Big Book Review of 2020!

I have always loved the quote that says, "Books take us places when we have to stay where we are."  Well, there could be no truer application of that than this year.  Things were cancelled, we stayed home, people couldn’t gather, but there were still books.  I read 56 books in 2020.  Here is my annual Big Book Review!

The complete list of all the books I read in 2020: 

1. All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover – 4 stars

2. Inside out by Demi Moore – 4 stars

3. Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane – 4 stars

4. The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary – 5 stars

5. The Flight Attendant – Chris Bohjalian – 3.5 stars

6. A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum – 4 stars

7. I’d Know You Anywhere by Laura Lippman – 3 stars

8. The Friend Zone by Abby Jimenez – 5 stars

9. The Wedding Party (The Wedding Date #3) by Jasmine Guillory – 5 stars

10. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman – 3.75 stars

11. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris – 4 stars

12. The Proposal by Meg Cabot – 3 stars

13. The One by John Marrs – 5 stars

14. In an Instant by Suzanne Redfearn – 5 stars

15. On the Bright Side by Melanie Shankle – 4 stars

16. Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain – 4 stars

17. Royal Holiday (Wedding Date #4) by Jasmine Guillory – 4 stars

18. Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren – 4 stars

19. Meet Cute by Helena Hunting – 4 stars

20. It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lysa TerKeurst – 3 stars

21. Open Book by Jessica Simpson – 3.5 stars

22. Born A Crime by Trevor Noah – 4 stars

23. Love on Beach Avenue by Jennifer Probst – 4 stars

24. Let Love Have the Last Word by Common – 3 stars

25. Truths I Never Told You by Kelly Rimmer – 4 stars

26. Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner – 4 stars

27. The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek – 5 stars

28. The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms – 4 stars

29. Untamed by Glennon Doyle – 3 stars

30. Searching for Sylvie Lee by Jean Kwok – 4 stars

31. The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler – 3 stars

32. Beach Read by Emily Henry – 4 stars

33. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas – 4 stars

34. Summer Longing by Jamie Brenner – 4 stars

35. The Happily Ever After Playlist by Abby Jimenez  - 3.5 stars

36. Always the Last to Know by Kristan Higgins – 4.5 stars

37. So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo – 3.5 stars

38. 28 Summers by Elin Hilderbrand – 4.75 stars

39. Finding Meaning:  The Sixth Stage of Grief by David Kessler – 4.5 stars

40. Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore – 4 stars

41. Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan – 3.5 stars

42. The Guest List by Lucy Foley – 4.5 stars

43. Queen Bee by Dorothea Benton Frank – 3 stars

44. Open by Andre Agassi – 5 stars

45. The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Anderson Brower – 4 stars

46. I’ve Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella - 3.75 stars

47. Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey – 3.5 stars

48. The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker – 3.5 stars

49. Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano – 3.5 stars

50. Think Like A Monk by Jay Shetty – 4.5 stars

51. Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand – 5 stars

52. Heart Bones by Colleen Hoover – 4 stars

53. Loving my Actual Christmas by Alexandra Kuykendall – 3.5 stars

54. Regretting You by Colleen Hoover – 3 stars

55. A Promised Land by Barack Obama – 4 stars

56. The Two Lives of Lydia Bird by Josie Silver – 4 stars

There were several great 5-star books in the list which I put in bold above.  I enjoyed them all and I recommend them all.  So many of them could have been on my top 3 list this year, but they can’t all take the top seat.  So, when I reviewed my list and thought back on the year, I did choose a clear 3 that topped my charts.  They are so different from each other, but all 3 really did stay with me all year after I read them.  I'm excited to share them with you!

My Top 3 books of 2020 go to:

#3.  The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

Two people share a bed but they've never met.  I couldn’t even see this story actually happening but dang was it cute!  I found the characters endearing and got attached to them right away.  I got all swept up in their exchanges throughout the book.  There were laugh out loud moments and heart clutching moments.  What can I say?  I’m a sucker for a great rom com.  If you need a feel good book, this is it - my favorite feel good book of 2020.

#2.  The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek

This is a book I’d recommend for any leader or aspiring leader.  I read the hard copy of this one and I have notes and highlighted passages on almost every page.  I think I read this at just the right time that I needed the lessons as I navigated through COVID and helped lead our organization through a pandemic.  There were so many important lessons, many that I’ve used already in coaching others, or in describing how our organization has successfully managed through challenges this year.  There were valuable lessons about building trusting teams.  When people feel part of a trusting team, we don't want to let down teammates, we feel accountable to the team, and we feel accountable to the organization reputation, not just to ourselves and our personal ambitions.  "When we feel part of a group that cares about us, we want to do right by that group and make our leaders proud.  Our standards naturally rise." In my role as a leader, it is so important to me to build a team that feels this way so I was really paying attention to this book.  Sinek articulated lessons that maybe I knew already but didn't quite sum up until he did for me.  For instance, people fix people problems.  Processes do not fix people problems.  I could go on and on.

Since reading it, I’ve also watched various lectures by Simon Sinek and all of them have resonated with me.  I find him motivational and inspiring and his book’s nuggets will stay with me for years to come.  A must read if you’re inspired to develop personally or professionally in leadership.

#1.  Open by Andre Agassi

I have had this book on my shelf for years after I bought it for maybe 50 cents at a library sale.  Andre Agassi was my favorite as a kid.  I watched all his matches in his prime with my grandparents, parents and aunt.  We were big fans of the tennis star from Las Vegas.  Truth be told, a giant poster of him is still hanging in my childhood bedroom at my parents’ house right now.  He was also my celebrity crush.  I don’t know why it took me so long to read his book, but it was so worth the wait!  I learned so much about him that I had no idea about previously.  I thought he wrote and expressed himself poignantly (I learned in the book that he loved English and writing, and it shows).  I found his tennis and life journey so interesting.  When I wasn’t reading it, I couldn’t wait to get back to it.  Then I also found myself searching YouTube for clips of his past matches after reading about the details of what he was going through during those times.  I read several great memoirs this year (Trevor Noah, Demi Moore, Jessica Simpson, President Obama), but Andre’s took the prize!  I’ve heard that even people who don’t follow him or tennis liked his book too.  Something about the way he writes and how he lets you into things you wouldn’t guess a tennis champion faced throughout his entire career was fascinating.  I think he will like that he took the top seed on my list.  Still beating out the competition, Andre! *wink*

That wraps up my Big Book review of 2020.  I am so grateful for reading as my hobby this year especially, because there were several times when I needed to be transported to another world when this one was getting way too much to bear.

For past Big Book reviews, you can click here for those:  2017, 2018, and 2019.

Happy Reading, everyone, and here’s to a new year of blessings and books!