Best Fiction Reads of 2020

I don't believe that I read any fiction this year that wasn't Science Fiction or Fantasy. This might be a first*. Again, reality needed escaping in 2020.
These were the cream of the crop:

Od Magic by Patricia A. McKillip
Network Effect by Martha Wells
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
The Uninvited by Dorothy Macardle
Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley

I will give special mention to the last two books in S. A. Chakraborty's trilogy. On the whole, I loved them.

*I did listen to the first five of the Poldark series, though!

I just realized that I probably read more non-fiction than fiction this year, which is odd under the circumstances...but here are my favorites (in no particular order):

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia
Elleander Morning by Jerry Yulsman
Night After Night by Phil Rickman
China Court by Rumer Godden
and this is probably cheating, but I can't pick just one out...so, Martha Wells's The Murderbot Diaries!

>2 Marissa_Doyle: Ahh, did you read the entire Murderbot series this year? It would be impossible to pick one.

1. The Doomed City by Arkady Strugatsky & Boris Strugatsky

2. Monday Starts On Saturday also by the Strugatsky brothers

3. The Devices Trilogy: The Pendragon Protocol, The Locksley Exploit & Trojans by Philip Purser-Hallard

4. The Seventh Cross by Anna Seghers

5. Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson

Honourable Mentions:
Empire V by Viktor Pelevin
The Green Man's Heir Trilogy by Juliet E. McKenna
Moonsinger by Andre Norton

Night for Day by Patrick Flanery
The Swallows by Lisa Lutz
All the Little Live Things by Wallace Stegner
Dread Journey by Dorothy B. Hughes
The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova

A pretty nice mix of new and older books, modern settings and historical fiction and women and men. All reviewed except for the Hughes...not sure why because it's a stunner of a novel. Not so much in how it wraps or who the killer is, but because of the overall execution and perfection of setting.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Hands down, the best fiction book I've read in a long time. I may attempt some other classic 20th century fiction in 2021, but I do not expect them to measure up.

>6 Karlstar: That book is la crème de la crème. There are other books I've adored in my life, but that one is the only perfect book I've ever read.

Oooo! Not counting my rereads my list is:

Dead Beat by Jim Butcher
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix Harrow
Terminus by Peter Clines
Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry
Etched in Bone by Anne Bishop
Hangman's Pond by Nick Moseley
The Crane War by Graeme Rodaughan
Curtsies & Conspiracies by Gail Carriger
Paternus: War of Gods by Dyrk Ashton

For 2020, I rated six reads at . Two of them were graphic novels and two others were re-reads:

- Declare by Tim Powers (re-read)
- Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel (re-read)
- They Called Us Enemy by George Takei (graphic novel)
- The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
- Ms. Marvel 3: Crushed by G. Wilson Willow, Takeshi Miyazawa, and Elmo Bondoc (graphic novel)
- The Queens Gambit by Walter Tevis

>2 Marissa_Doyle: Nice to see Elleander Morning get some recognition! I marked that book as a favorite when I read it back in 2014.

>6 Karlstar: >7 clamairy: I wish I could read TKaM for the first time again!

My top fiction reads of 2020 were:

Munky by B. Catling
The Dictator and the Hammock by Daniel Pennac (Re-read. Enjoyed it all the more second time through.)
Lucifer and the Child by Ethel Mannin
Hezada! I Miss You by Erin Pringle
The Empire of Gold by S.A. Chakraborty
Selkie Summer by Ken MacLeod

I am reluctant to put these in order of preference.

In addition, there are another 12 books that I really enjoyed. I beg your indulgence as I list them here.

Dread Journey by Dorothy B. Hughes (BB from jillmwo)
The Intercom Conspiracy by Eric Ambler
Schirmer Inheritance by Eric Ambler
The Last Best Friend by George Sims
The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey (Gift and recommendation from my friend in The Philippines whom I got to meet in January for the first time.)
The Green Man's Foe by Juliet E. McKenna
The Green Man's Silence by Juliet E. McKenna
Transcription by Kate Atkins
Flights by Olga Tokarczuk
The Lights Go Out in Lychford by Paul Cornell
Last Stand in Lychford by Paul Cornell

To my great surprise I did actually record half-a-dozen apparently new fiction reads in the course of the year. Nonetheless, re-reads of Terry Pratchett's Moist von Lipwig series of Discworld stories deserve a place in this list. Others include
The Haunted Abbot by Peter Tremayne
Lyra's Oxford by Philip Pullman
The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge
One Corpse too many by Ellis Peters
Wicked Charms by Janet Evanovich -- sometimes one needs low-grade fluff!

All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
Monday Starts on Saturday by Boris Strugatsky
Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
and another re-read:
Thief of Time by you know who.

I thought about including The Journey to the East by Hermann Hesse, but I'm far from sure that I understand it well enough.

i also meant to add The Lady's Not for Burning by Christopher Fry, which kind of qualifies because it's after all fiction, but it's drama. Which I shall now watch on Youtube.

I have quite a long list of "best" fiction for 2020, because I read a stupid number of books.
Not in any particular order:
Imaginary Numbers by Seanan McGuire
False Value by Ben Aaronovitch (read twice - once print and once audiobook)
Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather
Network Effect by Martha Wells (read twice - once print and once audiobook)
Minor Mage, Swordheart, A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, and Paladin's Grace by T. Kingfisher
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho
The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
Angel of the Crows by Katherine Addison
Tuesday Mooney Talks To Ghosts by Kate Racculia
Deal With The Devil by Kit Rocha
Children of Blood and Bone and Children of Virtue and Vengeance by Tomi Adeyemi
Doing Time by Jodi Taylor
Masquerade in Lodi by Lois McMaster Bujold
*The Adventures of Isabel : An Epitome Apartments Mystery by Candas Jane Dorsey
Ancestral Night and Machine by Elizabeth Bear
Aunty Lee's Delights by Ovidia Yu
A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
To be Taught If Fortunate by Becky Chambers

*this is my #1 book of the year.

My top fiction reads for 2020 are:

The family Moskat by Isaac Bashevis Singer
The Amberlough Dossier by Elena Donnelly
Pony on the twelfth floor by Polly Faber
Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
The queens of Innis Lear by Tessa Gratton
The Orlando trilogy by Isabel Colegate
If I had your face by Frances Cha.

I read 129 books this year - an incredible 18 up on 2019 (I wonder why - what could possibly have been different about this year?!)
But I don't think I gave anything 5* this year. These are my 4.5* reads which I really enjoyed but all have flaws.
Prickle Moon
Matilda
The complete series of the Lightbringer starting with The Black Prism. This was an audio - I was mid way through first book when first UK lockdown started and I finished The Burning White just as it all started to go to shit again in the UK in September. I really enjoyed it but it has a couple of flaws for me.
To be taught if fortunate
A Dance with Fate
I also reread Wolf Hall etc so I could read The Mirror and the Light and that is an incredible series. Best book for me though is Bring Up the Bodies.
I am also mid way through (on audio) the Spellslinger series and I am really enjoying that too, so might end up as a favourite for 2021's list.

>14 Sakerfalcon: I really enjoyed Killing Commendatore. Murakami's books always take me on a journey that I enjoy.

Your inclusion of The Amberlough Dossier increases its likelihood of being read sooner rather than later. You may have noticed that jillmwo was hit by it as a BB from my thread on the basis that I was looking forward to reading it. I made it clear to her that you fired the shot and her injury was the work of that devious Irish guy, Rick O'Shea.

Hmmm. Not much science fiction or fantasy to bring to the fore here, but I did enjoy a few good works of fiction in 2020:

Reynard the Fox by Anne Louise Avery was thoroughly enjoyable and probably my "best" read in 2020 overall. She also provides lovely bits of flash fiction on Twitter under her handle of @AnneLouiseAvery. Reading those got me through much of 2020. If I could only mention one title, this one would be my most highly recommended.

The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope was quite enjoyable but a really long novel, weighing in at nearly 800 pages.

The Bellamy Trial by Frances Noyes Hart was quite good as a courtroom mystery. Published via The Mysterious Press and Otto Penzler. I read this with one of my book groups in early 2020 and they loved it.

Stephen Fry's Mythos was a lovely reading experience, so much so that I'm about to post something in my own thread about the follow up title, Heroes.

Oh, and >16 pgmcc: is quite right. I did add Amberlough to my TBR.

>17 jillmwo:
this one would be my most highly recommended.

jillmwo not only hit me with a BB in relation to Reynard the Fox but followed up by battering me with the butt of her BB gun. I see she is still hammering away.

>17 jillmwo: In relation to The Eustace Diamonds, have you read the previous two novels in The Palliser series?

I have read one Anthony Trollope, Barchester Towers, and found it excellent. I intend to read more of his works. As it happens I picked up a Kindle offer of Trollope's complete works so I am in a position to read any recommendations in that direction. I hope the particular e-edition I have is up to scratch.

I am so glad to see some of my TBR selections listed here as highly recommended - they probably made my list from BBs from all your journal threads... This year is going to have some grand reading adventures!

Oh and I TOTALLY forgot to mention the Locke and Key series by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez. Great stuff that I had a fantastic time reading. Just what I needed in early summer when the world seemed to be circling the drain.

>3 clamairy: Yes, I did. No way could I choose among them!

Here are a few that I really enjoyed last year:

The Witches of Lychford by Paul Cornell (that was a book bullet from some time back here in the pub)
The City of Brass by SA Chakraborty
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo (I particularly recommend listening to this)

Best fiction...hmm...

All below are 4 star reads, no rereads are included:

Atlantic Fury by Hammond Innes (first read of this author's works) 4.0*

Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt 4.0*

Breakheart Pass by Alistair MacLean 4.0*

The Giver by Lois Lowry 4.0*

The Snare of the Hunter by Helen MacInnes 4.0* (first read of this author's works)

Jonathan Blair: Bounty Lands Lawyer by William Donohue Ellis 4.0* (first read of this author's works)

Prince Valiant, Vol 9: 1953-1954 by Hal Foster 4.0*

And one with four and one half stars:

The Heart of What Was Lost by Tad Williams 4.5*

>20 Bookmarque: JUst in case you haven't heard about it I shall mention an intended crossover between Locke and Key and Neil Gaiman's Sandman which is due for release shortly after Locke & Key: …In Pale Battalions Go (the latest mini-series) finishes.

More on the subject can be read here.

Thanks AHS, I did notice some of that. Never was a fan of Sandman (I have the first collection from back in the late 80s or early 90s) so hope it doesn't cross too much. I haven't read the Pale Battalions either. War...it's not my thing.

My best of 2020:

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

The Diaries of Adam and Eve by Mark Twain -- I apparently love books that leave me in tears...

The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis

Descent into Hell by Charles Williams

Including re-reads because I did quite a bit more re-reading, the 5*s were:

C J Cherryh I read Cyteen and regenesis, all of Foreigner and chanur which is quite a bit by one author! and every word (very nearly) is wonderful.
Spinning Silver Naovik's russian based fairy tale
Victory Day the conclusion to my friend's series. Its so unexpected when the plot goes after the action has happened. Loved this way more than I expected.

Lots highly commended 4.5*s the highlights were

the traitor baru cormorant waiting for the rest of the series as ebooks as this was great
the heart of the circle a storybundle win
the priory of the orange tree after many GD recommendations
KB Wagers again all her series
metrozone one of the few ER hits where I've gone on to enjoy the rest of their work.
and many GD favourites Jim Butcher Brandon sanderson rivers of london etc.

A good year for reading fiction if nothing else.

>4 -pilgrim-: - great to see more love for the Devices!

>27 reading_fox: I did a reread of one Cherryh, The Gate of Ivrel. Real Life has kept me from continuing the series, which I think is my second-favorite after the Chanur books. I've not yet read Regenesis, it's been on my mind to acquire and read, soon.

>26 Majel-Susan: the only book from your list that I've read was The Screwtape Letters, which I found amusing.

>27 reading_fox: Yes, the Devices were a very well-aimed BB from you. The Locksley Exploit slowed me down a little, as watching Britain descend into civil war was a little near the knuckle at the time of reading, given the vitriol then pouring from both camps over Brexit, but the whole sequence was consistently outstanding.

In 2020 I did the same thing as in 2019, which was: get tired of books in the spring, then read tons of comics until the fall, when I'd suddenly get back into books again. This year I read 5 books prior to early March (God, that feels like years ago) and then read a Claire North book in June, before getting back on the wagon in September and reading 9 more books. I also read, um... 1,416 comic issues this year holy crap (!)(?)

TOP 5 FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2020 REALIZING I ONLY READ 15 BUT WHATEVER:
Honorable Mention: Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed - Felt this one needed a shoutout. A fun Lovecraftian adventure where the friendship between the main characters is the star.

5. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir - Tons of fun. Would have made way more sense if I reread Gideon first, though.
4. The Pursuit of William Abbey by Claire North - Probably underrated in this list. The gimmick behind the story is kinda clunky, but what North does with it is beautiful.
3. Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - A solid gothic horror novel from a great author.
2. Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid - Literally could not put this one down. Read it over two veeeery late nights/mornings.

1. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon - Man did I adore this book. Everything I could possibly want in a standalone epic fantasy doorstopper, with the exception of maybe a little more climactic of an ending.

>2 Marissa_Doyle: Oooh, Elleander Morning looks really good!

>4 -pilgrim-: The Doomed City also sounds good!

In fact, there are a number of titles in this thread I'm definitely going to look at.

>8 Narilka: Dead Beat was one Dresden novel I really enjoyed. That series is hit-and-miss for me. Etched in Bone was good too. I loved that series. I know she's continued the books on a different arc, but I miss Simon and Meg and the others in the first series.

>26 Majel-Susan: I love The Screwtape Letters on audio performed by John Cleese! I may have to give that a listen again this year.

Here's my favorite fiction from 2020. All are new-to-me books (no rereads on the list), which is why it's so short. (I reread a LOT of books last year.)

Who Speaks for the Damned by C. S. Harris (audio)
Network Effect by Martha Wells (once print and twice audio)
Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer (audio)
Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel (alternating print & audio)
Crooked River by Douglas Preston and Lee Chiles (audio)
(All were 4.5-star reads)

The Murderbot Diaries - all of them together (all rereads) gave me the most pleasure (and continue to do so because, like Murderbot is with "Sanctuary Moon," I am with Murderbot).

It's good to see all the love for Priory of the Orange Tree! I think that was one of my top 5 of 2019.

>31 saltmanz: I've at least liked, if not outright loved, everything I've read by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and am really looking forward to getting my hands on Mexican Gothic.

>33 Sakerfalcon: I'm reading Moreno-Garcia's Untamed Shore at the moment, in fact. Reminds me a bit of Mexican Gothic.

>34 saltmanz: I'm looking forward to that one too!

My best fiction this year (not counting rereads because I read through the Dresden novels and those of course are one of my favorites because I've read the series at least 4 times now)

The Bell-Ringer of Angels and other stories by Bret Harte (4*)
Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch (4*)

That's it for 4 star fiction reads for me, if I discount the rereads (Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe mysteries also garner 5 stars from me, but also are rereads)

There were quite a few three and a half star reads. This really was a nonfiction favorites year of mine.