Finally, 2021 is finally here, and hope this year is better for all of us! Happy New Year to everyone, well-deserved, I say. But before we close this chapter of our lives, it’s also time to recount some of the bright spots — the best of 2020.
Note: Some of these have been discussed in my previous Favorite Books of 2020 list too — so do check out that list as well!
The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe
I reviewed this book here previously. In , young Emily St. Aubere finds herself orphaned and in the clutches of her wicked uncle-in-law, Montoni. Montoni is up to no good, and more than one skeleton hides in his closet. This is Gothic suspense at its finest, and is highly recommended — over and over again (esp. for fans of Mexican Gothic by by Silvia Moreno-Garcia). It’s on this list because it took me seas away from all of that pandemic fatigue.
Stranger / Secret Forest (Season 2)
I recommend watching this back-to-back with Season 1 (available on Netflix). A public prosecutor teams up with a cop to fish out the corrupt, while their two departments remain at loggerheads. Corruption comes in many forms, including lying and covering-up others’ mistakes. There is never a dull moment. Realistic but still marvelously uplifting. A+
The Good Place (Seasons 1-4)
Honestly, Afterlife was never this funny. This is a rib-cracking hilarious show created by the wonderful Michael Schur, about a bunch of misfits who land up in The Good Place (a modern version of “Paradise”). They start off on the wrong foot but end up becoming each other’s best buddies. You know, finding your own tribe and all that. There’s plenty of twists and turns before that happens, and there’s never a dull moment.
Lexlingua.co
I initially started blogging at Livejournal, back in 2008 when I was very much into writing Harry Potter fan-fiction. However, I was an erratic blogger, posting once in several months and ghosting most of the time. I do mean to correct that now. So, in August 2020, I decided to start all over again — this time with a more disciplined approach. I hope I can always look back at lexlingua.co like a right and proper time capsule!
Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox by Forthright
I’ll repeat what I wrote before about this charming fantasy book: Do you like Anime? Manga? Are you interested in kitsune / fox-human folklore? In that case, you will like Tsumiko. I found this recommended online by Ilona Andrews (very popular husband-wife author duo who write SFF), and what a welcome find. I devoured it one sitting. A human girl inherits an enslaved kitsune-like creature, and decides to set it free. I think we know how that’s going to end up.
Shadow of a Doubt (Hitchcock, 1943)
I reviewed this classic recently. “A globe trotting uncle comes down to visit his sister and her family, whom he hasn’t met in ages. They adore him, he showers them with gifts. He is the single most important thing that has happened to their family and their town in years …. He is not what he seems.” What makes this story so deeply sinister and so attention-grabbing, is that it could happen to any of us. Hitchcock called this as one of his favorites, and with good reason. This is a masterpiece.
Jill Kismet Series by Lilith Saintcrow
I discovered this Urban Fantasy series when Seanan McGuire (one of my favorite authors) recced it, and it’s great! Yes, it leans to the melodramatic a bit, as the grouchy, self-doubting, foul-tempered, prickly Jill goes hunting down demons in the dark. But the fight scenes are amazing, the OTP is swoonworthy, and the plot is complex and intriguing. Give it a try if you like (or want to like) UF.
Random Harvest
I’m not quite sure why I like stories about amnesia so much, but human memory is so deeply tied up with our identity that I see it as a powerful motif. There’s something strangely comforting about Random Harvest, in which John Smith (actor Ronald Colman) finds that the pieces he’s been missing all his life have been right before him all along. A holiday classic for the ages, about coming home.
Milk and Honey and The Sun and Her Flowers by Rupi Kaur
I have a great love for poetry, but I usually stick to the older ones, such as the ones I sometimes put up for Poetry Friday. I’m not sure how I discovered Kaur’s Instagram-fuelled poetry, but it was so precise, so subtle, so spot-on, straight to the core of things. I recommend her work to everyone, all over again — a few pieces here for you to see for yourself.
Best of 2020 Music: Yaima
I also discovered Yaima’s music recently, and fell newly in love. It has been described as “organic electronic folklore”, and I think that description fits. The lyrics are haunting, straight out of a fantasy book about myths of origin. And the music has a surreal quality. Try this one out for yourself and see.
Which were your favorite things of 2020? Do leave a link in the comments!
6 replies on “Best of 2020: Yearly Round-Up”
Oh yes, I started with livejournal as well, somewhere between 2002-2008. Then I stopped blogging and purely used Librarything and Goodreads for a few years.
Likewise here! Though I discovered LibraryThing only recently — it’s a great machine for readalike recommendations. Every single book has its own “If you like this, then you’ll like that” list, which is great. LOLs.
I love your Sound of Music gif at the beginning of this post. I think many of us are hoping we can feel like that. Tsumiko and the Enslaved Fox sounds interesting.
Haha, yes. That GIF was my favorite from within this post too. ;-P And Tsumiko is awesome. It’s not as cutesy as perhaps I’m making it sound or the way the book cover seems — really, it’s not. I promise!
Shadow of a Doubt is wonderful – been far too long since I’ve seen it and now I want to dig it out all over again.
I haven’t seen Stranger/Secret Forest yet but I have added it to my Netflix queue based on that recommendation and description.
Please, please watch Stranger / Secret Forest! Everything about this show is awesome — the acting, the music, the pace, all those crazy plot twists, and the idealism.