With all the adult books that were published this year, how do you pick the best 20? I decided to go to the ‘experts’. I found 15 lists of the best, must-reads of 2020 from a variety of newspapers, magazines, websites, and book review journals. After compiling them together, I came up with the 20 books below. But there was one book that made more lists than any other, The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. If you find a book you love and want to read something similar, try our eSource NoveList. Happy Reading!
A Burning by Megha Majumdar
Caste: the origins of our discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
The Cold Millions by Jess Walter
Deacon King Kong by James McBride
The Dead are Arising: the life of Malcolm X by Les Payne
Hamnet: a novel of the plague by Maggie O’Farrell
Hidden Valley Road: inside the mind of an American family by Robert Kolker
Homeland Elegies by Ayad Akhtar
Just Us: an American conversation by Claudia Rankine
Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam
Luster by Raven Leilani
The Lying Life of Adults by Elena Ferrante
Memorial Drive: a daughter’s memoir by Natasha Trethewey
The Mirror and the Light by Hilary Mantel
Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawai Strong Washburn
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi
The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
What are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez
Writers & Lovers by Lily King
There are 100+ fabulous books that didn’t make this top 20 list. Check out the websites below for each complete list of 2020 titles favored by critics, editors, readers, and reviewers. Also, take a look at Literacy Hub's Ultimate List which takes 41 Best Books of 2020 lists and finds out which books where on at least 6 lists - 63 titles. You can read some of the periodicals below for free using our eSources: Flipster, RBdigital, The New York Times, and NewsBank. Wonder what your library loving neighbors are reading? Check out our 2020 Top Checkouts blog.