We talked about numbers and statistics, now let's talk feelings!
Which books did you like best and worst in 2020?
Any interesting discovers? Disappointments?
Note that I don't mean "published in 2020", it's what *you* read in that year, regardless of publishing date.
I'll start.
A major thing for me in 2020 was finishing Erikson's Malazan. While before I read 3 books in 2018 and 2 in 2019, and I thought I'd continue in that trend, I actually ended up reading the remaining 5 books all in 2020 (even if in 2 distinct time periods). This series' scope, in plot, characters and tone, marks it as one of the most relevant in fantasy history, but that's not to say it's for everyone.
I loved it, but it certainly puts you through the ringer in terms of emotions...
Speaking of emotions, we all had our ups and downs throughout 2020. 2 books that were absolutely the right ones for the time, making everything nice and magical, were Erin Morgenstern's The starless sea and Susanna Clarke's Piranesi. I'm all for epic fantasy, but sometimes you just need "feelings"...
(and when you want to combine the two, there's Samantha Shannon's The priory of the orange tree)
2020 was also the year I re-read Lawrence's Broken Empire, a series that I always said was one of my favourites ever. Even though it didn't have the strength of feelings of the first read, I'm glad to have discovered that I still love it, and it still speaks to me in a very strange way.
On the other hand, I read the second series of an author I loved, John Gwynne's Of blood and bone (including a re-read of book 1), and it didn't really hit the right notes - I just think I wasn't feeling the best at the time, and it was a case of 'right' books at the 'wrong' time.
I discovered RJ Barker with his Wounded Kingdom series, and I'll definitely read whatever else he publishes. I also finally got to Django Wexler (still reading through The shadow campaigns series) and it was another super discovery!
Finally, I'm happy to see that I didn't give any fantasy book less than 3.5 stars and I didn't DNF any book.