Cavallaro's Cavalcade of Carnage
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

It was actually an excellent book and movie year for me. Just listing off a top 10 doesn't seem enough after reading 183 books, so let's celebrate by doing something different...

The first annual CAVALLARO'S CAVALCADE OF CARNAGE AWARDS!!

BEST ANTHOLOGY

Midnight in the Graveyard, edited by Kenneth W. Cain, from Silver Shamrock Publishing

Totally deserving of a splatterpunk award nomination. Tons of great stories here, but my favorite was "Tug O' War" by Chad Lutzke

BEST COLLECTION

Blood Relations, by Kristopher Triana

So, apparently Triana writes short stories well too. Solid quality throughout. My favorites are "My Name is Chad" and "We All Scream"

BEST GRAPHIC NOVEL

Man-eaters, by Chelsea Cain

The Auteur, by Rick Spears was a close second, but Man-eaters is just too much fun to ignore

BEST HISTORICAL FICTION

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

I rarely read historical fiction, but I just had to give some credit to this masterpiece

BEST YOUNG ADULT

The Bunker Diary, by Kevin Brooks

So dark! Does not feel like a young adult novel at all

BEST SCIENCE FICTION

Mastodonia by Clifford Simak

Very unique, short sf novel

BEST FANTASY

The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss

This book has single-handedly restored my faith in the fantasy genre

BEST HORROR

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

Even better than My Best Friend's Exorcism? Maybe.

And here are the ranked ten best books overall that I read in 2020:

10: Mastodonia, by Clifford Simak
9: Blood Sugar, by Daniel Kraus
8: The Bunker Diary, by Kevin Brooks
7: Blacktop Wasteland, by S.A. Cosby
6: Pork Pie Hat, by Peter Straub
5: The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, by Grady Hendrix
4: The Summer That Melted Everything, by Tiffany McDaniel
3: Tomorrow's Journal, by Dominick Cancilla
2: A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
1: Betty, by Tiffany McDaniel

To ensure my integrity as a reviewer, I should also include a top ten of the WORST books I've read this year. Plus, not enough people hate me yet. In order to qualify for this list, a book should:

-be good until halfway, and then become uninteresting (The Dark)
-have a disagreeable writing style (Anne Rice)
-have a very slow-moving plot (The Silent Companions, Long Lankin)
-be generally forgettable (the rest of them)

(ranked from bad to worst)

10: The Dark, by James Herbert
9: Kiss of the Vampire, by Nancy Baker
8: The Silent Companions, by Laura Purcell
7: Til We Have Faces, by CS Lewis
6: Feast of All Saints, by Anne Rice
5: Burmese Days, by George Orwell
4: Strange the Dreamer, by Laini Taylor
3: Long Lankin, by Lindsey Barraclough
2: A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine
1: Ride the Wind, by Lucia St Clair

Good luck to everyone in 2021!

Jason Cavallaro
jcavallaro42@gmail.com
Twitter: @pinheadspawn

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