Best 2020

The Best Fiction and Literature Books of 2020 (A Year-End List Aggregation)

“What are the best Fiction and Literature books released in 2020?” We looked at 328 of the top Fiction and Literature books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 37 books, all appearing on 4 or more “Best Fiction and Literature” book lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 275+ titles, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.

Our other Best Of 2020 Articles:

Previous Years: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015

All titles have been added to a Bookshop list as well!

Happy Scrolling!



Top 37 Best Fiction and Literature Books From 2020



37.) Breasts and Eggs written byMieko Kawakami

Lists It Appears On:

  • Time
  • NY Times
  • TMN
  • Pan Macmillan

The story of three women by a writer hailed by Haruki Murakami as Japan’s most important contemporary novelist, WINNER OF THE AKUTAGAWA PRIZE. “Breasts and Eggs took my breath away.”–HARUKI MURAKAMI A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2020 Vogue・Thrillist・The Millions・ Literary Hub・Now Toronto・Metropolis Ja



36.) Exciting Times written byNaoise Dolan

Lists It Appears On:

  • She Reads
  • Washington Post
  • TMN
  • The Guardian

“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 guaranteed to please.” –Vogue A RECOMMENDED BOOK FROM: The New York Times Book Review * Vogue * TIME * Marie Claire



35.) Hurricane Season written byFernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • NY Times
  • Book Riot
  • The Guardian

Con un ritmo y un lenguaje magistrales, Fernanda Melchor, autora de Falsa liebre explora en esta obra las sinrazones que subyacen a los actos m s desesperados de barbarie pasional. Una novela cruda y desgarradora en la que el lector quedar envuelto, atrapado por las palabras y la atm sfera de terrib



34.) Mayflies written byAndrew O’Hagan

Lists It Appears On:

  • Readings
  • Financial Times
  • The Guardian
  • The Telegraph

An unforgettable coming-of-age novel that becomes a profound mediation on life, death, and lifelong friendship.



33.) Monogamy written bySue Miller

Lists It Appears On:

  • Publishers Weekly
  • NY Times
  • Bookpage
  • NPR

“A sensual and perceptive novel. . . . With humor and humanity, Miller resists the simple scorned-wife story and instead crafts a revelatory tale of the complexities–and the absurdities–of love, infidelity, and grief.” –O, the Oprah MagazineA brilliantly insightful novel, engrossing and haunting,



32.) Sisters written byDaisy Johnson

Lists It Appears On:

  • Publishers Weekly
  • NY Times
  • Bookpage
  • TMN

ONE OF THE TOP TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR– PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR–VULTURE “Daisy Johnson is the demon offspring of Shirley Jackson and Stephen King.” –The Observer “Builds a gothic plot to an artful and shocking climax.”–The New York Times “Ends with a magnificent t



31.) Utopia Avenue written byDavid Mitchell

Lists It Appears On:

  • Kirkus 2
  • Washington Post
  • The Guardian
  • The Telegraph

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – The long-awaited new novel from the bestselling, prize-winning author of Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks. New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice – “Mitchell’s rich imaginative stews bubble with history and drama, and this time the flavor is a blend of Carnaby Street a



30.) Interior Chinatown written byCharles Yu

Lists It Appears On:

  • Kirkus 2
  • Washington Post
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • TMN
  • NPR

2020 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST! One of the funniest books of the year … a delicious, ambitious Hollywood satire. –The Washington Post From the infinitely inventive author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe comes a deeply personal novel about race, pop culture, immigration, a



29.) Red Pill written byHari Kunzru

Lists It Appears On:

  • Los Angeles Times
  • Financial Times
  • NY Times
  • TMN
  • NPR

From the widely acclaimed author of White Tears, a bold new novel about searching for order in a world that frames madness as truth. After receiving a prestigious writing fellowship in Germany, the narrator of Red Pill arrives in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee and struggles to accomplish anything at a



28.) The Night Watchman written byLouise Erdrich

Lists It Appears On:

  • Kirkus 2
  • Washington Post
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • TMN
  • NPR

New York Times BestsellerBased on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes o



27.) Sharks in the Time of Saviors written byKawai Strong Washburn

Lists It Appears On:

  • Kirkus 2
  • Powells
  • Amazon
  • NY Times
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • TMN

Barnes & Noble Discover pick for March 2020 Amazon Editors’ Pick for March 2020 Sharks in the Time of Saviors is a groundbreaking debut novel that folds the legends of Hawaiian gods into an engrossing family saga; a story of exile and the pursuit of salvation from Kawai Strong Washburn. “Old myths c



26.) Summer written byAli Smith

Lists It Appears On:

  • Kirkus 2
  • Financial Times
  • TMN
  • The Guardian
  • The Telegraph
  • NPR

“A prose poem in praise of memory, forgiveness, getting the joke and seizing the moment.” –Dwight Garner, The New York Times In the present, Sacha knows the world’s in trouble. Her brother Robert just is trouble. Their mother and father are having trouble. Meanwhile, the world’s in meltdown­–and t



25.) The Cold Millions written byJess Walter

Lists It Appears On:

  • Barnes & Noble
  • Kirkus 2
  • Publishers Weekly
  • Amazon
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • TMN

A Most Anticipated Book by: The New York Times Book Review * Wall Street Journal * Time * Esquire * The Millions * Vogue * People * New York Post * USA Today * Medium * The Philadelphia Inquirer * NewsdayFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins comes another “literary miracle



24.) The Death of Vivek Oji written byAkwaeke Emezi

Lists It Appears On:

  • Washington Post
  • NY Times
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • Bookpage
  • TMN
  • NPR

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR’S CHOICE Electrifying. — O Magazine Named one of the year’s most anticipated books by The New York Times, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, BuzzFeed, Refinery29, and more What does it mean for a family to lose a child they never really knew? One aftern



23.) The Pull of the Stars written byEmma Donoghue

Lists It Appears On:

  • Kirkus 2
  • Powells
  • Washington Post
  • Pan Macmillan
  • The Guardian
  • The Telegraph

In Dublin, 1918, a maternity ward at the height of the Great Flu is a small world of work, risk, death, and unlooked-for love, in “Donoghue’s best novel since Room” (Kirkus Reviews) In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city cente



22.) Writers & Lovers written byLily King

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • NY Times
  • Kirkus 2
  • Amazon
  • Pan Macmillan
  • NPR

Following the breakout success of her critically acclaimed and award-winning novel Euphoria, Lily King returns with an unforgettable portrait of an artist as a young woman. Blindsided by her mother’s sudden death, and wrecked by a recent love affair, Casey Peabody has arrived in Massachusetts in the



21.) A Children’s Bible written byLydia Millet

Lists It Appears On:

  • NY Times
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • Washington Post
  • Time
  • NY Times 2
  • TMN
  • The Telegraph

Pulitzer Prize finalist Lydia Millet’s sublime new novel–her first since the National Book Award long-listed Sweet Lamb of Heaven–follows a group of twelve eerily mature children on a forced vacation with their families at a sprawling lakeside mansion.Contemptuous of their parents, who pass their



20.) Cleanness written byGarth Greenwell

Lists It Appears On:

  • Kirkus 2
  • Washington Post
  • NY Times
  • TMN
  • Pan Macmillan
  • The Telegraph
  • NPR

In the highly anticipated follow-up to his beloved debut, What Belongs to You, Garth Greenwell deepens his exploration of foreignness, obligation, and desire Sofia, Bulgaria, a landlocked city in southern Europe, stirs with hope and impending upheaval. Soviet buildings crumble, wind scatters sand fr



19.) The Glass Hotel written byEmily St. John Mandel

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads
  • Washington Post
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • Bookpage
  • TMN
  • Pan Macmillan
  • NPR

LONGLISTED FOR THE GILLER PRIZE The Glass Hotel may be the perfect novel for your survival bunker. –Ron Charles, The Washington Post A New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek, Bustle, Buzzfeed, GoodReads, Houston Chronicle, Writer’s Digest, Medium, Washington Independent Review of Books, The



18.) Weather written byJenny Offill

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • Readings
  • Washington Post
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • The Guardian
  • The Telegraph
  • NPR

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 “darkly funny and urgent” (NPR) tour de force about a family, and a nation, in crisis Lizzie Benson slid into her job a



17.) How Much of These Hills is Gold written byC Pam Zhang

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • Kirkus 2
  • Powells
  • Readings
  • Washington Post
  • NY Times
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • Bookpage

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE 2020 CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE NATIONAL BESTSELLER A NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION 5 UNDER 35 HONOREE A GOOP Book Club Pick “A fully immersive epic drama packed with narrative riches and exquisitely crafted prose.” –San Francisco Chronicle



16.) Jack written byMarilynne Robinson

Lists It Appears On:

  • Books A Million
  • Kirkus 2
  • Los Angeles Times
  • Financial Times
  • NY Times
  • TMN
  • The Guardian
  • NPR

A New York Times bestseller Marilynne Robinson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Humanities Medal, returns to the world of Gilead with Jack, the latest novel in one of the great works of contemporary American fiction Marilynne Robinson’s mythical world of Gilead, Iowa–the setting of he



15.) Memorial written byBryan Washington

Lists It Appears On:

  • Barnes & Noble
  • Kirkus 2
  • Washington Post
  • Amazon
  • NY Times
  • Bookpage
  • TMN
  • NPR

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA Book Club Pick! “Truly unlike anything I’ve read before. Bryan Washington’s take on love, family, and responsibility is as complicated and true as life itself. I can’t stop thinking about it.” –Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House “Made me think about the nature of love, a



14.) Piranesi written bySusanna Clarke

Lists It Appears On:

  • Kirkus 2
  • Readings
  • Washington Post
  • Financial Times
  • Bookpage
  • TMN
  • The Guardian
  • The Telegraph

New York Times Bestseller! From the New York Times bestselling author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an intoxicating, hypnotic new novel set in a dreamlike alternative reality. Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousa



13.) Real Life written byBrandon Taylor

Lists It Appears On:

  • Book Riot
  • Washington Post
  • Financial Times
  • NY Times
  • TMN
  • The Guardian
  • The Telegraph
  • NPR

A FINALIST FOR THE 2020 BOOKER PRIZE A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE “A blistering coming of age story” –O: The Oprah Magazine A novel of startling intimacy, violence, and mercy among friends in a Midwestern university town, from an electric new voice. Almost everything about Wallace is at odds wi



12.) The Mirror and the Light written byHilary Mantel

Lists It Appears On:

  • Bookpage
  • NY Times
  • Kirkus 2
  • Time
  • Publishers Weekly
  • Washington Post
  • The Guardian
  • The Telegraph

The brilliant #1 New York Times bestseller With The Mirror & the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with her peerless, Booker Prize-winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs t



11.) Transcendent Kingdom written byYaa Gyasi

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads
  • Kirkus 2
  • Amazon
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • Bookpage
  • Worldly Gentleman
  • Library Journal
  • NPR

A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK! INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER 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 in Alabama. Gifty is a sixth-year PhD candidate in neuroscience at



10.) Homeland Elegies written byAyad Akhtar

Lists It Appears On:

  • Kirkus 2
  • Publishers Weekly
  • Time
  • NY Times
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • NY Times 2
  • Worldly Gentleman
  • Library Journal
  • NPR

A “profound and provocative” new work by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Disgraced and American Dervish an immigrant father and his son search for belonging — in post-Trump America, and with each other (Kirkus Reviews). “Passionate, disturbing, unputdownable.” — Salman Rushdie A deeply person



9.) Luster written byRaven Leilani

Lists It Appears On:

  • Kirkus 2
  • Los Angeles Times
  • Powells
  • Amazon
  • NY Times
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • TMN
  • Pan Macmillan
  • NPR

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER So delicious that it feels illicit . . . Raven Leilani’s first novel reads like summer: sentences like ice that crackle or melt into a languorous drip; plot suddenly, wildly flying



8.) The Lying Life of Adults written byElena Ferrante ; translated by Ann Goldstein

Lists It Appears On:

  • NPR
  • Financial Times 2
  • Kirkus
  • Kirkus 2
  • Los Angeles Times
  • Washington Post
  • Bookpage
  • The Telegraph
  • The Guardian

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER. Soon to be a NETFLIX Original Series. A POWERFUL NEW NOVEL set in a divided Naples by ELENA FERRANTE, the New York Times best-selling author of My Brilliant Friend and The Lost Daughter. “There’s no doubt [the publication of The Lying Life of



7.) A Burning written byMegha Majumdar

Lists It Appears On:

  • Readings
  • She Reads
  • Washington Post
  • Time
  • Amazon
  • NY Times
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • TMN
  • Library Journal
  • NPR

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 middle class, to political power, to fame in the movies–and find their lives entangled in the wake of a ca



6.) Leave the World Behind written byRumaan Alam

Lists It Appears On:

  • Barnes & Noble
  • Kirkus 2
  • Los Angeles Times
  • Powells
  • Washington Post
  • Bookpage
  • TMN
  • The Telegraph
  • Library Journal
  • NPR

A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!Finalist for the 2020 National Book Award (Fiction)A Recommended Book From: Vogue * TIME * The Washington Post * Buzzfeed * The Boston Globe * The Wall Street Journal * Elle * Vulture * Newsweek * NY Observer * Refinery29 * The New York Post * Town & Count



5.) Such a Fun Age written byKiley Reid

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads
  • Kirkus 2
  • Washington Post
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • Bookpage
  • TMN
  • The Guardian
  • The Telegraph
  • Worldly Gentleman
  • NPR

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A REESE’S BOOK CLUB x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK PICK “The most provocative page-turner of the year.” –Entertainment Weekly “A great way to kick off 2020.” –Washington Post “I urge you to read Such a Fun Age.” –NPR A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhila



4.) Deacon King Kong written byJames McBride

Lists It Appears On:

  • Kirkus 2
  • Powells
  • Washington Post
  • Time
  • Barnes & Noble
  • Amazon
  • NY Times
  • Bookpage
  • NY Times 2
  • TMN
  • Worldly Gentleman
  • NPR

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the author of the National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird and the bestselling modern classic The Color of Water, comes one of the most celebrated novels of the year. In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportc



3.) Shuggie Bain written byDouglas Stuart

Lists It Appears On:

  • Kirkus 2
  • Readings
  • Washington Post
  • Financial Times
  • Time
  • NY Times
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • TMN
  • Pan Macmillan
  • The Guardian
  • The Telegraph
  • NPR

NATIONAL BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDShuggie 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 put husbands



2.) Hamnet written byMaggie O’Farrell

Lists It Appears On:

  • Barnes & Noble
  • Kirkus 2
  • Powells
  • Publishers Weekly
  • Readings
  • Financial Times
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • NY Times
  • Bookpage
  • NY Times 2
  • TMN
  • The Guardian
  • The Telegraph
  • Worldly Gentleman
  • Library Journal

England, 1580: The Black Death creeps across the land, an ever-present threat, infecting the healthy, the sick, the old and the young, alike. The end of days is near, but life always goes on in this national best seller and winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction. “All too timely … [An] exceptiona



1.) The Vanishing Half written byBrit Bennett

Lists It Appears On:

  • Worldly Gentleman
  • Barnes & Noble
  • Book Riot
  • Kirkus 2
  • Los Angeles Times
  • Powells
  • Publishers Weekly
  • Readings
  • Washington Post
  • Financial Times
  • Time
  • Amazon
  • NY Times
  • Bookshop Santa Cruz
  • Bookpage
  • NY Times 2
  • The Guardian
  • The Telegraph
  • NPR

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD A GOOD MORNING AMERICA Book Club Pick “Bennett’s tone and style recalls James Baldwin and Jacqueline Woodson, but it’s especially reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s 1970 debut novel, The Bluest Eye.” –Kiley Reid, Wall Street Journal “A




The 275+ Additional Best Fiction and Literature Books Released In 2020



# Book Author Lists
38 Actress Anne Enright Kirkus 2
Powells
Washington Post
39 Afterlife Julia Alvarez Kirkus 2
Bookpage
TMN
40 Amnesty Aravind Adiga Kirkus 2
Pan Macmillan
NPR
41 Anxious People Fredrik Backman Goodreads
Amazon
NPR
42 Apeirogon: A Novel Colum McCann
Library Journal
TMN
Amazon
43 Bestiary K-Ming Chang Kirkus 2
Los Angeles Times
Bookshop Santa Cruz
44 Black Sunday Tola Rotimi Abraham Kirkus 2
TMN
NPR
45 Crooked Hallelujah Kelli Jo Ford
Publishers Weekly
Washington Post
NPR
46 Days of Distraction Alexandra Chang Kirkus 2
Washington Post
NPR
47 Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line Deepa Anappara NY Times
TMN
NPR
48 Earthlings Sayaka Murata Ginny Tapley Takemori (Translator)
Financial Times 2
NY Times
TMN
49 Inside Story: A Novel Martin Amis
The Guardian
The Telegraph
Financial Times
50 Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 Cho Nam-Joo NY Times
TMN
NPR
51 Little Eyes Samanta Schweblin NY Times
TMN
The Guardian
52 Mexican Gothic Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Barnes & Noble
Washington Post
Bookshop Santa Cruz
53 Migrations: A Novel Charlotte McConaghy
Library Journal
Amazon
Bookshop Santa Cruz
54 Missionaries Phil Klay Kirkus 2
NY Times
NPR
55 My Dark Vanessa Kate Elizabeth Russell Goodreads
Powells
TMN
56 Rodham Curtis Sittenfeld
Washington Post
The Guardian
NPR
57 Run Me to Earth Paul Yoon Kirkus 2
Washington Post
Bookshop Santa Cruz
58 The Discomfort of Evening Marieke Lucas Rijneveld ; translated by Michele Hutchison
Financial Times 2
Kirkus
Kirkus 2
59 The Mercies Kiran Millwood Hargrave NY Times
Amazon
Pan Macmillan
60 The Mountains Sing Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai Book Riot
She Reads
NPR
61 The Office of Historical Corrections Danielle Evans Kirkus 2
Washington Post
Barnes & Noble
62 The Silence Don Delillo
Pan Macmillan
The Guardian
The Telegraph
63 Valentine Elizabeth Wetmore
Washington Post
Bookshop Santa Cruz
Bookpage
64 What Are You Going Through Sigrid Nunez Kirkus 2
Readings
NPR
65 A Girl Is a Body of Water Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
Washington Post
Powells
66 An Inventory of Losses Judith Schalansky, trans. from the German by Jackie Smith
Financial Times 2
Publishers Weekly
67 Barn 8 Deb Olin Unferth TMN
NPR
68 Beach Read Emily Henry Powells
NPR
69 Beheld TaraShea Nesbit
Publishers Weekly
NY Times
70 Beowulf: A New Translation Maria Dahvana Headley Kirkus
Kirkus 2
71 Big Summer Jennifer Weiner Goodreads
Washington Post
72 Burnt Sugar: A Novel Avni Doshi
The Guardian
NPR
73 Clap When You Land Elizabeth Acevedo TMN
NPR
74 Collected Stories Shirley Hazzard Brigitta Olubas (Editor) Zoë Heller (Foreword by) & 1 more Kirkus 2
Kirkus 2
75 Dear Edward Ann Napolitano Goodreads
Washington Post
76 Fiebre Tropical Juli Delgado Lopera Kirkus 2
Publishers Weekly
77 Fracture Andrés Neuman Powells
Financial Times 2
78 Godshot Chelsea Bieker Powells
NPR
79 His Only Wife Peace Adzo Medie She Reads
NY Times
80 Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick: Stories from the Harlem Renaissance Zora Neale Hurston TMN
Book Riot
81 I Don’t Expect Anyone to Believe Me Juan Pablo Villalobos ; translated by Daniel Hahn Kirkus
Kirkus 2
82 If I Had Your Face Frances Cha She Reads
NPR
83 Indelicacy Amina Cain Powells
Readings
84 Lake Like a Mirror Ho Sok Fong ; translated by Natascha Bruce Kirkus
Kirkus 2
85 Long Bright River Liz Moore TMN
NPR
86 Man of My Time Dalia Sofer Kirkus 2
NY Times
87 Mr Wilder and Me Jonathan Coe
The Guardian
The Telegraph
88 New Waves Kevin Nguyen Kirkus 2
NPR
89 Nights When Nothing Happened Simon Han
Washington Post
TMN
90 One Night Two Souls Went Walking Ellen Cooney Kirkus 2
NPR
91 Pizza Girl Jean Kyoung Frazier TMN
NPR
92 Ready Player Two Ernest Cline
Books A Million
Washington Post
93 Sansei and Sensibility Karen Tei Yamashita Kirkus 2
TMN
94 Something to Talk about Meryl Wilsner Kirkus 2
NPR
95 Summerwater Sarah Moss
Pan Macmillan
The Guardian
96 Take a Hint, Dani Brown Talia Hibbert Kirkus 2
NPR
97 That Time of Year Marie NDiaye ; translated by Jordan Stump Kirkus
Kirkus 2
98 The Awkward Black Man Walter Mosley Kirkus 2
Washington Post
99 The Bass Rock Evie Wyld
The Guardian
The Telegraph
100 The Cactus League Emily Nemens TMN
NPR
101 The City We Became: A Novel N. K. Jemisin Kirkus 2
Bookshop Santa Cruz
102 The Dominant Animal Kathryn Scanlan
Publishers Weekly
The Guardian
103 The Evening and the Morning Ken Follett
Barnes & Noble
Washington Post
104 The Fallen Carlos Manuel Álvarez ; translated by Frank Wynne Kirkus
Kirkus 2
105 The Girl with the Louding Voice Abi Daré Goodreads
Amazon
106 The Golden Cage Camilla Läckberg ; translated by Neil Smith Kirkus
Kirkus 2
107 The Index of Self-Destructive Acts Christopher Beha Kirkus 2
Library Journal
108 The King at the Edge of the World Arthur Phillips
Washington Post
NY Times
109 The King of Warsaw Szczepan Twardoch ; translated by Sean Gasper Bye Kirkus
Kirkus 2
110 The Kingdom Jo Nesbø ; translated by Robert Ferguson Kirkus
Kirkus 2
111 The Knockout Queen Rufi Thorpe Kirkus 2
TMN
112 The Lehman Trilogy Stefano Massini ; translated by Richard Dixon Kirkus
Kirkus 2
113 The New Wilderness Diane Cook Amazon
Washington Post
114 The Resisters Gish Jen
Washington Post
TMN
115 The Roommate Rosie Danan Kirkus 2
NPR
116 The Searcher Tana French TMN
NPR
117 The Young Team Graeme Armstrong
Pan Macmillan
The Guardian
118 These Ghosts Are Family Maisy Card Book Riot
Kirkus 2
119 This Mournable Body Tsitsi Dangarembga
Financial Times
The Guardian
120 Tokyo Ueno Station Yu Miri, trans. from the Japanese by Morgan Giles NY Times
Publishers Weekly
121 Want Lynn Steger Strong Kirkus 2
NPR
122 We Ride Upon Sticks Quan Barry Book Riot
Kirkus 2
123 You Had Me at Hola Alexis Daria Kirkus 2
Bookshop Santa Cruz
124 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World Elif Shafak Powells
125 28 Summers Elin Hilderbrand Kirkus 2
126 A Castle In The Clouds Kerstin Gier NPR
127 A Certain Hunger Chelsea G. Summers TMN
128 A Good Neighborhood: A Novel Therese Anne Fowler NPR
129 A Heart of Blood and Ashes Milla Vane Kirkus 2
130 A Room Made of Leaves null
The Telegraph
131 A Saint from Texas Edmund White
Publishers Weekly
132 A Shadow Intelligence Oliver Harris Kirkus 2
133 A Small Crowd of Strangers Joanna Rose Powells
134 A Theatre for Dreamers Polly Samson
The Telegraph
135 A Time for Mercy John Grisham
Books A Million
136 Afterland Lauren Beukes
Washington Post
137 Against the Loveless World Susan Abulhawa She Reads
138 All Adults Here Emma Straub
Washington Post
139 All the Devils Are Here Louise Penny Kirkus 2
140 Alligator and Other Stories Dima Alzayat
Pan Macmillan
141 Almond Won-Pyung Sohn Sandy Joosun Lee (Translator) Amazon
142 American Dirt Jeanine Cummins Goodreads
143 And I Do Not Forgive You Amber Sparks
Washington Post
144 As You Were Elaine Feeney
The Telegraph
145 Barcelona Days Daniel Riley TMN
146 Before the Coffee Gets Cold: Tales from the Cafe Toshikazu Kawaguchi
Pan Macmillan
147 Black Bottom Saints Alice Randall Kirkus 2
148 Black Sun Rebecca Roanhorse Kirkus 2
149 Blacktop Wasteland S. A. Cosby NY Times
150 Bluebeard’s First Wife Ha Seong-nan, trans. from the Korean by Janet Hong
Publishers Weekly
151 Circe Madeline Miller Powells
152 City of Girls Elizabeth Gilbert Powells
153 Code Name Hélène Ariel Lawhon Bookpage
154 Correspondents
Pan Macmillan
155 Creatures: A Novel Crissy Van Meter NPR
156 Crossings Alex Landragin TMN
157 Daring and the Duke: The Bareknuckle Bastards Book III Sarah MacLean Kirkus 2
158 Dead Land Sara Paretsky Kirkus 2
159 Dear Ann Bobbie Ann Mason Kirkus 2
160 Dear Justyce Nic Stone NPR
161 Docile K. M. Szpara TMN
162 Dominoes at the Crossroads Kaie Kellough TMN
163 Drifts Kate Zambreno TMN
164 Driftwood Marie Brennan Kirkus 2
165 Eight Perfect Murders Peter Swanson Kirkus 2
166 Empire Of Wild: A Novel Cherie Dimaline NPR
167 Even As We Breathe: A Novel Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle NPR
168 Every Reason We Shouldn’t Sara Fujimura NPR
169 Everywhere You Don’t Belong Gabriel Bump NY Times
170 Fair Warning Michael Connelly Kirkus 2
171 Felix Ever After Kacen Callender Book Riot
172 Fifty Words for Rain Asha Lemmie Amazon
173 Followers: A Novel Megan Angelo NPR
174 Four by Four Sara Mesa TMN
175 Fresh Water for Flowers Valérie Perrin
Bookshop Santa Cruz
176 Furia Yamile Saied Méndez She Reads
177 Girl Gone Viral: A Novel Alisha Rai NPR
178 Goldilocks Laura Lam Kirkus 2
179 Good Citizens Need Not Fear Maria Reva
The Guardian
180 Happy and You Know It Laura Hankin Bookpage
181 Headliners: An Enemies-To-Lovers Romance Lucy Parker NPR
182 Heart Of Junk: A Novel Luke Geddes NPR
183 Here We Are: A Novel Graham Swift NPR
184 High As The Waters Rise: A Novel Anja Kampmann NPR
185 Homie: Poems Danez Smith
Bookshop Santa Cruz
186 I Hold a Wolf by the Ears Laura van den Berg Time
187 If I Had Two Wings: Stories Randall Kenan Kirkus 2
188 Igifu Scholastique Mukasonga, trans. from the French by Jordan Stump
Publishers Weekly
189 Include Me Out María Sonia Cristoff TMN
190 It Is Wood, It Is Stone Gabriella Burnham
Publishers Weekly
191 Kingdomtide Rye Curtis Powells
192 Like A Bird Fariha Róisín NPR
193 Like Lovers Do: A Girls Trip Novel Tracey Livesay Kirkus 2
194 Likes Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum
Publishers Weekly
195 Little Bandaged Days Kyra Wilder
Pan Macmillan
196 Little Family Ishmael Beah
Library Journal
197 Little Gods Meng Jin Powells
198 Loathe At First Sight: A Novel Suzanne Park NPR
199 Love Lettering: A Witty and Heartfelt Love Story Kate Clayborn Kirkus 2
200 Low Jeet Thayil TMN
201 Make Russia Great Again Christopher Buckley
Washington Post
202 Mansour’s Eyes Ryan Girod, trans. from the French by Chris Clarke
Publishers Weekly
203 Many People Die Like You Lina Wolff
Financial Times 2
204 Master of Poisons Andrea Hairston Kirkus 2
205 Members Only Sameer Pandya NPR
206 Minor Detail Adania Shibli NY Times
207 Miss Iceland Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir NPR
208 Modern Times Cathy Sweeney
The Guardian
209 Moonflower Murders: A Novel Anthony Horowitz NPR
210 Must I Go Yiyun Li TMN
211 Network Effect Martha Wells TMN
212 Oak Flat: A Fight for Sacred Land in the American West Lauren Redniss
Bookshop Santa Cruz
213 One by One Ruth Ware Kirkus 2
214 One To Watch: A Novel Kate Stayman-London NPR
215 Oona Out of Order: A Novel Margarita Montimore Amazon
216 Or What You Will Jo Walton TMN
217 Out of Mesopotamia Salar Abdoh
Publishers Weekly
218 Party Of Two Jasmine Guillory NPR
219 Pew Catherine Lacey
Publishers Weekly
220 Plain Bad Heroines Emily Danforth
Washington Post
221 Postcolonial Love Poem: Poems Natalie Diaz
Bookshop Santa Cruz
222 Precious You Helen Monks Takhar Kirkus 2
223 Rainbow Milk Paul Mendez
The Guardian
224 Reality, and Other Stories John Lanchester
The Guardian
225 Recipe For Persuasion: A Novel Sonali Dev NPR
226 Redhead by the Side of the Road Anne Tyler
The Telegraph
227 Rest and Be Thankful Emma Glass Kirkus 2
228 Ring Shout P. Djèlí Clark TMN
229 Robert Ludlum’s the Bourne Evolution Brian Freeman Kirkus 2
230 Rules for Being Dead Kim Powers Powells
231 Saint X Alexis Schaitkin NY Times
232 Salt Slow Julia Armfield
Pan Macmillan
233 Scorpionfish Natalie Bakopoulos NPR
234 Sea Wife Amity Gaige NY Times
235 Season of the Wolf Maria Vale Kirkus 2
236 Self Care Leigh Stein Book Riot
237 Sex And Vanity: A Novel Kevin Kwan NPR
238 Shiner: A Novel Amy Jo Burns NPR
239 Simon the Fiddler Paulette Jiles
Washington Post
240 Small Pleasures The School of Life Alain de Botton (Editor)
The Telegraph
241 Snapped Alexa Martin NPR
242 Snow John Banville
Financial Times
243 So We Can Glow: Stories Leesa Cross-Smith NPR
244 Storm Birds Einar Kárason
Financial Times 2
245 Straight from the Horse’s Mouth Meryem Alaoui TMN
246 Take Me Apart Sara Sligar Kirkus 2
247 Taste of Sugar Marisel Vera
Washington Post
248 Temporary Hilary Leichter
Publishers Weekly
249 The Abstainer Ian McGuire
Publishers Weekly
250 The Aosawa Murders Riku Onda NY Times
251 The Beauty of Your Face Sahar Mustafah NY Times
252 The Blind Light Stuart Evers
Pan Macmillan
253 The Book of Two Ways: A Novel Jodi Picoult Amazon
254 The Book of V. Anna Solomon Kirkus 2
255 The Boy In The Field Margot Livesey NY Times
256 The Boyfriend Project Farrah Rochon NPR
257 The Butterfly Lampshade Aimee Bender
Publishers Weekly
258 The Daughters of Erietown Connie Schultz
Washington Post
259 The Death of Jesus J. M. Coetzee NY Times
260 The Devil of Downtown: Uptown Girls Joanna Shupe Kirkus 2
261 The Disaster Tourist Yun Ko-Eun TMN
262 The Doll Factory Elizabeth MacNeal
Pan Macmillan
263 The Down Days Ilze Hugo TMN
264 The Duke Who Didn’t Courtney Milan NY Times
265 The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree Shokoofeh Azar TMN
266 The Exiles Christina Baker Kline Kirkus 2
267 The Glass Kingdom Lawrence Osborne NY Times
268 The Great Offshore Grounds: A novel Vanessa Veselka
Bookshop Santa Cruz
269 The Harpy Megan Hunter
Pan Macmillan
270 The Hiding Game Gwen Strauss Herb Leonhard (Illustrator)
Pan Macmillan
271 The Hole Hiroko Oyamada TMN
272 The Invisible Life of Addie Larue V. E. Schwab Kirkus 2
273 The Jane Austen Society: A Novel Natalie Jenner Amazon
274 The Last Great Road Bum Hector Tobar
Publishers Weekly
275 The Last Taxi Driver Lee Durkee Kirkus 2
276 The Liar’s Dictionary Eley Williams
The Guardian
277 The Lives of Edie Pritchard Larry Watson Kirkus 2
278 The Lost Book of Adana Moreau Michael Zapata Bookpage
279 The Memory Monster Yishai Sarid NY Times
280 The Midnight Library Matt Haig Goodreads
281 The Missing American Kwei Quartey NPR
282 The Most Precious of Cargoes Jean-Claude Grumberg
Pan Macmillan
283 The New American Micheline Aharonian Marcom
Library Journal
284 The Old Drift Namwali Serpell
Los Angeles Times
285 The Only Good Indians Stephen Graham Jones
Bookshop Santa Cruz
286 The Poet King Ilana C. Myer Kirkus 2
287 The Prettiest Star Carter Sickels Kirkus 2
288 The Queen of Tuesday Darin Strauss
Washington Post
289 The Redshirt: A Novel Corey Sobel NPR
290 The Regrets Amy Bonnaffons
Publishers Weekly
291 The Return Nicholas Sparks
Books A Million
292 The Secret Lives of Church Ladies Deesha Philyaw Kirkus 2
293 The Seventh Perfection Daniel Polansky Kirkus 2
294 The Shadow King Maaza Mengiste
The Telegraph
295 The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires Grady Hendrix
Barnes & Noble
296 The Story of a Goat Perumal Murugan N Kalyan Raman (Translator)
Los Angeles Times
297 The Subtweet Vivek Shraya Book Riot
298 The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again M. John Harrison
The Guardian
299 The Thursday Murder Club: A Novel Richard Osman
Bookshop Santa Cruz
300 The Tunnel A. B. Yehoshu NY Times
301 The Vanished Birds Simon Jimenez Kirkus 2
302 The Voice in My Ear Frances Leviston
The Guardian
303 The War of the Poor Eric Vuillard Mark Polizzotti (Translator)
Pan Macmillan
304 The Women in Black (paperback release) Madeleine St. John Powells
305 The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop Fannie Flagg
Books A Million
306 The Wondrous and Tragic Life of Ivan and Ivana Maryse Condé
Financial Times 2
307 The Worst Best Man Mia Sosa NPR
308 The Yield Tara June Winch Book Riot
309 Thin Girls Diana Clarke Kirkus 2
310 This Is My America Kim Johnson NPR
311 Three Apples Fell From the Sky Narine Abgaryan She Reads
312 To Be a Man Nicole Krauss
Financial Times
313 Trouble the Saints Alaya Dawn Johnson Kirkus 2
314 Truthtelling: Stories, Fables, Glimpses Lynne Sharon Schwartz Kirkus 2
315 Tyll Daniel Kehlmann Ross Benjamin (Translator)
The Guardian
316 Upright Women Wanted Sarah Gailey Book Riot
317 Walking on the Ceiling Aysegül Savas Powells
318 What Happens at Night Peter Cameron Kirkus 2
319 When No One Is Watching: A Thriller Alyssa Cole
Bookshop Santa Cruz
320 When We Cease to Understand the World Benjamin Labatut
The Guardian
321 Where the Wild Ladies Are Aoko Matsuda Time
322 White Ivy Susie Yang
Washington Post
323 Why I Don’t Write: And Other Stories Susan Minot NY Times
324 Wild Swims Dorthe Nors
Financial Times 2
325 Winter Counts David Heska Wanbli Weiden
Los Angeles Times
326 Woven in Moonlight Isabel Ibañez She Reads
327 You Deserve Each Other Sarah Hogle NPR
328 You Will Never Be Forgotten Mary South
Pan Macmillan


27 Best Fiction and Literature Book Sources/Lists



Source Article
Amazon Best literature and fiction of 2020
Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble’s Best Fiction of 2020
Book Riot Best Books of 2020 (So Far)
Bookpage Best Books of 2020: Fiction
Books A Million Our Top 5 Fiction Books of 2020
Bookshop Santa Cruz Best Fiction of the Year 2020
Financial Times Best books of 2020: Fiction
Financial Times 2 Best books of 2020: Fiction in translation
Goodreads Best Fiction
Kirkus Best Fiction in Translation of 2020
Kirkus 2 Best Fiction Books of the Year
Library Journal Best Literary Fiction of 2020
Los Angeles Times The 20 reads book people actually want this year
NPR NPR’s Book Concierge
NY Times 100 Notable Books of 2020
NY Times 2 The 10 Best Books of 2020
Pan Macmillan The best literary fiction of 2020
Powells Best Fiction of 2020
Publishers Weekly Best Fiction Books
Readings The best international fiction books of 2020
She Reads Best international books of 2020
The Guardian Fiction
The Telegraph The best novels of 2020
Time The 10 Best Fiction Books of 2020
TMN The 2021 Tournament of Books Long List
Washington Post 50 notable works of fiction in 2020
Worldly Gentleman The Best Books of 2020
A.M. Anderson

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