a fortune teller, Zachary Ezra Rawlins, who finds himself on a quest to save a magical library after reading his own childhood story in a book from his college library. A bee, a key, and a sword emblazoned on that book lead Zachary to two people who change the course of his life: Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired painter, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances.

The book has several fables which are slowly and gradually tied together as the plot progresses. There is a fairy-tale-esque feel to this world conjured by Morgenstern. The Starless sea of honey, the world of pirates, of lovers lost in time, of fortune-tellers, of mysterious ladies in white fur, of the love story between time and fate, of heartless owls, of a tiny mouse, of the moon and cats which bear witness to it all, slowly blend to form this book.

I listened to this on audible. I must tell you though that it is a long, long read and worth it. The reward is the world conjured by Morgenstern, one that will leave you thinking about it, dreaming about it and with a content feeling in your heart.

Yes, I loved it, in case that wasn’t clear already.

Take a look at the books I loved this year. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Pérez Anxious People by Fredrik Backman A Long Petal of the… Share on X

The Next Top Reads of 2020. You can check out my views on each of them on my Instagram page.

• Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafak
• The Stationery Shop of Tehran by Marjan Kamali
• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
• 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World by Elif Shafak
• Under the Udala Trees by Chinelo Okparanta
• Bellman & Black by Diane Setterfield
• The Bastard of Istanbul by Elif Shafak
• Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
• Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
• Beartown (Beartown #1) by Fredrik Backman
• The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott
• The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri
• The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
• The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes
• Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
• Winternight Trilogy by Katherine Arden
• Lost Roses (Lilac Girls #2) by Martha Hall Kelly
• The Kitchen Boy: A Novel of the Last Tsar by Robert Alexander
• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
• The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
• The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo
• The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
• Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay

Well, that was me. As we step into a new year, I wish you all health and happiness. Also, I wish that you get to read lots of wonderful books and live vicariously through the characters in it.

Until the next time,

Happy New Year!