Revisiting 2020 on Day 200

1,001 Days of Awesome Reads - Day 200 - #2020sTuesday

#2020sTuesdays - I wasn’t reviewing much over the past couple of years, so I’m going to take some time on Tuesdays to swoon over books I read and loved in 2020 and 2021.

Instead of talking about one specific book for this #2020sTuesday, and this project’s 200th post (!!!), I wanted to talk about the books that helped me get through that crazy year.

I don’t re-read very many books, but I found in 2020, I turned to some favorites, and I discovered a few new fab books to put on my keeper shelf (to possibly revisit someday).

I’m a huge Kristan Higgins fan, and I re-listened to all of the Blue Heron books in 2020. I’ve read and loved everything Higgins has written, but these books are special. They’re the best of romance, and, as always with this wonderful writer, they include laugh out loud humor and poignant moments that brought tears to my eyes.
Kristan Higgins  | Blue Heron series

(This the cover for book 5, but you should read them in order.)

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Recently I caught up with a friend (completely disconnected to the publishing industry) who just discovered Suzanne Brockmann, and we discussed just how unique and amazing this author is. During that conversation, I remembered that in 2020, I re-listened to a bunch of Troubleshooters titles, plus I listened to all of the Tall, Dark & Dangerous series, which were included in the wonderful Audible Romance Escape package (oh how I miss that!). I expect most of you have already discovered Brockmann, but if not, please do. There’s no one like her, and her romantic suspense books are the bar, as far as I’m concerned.
Suzanne Brockmann  | The Troubleshooters | Tall, Dark and Dangerous  

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I’d read a couple of titles from Deanna Raybourn before 2020, but that year, I was determined to dive into the Lady Julia Grey titles (again, thanks to the Escape package). Those books were terrific, and they (of course!) led me to the Veronica Speedwell series. Raybourn is truly a must-read author for me now, and I can’t wait for the next Speedwell book, A SINISTER REVENGE (which comes out in March). Read everything (preferably in order). Really.
Deanna Raybourn  | Veronica Speedwell Mysteries | Killers of a Certain Age 

(Definitely recommend the clever, fun KILLERS OF A CERTAIN AGE, which released this month and is Raybourn’s first contemporary. I wrote about it here.)

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I was also grateful that a bunch of Molly Harper books were in the Escape package, and lot of them are also in the Plus catalog, so if you haven’t read or listened to her yet (definitely recommend the audio, perfectly narrated by the wonderful Amanda Ronconi!), then put her high on your TBR list. Her world-building is fab, her humor and snark is laugh-out-loud terrific, she writes about friendship and community with with and poignancy, and she manages pitch-perfect romance! I love everything, but I especially like the Mystic Bayou (which just wrapped up, I believe) and Southern Eclectic (which I hope she revisits!) series. Fun and brilliant.
Molly Harper | Mystic Bayou | Southern Eclectic 

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I love everything Susan Elizabeth Phillips, and she and Eva Ibbotson are the authors I turn to most when I need comfort. Most of Ibbotson’s books aren’t on audio, really, so I read those more than not, but I love plugging in to SEP and cycling through her many titles every couple of years or so, and I did a few of those in 2020 too.

Susan Elizabeth Phillips | Eva Ibbotson

I read (well, mostly listened to) a pile of books in 2020 - over 200, in fact! - and so many of them were positively peachy! But these were some of the books and authors that I leaned on when the world was truly unrecognizable. And I’m so very grateful for them.

Happy reading! xoxo

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You can see all the books I’ve written about so far in my 1,001 Days of Awesome Reads project, which I started on 2/14/22:

booksandfriends.substack.com/archive

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About Bobbi Dumas 
Hi! I’m Bobbi and I read, review, blog about and advocate for fiction written by women. I’ve written for NPR, Barnes & Noble and The New York Times Book Review, and wrote over 600 reviews for Kirkus and also penned the weekly Kirkus Romance (and Women’s Fiction) blog for a few years before parting ways with them in 2020. I believe that romance novels are (mostly) by women, for women, about women and of interest to women, and offer more hope, female agency and positive change than any other literary genre.

Women write great books, yet typically get less respect (and less review ink) than men do. While I do occasionally read books by men, I try to spotlight books by women and hold them up for the attention and appreciation they deserve.

I hope you’ll follow this space and find great new books to dive into.

Let’s read! xoxo

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