My Top 5 Books Of 2020

Reading is fundamental babe, and not just the shady type. 2020 was really the year of books for me, I tried my best to read more this year than any other year and while I hit that goal, unfortunately I didn't get as much read as I would have liked. My goal was to read 12 books, 1 every month... I thought that it would be pretty straightforward. Plus I had the added bonus of being locked up for half the year due to Covid, however it wasn't that simple and here we are at the end of November with 8 books read. I am going to try and catch up before the end of the year but I wouldn't put any bets on just yet. I'm sure for a lot of people 8 books is nothing, for me it was an improvement, small but steady steps! I actually love reading and was an avid reader when I was younger but for various reasons over the years I stopped. Even though you would have thought being cooped up inside would be a great incentive to pick a book up, for me it worked the opposite. I love going into physical book stores and picking up latest copies and browsing the bookshelves, my favourite place to read is at a coffee shop or finding a nice shaded spot in town and obviously I couldn't do any of that in lockdown. But hey, at least I tried! 

I would say the theme of my reading this year would be women's stories and romances, I went into my reading journey with a very open mind, not really particular about what kind of books I was looking for, but wow I really found myself getting stuck into romances like I never thought I would. I'm not too sure why but I assumed I wasn't a romantic at heart, but I don't think the tears streaming down my face while reading The Flat Share would agree with me on that one. 

I did already cover The Flat Share by Beth O'Leary and Normal People by Sally Rooney on my blog earlier in the year so you can get a more in depth review of them by visiting the categories tab at the top of my blog and clicking 'books'.

I picked up Vox by Christina Dalcher because it sounded just like The handmaid's Tale which I still don't own (I know, shame on me) but I have seen the TV series and loved it. So I thought why not give this a try, and I can tell you now I was not disappointed. This book follows Jean McCellan and how she navigates her new life as government strip away the rights of all women. It is so disturbing and a really good thriller especially for women who follow politics and are interested in women's history. It's essentially all of our worst nightmares coming to life. I never really like to go into specifics when reviewing because I don't want to spoil it for anyone who might be interested in picking it up, but there was a particular moment with Jean's neighbour that shook me to my core and I actually had to put the book down for a few minutes. Even though this book was heavy in places and was a lot to think about I found it very enjoyable and easy to follow. 

I actually think I might be cheating with this one because i'm not sure if I read this the at the end of last year or the start of this year but My Thoughts Exactly by Lily Allen is a great Autobiography that gives you an interesting insight into her life, choices and mental health. This book really helped me put things into perspective and I love how much Lily opened up in this book. There's a great chapter on how she coped with life after being stalked and then burgled by a man who caused her a lot of distress over the years, a story that really hit home for me. She tells the story of how she found fame and the coping mechanisms she used to find peace, the good and the bad. I love her story because I think she tells a familiar one, there's something about her that relates to me and a lot of people I know. Obviously, minus the fame and success. 

Finally, I want to talk about The Five by Hallie Rubenhold who is a British historian and author. This book is about the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the ripper and as you can imagine it's a really sad read but I think a great and necessary one. The book is beautifully written, Hallie really got every detail that she could possibly find about all of the women. I'm sure if you're from the UK you've heard of Jack the ripper but the stories of the lives he ruined are never told. This book goes into how the media portrayed the victims, how people in their lives reacted to the news and how the police went about investigating the crimes. After reading all about the lives and stories of these women, the last chapter gives you a breakdown of what was found with the women when they were discovered, needless to say this made me ball my eyes out because as Hallie points out in this chapter the things discovered on the bodies of these women give you a insight into what they valued and how they went about their days. I am really looking forward to reading more of Hallie Rubenhold and I hope she writes more books like this in the future. 

I'm on the lookout for new books since I'm coming to the end of my TBR list. If you have any suggestions that you think I'd like feel free to comment below! 

Megan x