Bethany's Top 5 Books of 2020

 Top 5 Books 2020

#1 There's No Such Thing as Bad Weather  - it made such an impact - I wrote an entire post about it.  You can read it  - HERE

#2  Finding Dorothy by Elizabeth Letts

It's a fictional account of Maud, Frank Baum's wife.  You travel from her childhood to her life as Frank's wife.  I love a good historical fiction book and this one captures a wide range of American history all through the eyes of a women.    The story ends in Hollywood on the set of The Wizard of Oz. They spent some time in South Dakota and it was interesting to read another account from that period of time other than Laura Ingalls Wilder.   The narration of their time at the World's Fair in Chicago lead me down a rabbit hole of learning about the fair.  

#3  Devil in the White City  by Eric Larson

This is one of the books I ran across on my deep dive of the World's Fair in Chicago.  This book covers the building of the fair and the serial killer that was building his own nightmare before the fair.  It was slow moving at first because it deals a lot with the architects at the beginning of the book.  Once I figured out who everyone was, there are a lot of people involved with the fair, I couldn't put it down.  It jumps back and forth between architect Daniel Burham and the serial killer H.H.  Holmes.    The serial killer sections are a little graphic.  I enjoyed the architecture so much I can't wait to take an architectural tour of Chicago.  

#4  Code Girls by Liza Mundy

Once again another piece of history I knew nothing about.  According to the author it's a piece of history that was almost forgotten. 1000's of women were recruited to be code breakers during the war.  They moved to Washington, worked in a special building and eventually lived together on a base like campus, and they were sworn to secrecy.  The girls lived together and worked on different floors.  The secrets were so important even roommates didn't know what the other girls were doing.   Some of the women never told their families what they did even decades after the war was over.  It was a fascinating book, not just because it dealt with women but because of the technology that was invented to help with code breaking. 

#5  I Dare Me - by Lu Ann Cahn

This was one of those pandemic books that came up in my suggested books and I clicked Request It!  It is not normally the type of book I would enjoy.  Lu Ann decided to try something new every day for a year.  Something new was anything she had not done regularly since childhood.   Some days the event was big - like doing a polar bear plunge.  Other days it was small  - like climbing a tree.  I do not have an adventurous bone in my body but it encouraged me to think outside the box. Trying something new should not be so terrifying.  I may find a new hobby or skill but first I have to try.  

Those are just my favorites from the year.  If you want to know what all I read follow me on Goodreads.  I'm always looking for another great book.  What was your favorite in 2020?