The 100 must-read books of 2020
THE 10 BEST FICTION BOOKS
1. The Vanishing Half
BRIT BENNETT
Twin sisters Stella and Desiree Vignes are Black but could pass as white, and when one makes the decision to do so, she sets generations of Vignes women on a complicated new path.
2. Shuggie Bain
DOUGLAS STUART
In 1980s Glasgow, Shuggie is left to look after his struggling mother as she descends further into alcoholism, all while trying to make sense of his sexuality and place in the world.
3. The Mirror & the Light
HILARY MANTEL
The final installment in Mantel’s masterly trilogy on Thomas Cromwell finds the adviser to the mercurial King Henry VIII finally facing up to the consequences of his scheming.
4. A Children’s Bible
LYDIA MILLET
After a storm pummels their vacation home, a group of children decide to flee, and their adventure story gives way to a distressing narrative about the burdens placed on young people.
5. Homeland Elegies
AYAD AKHTAR
Akhtar employs details from his own life—his name, Pakistani heritage and more—to leave readers constantly questioning what is real as they consider what makes an American identity.
6. I Hold a Wolf by the Ears
LAURA VAN DEN BERG
Van den Berg’s eerie short stories, each anchored by a woman who is slightly disconnected from her reality, offer glimpses of biting humor amid revelations of pain.
7. A Burning
MEGHA MAJUMDAR
Moving between three voices—a Muslim woman wrongfully accused of terrorism, her conflicted alibi and the teacher who wants to seal her fate—Majumdar crafts a stunning portrait of modern-day tensions in India.
8. Deacon King Kong
JAMES MCBRIDE
After he shoots the local drug dealer in the face, a troubled deacon becomes the neighborhood’s most-wanted—by police, local mobsters and the dealer himself in a narrative that explores masculinity and community.
9. Where the Wild Ladies Are
AOKO MATSUDA
In these retellings of traditional Japanese ghost stories with a feminist twist, otherworldly situations meet the mundanity of everyday life.
10. Breasts and Eggs
MIEKO KAWAKAMI
The intertwined journeys of a woman, her sister and her niece—each contending with growing older—illuminate the struggles of
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