A few years ago I saw Cristina @ Girl in the Pages post about her 5 star reading drought (which was originally inspired by Lauren @ Bookmark Lit’s post here), and I thought it was such a great post, so I did one of my own! It was really interesting to see what me 5 star reads looked like for last year, so I decided I want to start doing it every year!
5 star books of 2020
This number is usually low since I’m a picky rater. I had 15 in total (out of 90 books read), but a whopping 10 of them were re-reads, so that means I only had five new 5 star books this year. That is so depressing! If you don’t count re-reads, my 5 star books only account for 5% of what I read all year (which is 4% lower than last year) *cries*
New 5 star reads
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/aurora-burning.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/night-of-the-dragon-e1583171300534.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/ten-thousand-doors.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/truel1f3.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/dreams-of-gods-and-monsters.jpg)
Just like the last couple years, almost all of them (4 out of 5) were tried and true authors for me that were basically guaranteed 5 stars before I ever picked them up. Ten Thousand Doors was the only book with a new-to-me author, and I actually didn’t give it the full 5 stars until I re-read it just a couple months after reading it the first time because I realized how much I loved it!
5 star Re-reads
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/8490112.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/12812550.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/sinner-sara-douglass.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/pilgrim-sara-douglass.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/crusader-sara-douglass.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/dev1at3-1.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/aurora-rising-1.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/aurora-burning.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/truel1f3.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/ten-thousand-doors.jpg)
Again, just like the last couple of years, re-reading really worked out for me! I enjoyed diving back into some old favorites so much, I definitely want to continue doing it! The last three I actually read twice this year – I re-read via audio – because I loved them so much and the audiobooks are AWESOME!
Almost 5 star reads
Here’s the ones that came super close, but fell just a tad short, so I gave them 4.5 stars instead!
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/call-down-the-hawk.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/this-vicious-cure.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/raybearer.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/honor-among-thieves.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/honor-bound.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/be-not-far-from-me.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/a-man-called-ove.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/hold-back-the-tide.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/we-free-the-stars.jpg)
5 star predictions from last year
Books I knew would be 5 stars
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/aurora-burning.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/truel1f3.jpg)
As if Jay would ever write a book that wasn’t a 5 star read for me. *scoffs*
Books I hoped would be 5 stars
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/seven-deadly-shadows.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/star-daughter.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/goddess-in-the-machine-cover.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/raybearer.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/house-of-dragons.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/epic-crush.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/the-forgetting.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/all-systems-red.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/rage-of-dragons.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/empire-of-silence.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-silvered.jpg)
- Seven Deadly Shadows by Courtney Alameda – ★★★½
- Star Daughter by Shveta Thakrar – DNF
- Goddess in the Machine by Lora Beth Johnson – ★★
- Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko – ★★★★½
- House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess – ★★★½
- The Epic Crush of Genie Lo by F.C. Yee – started to read, lost interest
- The Forgetting by Sharon Cameron – still haven’t read
- All Systems Red by Martha Wells – ★★½
- The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter – started to read, lost interest
- Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio – still haven’t read
- The Silvered by Tanya Huff – still haven’t read
Wow, I clearly suck at this! At least I was right about loving Raybearer, and even though I gave House of Dragons 3.5, it stuck with me and I’m excited for book 2!
5 star predictions for 2021
It’s SO hard for me to predict which books I’m going to love (as you can see above, heh), because I just never know. Sometimes I expect to love something, and don’t; sometimes I don’t think I’ll like something at all and I end up loving it. I have high hopes for these, though!
Books I know will be 5 stars
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/empire-of-the-vampire.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/aurora-cycle-3.jpg)
Jay never lets me down!
Books I hope will be 5 stars
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/iron-raven.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/jade-city.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/lore-bracken.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/tales-from-the-hinterland.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/son-of-the-storm.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/empire-of-silence.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/the-silvered.jpg)
![](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/lets-discuss-simple-e1539023328104.png)
How many 5 star reads did you have this year?
![Jessi (Geo)](http://novelheartbeat.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/signature.png)
There are so many good looking books in the line-up. The Silvered looks so good. I will have to see if it’s part of a series. I also clearly need to read Aurora Rising.
Jade City is on my list for 2021 as well! (And also a 5-star hope!)