Note: This list does not contain books that were *published* in 2020, but those that I read and enjoyed.
2020 feels so weird a year to have been true. Just the year before, I used to sleep dreaming of how in the future children would study at home, not caring to go out and look at the outside world. Who knew? The future of my dreams was not that far away!
But despite that, I got a chance to read more articles, books, and even write stories of my own during boring classes. I have for you today 4 books that I absolutely loved reading last year! This list is going to be a countdown of the best books, starting at:
4. The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown: This is the only Dan Brown book I’ve read so far and I absolutely loved the thrill. There is so much research put into this book, and it dives deeply into the field of Noetic Science, which is a study of simply put mind-body connections. The ideas of this subject fascinated me as it’s almost magical. However, I have forgotten a lot that happened in this book, but do remember that the villain scared the guts out of me. I surely recommend this book to those who are new to the genre.
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: This will not come as a surprise for most who have read the book, but this is one of the best books I’ve ever read! If you haven’t read this one (you probably have if you’re an active reader of ya), this book follows the narrator/heroine Katniss Everdeen, whose only family is her mother and younger sister. The story takes place in Panem- which in the story is the future of North America- which is a posh Capitol surrounded by 12 districts. To make sure the districts are kept in their place, the Capitol conducts the annual Hunger games in which a boy and a girl (between the ages of 12 and 18) forced to compete from each district are put on a platform where they have to kill every other participant in the contest in order to survive. Katniss takes her sister’s place in the contest, and the book is literally the various events that take place in it narrated by her. I had such a great time reading this, and the twists and turns- though less- were incredible. The book doesn’t have a ‘series’ tinge to it, and can easily pass as a stand-alone if you don’t really want to read all three books. I haven’t read the next two books myself as I’m not that keen on knowing the after-effects of the first book, which is as far as I know war-based.
2. A Torch Against the Night by Sabaa Tahir: This is the second book in the young adult, fantasy fiction Ember Quartet, and is a turning point in the entire series. Most part of the plot of the series is uncovered in this book, and the various twists in the book engulfed me with tears. The story-line is really good, and the book also explores many aspects of the protagonists’ personalities, their weak and strong traits, and dives into their history. I completely fell in love with the characters and it felt so complete and satisfying. I surely recommend checking out this series if real-bad violence is not a problem.
- The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: I simply don’t have enough words to describe how magical this book felt. Yes, it is a bit slow-paced and this is a complaint many readers have, but it’s actually not as bad as they make it seem. If only you can accustom yourself to the slowness the book does wonders and really improves the scale of the imagination a person might have.
Every time I re-read my favorite clips of the book, I discover yet another kind of magic, be it illusions, nature, the impact of human emotion, love, and jealousy. The setting of the story revolves around ‘Le Cirque des Reves’ or ‘The Circus of Dreams’. What’s so special about this circus is that it only opens at night, and people around the world would expect it to appear out of nowhere near a dull and lonely alley and magically give life to it. The circus is easily the most anticipated of its kind.
But the circus is not meant for that alone. Two men bet their students on a challenge and train them in magic so that when the time arrives, they could fight each other in the specially prepared circus; but on the course of time the two young magicians fall in love with each other, and everything goes wrong. There are many other side characters and themes that play their part so well, and it is wonderful to see their paths cross and the events that happen. A very unsensible remark abt the book is that it has no proper plot. This is a very big lie and there *is* a proper plot, which I have broken down earlier. The chapters occur in different time periods for the most part of the book and follow a couple of different characters and events, which is why I personally think this remark is being given.
The writing is particularly very beautiful and smooth, and I can’t recommend this book enough. Simply put, if there is one book I’ll read for the rest of my life, it is the Night Circus.
These are my favorite books of the year 2020, and though most of them are bestsellers, I just had to review them as those who haven’t yet must definitely check them out. Happy Reading!
