Books Read in 2020

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

• Cartoon County by Cullen Murphy – ****
• The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher (A) – ***
• Return of the Living Dad by Kate Orman – ***1/2
• Star Wars Vol. 11: The Scourging of Shu-Torun
• Star Wars Vol. 12:  Rebels and Rogues 
• the relationship by Ashley D. Stevens – ***
• Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (A) – ****
• The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King (A) – ****
• Lonely Planet: Yellowstone and Grand Tetons – ***
• Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein – ****1/2
• The Shining by Stephen King (A) – ***

February

• When the Irish Invaded Canada by Christopher Klein – **
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison (A) – ****
• The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Wohlleben – ***1/2
• 11/22/63 by Stephen King (A) – ***1/2
• Shearwater: A Mermaid Romance by D.S. Murphy – **1/2
• Rise of the Rocket Girls by Nathalia Holt (A) – ****

March

• Empire of Shadows: The Epic Story of Yellowstone by George Black (A) – ***

April

• The Walt Disney World That Never Was by Christopher E. Smith – ***
• Sula by Toni Morrison (A) – ****
• The Fiery Trial by Eric Foner (A) – ***1/2
• The Time Traveller’s Guide to Medieval England by Ian Mortimer – ****
• Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones (A) – ****
• Terry Jones’ Medieval Lives by Terry Jones and Alan Ereira – ****
• All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai (A) – ****

May

• The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (A) – ***
• Damaged Goods by Russell T. Davies – ***1/2
• Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison (A) – *****
• Bonk by Mary Roach – ***
• The Hunger by Alma Katsu (A) – **
• K : A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches by Tyler Kepner – ***1/2

June

• All the Bad Apples by Moïra Fowley-Doyle (A) – **1/2
• The Monied Metropolis by Sven Beckert – ***
• Highfire by Eoin Colfer – **1/2
• Freedom is a Constant Struggle by Angela Y. Davis – ***1/2
• Letters to The Hall of Presidents by Guy Hutchinson – 1/2*
• Tar Baby by Toni Morrison (A) – ****
• Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (A) – *****

July

• Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe (A) – ****
• Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore (A) – ***1/2
• This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (A) – **
• Maeve in America by Maeve Higgins (A) – ***1/2
• Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace by Terry Brooks – ***
• The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow (A) – ***

August

• Voyage of Mercy by Stephen Puleo (A) – ***1/2
• Star Wars: Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray – ***1/2
• The Tree by Colin Tudge – ***
• Jedi Academy by Jeffrey Brown – ***1/2
• Watching Yellowstone & Grand Teton Wildlife by Todd Wilkinson – ***
• A Ranger’s Guide to Yellowstone Day Hikes by Roger Anderson and Carol Shively Anderson – ***1/2
• The Farcountry Field Guide to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks by Kurt F. Johnson – ****
• Caste by Isabel Wilkerson (A) – ****1/2
• Attack of the Clones by R.A. Salvatore – ***

September

• The Case of the Missing Marquess by Nancy Springer (A) – ***1/2
• Revenge of the Sith by Matthew Stover – ****
• Beloved by Toni Morrison (A) – ****1/2
• The Assassination of Fred Hampton by Jeffrey Haas – ****
• Fever Dream by Samanta Schweblin  (translator Megan McDowell) (A) – **1/2
• Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker by George Lucas (ghost written by Alan Dean Foster) – ***

October

• The Great Halifax Explosion by John U. Bacon (A) – ***1/2
• The Empire Strikes Back by Donald F. Glut – ***
• Franklin Park by Julie Arrison – ***
• The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar (A) – ***1/2
• The Library Book by Susan Orlean (A) – ***1/2
• Return of the Jedi by James Kahn – ***

November

• The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jeoff (A) – ***
• Gateway to Freedom by Eric Foner (A) – ***1/2
• The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde – ***1/2

December

• Gulp by Mary Roach (A) – ***1/2
• A Clearing in the Distance by Witold Rybcynski – *****
• The 99% Invisible City: A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design by Roman Mars and Kurt Kohlstedt – *****
• Dread Nation by Justina Ireland (A) – ***
• Heir to the Empire by Timothy Zahn – ***
• The Queens of Animation by Nathalia Holt (A) – ***1/2
• George Lucas by Brian Jay Jones (A) – ***