Best Books of 2020, Part 1

Another year, another stack of books. I feel like my reading was strange this year. There were times when I had a really hard time concentrating on books and times when it was hard to figure out what I wanted to read. Even so, 98 books is nothing to be ashamed about. And it doesn’t count the comfort re-reading I did or the Webtoons, both of those things I would say actually took up almost half of my reading time this year. 

The top genre was once again mystery, followed by what I labeled romantic (meaning they aren’t in the romance genre, but they have a romance subplot in them and I wanted to track them). Then it’s urban fantasy/PNR, sci-fi romance, and fantasy/sci-fi to round out the top 5. Ha ha, I can tell by my genres that I didn’t want to be in the real world so much. 

Ebooks pulled ahead this year. It’s not surprising considering the pandemic and the library was closed for a few months. I read far more purchased books than borrowed this year. Again, not too surprising.

I’m breaking my list up into 2 sections: webcomics and books. I’m going to start with my favorite webcomics, which I read on WebToons. These saved me this year. Something about the pictures and episodic format really helped me escape and I found a new medium that I love. 

Midnight Poppy Land, creator: Lilydusk – I’ve already written about this one, but I love it. Love. It. Hands down my #1. Mafia bad boy with a heart of gold, a heroine to really cheer for, and just a fun story with great artwork. My obsession is down to a manageable amount but I’m in it for the long haul. 

My Dear Cold-Blooded King, creator: Lifelight – I love the artwork and story here. I wasn’t sure at first as it’s a little love triangle-y in the beginning.  It finished recently and I went back and re-read the whole thing and I loved it even more. There may be some plot holes and things that don’t all make sense but I don’t even care.

Covenant, creator: explodikid – Priests that focus on exorcism. Magic tattoos. I love the art and I love the story. I can’t wait to see where it goes.

Punderworld/Blood Stain, creator: sigeel – Punderworld is a Hades/Persephone retelling that’s just cute, and Blood Stain is about a down on her luck girl going to work for a mad scientist. I binged it and it’s so fun. Both have fantastic art.

Suitor Armor, creator: Purpah – This one’s just getting started but I love it so much already. A magical suit of armor starts protecting a lady-in-waiting who is more than she appears.

Purple Hyacinth, creators Ephemerys and Sophism – A fantasy/mystery where a cop and an assassin work together to stop a criminal gang. I binged this one in December and now have to wait for updates like the rest.

Others that I’m really enjoying: Jeff’s Disorder (lexet), The Alley Cat (Marie Jane Works), The Empress Remarried (Alphatart and Sumpul), The Wolfman of Wulvershire (K. Oliver), The Witch and the Bull (moonsia), In the Bleak Midwinter (Kat and Ali) and Enjoy the Show! (Jenna A).

And that’s only a handful of the ones I’m subscribed to. I have a ton of them I’m still waiting to check out or haven’t gotten far enough to know if I really like them.

So yeah, lots and lots of time spent here this year and I don’t regret it at all. I’m hooked on webcomics and they will be part of my reading for the foreseeable future.  So far I'm doing all the reading on WebToons but I hear Tapas has some good ones as well. I absolutely don't need more to read, but maybe next year I'll check it out.