The year is not over yet, so it’s a little early for best book lists, but I’ve seen them beginning to pop up and of course, that leads one to question what my own favourite reads of the year have been. I thought it might be fun to put together the list a bit early after all, with the intent of sharing with those of you who might be looking for some ideas on what books to gift your bookish loved ones this year for Christmas. Or, even better, what books are so good they might entice your non-bookish loved ones to pick up a book and give reading a go? These were all released this year and were all five star plus reads for me – the ones that I gave five stars to but really wished there was a six star option, reserved for the best of the best. All are linked back to my original review. Enjoy! 🎄📚
- The Survivors by Jane Harper
Honeybee by Craig Silvey
- The Last Migration by Charlotte McConaghy
- Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason
- The Pull of Stars by Emma Donoghue
- Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
- The Tolstoy Estate by Steven Conte
- The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
- Mammoth by Chris Flynn
- The Silk House by Kayte Nunn
- The Secrets of Strangers by Charity Norman
- The Paris Secret by Natasha Lester
- Gulliver’s Wife by Lauren Chater
- The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner
- The Salt Madonna by Catherine Noske
- The Darkest Shore by Karen Brooks
- Walking by Kim Kelly
- The Mercies by Kiran Millwood Hargrave
- Greenwood by Michael Christie
- A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende
Theresa Smith Writes 
A couple of my favourites are on there, oh and I’m loving listening to Walking now, I even keep it playing when I get out the car. There’s several on your list that are languishing on my bookshelf that I really must get to.
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Surprisingly, it’s been a good year for releases. Not a good year for so much else, but book wise, pretty good.
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Loads of good releases this year despite everything as you say.
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Hamnet is totally going to be on my gift-giving list!
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It’s just the perfect book to gift, I think!
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You got some great ones on there some I’ve read and some on my list. Great to know that you loved them.
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We do often read the same!
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We do. We must both have great taste. 😀
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Oh heck, I am so out of sync with the world – I’ve barely even thought about Christmas presents! It just doesn’t feel like it’s really happening, you know? I’m very sure everyone will be getting books though, because they’re the easiest for me to choose and I am both short on time, and lazy. Piranesi by Susanna Clarke is probably going to be stuffed into a few stockings this year. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves is also one I’ve given often in the past, always a winner. I hadn’t even thought of Mammoth – it. feels like years ago that I reviewed it, even though it was only a few months! – but that’s another perfect pick!
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Mammoth is a good one for a gift, I feel like it’s one of those universal appeal sort of books. I haven’t read Piranesi. For some reason, I have it in my mind as a prequel or sequel? I don’t know why though…
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Maybe because one of the big selling points was that it’s Susanna Clarke’s second novel, released 16 years(!) after her first. It’s completely stand-alone though, and it was one of my most enjoyable (and most surprising!) reads of 2020.
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Ahhh! Alright then. Now it’s confirmed it’s a standalone, I’ll check it out.
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