Best Books of 2020

My last post included the 50+ titles I read in 2020, here’s a list of my absolute favorites. These are the top ten (plus some honorable mentions). If you haven’t read these – I recommend you add them to your “to read” list in 2021!

Read this post to the end to see how to win two of my favorite books of the year. Giveaway has ended.

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1. Chasing Wisdom by Daniel Grothe

This book is a warm blanket on a cold day. It’s a gentle push in the right direction.  The author is someone I worked with at New Life Church. He’s a great leader, pastor, and friend.

This book answers the questions:

• How do we become the kind of people who know how to handle whatever life throws at us? 
• How do we become wise? 

I HIGHLY Recommend this book!

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2. Help Club for Moms Book by Deb Weakly and others

Being a mom can wear your down, this book will BUILD YOU UP! I know as moms that we don’t have a lot of time to read, but this book is WORTH your TIME!! Each chapter is SHORT and easy to read. This book gives you a ‘boost’ of inspiration for the day. Perfect for any mom with young children.

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3. Good Grief by Granger Westburg

A super short, easy-to-read book that I could recommend to every person in this world. Whether you are grieving something simple like canceled plans, or something much larger – like divorce or loss of a loved one – this book is a MUST READ! 

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4. Indescribable by Louie Giglio

 I think every family should own a copy of this book! The short devotionals teach something about science and how it connects us with God. This is one of those books where kids AND parents enjoy reading and learning together. We found each page fascinating.

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5. The Blessing of a Skinned Knee by Wendy Mogel

This book was written by a parent and psychologist. I found it practical, extremely helpful, and even inspiring. It’s a book I’ll go back to again and again.

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6. The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

They say that truth is better than fiction, and this book is the PERFECT example of that. The author had me hooked from the very first page. She does an excellent job of recreating her childhood so the reader feels like they were there. I could feel her pain, joy, and disappointment. It’s an incredible story of survival, perseverance and resilience by four children being raised in the midst of poverty. Her story surprised me constantly – from how smart her parents were in some aspects, to absolutely dysfunctional in other areas. What an interesting story!

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7. The Gift of Being Yourself by David Benner

This is such a wonderful, powerful book. I listened to it on my free Hoopla app, but this year I’m going to buy and read my own hard copy. This book is full of good truths about the enormous love God has for each one of us – just as we are. This book would make a great gift. Thanks to my sister, Krista, for the recommendation!

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8. Janet Benge biographies

Janet’s biographies are so easy-to-read and incredibly engaging! They are great books to read aloud with your children. If you are a home school parent – her books are a great resource for history. If your children need to read chapter books for school, I recommend these!

I read 6 of her biographies this year, and the ones I enjoyed most were:

• Harriet Tubman!!! This book shares hard and fascinating stories about Harriet Tubman. I can’t believe one woman did so much in her life. She was a phenomenal woman! This book is a must read!

• George Washington – My son George and I were so in awe of our first president after reading this book together. George said he wished I would have named him George Washington Egly.

• Theodore Roosevelt by Janet Benge – An intriguing summary of Theodore Roosevelt’s life.

• Abraham Lincoln by Janet Benge – The author summarizes Abraham Lincoln’s life so well!

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9. The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton

The book is the true story of a man who spends many years on death row for a crime he didn’t commit. After he works through the anger of being wrongfully imprisoned, he realizes they’ve stolen his life but they can‘t steal his joy. He chooses to make a positive difference right there on death row. He brought light and life to a very dark place. He gets to know each prisoner. This story shares an excellent example of CHOOSING JOY in ANY situation, as well as the difference that ONE PERSON can make. 

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10. Master Your Goals by Zig Ziglar

Zig Ziglar is so inspiring and easy to listen to. Pick ANY of his books to kick start your year!

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5 Honorable Mentions:

God Smuggler by Brother Andrew – I wanted to add this to my top ten of 2020, but it was on the list LAST year (Click here to read that list), so I wanted to make room for other titles. This story is so incredibly inspiring. I could read it over and over. The book shares stories of Andrew bringing Bibles behind the Iron Curtain and the impact that had on people and churches. This book had one miraculous story after another. I read this book in 2019 and loved it so much that I re-read it with Clark in 2020. He enjoyed it too!

Where’d You Go, Bernadette: A Novel by Maria Semple – a story I loved so much that I read it twice. The book and the movie are both excellent.

Catch Me if You Can by Frank Abagnale – Can’t believe these things actually happened! What a life! The book is better than the movie. This book would be a great one to listen to, but not good for young ears to hear.

The Dance of Connection by Harriet Lerner – a helpful and interesting non-fiction about how to understand and relate to others!

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass – a captivating autobiography of a slave who became a free man!

Here’s a video with my son Luke as I share my favorite books of 2020:

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GIVEAWAY:

Congratulations to Melissa for winning a copy of Chasing Wisdom and Amy for winning a copy of Help Club for Moms.

If you’d like to win one of these books:

1. Subscribe to this blog.
2. Leave a comment, noting the book you want to win. (You can leave a comment by clicking on the tiny comment box to the right of the TITLE of this post)
3. Want to win both? Leave separate comments for separate books.
4. Want extra entries? Leave a comment on my Facebook and/or Instagram posts!
5. Share and/or tag friends for extra entries!
6. US ONLY
7. Winner drawn on Saturday, January 9, 2020.

Thanks for reading!

Click here to read my top ten books of 2019.

Click here to read my favorite books of 2018.

Their are affiliate links in this post. That means if you click on a link and make a purchase, I will earn a small commission. I will probably use it to buy books to giveaway here!