Well, friends, it’s that time again: my best books of 2020! I read quite a lot this year, and I’ll be honest, it was almost entirely for escapism and to be in a different world. So here are my favourite 25: http://www.kirstylogan.com/best-books-of-2020/

Best Dark (And I Mean Really Dark) Fairytale: You Let Me In, @millacream

Best Historical Queer Romance: Spirited, @julie_cohen

Best Retro Horror: Harrow Lake, @el_kat

Best Haunting Exploration of the Aftermath of a Murder: Nothing Can Hurt You, Nicola Maye Goldberg

Best Mystery at a Claustrophobic Girls’ School: The Temple House Vanishing, Rachel Donohue

Best Black Queer Ghost Novella: The Silence of the Wilting Skin, @TlotloTsamaase

Best Analysis of Masculinity: I’m Afraid of Men, @vivekshraya

Best Poetry Collection From a Poet Who’s Brilliant Both on the Page and Performing: My Darling From the Lions, @rachelnalong

Best Poetry Collection That I Got Because it’s About Wrestling and Found it Was About So Much More: Tapping Out, @nandicomer

Best Book That’s Kind of a Cheat Because I’m in it But Also All the Other Stories Are Too Brilliant Not to Include It: Outsiders, @alicemjslater (editor)

Best Deeply Unsettling Story Anthology: The New Abject, @commapress

Best Queer Feminist Horror Graphic Novel: The Low, Low Woods, Carmen Maria Machado & Dani

Best Book That You Don’t Need Me to Tell You is Great: Misery, @StephenKing

Best Book About Delightfully Monstrous Teenage Girls: Wilder Girls, @itsrorypower

Best Deep-Sea Horror: Ningen, @LauraNMauro

Best Short Stories That Make Me Wildly Envious as a Writer: Dark Tales, Shirley Jackson

Best Wholesome Historical Poly Romance: The Threefold Tie, @AsterGlenn

Best Lesbian Romance Novella That’s Also Spot-on About the Life of a Writer: A Perfect Balance, Laura Ambrose

Best Book Read for @TeenageScream_ Podcast: The Forbidden Game trilogy, LJ Smith

Best Kids’ Book About a Bitter, Rage-Filled Goddess: The Monstrous Child, @simon_francesca

Best Poetry I Read Aloud to My Wife in the Sunshine While Sitting on Our Windowsill: The Emma Press Anthology of Love

Best Graphic Novel That Made Me Laugh Out Loud: Dungeon Fun, @colinbell & @neilslorance

Best Essay Collection About Blackness, Whiteness and the Gothic: Darkly, @hello_leila

Best Book About Writing: The Science of Storytelling, @wstorr