Best Books 2020

FOUR STARRED REVIEWS!BooklistSchool Library JournalPublishers WeeklyThe Horn BookTwelve-year-old Kingston James is sure his brother Khalid has turned into a dragonfly. When Khalid unexpectedly pass... Read more

WINNER OF THE 2020 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN TRANSLATED LITERATUREA NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEARA surreal, devastating story of a homeless ghost who haunts one of Tokyo's busiest train stat... Read more

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying comes your next obsession. You'll never feel the same about family again.Milly, Aubrey, and Jonah Story are cousins, but they bar... Read more

A BEST BOOK OF THE FALL AS SEEN IN: Apartment TherapyBook RiotBusiness InsiderBuzzFeedDaily NebraskanEntertainment WeeklyEsquireFortuneHarper's BazaarHelloGigglesLinkedInO MagazineTime Magazine"[A]... Read more

Winner of the ALA Stonewall Book Award—Barbara Gittings Literature Award Named Best Book of the Year by Bustle Named Most Anticipated Book of the Year by The Millions, Electric Literature, an... Read more

*OVER ONE MILLION COPIES SOLD**NOW AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*If you could go back, who would you want to meet?In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully ... Read more

Part revenge tale, part fairytale, The Harpy is an electrifying story of marriage, infidelity and power by the author of the #1 Indie Next Pick, The End We Start From, Megan Hunter Lucy and Jake li... Read more

A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICKTHE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST THRILLERS OF 2020"I loved this book. It gave me the same waves of happiness I get from curling up with a classic ... Read more

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERUSA TODAY BESTSELLER NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLERTHE WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER#1 Indie Next Pick—October 2020Recommended by Entertainment Weekly, Real Simple... Read more

For the first time in seven years, Allie Brosh—beloved author and artist of the extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller Hyperbole and a Half—returns with a new collection of comedic,... Read more

In an unforgettable novel that traces a centuries-old curse to its source, beloved author Alice Hoffman unveils the story of Maria Owens, accused of witchcraft in Salem, and matriarch of a line of ... Read more

National BestsellerOlivia Dade bursts onto the scene in this delightfully fun romantic comedy set in the world of fanfiction, in which a devoted fan goes on an unexpected date with her celebrity cr... Read more

"[An] outstanding whodunit...Fans of impossible crime fiction won't want to miss this one."—Publishers Weekly, STARRED reviewThe extraordinary new thriller from Stuart Turton, author of the bestsel... Read more

The new novel in the beloved New York Times bestselling Longmire series.One of the most viewed paintings in American history, Custer's Last Fight, copied and distributed by Anheuser-Busch at a rate... Read more

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Small Great Things and A Spark of Light comes a “powerful” (The Washington Post) novel about the choices that alter the course of o... Read more

A New York Times, NPR and New York Post Best Book of 2020 "This hushed suspense tale about thwarted dreams of escape may be her best one yet . . . Its own kind of masterpiece." —Maureen Corrigan, T... Read more

In this New York Times bestseller, Ijeoma Oluo offers a hard-hitting but user-friendly examination of race in America [DESCRIPTIVE COPY]Widespread reporting on aspects of white supremacy—from... Read more

The New York Times bestselling book from Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg—"a comprehensive look inside her brilliantly analytical, entertainingly wry mind, revealing the fascinating ... Read more

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER One Christmas wish, two brothers, and a lifetime of hope are on the line for hapless Maelyn Jones in In a Holidaze, the quintessential holiday romantic novel b... Read more

From the New York Times bestselling author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver comes the story of an unwilling dark sorceress who is destined to rewrite the rules of magic."The dark school of magic I'v... Read more

Travel to the bright Caribbean one last time in the satisfying conclusion to the nationally bestselling Winter in Paradise trilogy by Elin Hilderbrand, "Queen of the Summer Novel" (People). After u... Read more

Catch Me If You Can meets Patricia Highsmith in this "stylish" (New York Times Book Review) page-turner of greed and obsession, survival and self-invention that is a piercing character study of one... Read more

One of Betches' 7 Books by Black Authors You Need to Read This Summer One of Elite Daily's Books Featuring Interracial Relationships You Should Read In 2020 One of Marie Claire's 2020 Books You S... Read more

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From USA TODAY bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones comes a "masterpiece" (Locus Magazine) of a novel about revenge, cultural identity, and the cost of breaking from ... Read more

For fans of Small Spaces comes a chilling ghost story about a malevolent spirit, an unlucky girl, and a haunting mystery that will tie the two together.Claire has absolutely no interest in the para... Read more

A genre-defying debut memoir of insomnia by Betty Trask Prize-winner and one of our most singular stylists, Samantha Harvey.In 2016, Samantha Harvey began to lose sleep. She tried everything to app... Read more

Set in a summer camp, this sweet and sharp screwball comedy set in a summer camp for queer teens examines the nature of toxic masculinity and self-acceptance.Sixteen-year-old Randy Kapplehoff loves... Read more

Named one of the New York Times' "7 New Books to Watch Out for in April," this revelatory story collection honors characters struggling to find their bearings far from home, even as they do the nec... Read more

A New York Times Notable Book"Sea Wife is a gripping tale of survival at sea—but that’s just the beginning.  Amity Gaige also manages, before she’s done, to probe the un... Read more

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of American Wife and Eligible . . . He proposed. She said no. And it changed her life forever.   “A deviously clever what ... Read more

Named a Best Book of the Year by Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Esquire, Vulture, and Refinery29“A lyrical, fragmentary, and heartfelt story about the beauty and difficulty of artistic isolation.&rdq... Read more

From the author of the best-selling Sweetbitter comes an intimate, searingly honest memoir of growing up the child of addicts, of how that turbulent, often harrowing experience has affected her at ... Read more

Finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction One of the New York Times' Ten Best Books of the Year Named one of the best novels of the year by Time, Washington Post, NPR, Chicago Tribune, ... Read more

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 MAN BOOKER INTERNATIONAL PRIZEA NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR"Her most unsettling work yet — and her most realistic." —New York TimesNamed a Best Book of the... Read more

The powerful English debut of a rising young French star, Our Riches is a marvelous, surprising, hybrid novel about a beloved Algerian bookshop A Library Journal Best Book of the Year Finalist for ... Read more

Shuggie Bain is the unforgettable story of young Hugh "Shuggie" Bain, a sweet and lonely boy who spends his 1980s childhood in run-down public housing in Glasgow, Scotland. Thatcher's policies have... Read more

From the award-winning author of George, the story of a boy named Rick who needs to explore his own identity apart from his jerk of a best friend.Rick's never questioned much. He's gone along with ... Read more

Two wildly different women—one a grifter, the other an heiress—are brought together by the scam of a lifetime in a page-turner from the New York Times bestselling author of Watch Me Dis... Read more

A riveting debut novel set in contemporary Seoul, Korea, about four young women making their way in a world defined by impossible standards of beauty, after-hours room salons catering to wealthy me... Read more

★ “Historical fiction at its finest.” –The Horn Book“There has never been a better time to read about healing, of both the body and the heart.” –... Read more

"Harrowing, tender-hearted, and funny as hell" —Jenny Offill"Fascinating...Oddly uplifting" —The Economist"Smart, funny, irreverent, and philosophically rich" —Wall Street Journal... Read more

In this witty and exuberant collection of feminist retellings of traditional Japanese folktales, humans live side by side with spirits who provide a variety of useful services—from truth-tell... Read more

A poignant and riotous tale of family and revolution in postcolonial Africa, from the winner of the French Voices grand prize and finalist for the Man Booker International Prize Pointe-Noire, a bus... Read more

In the tradition of The End of Your Life Book Club and Bettyville, this uplifting, funny, and heartbreaking memoir about a mother and son on a journey of self-discovery and the rag-tag community th... Read more

One of TIME's 100 Must Read Books of 2020 Named one of the most anticipated books of the year by ELLE, Buzzfeed, Esquire, Bitch Media, Good Housekeeping, Electric Literature, Parade and BookRiot "O... Read more

An Instant New York Times Bestseller A New York Times Notable Book One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2020Named One of the Best Books of the Year by: The Washington Post, NPR, Shelf Awareness,... Read more

*A New York Times Best Seller**One of The New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year*A New York Public Library Best Book of the Year“Of all the stories that argue and speculate a... Read more

"[An] intricate and unsettling new novel . . . Death in Her Hands is not a murder mystery, nor is it really a story about self-deception or the perils of escapism. Rather, it's a haunting meditatio... Read more

A NEW YORK TIMES & NATIONAL BESTSELLERA BEST BOOK OF 2020The Washington Post・O, The Oprah Magazine・TIME Magazine・Financial Times・Kirkus Reviews・Harper's BazaarA POWERFUL NEW NOVEL set in a divi... Read more

**THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER**"A Gen-X This Boy's Life...Music and his fierce brilliance boost Jollett; a visceral urge to leave his background behind propels him to excel... In the end,... Read more

"This debut novel about an Irish expat millennial teaching English and finding romance in Hong Kong is half Sally Rooney love triangle, half glitzy Crazy Rich Asians high living—and guarantee... Read more

From the widely acclaimed author of Waiting for Eden: a stirring, timely new novel that unfolds over the course of a single day in Istanbul: the story of an American woman attempting to leave behin... Read more

One of . . . Electric Literature’s "Most Anticipated Debuts of Early 2020" • O Magazine’s "31 LGBTQ Books That'll Change the Literary Landscape in 2020" • Publisher Weekly&rs... Read more

FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • One of the first undocumented immigrants to graduate from Harvard reveals the hidden lives of her fellow undocumented Americans in this deeply personal a... Read more

SHORTLISTED FOR THE EDGAR AWARD FOR BEST NOVELA Recommended Book FromThe New York Times Book Review * The Washington Post * Vogue * Entertainment Weekly * Elle * People * Marie Claire * Vulture * T... Read more

A wildly original blend of social horror and razor-sharp satire, The Anthill is a searing exploration of privilege, racism and redemption in the Instagram age.In the end, it's much easier to not lo... Read more

"A shockingly original exploration of class, race, and systemic violence . . . This house, tainted by the human evil it contains, is reminiscent of the opening line of Toni Morrison's Beloved. And,... Read more

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA BOOK CLUB PICKAN EMMA ROBERTS BELLETRIST BOOK CLUB PICK For fans of The Hours and Fates and Furies, a bold, kaleidoscopic novel intertwining the lives of three women across t... Read more

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR:THE NEW YORKER • NPR • TIME • THE WASHINGTON POST• ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY • AND MORE!“The perfect novel.... Read more

Haunting and transcendently twisted, this English-language debut from a Cuban literary star is a tale of race, magic, belief, and fateThe Stuart family moves to a marginal neighborhood of Cienfuego... Read more

"A glorious fantasy."—Neil GaimanThree-time Hugo Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author N.K. Jemisin crafts her most incredible novel yet, a story of culture, identity, magic, an... Read more

A Best Book of the Year: The Washington Post | NPR | Chicago Tribune | Slate | Parade | Elle | Real Simple | InStyle | Good Housekeeping | Vox | Kirkus Reviews | Library Journal | BookPageLONGLISTE... Read more

A 2020 ALA Booklist Top 10 SF/F Pick!A Booklist Editor's Choice Pick!Book Riot's Best Books of 2020 So Far!Named a Best of 2020 Pick for NPR | NYPL | Booklist | Bustle | Den of GeekIn Upright Women... Read more

A major collection of entirely new poems from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning author of Time and Materials and The Apple Trees at OlemaA new volume of poetry from Robert Hass is ... Read more

When Ada Calhoun found herself in the throes of a midlife crisis, she thought that she had no right to complain. She was married with children and a good career. So why did she feel miserable? And ... Read more

“Jones’s sensational debut has the bones of a thriller but reads like literary fiction: lean, shrewd, and gratifyingly real.”—Entertainment WeeklyWhen a woman conceals her s... Read more

A Powell's Pick of the Month for January 2021 We will look back at our time apart and laugh together and be sad, but we will have many stories. If you have no suffering, you have no story to tell&#... Read more

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"Fierce and unrelenting...Do yourself a favor and get lost in this beautiful book!" —Tomi Adeyemi, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Children of Bloo... Read more

"I'm so starry-eyed for this wise, romantic gem of a book." - Becky Albertalli, bestselling author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda In this smart, heart-warming YA debut perfect for fans of Bec... Read more

After a sudden change of plans, a remarkable woman and her loyal group of friends try to figure out what she's going to do with the rest of her life—from Terry McMillan, the #1 New York Times... Read more

"[An] insightful, unsettling look at how technology impacts our lives. . .Kavenna has skillfully made our present feel like dystopian fiction." USA TODAYNamed a Best Book of 2020 by USA TODAY From ... Read more

"Startlingly original and deeply moving.... Chang here establishes herself as one of the most important of the new generation of American writers." — George SaundersA Recommended Book FromBuz... Read more

A Belletrist Book Club Selection Named a Best Book of 2020 (so far) by ELLE Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2020 by The Millions, Lit Hub, Marie ClaireAn exhilarating novel about a group of stude... Read more

Discover the “extraordinary” (The Washington Post) debut novel that “announces the arrival of a literary supernova” (The New York Times Book Review),“a ... Read more

A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK!Yaa Gyasi's stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national best seller Homegoing is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family ... Read more

Spanning religious, historical, and political themes, a new collection from the award-winning poet I think now more than halfOf life is death but I can't dieEnough for all the life I seeIn Sometim... Read more

THE NUMBER ONE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'Irby might be our great bard of quarantine.' New York Times'Samantha Irby is the king of sparkling misanthropy and tender, loving dread.' Jia TolentinoStari... Read more

A ruthlessly honest, emotionally charged, and utterly original exploration of Asian American consciousness and the struggle to be human“Brilliant . . . To read this book is to become more hum... Read more

Bestselling author Astrid Scholte, returns with a thrilling adventure in which the dead can be revived...for a price.Seventeen-year-old Tempe was born into a world of water. When the Great Waves de... Read more

A chance meeting with a handsome stranger turns into a whirlwind affair that gets everyone talking. Dating is the last thing on Olivia Monroe's mind when she moves to LA to start her own law firm.... Read more

Instant New York Times bestselling sequel to The Beautiful Following the events of The Beautiful, Sébastien Saint Germain is now cursed and forever changed. The treaty between the Fallen and... Read more

THE USA TODAY BESTSELLER"If you enjoyed The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, read Darling Rose Gold."—Washington Post "Sensationally good - two complex characters power the story like a nu... Read more

"If you cannot speak truth at a beheading, when can you speak it?"With The Mirror & the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with her peerless, Booker Prize-winni... Read more

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Marie Lu comes a historical YA fantasy about a musical prodigy and the dangerous lengths she'll go to make history remember her—perfect for fans of S... Read more

WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF FICTION OF 2020NPR BEST BOOK OF 2020BUZZFEED BEST BOOK OF 2020SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE"THE ENVIRONMENTAL NOVEL OF OUR TIMES" —Lemn Sissay, Booker Prize... Read more

A wry and edgy debut novel about race and startup culture, secrecy and surveillance, social media and friendship “A knowing, witty, and thought-provoking exploration of love, modern isol... Read more

A group of friends reunite after one of them has returned from a mysterious two-year disappearance in this edgy and haunting debut.Julie is missing, and no one believes she will ever return—e... Read more

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEARA PARADE BEST BOOK of 2020 * A GOOD HOUSEKEEPING BEST BOOK of 2020 A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna... Read more

“A lush depiction of privilege and power, sex and stability . . . following three women in São Paulo . . . It Is Wood, It Is Stone is an elegant arrival of a new ta... Read more

"[A] deliriously creepy tale...that'll keep your nightmares up at night." —Melissa Albert, New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel WoodFrom the author of the New York Times bestseller ... Read more

Longlisted for the Prix Sade 2021Longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates PrizeLonglisted for the Gordon Burn PrizeA New York Times Notable Book of 2020A New York Times Critics Top Ten Book of the Year... Read more

One of Buzzfeed's 29 Books We Couldn't Put Down This Year"Every page of this novel is a point of no return; once you've read Karolina Waclawiak's Life Events, you will never see life, death, grief,... Read more

Subverting celebrated classics of poetry and mythology and examining horrors from contemporary film and cultural fact, National Book Award winner Justin Phillip Reed engages darkness as an aestheti... Read more

Queen Elizabeth’s spymasters recruit an unlikely agent—the only Muslim in England—for an impossible mission in a mesmerizing novel from “one of the best writers in America&r... Read more

The Man Booker Prize-winning author of The Sense of an Ending takes us on a rich, witty, revelatory tour of Belle Époque Paris, via the life story of the pioneering surgeon Samuel Pozzi. In ... Read more

"One of the finest writers of the new non-fiction" (Harper's Bazaar) explores the role of art in the tumultuous twenty-first century. In the age of Trump and Brexit, every crisis is instantly overr... Read more

“Raw, intimate, and true . . . A Better Man cracked me wide open, and it’s a template for the conversation we need to be having with our boys.” —Peggy Orenstein, b... Read more

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"In her form-shattering and myth-crushing book....Coe examines myths with mirth, and writes history with humor... [You Never Forget Your First] is an accessible ... Read more

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF 2020. Named one of the Best Books of 2020 by The Washington Post, NPR, the Los Angeles Times, ELLE, Esquire, Parade, Teen V... Read more

A riveting, suspenseful and exuberant novel from the bestselling, Man Booker Prize–winning author of The White Tiger and Selection Day about a young illegal immigrant who must decide whether ... Read more

Oprah's Book Club PickA New York Times BestsellerA New York Times Notable BookA Washington Post Notable Novel From the author of the National Book Award–winning The Good Lord Bird and the be... Read more

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEARA BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: NPR, O Magazine, Vanity Fair, Los Angeles Times, Glamour, Shondaland, The New York Times Book Review, Buzzfeed, Kirkus, Time, Good ... Read more

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERA NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR’S CHOICE"Electrifying." — O: The Oprah Magazine Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, Th... Read more

ONE OF TIME'S 10 BEST FICTION BOOKS OF 2020. Named a Best Book of 2020 by Bustle, Good Housekeeping, the New York Public Library, Library Journal, and Tor.com"As enchanting as fairy tales, as myste... Read more

A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK!For readers of Tommy Orange, Yaa Gyasi, and Jhumpa Lahiri, an electrifying debut novel about three unforgettable characters who seek to rise—to the ... Read more

"Perfect Tunes is an intoxicating blend of music, love, and family from one of the essential writers of the internet generation." —STEPHANIE DANLER "Perfect Tunes is a zippy and profound stor... Read more

A Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2020 A Most-Anticipated Book of the Year: O, The Oprah Magazine * The New York Times * The Washington Post *Vogue * Bustle * BuzzFeed * Ms. magazine * The Mil... Read more

"The condition of Whiteout Conditions is the North American sublime, a grim, gnomic, hilarious dialect Tariq Shah inherits from Denis Johnson, Don DeLillo, the Coen Brothers, The Jesus Lizard, and ... Read more

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER From the beloved author of the nationwide best seller Dept. of Speculation—one of the New York Times Book Review's Ten Best Books of the Year—a "dark... Read more

Our heroes are back. . . kind of. From the bestselling co-authors of the Illuminae Files comes the second book in the epic series about a squad of misfits, losers, and discipline cases who just mig... Read more