I love reading books and book reviews are the heart of Panorama of the Mountains. I’ve been keeping track of the books I read since I was a teenager and I’ve attempted to catalog every book I’ve ever read at LibraryThing.
One of my big reading projects is Around the World for a Good Book, where I’ve been attempting to read an original work of fiction from every nation in the world.
On this page I’ve provided links to posts about my favorite books as well as my running lists of books I’ve read this year. If there’s a book you’d like to discuss or think I should read, let me know in the comments!
Favorite Books by Year:
Favorite Books of All Time (2009 List)
Favorite Books of All Time (2020 List)
Books Read in 2020
The books are rated on a scale from 1 to 5 stars with links to summary reviews. (A) is for audiobook.
Here’s a thumbnail of what the ratings mean:
- 5 stars – all-time classic (I’m very stingy with these)
- 4 stars – a particularly interesting, well-written, or important book
- 3 stars – a good book from start to finish
- 2 stars – not a good book on the whole but has some good parts
- 1 star or less – basically a bad book with no redeeming values
January
- Confederates in the Attic by Tony Horwitz (A) – *****
- Thrawn by Timothy Zahn (A) – ****
- Entrepreneurs: The Boston Business Community, 1700-1850 ed. Conrad Edick Wright and Katheryn P. Viens – ***
- Black Radical: The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter by Kerri Greenidge – ****
- Thrawn: Alliances by Timothy Zahn (A) – ***1/2
- Flights by Olga Tokarczuk (A) – ***
February
- The Golden Child by Claire Adam (A) – ***1/2
- Thrawn: Treason by Timothy Zahn (A) – ****
- The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R Tolkien – *****
- Jazz by Toni Morrison – *****
- Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (A) – ****
March
- The Boston Massacre: A Family History by Serena Zabin (A) – ****
- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (A) – *****
April
- The Old Drift by Namwali Serpell (A) – ***1/2
- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead – ***1/2
- Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro (A) – ***
- Paradise by Toni Morrison (A) – ***
May
- The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (A) – ***1/2
- Dark Force Rising by Timothy Zahn (A) – ***1/2
- The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan (A) – ***1/2
June
- The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan (A) – ***
- The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan (A) – ***1/2
- The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan – ***1/2
- Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid – ***
- The Unofficial Guide to Universal Orlando 2021 by Seth Kubersky – ***
- The Last Command by Timothy Zahn (A) – ***
- 1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed by Eric H. Cline – ***
- Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn (A) – ***1/2
- Spider-Man: Kraven’s Last Hunt by Marc DeMatteis, illustrated by Mike Zeck – ***1/2
July
- The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek – **
- Love by Toni Morrison (A) -****
- Marvel Select – The Life Of Captain Marvel by Margaret Stohl, Carlos Pacheco – ***
- Greater Good by Timothy Zahn (A) – ***1/2
August
- Stranger Things Happen by Kelly Link – **1/2
- The Tiger’s Wife by Téa Obreht (A) – ***1/2
- Women and the City by Sarah Deustch – ***
- Humankind by Rutger Bregman (A) – ****
- The Sword of Summer by Rick Riordan (A) – ****
- The Hammer of Thor by Rick Riordan – ****
- The Ship of the Dead by Rick Riordan – ****
- The Golden Age of Pictorial Maps by Stephen J. Hornsby – ***1/2
- Eager by Ben Goldfarb (A) – ****
September
- One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (A) – ****
- The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson (A) – **
- From a Certain Point of View : Star Wars (A) – ***1/2
October
- The Carpet People by Terry Pratchett (A) – ***
- Revolution Song by Russell Short (A) – ***1/2
- Cobalt Squadron by Elizabeth Wein (A) –
- Sinatra! The Song is You by Will Friedwald –
- Animal Wrongs by Stephen Spotte
- Sargent’s Daughters by Erica E. Hirshler –
- Cosmos by Carl Sagan –
- A Raisin in the Sun – Lorraine Hansberry
