Jason’s 2020 Faves

Here is where I'm supposed to talk about how terrible 2020 was.
Let's talk about books and movies instead. 

By the numbers: 

-I read 183 books this year, which destroys my previous record of 140

-My average rating was 3.5, which I believe still puts me firmly in the "hater" category of reviewers

-I rated 33 books as 5-star quality, which is 18% of books read

-only 30% of 5-star reads made the top ten 

-lowest rating was 2-stars, which 32 books received

-I watched approximately 100 films in 2020, not counting series

Most of these books weren't published in 2020 (why does that matter anyway?).

While I am not confident at all about how these books are ranked (but I tried!), I AM confident in the ten selected.

Books first, countdown format:

10: Mastodonia by Clifford Simak

Really unique short science fiction novel

9: Blood Sugar by Daniel Kraus

Quite possibly the funniest book I've ever read

8: The Bunker Diary by Kevin Brooks

Darkest YA novel I've ever read

7: Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby

Brilliantly written crime drama. Possibly some of the best character building I've read this year.

6: Pork Pie Hat by Peter Straub

I'm convinced this is the best thing Straub has ever written

5: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

Is this one even better than My Best Friend's Exorcism? Maybe

4: The Summer That Melted Everything by Tiffany McDaniel

More like The Book that Melted Jason

3: Tomorrow's Journal by Dominick Cancilla

Relatively unknown, genre bender. This is the most fun I had reading this year

2: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving

Straight up masterful writing. Couldn't get this book out of my head.

DRUM ROLL....

1: Betty by Tiffany McDaniel

Only the third writer to have two books in my annual top ten list. The other two are Robert McCammon and Sarah Pinborough. This one is a beauty.

Now, onto movies. Again, most of these are not 2020 releases:

10: INCENDIES

Not a feel-good film at all, but wow

9: GONJIAM: THE HAUNTED ASYLUM

Some genuinely scary scenes in this one

8: DUDEBRO PARTY MASSACRE III

You will either love or hate this absurdist horror comedy slasher spoof

7: HOST

Yep, believe the hype

6: ANYTHING FOR JACKSON

Shudder was on fire this year!

5: ONE CUT OF THE DEAD

One of the most original horror films I've ever seen

4: THE ART OF SELF DEFENSE

Brilliant dark comedy, and also Jesse Eisenberg's best film

3: JOJO RABBIT

To producers: Please let Taika Waititi do whatever he wants

2: PARASITE

Bong Joon-ho has deserved an Oscar for a long time now. Glad he finally got it

1: DRIVEWAYS

I just can't get this film out of my head. Dennehy gets an Oscar nomination if there is any justice in the world

That's it, folks! Thanks for reading!

Jason Cavallaro

jcavallaro42@gmail.com

Twitter: @pinheadspawn