So having talked to Caro from Otherland this morning who is preparing the store's Christmas recommendations and bumping almost everywhere into the 'best of's and 'worst of's of this worst year of all, inspired me to make my own end of the year list with the books I liked best. At first I came up with a draft of runners-up; but then again, I thought I already know which books will win. Seeing no need to pretend that I have gone through an intense elimination process in an attempt to create suspense, I'll directly post both my 5 runners-up
and the winners of this year without further ceremony.
Let me just quickly note that some books are just a tiny little bit older than 2020 because I have left some room for books from my old TBR-list I carried into 2020 with me. Reason is that some great books I have recently read still should have a chance up here, even if they aren't necessarily
buzzing new. Since this is a purely personal list I took that liberty but honestly I really tried to keep the publication dates recent. You might also wonder why there are books in here that I haven't reviewed on the blog - it's because Protean Depravity was only founded in May and I had a life before that too. Although not very probable, I may in the future review this book or that book that I've read in the past but there are always so many books and, despite lockdown, so little time.
On a last note I want to add that this year was great for my reading (I have read more than twice as many books I usually read in a year!!!) and I finally got to read a great deal of books that I meant to read forever but never had the calm, the time or the mental state to. One of these was Roberto Bolaño's glorious last novel 2666 - this was my Mount Everest for a long time and I finally climbed it in 2020. This work of profound richness and splendor orbits around an enigmatic German author, his cult following and the Mexican city of Santa Teresa, famous for its femicides, and it blew-my-mind, it truly captivated me. After having finished it I immediately bought the audiobook so there is no moment in my life right now I don't read or listen this book and I guess I will be re-reading it for a long time to come. At some point I plan on discussing it here too, but I'm not nearly ready yet. Long story short: hadn't it been written fifteen years ago, this would have been the best book of the year. But since it's not, it needs to content with being my favorite book of all years past and future.
Coming back to the happy winners of this year: congratulations, keep on writing, you are great!
Protean Depravity Runners-Up for Best Book of the Year 2020
You Let Me In - Camilla Bruce
My Year of Rest and Relaxation - Ottessa Moshfegh
The City We Became - N.K. Jemisin
The Only Good Indians - Stephen Graham Jones
- Nate Crowley
The winner is...
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones
Yeah, of course the winner had to be Stephen Graham Jones who was very industrious this year and released one novel and two novellas, all of them grand! The Only Good Indians, the story of a group of men who go from hunters to haunteds when an elk comes back for unfinished business, is Protean Depravity's winner of the best novel of the year, congratulations! 👏👏👏👏👏
Protean Depravity Runners-Up for Freakiest Book of the Year 2020
Freshwater - Akwaeke Emezi
Stonefish - Scott R. Jones
The Roo - Alan Baxter
The Return - Rachel Harrison
Night of the Mannequins - Stephen Graham Jones
The winner is...
Stonefish by Scott R. Jones
I was just a little tempted to go with the killer kangaroo here, but came to my senses then: Bigfoots from outer space who can crap colorful feces and who are basically our masters of the universe? Hard to beat that kind of freakiness.
Congratulations Scott! 👏👏👏👏👏
Protean Depravity Runners-Up for Best Anthology or Collection of the Year 2020
Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories - ed. Ellen Datlow
Tiny Nightmares - ed. Lincoln Michel, Nadxieli Nieto
Murder Ballads - John Hornor Jacobs
Children of the Fang and Other Genealogies - John Langan
Leaders of the Pack, A Werewolf Anthology - ed. by Lisa Lane and Graeme Reynolds
The winner is...
Echoes: The Saga Anthology of Ghost Stories ed. by Ellen Datlow.
This winner is from 2019, and a book I have read in good old times before the pandemic. It is with great nostalgia that I remember reading this anthology of ghost stories in the UBahn and being so engaged that I kept on missing my stations, causing me to ride UBahn all around Berlin to keep on reading this. The ghost of those times haunt me as much as the great stories still do... 👏👏👏👏👏
As I said before, I am pretty happy with the amount of reading I was able to do in this quarantine year but there are still some new releases that were on my schedule and for which I simply didn't have the time. I would still like to honorably mention them, so here are the top books that I regret not having read this year. There are just so many good books being published, I'm hopelessly overwhelmed sometimes.
Protean Depravity Best Novels I Didn't Read in 2020
Piranesi - Susanna Clarke (This is the Otherland Speculative Fiction Book Club's first book for 2021, discussion takes place on Friday January 15th on zulip. Drop me a line if you haven't joined yet.)
Otaku - Chris Kluwe
Curious Toys - Elizabeth Hand
Dead Daughters - Tim Meyer
Tender Is the Flesh - Agustina Bazterrica
Bad People - Craig Wallwork
Protean Depravity Best Novellas I Didn't Read in 2020
Crossroads - Laurel Hightower
Ring Shout - P. Djèlí Clark
The Worm and His Kings - Hailey Piper
Protean Depravity Best Anthologies/Collections I Didn't Read in 2020
Lullabies for Suffering: Tales of Addiction Horror
Wyrd and Other Derelictions - Adam Neville
Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite - Ed. Zoraida Córdova
A Secret Guide to Fighting Elder Gods - Ed. Jennifer Brozek
It Came from the Multiplex: 80s Midnight Chillers - Ed. Joshua Viola
The didn't-read books might still run up for next year's list, no worries. I'm already working on a 2021 TBR-plan and a one-person horror film fest, so there's lots to come! Exciting!
Comments
Post a Comment