The Best Of 2020: What You Read
Take a look at last year’s bestsellers
There’s no beating around the bush with this: 2020 was quite the year. Some of our top categories over the last 12 months reflect the tumultuous times we’ve lived through: as our focus shifted to staying at home, our customers picked up all sorts of new hobbies and coloring books to pass the time; for kids learning remotely, shoppers stocked up on educational activities and timeless stories; and with civic engagement seemingly at an all-time high, readers got familiar with the classics. Read more about these popular titles from last year and head to our site to add them to your library.
Coloring is a great way to relax and unwind, so it’s no surprise one of our top sellers was our Creative Haven Country Gardens Coloring Book — a charming collection of quaint countrysides and gorgeous garden scenes that capture the joys of simple country living. This captivating book features lush gardens, scenic landscapes, romantic table settings on terraces highlighted with beautiful blooms, and much more. Hobbyists dove into our popular 3-D Papercraft: Create Fun Paper Cutouts from Plain Paper,
a how-to guide detailing 280 items to fashion from a simple piece of white paper. Step-by-step directions explain how to fold, bend, cut, and create seasonal decorations, letter and number chains, and other fun designs.
Perfect for those curious young minds stuck at home, our top children’s activity book was Game On! USA: Awesome Activities for Clever Kids. Over 100 full-color U.S.A. themed puzzles include fun and challenging crosswords, scrambles, math challenges, mazes, and more, all in one book providing hours of entertainment for children ages 8 to 12. Young readers loved The Box-Car Children: The Original 1924 Edition, the first part of the timeless series about four young orphans discovering an abandoned boxcar and moving in, embarking on a life of self-reliance and hard work — but also freedom and adventure. Ranked among the all-time “Top 100 Chapter Books,” or children’s novels, in a School Library Journal survey, the book is also among the National Education Association’s “Teachers’ Top 100 Books for Children.”
In a very politically active year, readers picked up informative texts like Woman Suffrage and Politics: The Inner Story of the Suffrage Movement, an important aid to understanding how women won the right to vote and the extensive debt we owe to those who fought for it for 70 years. Written by two leaders of the movement, this landmark work reveals the inside story, tracing the struggle for women’s suffrage from 1848 to 1922. Another popular title was the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the memoir by the brilliant writer, orator, and impassioned abolitionist recounting his horrifying experiences as a slave and his dramatic escape to the north. The Narrative is admired today for its extraordinary passion, sensitive and vivid descriptions, and storytelling power, belonging in the library of anyone interested in African-American history and the life of one of the country’s most courageous and influential champions of civil rights.
See more bestsellers at Doverpublications.com
