FIVE FALL FAVORITES Blog Hop Day 6: Top 5 of 2020!

 

 

Hey everyone!  Today is the last day of the Five Fall Favorites blog hop!  Let's give a round of applause to everyone who participated, read, commented, and had fun this week!  Today's list of five books?  My top five of 2020! 

   

Now, let's gather around the bonfire, warm up our chilly hands, and enjoy the blaze a little bit before we get into our story list for the day.  

The Edge of Belonging by Amanda Cox

This book very easily made my top five list for 2020, even though I just read it a few weeks ago.  It's a heartfelt, touching, and thought-provoking story on the importance of family, loss, and love.  The story was very masterfully written, and it's a book that you'll finish and immediately want to re-read again.  Absolutely lovely, and the romantic subplot is the sweetest thing in the world without a doubt.  

Click HERE to read my review.

The Half-Glass Girl by Julie Mozart

This is another book by a debut author, this time a YA novel in which contemporary and fantasy collide.  This book is very well-thought-out, full of fantastic dry humor, adorable characters, and some thought-provoking themes too.  If you're a fan of fantasy, dragons, and leading ladies who aren't afraid to use a bit of wit and snark, this one's for you.  I loved it.

Click HERE to read my review.  

The Girl Who Captured the Sun by L. B. Anne

This one is the third book in the Sheena Meyer series (and if you follow my newsletter, you've probably already heard about it.)  The whole series is definitely worth reading; although it's middle-grade fiction, the themes are thought-provoking and the characters are lovable.  The entire premise of the series is very interesting; it takes spiritual warfare into consideration in an age-appropriate manner and poses the question of what might happen if some people were more aware of those battles.  Sheena Meyer is...and the third book, The Girl Who Captured The Sun, is absolutely awe-inspiring. There are more than a couple of scenes that had my jaw hanging.  

The Crownless King by Kara Linaburg 

This book was another easy choice for my top five.  It poses some really important questions as well, as a YA fantasy, and talks a lot about mental health and personal identity.  Those themes are very masterfully discussed through all of the characters, in their own ways, and the climax scene is nothing less than spectacular.  It's such an important read for 2020 and beyond...and it's super enjoyable to read as well -- great prose.  

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson

Okay, so I thought about cheating a bit and listing this one as The Entire Wingfeather Saga, but I made myself choose just one.  On The Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson is the first book in The Wingfeather Saga; that great book that starts it all.  While this series has been around for awhile, I had only heard of them a few years back and could never find the books to buy -- so when I heard that they were being re-released and the publisher was looking for review readers, I pounced SO. HARD.  And I'm really glad that I did, because I found a new favorite series.  Again, this is middle grade fantasy, but this book transcends age.  It's just the beginning of a breathtaking saga, and it's arguably even more enjoyable to read it the second time around, after you've seen their full character arcs.  The prose is lovely, the simple is made beautiful...and yet, there lurks a deep, deep evil that the characters have to face.  And it's spectacular.  If you're not on the "Featherhead" train yet, it's definitely a great time to get started!  

I will cheat here and give you the links to my review posts for the entire series, which can be found HERE (Books 1 & 2) and HERE (Books 3 &4).  

Honestly, I could go on and on.  There were a lot of really amazing books that I read this year, and this list was arguably one of the hardest ones this week, even though it was the least restrictive category!  Have you read any of these books, or do you plan to?  Let's wrap up in some warm flannel blankets around the fire and discuss.  But before we clean up and douse the fire for the night, there's one more thing you'll want to take home...

If there were any books that caught your eye this week across the entire blog hop, but you happened to forget the title or didn't write it down, you're in luck!  Click the graphic below to find a PDF with the master list of all the books included this week!