My Top 5 Reads of 2020 + More Favorites to Stock Your Bookshelves

December 8, 2020 Roni Loren

At the end of each year, I like to flip through my book journal and see which books stood out the most. I assign star ratings in my journal, so it’s easy to see which rise to the top. Of the 69 books I’ve read so far this year, 22 have received 4 stars or above, but only 5 have received a 5-star rating. I’m pretty stingy with my 5-star ratings. For me, a four-star rating means I thoroughly enjoyed the book. A five-star means it wowed me. And though I know it’s not the end of the year quite yet (sorry December releases!), I know a lot of us are buying books for holiday gifts or putting some on our own Christmas list, and we might need ideas. So, I’m sharing my favorites today!

My Top 5 Reads of the Year

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab (fantasy)

This was a Book of the Month club read, and reemphasized why I’ve been a longtime member of Book of the Month club. This is not a book I would’ve found on my own because I don’t generally read much in this genre. (That’s a referral link if you want to check out BOTM. I’ve been a member for years and LOVE it.) This was a beautifully written fantasy story about a girl who makes a deal with the devil. She gets to live forever but is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Until after 300 years…one boy remembers her name. The story moved through history so had great settings and period details. There’s a well done romance that wasn’t predictable. And though there was (thankfully) no blatant cliffhanger, the door was left open for a sequel. And I am so here for it if that happens. Loved the whole journey!

Most of All You by Mia Sheridan (contemporary romance)

I read this one in about 24 hours. It was such a page turner. My personal “catnip” in romance is dark, emotional backstories. I tend to write them, and I love to read them. This one hit the spot in that regard with a hero who was kidnapped as a child and a heroine with abuse in her past. I like that the author didn’t make expected choices and that the story kept me guessing. (I’m hard to surprise these days so bonus points for that!) This was a well-done, emotional love story.

Beach Read by Emily Henry (contemporary romance/women’s fiction)

Another Book of the Month pick. Though this was marketed as a romance, I feel like it was kind of a hybrid between romance and women’s fiction. I don’t mind that (in fact, I feel like some of my more recent books lean toward that as well.) This was the book that got me out of a reading slump back in May when I was having trouble reading with all the pandemic anxiety. The story was well-written, funny, and romantic while still having poignant undertones. Really enjoyed it.

My Kitchen Year by Ruth Reichl (memoir)

From my book journal: “This was exactly what I needed to read right now during this pandemic.” This is a food memoir, a favorite genre of mine, and it was just exactly the perfect book to read in 2020. Ruth Reichl has written a number of food memoirs, but this one was about the year after Gourmet, the magazine she was editor of, closed down suddenly. This memoir is about grief and slowing down and appreciating the small things. Gorgeous writing. There are recipes but come for the stories first.

Stillness is the Key by Ryan Holiday (philosophy/self-improvement)

I really enjoy Ryan Holiday’s books. He uses the wisdom of ancient philosophers to tackle contemporary issues in our lives, and does so in a way that makes the material really accessible. In Stillness Is the Key, he focuses on finding, you guessed it, stillness. In our always-on world, this book is much needed. I underlined a ton of passages (my book darts got quite a workout!) and I wish I could imprint some of the information onto my brain so I don’t forget it when I get swept up in the whirlwind of life.

The Right Book at the Right Time: Seasonal Reading & Campus Novels

August 25, 2020 Roni Loren

Before I get to today’s post, I’m happy to report that I’ve turned in my book and I’m back from my summer online hiatus! I know it’s been quite the harrowing summer for us all, but I’m glad to be back to something “normal” —at least in some capacity. This lockdown has taught me that introverts like me are at high risk of becoming outright hermits if our “peopling” muscles aren’t exercised regularly. So even though this is online, blogging feels like peopling so *stretches unused muscles* let’s do this…

There are many kinds of readers. There are people who say they are readers but really only read that one giant bestseller ten years ago. There are casual readers who pick up a book on vacation or when they hear a lot of buzz about a book. Then there are Readers with a capital R. The ones who always have a TBR pile, who carry a book or e-reader with them everywhere, who think reading a book straight through is the perfect way to spend a Saturday night.

When you’re a Reader with a capital R, you often like to categorize and analyze your reading habits, preferences, and strategies. And we capital R Readers like to discuss those habits, preferences, and strategies with each other. As a proud and unrepentant book nerd, I am one of those people. And this time of year gets me to thinking about seasonal reading. Not everyone changes up their reading choices based on the season, but I definitely have that tendency.

Last week, my son started school, and that triggered my “end of summer, beginning of fall” reading mood—even though it’s still melt-your-face-off hot here. (The kids are in-person with masks in this school district, but I know many of you still have kiddos at home on virtual, so you may not be feeling the seasonal shift as acutely.) And when school starts, I find myself craving stories set at college or at boarding schools—what I think of as campus novels. I was someone who loved college. I can still remember that experience of moving onto LSU’s campus freshman year, that sense of shifting from childhood to adulthood, the fear of the unknown, the thrill of being on my own for the first time, the endless possibility of ALL THE NERDY CLASSES I COULD TAKE. Lol. So I love reliving that kind of experience in fiction.

Novels set on college campuses or at boarding schools can have all kinds of different tones. Rom coms. Dark thrillers. Thought-provoking literary fiction. Paranormal. But regardless of genre, they usually put me in the fall mood—leafy campuses, football games, late night studying. It’s just a cozy, insulated, or creepy (depending on the book) feeling that helps me get lost in another world. And with the world we’re currently living in, escape to a different one is highly appealing!

So this past week, I found myself scouring book recommendation lists featuring campus novels. I’ve already read one that I loved and have added more to my list that I’m going to share with you in case you’re in a similar mood. In addition, I’m going to include past campus novels I’ve enjoyed. Note: though there are lots of novels (particularly in the New Adult genre) that are about college students, a campus novel (to me) is one that evokes a strong sense of place. I want to *feel* like I’m on campus with the characters. So, that’s what my recommendation list will reflect.

I’d also love to hear if you have any recommendations for me! Anyone else in the fall mood?

Campus Novels I’ve Read and Loved

Finding Felicity by Stacey Kade

If ever there were a book meant for me in this moment, this is the one. Not only is this a starting-college, campus novel, the story is about a girl obsessed with the 90s show Felicity. I just did a binge watch of all the seasons a few months ago and was promptly obsessed, so this book was perfect. You do not have to watch Felicity to enjoy the book. (But if you love college-set stories and romances and haven’t watched Felicity, what are you even doing with your life? ;) )

About the book:

Felicity meets Fangirl in this contemporary novel about a young woman who must leave behind her fantasy life—inspired by her favorite WB show from the 1990s—and create a real one at college.

Caroline Sands has never been particularly good at making friends. And her parents’ divorce and the move to Arizona three years ago didn’t help. Being the new girl is hard enough without being socially awkward too. So out of desperation and a desire to please her worried mother, Caroline invented a whole life for herself—using characters from Felicity, an old show she discovered online and fell in love with.

But now it’s time for Caroline to go off to college and she wants nothing more than to leave her old “life” behind and build something real. However, when her mother discovers the truth about her manufactured friends, she gives Caroline an ultimatum: Prove in this first semester that she can make friends of the nonfictional variety and thrive in a new environment. Otherwise, it’s back to living at home—and a lot of therapy.

Armed with nothing more than her resolve and a Felicity-inspired plan, Caroline accepts the challenge. But she soon realizes that the real world is rarely as simple as television makes it out to be. And to find a place where she truly belongs, Caroline may have to abandon her script and take the risk of being herself.

Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

This was one of my favorite reads of 2019. A dark story set at a supernatural version of Yale that hits that autumn sweet spot of great setting and creepiness. There was clever world-building (which took a while to set up in the story, but was worth the time) and I didn’t guess the mystery, which I always love. It did have a cliffhanger about one plot line but wrapped up the main one, so I didn’t get too frustrated with a partial cliffhanger. I am eagerly awaiting the next book in the series

About the book:

Galaxy “Alex” Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale’s freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. By age twenty, in fact, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she’s thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world’s most elite universities on a full ride. What’s the catch, and why her?

Still searching for answers to this herself, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale’s secret societies. These eight windowless “tombs” are well-known to be haunts of the future rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street and Hollywood’s biggest players. But their occult activities are revealed to be more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

You’ll see this one pop up on almost all the campus reads book recommendation lists. It was a huge book when it released in the early 90s, and it is now considered a modern classic. I didn’t read it back then (I was 12) but I read this one about ten years ago. Because it’s been a while, I don’t remember a lot of details, but I remember this being one of the first novels that I read that made me fall in love with that closed-society campus feel. This book is literary, most of the characters aren’t very likable, and the mood is bleak. That’s usually not what I go for in my books, but it worked for me here.

About the book:

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last - inexorably - into evil.

Of these three, if you want light and fun—go with number one, if you want dark but modern and fast-paced, go with book two, if you want to challenge yourself with a dense, literary mystery, go with book three. (And if all else fails, you can always just read Harry Potter again! Supernatural campuses count, lol.)

Campus Novels I’ve Added to My TBR

Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld

I’ve read Eligible by this same author and enjoyed it, so when I saw that her debut novel was set at a boarding school, I decided to add it to my TBR. This one is high school and not college, but I feel like boarding schools can give a lot of the same feel. The Goodreads ratings on this one are below 4, so your mileage may vary, but I think Sittenfeld tends to write unlikable characters which can get an author dinged in ratings. I don’t always have to like a character, but I need to be able to understand why they are that way and root for them on some level, so we’ll see.

About the book:

Curtis Sittenfeld’s debut novel, Prep, is an insightful, achingly funny coming-of-age story as well as a brilliant dissection of class, race, and gender in a hothouse of adolescent angst and ambition.

Lee Fiora is an intelligent, observant fourteen-year-old when her father drops her off in front of her dorm at the prestigious Ault School in Massachusetts. She leaves her animated, affectionate family in South Bend, Indiana, at least in part because of the boarding school’s glossy brochure, in which boys in sweaters chat in front of old brick buildings, girls in kilts hold lacrosse sticks on pristinely mown athletic fields, and everyone sings hymns in chapel.

As Lee soon learns, Ault is a cloistered world of jaded, attractive teenagers who spend summers on Nantucket and speak in their own clever shorthand. Both intimidated and fascinated by her classmates, Lee becomes a shrewd observer of–and, ultimately, a participant in–their rituals and mores. As a scholarship student, she constantly feels like an outsider and is both drawn to and repelled by other loners. By the time she’s a senior, Lee has created a hard-won place for herself at Ault. But when her behavior takes a self-destructive and highly public turn, her carefully crafted identity within the community is shattered.

Ultimately, Lee’s experiences–complicated relationships with teachers; intense friendships with other girls; an all-consuming preoccupation with a classmate who is less than a boyfriend and more than a crush; conflicts with her parents, from whom Lee feels increasingly distant, coalesce into a singular portrait of the painful and thrilling adolescence universal to us all.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

This one sounds like an updated spin on The Secret History, so that’s what made me pick it up. Each chapter is named after a classic book. Plus, it’s a pretty cool cover.

About the book:

Marisha Pessl’s dazzling debut sparked raves from critics and heralded the arrival of a vibrant new voice in American fiction. At the center of Special Topics in Calamity Physics is clever, deadpan Blue van Meer, who has a head full of literary, philosophical, scientific, and cinematic knowledge. But she could use some friends. Upon entering the elite St. Gallway School, she finds some—a clique of eccentrics known as the Bluebloods. One drowning and one hanging later, Blue finds herself puzzling out a byzantine murder mystery. Nabokov meets Donna Tartt (then invites the rest of the Western Canon to the party) in this novel—with visual aids drawn by the author—that has won over readers of all ages.

Rush by Lisa Patton

This one has been on my shelf awhile and has a gorgeous cover. As you can tell by the title, this one is focused on a sorority. I wasn’t in a sorority, so I find books that peek inside that world interesting.

About the book:

Set in modern day Oxford, Mississippi, on the Ole Miss campus, bestselling author Lisa Patton’s RUSH is a story about women—from both ends of the social ladder—discovering their voices, courage and empowerment.

When Lilith Whitmore, the well-heeled House Corp President of Alpha Delta Beta, one of the premiere sororities on campus, appoints recent empty-nester Wilda to the Rush Advisory Board, Wilda can hardly believe her luck. What’s more, Lilith suggests their daughters, both incoming freshman, room together. What Wilda doesn’t know is that it's all part of Lilith’s plan to ensure her own daughter receives an Alpha Delt bid—no matter what.

Cali Watkins possesses all the qualities sororities are looking for in a potential new member. She’s kind and intelligent, makes friends easily, even plans to someday run for governor. But her resume lacks a vital ingredient. Pedigree. Without family money Cali's chances of sorority membership are already thin, but she has an even bigger problem. If anyone discovers the dark family secrets she's hiding, she’ll be dropped from Rush in an instant.

For twenty-five years, Miss Pearl—as her “babies” like to call her—has been housekeeper and a second mother to the Alpha Delt girls, even though it reminds her of a painful part of her past she’ll never forget. When an opportunity for promotion arises, it seems a natural fit. But Lilith Whitmore slams her Prada heel down fast, crushing Miss Pearl’s hopes of a better future. When Wilda and the girls find out, they devise a plan destined to change Alpha Delta Beta—and maybe the entire Greek system—forever.

That’s what’s on my list, I’d love to hear if you have any recommendations for campus novels. What are some of your favorites?

And are you a seasonal reader? What’s your favorite season to pair books with?

Roni Recommends - 24/6 The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week by Tiffany Shlain

February 19, 2020 Roni Loren

If you’ve been following my blog for any amount of time, you know that I have a few close-to-my-heart topics that that I keep coming back to. One of those is the role of screens and social media in our lives (and our children’s lives.) Even though I’ve read a towering stack of books on the topic, I can’t resist a new book in that area. I like digging deeper and understanding different angles and perspectives—along with different solutions people have tried. So when I saw Tiffany Shlain’s book 24/6 The Power of Unplugging One Day a Week, I knew I had to read it.

The premise of this book is pretty obvious with the title, but basically, Shlain has, for the last ten years, taken a Tech Shabbat with her family every week. This means that they turn off their phones and all screens on Friday night and don’t turn them back on until Saturday night. Even though she’s using the term Shabbat and is Jewish, she states that she identifies as a cultural Jew and not a religious one, so she doesn’t follow all the other traditional rules of Shabbat like not driving on that day. She also says the day you choose is arbitrary. It’s what works for you and your family. So if Saturday night to Sunday night works better for you, no problem. The point is spending one full 24 hour period a week without screens/devices.

I was a little afraid that this was going to be one of those books that had a high concept idea that could’ve just been conveyed in a blog post and didn’t need to be stretched into a full book, but I’m happy to report that I really enjoyed the read. She lays out the benefits she’s seen from living 24/6, how her children have responded and thrived, how our brains react to tech, the science behind unplugging, and then a step-by-step guide to set you up for success if you decide to try your own Tech Shabbat. I also enjoyed the personal stories sprinkled in. It ended up being a very quick read that I gobbled up in a day.

And man, it left me really wanting to try this whole 24/6 idea. I haven’t done it yet because this will take some preparation. I also may have a hurdle getting my family on board, lol. But I think I can tweak and modify her system to fit us. For instance, Saturday night to Sunday night would be a better fit for my family. And I have mixed feelings about no TV at all because the only time we get to watch a movie or sporting event as a family is the weekend. So I may make the caveat of—no TV unless we’re all watching something together as a family. Also, my husband’s job won’t let him not be available by phone, so he’ll have to be able to take calls. BUT we don’t need to do anything else on our phone besides taking phone calls. So it wouldn’t be 100%, but even if we got to 90% on that one day a week, I think that’d be a big improvement.

As some of you know, we did device-free summer for kidlet two summers in a row, and it was LIFE CHANGING. Like, seriously. My son is now an accomplished guitarist and drummer because of that first device-free summer. And that iPad he used to be so attached to? I don’t even know where it is anymore. Packed in a box somewhere I think. (He does have a phone, though.) We don’t always get to claim a lot of parenting wins, but I’ll take credit for that one lol.

I’ve also personally done 30-Day social media bans and have gotten a lot out of that kind of reboot, too. So I think this Tech Shabbat idea is right up my alley. If we give it a try, I’ll be sure to report back!

As an additional recommendation, I also read Jaron Lanier’s Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now. This is a small book with ten arguments about social media, including ones like “Social media is making you an a**hole.” I really got a lot out of this one, but I’m not giving it an across-the-board recommendation because it’s written in a very academic/cerebral tone, which won’t be for everybody, and also it’s more of an extreme take. So, your mileage may vary. If you’re nerdy and into this topic like I am, then take a look. :)

Interested in this topic?

Here’s a list of other posts I’ve done about devices and digital distractions:

What are your thoughts? Do you think you could give up tech for one day a week?

Roni Recommends - Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day

March 27, 2019 Roni Loren

I know it’s going to come as no surprise that I love reading productivity books, but because I read so many, it’s often hard to find one that stands out. A lot of them are just more of the same. This is actually why I didn’t buy the book I’m recommending today when it first came out. The summary looked a lot like other books I’d read and so I passed it by. However, when I saw it recommended somewhere else, I decided to give it another look. I’m so glad I did.

Make Time: How to Focus on What Matters Every Day by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky was a delight to read. First off, it’s just a really nice physical book. Book nerds (like me) will appreciate how thick the paper is, and the layout and design of the pages makes it super easy to read. There are also a lot of fun little illustrations. It almost feels like reading a really great blog on paper. So, though I have nothing against ebooks, you might want to spring for the hardcover on this one.

As for the content inside, the book focuses on how to make time using a simple paradigm which involves choosing a highlight for the day, learning how to laser focus on it, reflecting on how it went, and also making sure you have enough daily energy to get things done. Sounds simple enough, but what I enjoyed about the format of the book was that the authors take each of the four areas in the paradigm and give you a bunch of different tactics to choose from to help implement it.

For instance, in the Laser section, there are over 40 separate tactics they describe that can help you focus better. Things like how to make your phone screen distraction free. (I’m trying a version of this, see pic) or how to wrangle TV time or finding a soundtrack for “flow.” It’s a choose-your-own-adventure style. They’re not saying “do all these things.” They’re saying, here are a bunch of ways you might try. Experiment with combinations and see what works for you.

I found the Highlight, Laser, and Reflection sections really helpful and thought-provoking. I wasn’t as into the Energy section just because I’d rather read advice on eating, exercise, etc. from experts in those particular fields. (Though I did enjoy the tactics about caffeine.)

Overall, this was a quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed and will keep on my shelf. I love that you can just flip to a tactic for a refresh. It really is like having a helpful blog bound into a book. So if you’re looking for a productivity book that is fast-paced, fun, and helpful, you might want to give this one a try.

Here is the official description:

From the New York Times bestselling authors of Sprint, a simple 4-step system for improving focus, finding greater joy in your work, and getting more out of every day.

Nobody ever looked at an empty calendar and said, "The best way to spend this time is by cramming it full of meetings!" or got to work in the morning and thought, Today I'll spend hours on Facebook! Yet that's exactly what we do. Why?

In a world where information refreshes endlessly and the workday feels like a race to react to other people's priorities faster, frazzled and distracted has become our default position. But what if the exhaustion of constant busyness wasn't mandatory? What if you could step off the hamster wheel and start taking control of your time and attention? That's what this book is about.

As creators of Google Ventures' renowned "design sprint," Jake and John have helped hundreds of teams solve important problems by changing how they work. Building on the success of these sprints and their experience designing ubiquitous tech products from Gmail to YouTube, they spent years experimenting with their own habits and routines, looking for ways to help people optimize their energy, focus, and time. Now they've packaged the most effective tactics into a four-step daily framework that anyone can use to systematically design their days. Make Time is not a one-size-fits-all formula. Instead, it offers a customizable menu of bite-size tips and strategies that can be tailored to individual habits and lifestyles.

Make Time isn't about productivity, or checking off more to-dos. Nor does it propose unrealistic solutions like throwing out your smartphone or swearing off social media. Making time isn't about radically overhauling your lifestyle; it's about making small shifts in your environment to liberate yourself from constant busyness and distraction.

A must-read for anyone who has ever thought, If only there were more hours in the day..., Make Time will help you stop passively reacting to the demands of the modern world and start intentionally making time for the things that matter.

Buy the book

Roni Recommends: No Exit by Taylor Adams

February 7, 2019 Roni Loren

I haven’t been doing a lot of book recommendations lately because it’s RiTA award judging season. That means I have seven books to read and judge in the span of about six weeks, and I’m not allowed to share what they are. So, I’ve been reading, but I haven’t been able to talk about what I’m reading, which is hard! : )

However, I took a break from RITA books this week and picked up one of my recent Book of the Month Club books. I chose No Exit by Taylor Adams because it’s winter, and a thriller set in a snowed in rest stop seemed to be the perfect pick.

This book is billed as a thriller because I think “horror” is not as marketable a word for books these days unless you’re Stephen King. However, I feel like this book is solidly horror. There is no supernatural evil, but if this were made into a movie, it would be a horror movie. It has a lot of the tropes I love in horror. The tough, resourceful, pissed off heroine. The relentless villain. The over the top clashing of the two. The claustrophobic, trapped feeling.

So, before I get to far along in this review, here’s the official description:

A kidnapped little girl locked in a stranger’s van. No help for miles. What would you do?

On her way to Utah to see her dying mother, college student Darby Thorne gets caught in a fierce blizzard in the mountains of Colorado. With the roads impassable, she’s forced to wait out the storm at a remote highway rest stop. Inside are some vending machines, a coffee maker, and four complete strangers.
Desperate to find a signal to call home, Darby goes back out into the storm . . . and makes a horrifying discovery. In the back of the van parked next to her car, a little girl is locked in an animal crate.
Who is the child? Why has she been taken? And how can Darby save her?
There is no cell phone reception, no telephone, and no way out. One of her fellow travelers is a kidnapper. But which one?
Trapped in an increasingly dangerous situation, with a child’s life and her own on the line, Darby must find a way to break the girl out of the van and escape.
But who can she trust?
With exquisitely controlled pacing, Taylor Adams diabolically ratchets up the tension with every page. Full of terrifying twists and hairpin turns, No Exit will have you on the edge of your seat and leave you breathless.

There are twists and misdirection in this story, some I saw coming, some I didn’t. But if you’re expecting a super-layered, multiple subplot type thriller, this is not it. It’s not supposed to be. The entire book takes place over the course of about ten hours, and it has a relentless pace. That’s why I think the horror movie analogy is more apt.

I looked at some of the negative reviews on Amazon, and the people who didn’t like it seemed to be people who were looking for a more traditional thriller. Lucky for me, I tend to prefer horror to thriller. The best way I can describe this book is take the claustrophobic, trapped feeling of The Shining (minus the supernatural) and mix it with a villain who just won’t stop like Michael Myers in the Halloween movies, and this is what you get. It requires some suspension of disbelief because it’s over the top. I also laughed a few times because there were moments of dark humor, which I love in this kind of story. And if you’re easily grossed out, maybe pass on this one because it has some brutal parts. But, if you’re a horror movie fan, give this one a try!

Buy the book: Amazon | B&N | Apple | Kobo

My Top 5 Reads of the Year

More Fantastic Reads

Fiction

Non-fiction

Books on Writing

Campus Novels I’ve Read and Loved

Campus Novels I’ve Added to My TBR

Interested in this topic?

LATEST RELEASE

series starters

Subscribe

Find me Online

free reading journal!