Have you noticed that a lot of “Best of 2020” reading lists are starting to come out? I recently saw Time’s 100 Must-Read Books and The Guardian also has their Best Books of 2020 list. I think these are helpful if you are trying to buy a book for someone and don’t know where to start. I love to see the lists and see if any of my favorite books have ended up on there.

One list I’ve really liked is the 89 Best Book Covers of 2020. Some of these are so striking and would make great posters.

I love to do my best of the year reading list too but I wait until the last possible minute to share it because I always wonder if my favorite book of the year could still be ahead.

Moving on, I’m so glad the weekend is here. This week felt so long and I’m ready to enjoy some downtime. I’ve been thinking about Christmas cards and making some. There are some years I haven’t even sent any but last year I made some and had a lot of fun.

Then I think, who am I kidding, I don’t have time! If I do make any it’s got to be this weekend though so I can at least get them in the mail soon. Let me know if you’d like a card and I’d love to add send you one. Can’t promise that it will be handmade but I do have some box Christmas cards as a back-up plan. Haha…

I hope you have a great weekend ahead and would love to hear what your weekend plans and if you’re already putting together your favorites of the year list.

I knew I bought quite a few books over the weekend but I didn’t realize I bought 11. Now these are eBooks so I guess it was easy to just hit the “buy with one click” button. And I also have a couple more on order so, yikes! Let’s face it though, I needed a bit of a treat/pick me up after a tiring month and I got some great bargains on these titles. So let’s get into it:

Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit. This book has been talked about a lot and I have not read anything by this author but she’s been one on my list to discover.

All the Water in the World by Karen Ranney. I recently saw a review of this book and it sounded like a very emotional story and I couldn’t resist it.

The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa. Several of you have recommended this book and I do enjoy dystopian fiction although I haven’t read any in a while given the state of the world lately.

Murder The Boys by Judith Cutler. Again, an author I heard about from you guys and saw that the first book in this police procedural was on sale so I had to get it.

Children of the Land by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo. A memoir from an award-winning poet and a book that’s had quite a bit of buzz this year.

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward. National book award for fiction in 2011 and probably has been on my wishlist since then!

The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. Here’s another book that received a lot of praise and was a finalist for the Pulitzer prize.

We Are Family by Fabio Bartolomei and The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante. Both are Italian books by Europa Editions. I’ve had great luck with this publisher in finding some new authors.

Outsider in Amsterdam by Janwillem Van De Wettering. A classic police procedural set in Amsterdam. I’m all in for this one and it’s my mystery book group’s December selection.

Shadow Over the Fens by Joy Ellis. This is book #2 in the series and I remember reading the first book last year and very much enjoying it but just haven’t gotten back to it.

So now to just find time to read all of these! Tell me if you’ve read these or if you’ve went a bit crazy like me and bought a lot of books this past holiday weekend.