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The 35 Best Books of 2020 to Add to Your Reading List ASAP

We're going to be doing a whole lot of reading this year.

Best Books 2020
amazon

There's just nothing more relaxing than cozying up with a good book. Whether you're the kind of person who loves to hold a hard copy of their favorite reads in their hands, an e-reader type so you can get literary on the go, or you prefer listening to audiobooks so you can devour your newest obsession while commuting or cleaning, the best books of 2020 are bound to make your TBR list.

This year, some of our ride-or-die writers (we see you, Sue Monk Kidd!) have come out with new reads to love, while some debut authors are already making a big splash with their first books. A handful of those have already been optioned for film or TV rights (here's looking at you, Long Bright River!) with more sure to come. Get ready to fall in love with the most-anticipated books in memoir, romance, historical fiction, mystery and thriller, literary fiction, and even some hard-to-categorize stories that will set your heart on fire. So crack that spine, grab a cup of something comforting, and get ready to be transported to another life for awhile. And when you're done, pass it on. The only thing better than losing yourself in a great story is sharing that experience with a friend.

Riverhead Books
1 of 35
Long Bright River: A Novel
Liz Moore amazon.com
$26.00
$17.39 (33% off)

In a part of Philadelphia hit hard by the opioid crisis, estranged sisters Kacey and Mickey lead very different lives. Kacey struggles with addiction, while Mickey is a beat cop. When Kacey disappears around the same time a string of murders takes place, Mickey becomes obsessed with finding the killer – and her sister – before it's too late. 

Knopf
2 of 35
Topics of Conversation: A novel
Miranda Popkey amazon.com
$24.00
$15.39 (36% off)

We spend so much of our lives in conversation with others, and those conversations create our stories. This debut novel explores that idea, written almost entirely in conversations between women over 20 years of the narrator's life. It sizzles with anger, indignation, and wit, highlighting what can emerge when women start talking. 

Berkley
3 of 35
Darling Rose Gold
Stephanie Wrobel amazon.com
$26.00
$18.20 (30% off)

When Patty Watts goes to prison for slowly poisoning her daughter Rose Gold, the sheltered 18-year-old has to learn how to navigate the world alone. Upon her release five years later, Patty comes to live with her daughter and expects to fall right back in line as her little girls’ keeper. But Rose Gold has other, darker plans.

Viking
4 of 35
Recollections of My Nonexistence: A Memoir
Rebecca Solnit amazon.com
$23.40

This powerful memoir reveals how Solnit’s coming-of-age as a journalist and a woman in 1980s San Francisco shaped her as a writer and a feminist. She grapples with sexual harassment, poverty, trauma, and women’s exclusion from the cultural conversation, while discovering punk rock and the LGBTQ+ community as safe havens. Her words have long empowered people who feel voiceless, and her latest book is no exception. 

Ballantine Books
5 of 35
A Long Petal of the Sea: A Novel
Isabel Allende amazon.com
$13.99

Pregnant widow Roser and Victor Dalmow, the brother of her deceased love, marry in the aftermath of the fascist takeover in 1930s Spain, in order to flee on a ship chartered by the poet Pablo Neruda. Along with the other refugees, they start over in Chile as Europe erupts in war, and find a way to embrace their new life and each other in exile.

Grove Press
6 of 35
Writers & Lovers: A Novel
Lily King amazon.com
$27.00
$16.20 (40% off)

Casey is blindsided by grief after her mother’s sudden death, drowning in debt, and barely making it through her days as a waitress and aspiring novelist. As she struggles to finish her novel, she falls in love with two very different men who can offer her very divergent lives. More than just romance hinges on her choice, and you’ll hold your breath as she decides.

Ballantine Books
7 of 35
It's Not All Downhill From Here: A Novel
Terry McMillan amazon.com
$28.00
$20.99 (25% off)

At 68, Loretha Curry has it all: a booming business, a gaggle of dedicated friends, and a husband who still lights her fire. She’s looking forward to her best days yet to come, when a tragic loss shatters her world. This heartwarming, laugh-out-loud story is rich with the healing power of friendship.

Little, Brown and Company
8 of 35
The Mercies
Kiran Millwood Hargrave amazon.com
$27.00

On Christmas Eve 1617, in remote Vardo, Finland, a freak storm wipes out nearly every man in the village. The women who live there must find a way to survive, some in unconventional ways. When witch-hunter Absalom Cornet is sent to the village with his young bride Ursa, she develops a special bond with local woman Maren. With echoes of the Salem Witch Trials, this historical fiction shows how strong women have always fought for survival.

Knopf
9 of 35
Weather: A novel
Jenny Offill amazon.com
$23.95
$16.73 (30% off)

In a story that feels eerily close to home, we meet Lizzie, a librarian working at the same university where she dropped out of graduate school to help her drug-addicted brother. When her former mentor asks Lizzie for help answering emails to her climate apocalypse podcast Hell and High Water, she's thrown into an increasingly unhinged discussion about what climate change means from both sides of the aisle. 

Endeavour Media
10 of 35
Dreamland
Nancy Bilyeau amazon.com
$17.99

Don't sleep on this beautiful novel that twists and turns like the Cyclone through Coney Island. Socialite Peggy is sent to spend the summer there, and she's not happy about it — that is, until she falls in love with one of the artists on the pier. When bodies start piling up in the summer heat, Peggy has to untangle a web of deceit before she or those she loves end up asleep forever. 

G.P. Putnam's Sons
11 of 35
Such a Fun Age
Kiley Reid amazon.com
$26.00
$20.24 (22% off)

Alix Chamberlain is used to getting what she wants, and she runs a business inspiring other women to do the same. But when her babysitter Emira Tucker gets confronted (and filmed) at a grocery store in Alix's neighborhood,  both women have to confront their places in society. This striking exploration of race, class, and what it means to be "woke" in today's world will stick with readers long after the last page.

Custom House
12 of 35
Little Gods: A Novel
Meng Jin amazon.com
$25.19

Physicist Su Lan gives birth alone in a Beijing hospital on the night of the Tiananmen Square massacre, setting off a chain of events that draws her daughter Liya back, 17 years later. Her story is interwoven with that of Zhu Wen, the last woman to know her mother in China and Yongzong, Liya's long-lost father. This is a migration story, but it's also one of love, ambition, and the invisible threads that bind us. 

William Morrow
13 of 35
My Dark Vanessa: A Novel
Kate Elizabeth Russell amazon.com
$27.99
$17.99 (36% off)

At 15, Vanessa Wye was preyed upon by her charismatic English professor Jacob Strane, and was forced out of her boarding school as a result. Now, 17 years later, Strane stands accused of sexual misconduct by a current student. In light of the ensuing investigation, Vanessa has to reckon with what really happened to her, as well as how its affected her life, ever since. This one's a must-read for the #MeToo era.

MCD
14 of 35
Uncanny Valley: A Memoir
Anna Wiener amazon.com
$27.00
$19.39 (28% off)

Anna Wiener left her job in book publishing in NYC and moved to San Francisco right as a massive culture shift was underway in Silicon Valley, and found herself caught smack in the middle. This memoir details what it was like navigating startup culture at a unique time in history with candor, wit, and just enough juicy details to keep readers hooked. 

Harper
15 of 35
Wandering in Strange Lands: A Daughter of the Great Migration Reclaims Her Roots
Morgan Jerkins amazon.com
$27.99

From 1916–1970, millions of black Americans left the rural South for jobs in the Midwest, North, and West, leaving their roots behind. In this deeply researched look at her own family history, as well as that of our nation, Jenkins explores what became known as the Great Migration and what it means for the cultural identity of black Americans. 

Penguin Press
16 of 35
Death in Her Hands: A Novel
Ottessa Moshfegh amazon.com
$27.00
$18.99 (30% off)

It all starts with a note that reads, "Her name was Magda. Nobody will ever know who killed her. It wasn't me. Here is her dead body." An elderly widow finds it in the woods and her horror and curiosity soon turns into an obsession. But just as her investigation begins to take shape, we begin to doubt our narrator's grip on reality. This is part crime thriller, part dark comedy, and totally delightful. 

Viking
17 of 35
The Book of Longings: A Novel
Sue Monk Kidd amazon.com
$28.00
$16.91 (40% off)

The latest from Sue Monk Kidd introduces us to Ana, a courageous, intelligent woman who marries Jesus long before his public ministry begins. Based on meticulous historical research, this is a humanizing look at Jesus the man, as well as an inspiring story of a strong woman living in a society bent on her silence. 

Berkley
18 of 35
The Sun Down Motel
Simone St. James amazon.com
$26.00
$17.39 (33% off)

In this creepy supernatural thriller, Carly moves to the decrepit town of Fell to find out what happened when her aunt Viv disappeared from her job at the Sun Down Motel in 1982. After Carly starts working there, strange things start happening. It only gets stranger as she uncovers a possible serial killer preying on women in Fell, and it's not long before the mystery becomes very, very real.

Red Hen Press
19 of 35
Glorious Boy
Aimee Liu amazon.com
$18.95

As the Japanese close in on invading India, Claire, and Shep must evacuate the Andaman islands with their mute four-year-old boy, Ty. But just before they're due to leave, Ty and Naila, the local girl who helps them communicate with him, disappear. As time runs out, Shep forces Claire onto the ship, staying behind to search for Ty. As the Japanese take the islands, all three undertake a risky odyssey toward reunion.

Grand Central Publishing
20 of 35
The Moment of Tenderness
Madeline L'Engle amazon.com
$27.00
$17.99 (33% off)

Following the thread of L'Engle's lonely childhood in New York to her life as a mom in Connecticut, and the current of faith that runs throughout, this new short story collection offers a look into her world. Fans of A Wrinkle In Time will enjoy dipping back into L'Engle's elegant prose and her distillation of normal life into singular beauty.

Deckle Edge
21 of 35
Stray: A Memoir
Stephanie Danler amazon.com
$25.00

From the author of Sweetbitter comes this deeply personal, emotionally wrenching memoir that explores her complicated relationship with her parents and their own addictions. It's an unflinching account of what we carry with us from our parents, and what we can put down if we can find the strength. 

Penguin Random House
22 of 35
The Herd: A Novel
Andrea Bartz amazon.com
$24.30

When the founder of a super Instragrammable women-only coworking space disappears, her friends are frantic to find her. But along the way, they start uncovering disturbing secrets about her, each other, and even themselves. For those of us who can't get into The Wing, this is a must-read.

Little, Brown
23 of 35
The Regrets
Amy Bonnaffons amazon.com
$27.00
$18.39 (32% off)

Rachel and Thomas's chemistry is undeniable, but there's one tiny problem: he's dead. And he's under strict instructions not to engage with anyone alive while he's in his personal limbo, at the risk of accruing "regrets." When he breaks the rule, the results are delightfully weird, and weirdly delightful. 

Harper
24 of 35
The Night Watchman
Louise Erdrich WalMart
$28.00

Based on the life of her grandfather, who worked as a night watchman and worked against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota to Washington, D.C., this tome explores the treatment of women and native people, as well as the vagaries of human nature, with elegant language, sly wit, and an emotional sensibility that sneaks up on you like an intruder in the night. 

Knopf
25 of 35
The Glass Hotel: A Novel
Emily St. John Mandel WalMart
$20.00

For fans of the dystopian Station Eleven, this new release comes at just the right time. This one explores the connection between a Ponzi scheme collapse and a woman disappearing at sea. Think they've got nothing in common? You'll just have to read to find out. 

Riverhead Books
26 of 35
All Adults Here: A Novel
Emma Straub WalMart
$16.32

A school bus accident in a small town prompts reflection for a mother and her now-grown children in Straub’s most recent novel, which sees its characters grappling with their identities and places in life. Come for the close examination of parental and child roles, stay for goats — yes, goats. 

Grand Central Publishing
27 of 35
Too Much: How Victorian Constraints Still Bind Women Today
Rachel Vorona Cote WalMart
$18.00

Calling all women and people who love them: This comprehensive book perfectly interweaves academic scholarship, engaging storytelling, and extremely convincing arguments that will convert even those who think suffrage solved all of our problems. Anyone who has ever been told to sit down, shush, and that little girls should be seen and not heard, this one's for you. 

MCD
28 of 35
Sharks in the Time of Saviors: A Novel
Kawai Strong Washburn WalMart
$27.00

Traveling between lush Hawaii, Washington, and California, this family saga is lightly mystical and deeply grounded. When tragedy strikes the Flores family, they all have to grapple with their relationship to supernatural forces, socioeconomic struggles, and of course, each other. It's a story that will transport you.  

Dutton
29 of 35
Home Before Dark
Riley Sager WalMart
$24.30

For fans of the Amityville Horror story comes yet another breath-stealer from the hit machine Sager. Maggie's father found fame and fortune writing a true account of their time in a haunted house, but it's never set well with Maggie. When she returns to the house after her father's death, she's determined to debunk the tale. But what happens is far more sinister than she ever expected.

Catapult
30 of 35
Godshot: A Novel
Chelsea Bieker WalMart
$23.00

We've got a sinister religious cult Margaret Atwood herself would approve of, a phone sex line, taxidermy, and a fraught mother-daughter relationship that shows just how far a girl will go to repair the very first bond we all experience. What's not to like? 

Liveright
31 of 35
And I Do Not Forgive You: Stories and Other Revenges
Amber Sparks WalMart
$16.69

By turns morbid, darkly hilarious, and wonderfully strange, this collection of stories reads like fables or fairytales that feel modern and very grown-up. If you like your reading in bite-sized portions, pick up this collection for stolen moments of escape in between obligations. 

Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
32 of 35
I Hold a Wolf by the Ears: Stories
Laura van den Berg WalMart
$26.00

This quiet collection of short stories feels both totally familiar and completely strange, blending the everyday with the bizarre so seamlessly, you'll never catch the edge. While the stories are short, their impact is lasting. 

Riverhead
33 of 35
The Vanishing Half: A Novel
Brit Bennett WalMart
$16.32

Identical twin sisters grew up to live very different lives, one in her predominantly black hometown and one across the country, passing as white with a husband who knows nothing of her past. This multi-generational story considers the lasting influence of the past as it shapes a person’s decisions, desires, and expectations.

G.P. Putnam's Sons
34 of 35
Tiny Imperfections
Alli Frank and Asha Youmans WalMart
$16.00

This delightful romp through the world of private school admissions comes from two women who’ve both worked in education for over 20 years. It follows three generations of black women and their experiences in the private school world in San Francisco, complete with mother-daughter relationships, schoolyard drama, and interracial romance.

Celadon Books
35 of 35
Hollywood Park: A Memoir
Mikel Jollett WalMart
$25.00

The frontman of indie band Airborne Toxic Event chronicles his dysfunctional coming-of-age in the Church of Synanon in a memoir that deals with addiction, religious fanaticism, and abuse. But there's also loyalty, raw love, and a poetic voice that prevails throughout the horror. 

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