One month of 2020 down, & I'm six books in - & they were all damn good!
I also started the 2020 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge, which I've tried to do in years past & not completed. In these monthly recaps, I'll be including which challenge prompt each book fulfills (if any), & you can follow my challenge progress on my designated 2020 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge page. (P.S.: If you're doing the challenge, too, I'd love your recs for any of my incomplete prompts!)
Without further ado, here are the six books that kicked off 2020.
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
POPSUGAR prompt: A book recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book club
OK, let me be honest: I didn't want to read this one. It seemed, for some reason, like it was going to be mopey & morose, & I was disappointed when my book club chose it. You know what? I was very wrong. This book is every bit as good as you've heard it is. The writing is incredibly beautiful, specific, detailed, poignant, & even without a ton of human interaction, it manages to be deep & meaningful & full. Read it. ★★★★★
The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee
POPSUGAR prompt: A book recommended by your favorite blog, vlog, podcast, or online book club
OK, let me be honest: I didn't want to read this one. It seemed, for some reason, like it was going to be mopey & morose, & I was disappointed when my book club chose it. You know what? I was very wrong. This book is every bit as good as you've heard it is. The writing is incredibly beautiful, specific, detailed, poignant, & even without a ton of human interaction, it manages to be deep & meaningful & full. Read it. ★★★★★
The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee
POPSUGAR prompt: A book with a three-word title
I first learned about this series on Shibani's blog, & I'm glad I did. It was so cheesy/trashy, but also well done, interesting, & imaginative. In 2118 New York City, Manhattan is home to The Tower, a thousand-floor city that has replaced Central Park & is home to hundreds of thousands of residents. The futuristic tech is amazing, of course - but the stories, from romance to murder, are timeless. ★★★★☆
The Dazzling Heights by Katharine McGee
POPSUGAR prompt: A book published the month of your birthday
Book two focuses on a dramatic death that happens at the end of book one (which isn't a spoiler, as you learn of the death on the very first page of the first book!) In book two, upTower kids & downTower kids find themselves coming together & befriending one another in unexpected ways, forging alliances across cross class lines to protect themselves from society's judgments and from the law. ★★★★☆
The Towering Sky by Katharine McGee
POPSUGAR prompt: A book with a robot, cyborg, or AI character
Yep, I blew through the whole series in a month! In the final book, the Tower teens we've come to know & (mostly) love are reunited to sort out the end of their individual & collective stories - after about half a dozen more glamorous Tower parties and a dramatic second death. I worried that the trilogy would end in a disappointing way (see, for example, the Divergent books), but I was pleasantly surprised. ★★★★☆
My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress by Rachel DeLoache Williams
POPSUGAR prompt: A book with a pink cover
Yes, hello, this story is absolutely bananas - & completely true. If you've read anything about phony socialite con artist Anna Delvey Sorokin - the Russian woman who posed as a German heiress & scammed hotels & banks out of $250+ - then you're going to tear through this memoir from the Vanity Fair editor who was conned out of $65k. This is a fascinating, horrifying look at the psychology of both the scammer & the scammed, & it's one I'm going to be recommending to others for a long time. ★★★★★
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
POPSUGAR prompt: A book by a WOC
What a charmingly written novel! Hibbert's British anti-hero, the titular Chloe Brown, is a haughty homebody with chronic pain & a newly written list of big dreams. After a brush with death, she sets out to, well, "get a life," working her way through a list of eight must-dos - including meaningless sex, proooobably with her hot landlord. I really liked the characters & overall writing style of this book, but it also taught me that I just don't like romance novels. They make me uncomfortable, man. ★★★☆☆
Tell me what you're reading, then add me on Goodreads to keep in touch & see what I've read in months past. You can also follow my bookstagram account and subscribe to Book of the Month Club, using my referral link for a discount.
My "What I Read in..." posts include Amazon affiliate links to the titles I discuss. If you buy a book using one of these links, I will receive a small percentage of commission. Please don't feel any obligation to use these links, but if you do, it will help me buy more books.
I first learned about this series on Shibani's blog, & I'm glad I did. It was so cheesy/trashy, but also well done, interesting, & imaginative. In 2118 New York City, Manhattan is home to The Tower, a thousand-floor city that has replaced Central Park & is home to hundreds of thousands of residents. The futuristic tech is amazing, of course - but the stories, from romance to murder, are timeless. ★★★★☆
The Dazzling Heights by Katharine McGee
POPSUGAR prompt: A book published the month of your birthday
Book two focuses on a dramatic death that happens at the end of book one (which isn't a spoiler, as you learn of the death on the very first page of the first book!) In book two, upTower kids & downTower kids find themselves coming together & befriending one another in unexpected ways, forging alliances across cross class lines to protect themselves from society's judgments and from the law. ★★★★☆
The Towering Sky by Katharine McGee
POPSUGAR prompt: A book with a robot, cyborg, or AI character
Yep, I blew through the whole series in a month! In the final book, the Tower teens we've come to know & (mostly) love are reunited to sort out the end of their individual & collective stories - after about half a dozen more glamorous Tower parties and a dramatic second death. I worried that the trilogy would end in a disappointing way (see, for example, the Divergent books), but I was pleasantly surprised. ★★★★☆
My Friend Anna: The True Story of a Fake Heiress by Rachel DeLoache Williams
POPSUGAR prompt: A book with a pink cover
Yes, hello, this story is absolutely bananas - & completely true. If you've read anything about phony socialite con artist Anna Delvey Sorokin - the Russian woman who posed as a German heiress & scammed hotels & banks out of $250+ - then you're going to tear through this memoir from the Vanity Fair editor who was conned out of $65k. This is a fascinating, horrifying look at the psychology of both the scammer & the scammed, & it's one I'm going to be recommending to others for a long time. ★★★★★
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
POPSUGAR prompt: A book by a WOC
What a charmingly written novel! Hibbert's British anti-hero, the titular Chloe Brown, is a haughty homebody with chronic pain & a newly written list of big dreams. After a brush with death, she sets out to, well, "get a life," working her way through a list of eight must-dos - including meaningless sex, proooobably with her hot landlord. I really liked the characters & overall writing style of this book, but it also taught me that I just don't like romance novels. They make me uncomfortable, man. ★★★☆☆
Tell me what you're reading, then add me on Goodreads to keep in touch & see what I've read in months past. You can also follow my bookstagram account and subscribe to Book of the Month Club, using my referral link for a discount.
My "What I Read in..." posts include Amazon affiliate links to the titles I discuss. If you buy a book using one of these links, I will receive a small percentage of commission. Please don't feel any obligation to use these links, but if you do, it will help me buy more books.
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