The Best Books of 2020 I Haven’t Yet Read (Fiction)
There are very few things I enjoy more than pondering which books to read. Sometimes I suspect I enjoy this process more than the actual reading itself. So every year, I go through all the ‘best books of xxxx’ lists I can find and, based on these, compile THE LIST of things I would like to read. It is not a firm TBR, as my success rate with this list is maybe 50% (which is completely fine by me) and it’s also not a full TBR, as there are of course also new books I want to read and a massive amount of old ones.
People have asked me to share this list and in previous years I haven’t, because it can give a misleading impression that these are the books I consider to be the best of that year. While in reality, I of course have read quite a few books from these ‘best of’ lists already, often the ones that remain my favourites overall. I’m going to address this issue by also including the books I HAVE read and that I saw being highlighted on many best ofs. Plus I will mention some obvious omissions, as you may still be interested in these books or perhaps in my reasons for not including them.
I wasn’t even half-way through the post when I realised it’s going to be extremely long. To make it a bit more manageable, I have broken it down into four categories: literary fiction, genre fiction, non-fiction and books published in Estonian last year. As you can see from the picture, I already own most of the books I talk about here, but not all. Some I have already managed to read in January – I will indicate when that’s the case.
The fiction list
Transcendent Kingdom, Yaa Gyasi. I adored Gyasi’s debute, Homegoing, and am not going to miss this one. It was published in the US first and I couldn’t get my hands on it as quickly as I wanted – that’s why I haven’t read it yet.
Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell. The best fiction book of the year according to many lists and several trustworthy Bookstagram/Booktube people. It’s scary for me because I have a 11-year-old daughter and the book involves the death of Shakespeare’s 11-year-old son (not a spoiler, the premise is well known). I have started, but I’m a coward.
Leave the World Behind, Rumaan Alam. A sensation in the US, this promises to be extremely gripping and extremely uncomfortable. Involves a mysterious disaster and racism.
Homeland Elegies, Ayad Akhtar. Another US one and I would perhaps have given it a miss, if one of my Goodreads friends hadn’t given it five stars. It’s about the experience of being a Muslim in the States after 9/11.
A Burning, Megha Majumdar. Extremism, class and justice (or the lack of it) in contemporary India.
Shuggie Bain, Douglas Stuart. Another one I’m afraid of, as it focuses on a tragic mother-child relationship. But it won the Booker and Kassandrakomplex loved it, so it has to be on the list.
The Lying Life of Adults, Elena Ferrante. I got stuck with Ferrante’s famous tetralogy after reading 40 pages of the first book, so I’m hoping to end my Ferrante fiction draught with this standalone.
Where the Wild Ladies Are, Aoko Matsuda. Feminist retellings of traditional Japanese folktales. Say no more.
A Children’s Bible, Lydia Millet. I wasn’t really properly aware of this one until I read the American Top 10s and 100s. I’m promised a catastrophe, children taking things in their own hands and some excellent writing.
The Death of Vivek Oji, Akwaeke Emezi. If it’s anything like Emezi’s first book (Freshwater), it’s going to be queer, original and an absolute emotional gut punch.
My Dark Vanessa, Kate Elizabeth Russell. One of the most hyped books of last year, it deals with sexual abuse and manipulation. I planned to read it already in 2020, but somehow never got to it.
How Much of These Hills is Gold, C. Pam Zhang. A historical, literary western from a Chinese-American point of view.
Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid. I’m in fact not sure I will read this: while popular, it seems a rather mainstream/commercial take on race issues. That said, I’m not capable of reading very demanding books all the time anyway.
Breasts and Eggs, Mieko Kawakami. Japanese women struggling with being women in a still rather traditional society.
Writers and Lovers, Lily King. A woman in her thirties figuring out her life. The reviews are very promising.
I Hold a Wolf by the Ears, Laura van den Berg. The only book on my list that I hadn’t heard about at all until I started going through the year-end summaries, but it sounds very intriguing: dark, surreal short stories about women on the edge.
Migrations, Charlotte McConaghy. Amazon’s best book of the year, this is about a woman on a lonely expedition to Antarctica, about climate change and secrets. I should read this while it’s still winter.
Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line, Deepa Anappara. 9-year-old Jai is looking for missing children in an Indian slum: Middle Grade mystery meeting some really dark themes.
Hurricane Season, Fernanda Melchor. I have read about 10 pages of this, so I know that it’s a visceral, violent read about a Mexican village, a ‘witch’ and what humans can do to each other.
The Bass Rock, Evie Wyld. There is a witch in this one, too, but in Scotland and in the past. The book tells her story together with two others. This is on the list mostly because it was the favourite book of Jen Campbell (a Booktuber I really like) in 2020.
Bestiary, K-Ming Chang. Taiwanese-American Women who are also maybe tigers. Of course it’s on the list.
The Shadow King, Maaza Mengiste. Probably a rather difficult read about women fighting Mussolini in Ethiopia 1935. It also sounds beautiful and fascinating.
The Secret Lives of Church Ladies, Deesha Philyaw. This wasn’t on many lists, but people who had read it absolutely adored it. It’s a short story collection about black women not being good.
Burnt Sugar, Avni Doshi. Reviews are very mixed for this Booker-shortlisted novel about a very difficult mother-daughter relationship. I’m still curious, though, and it’s rather short…
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, Cho Nam-Jo. A very popular South-Korean novel about everyday sexism and misogyny.
The ones that would be on the list if I hadn’t already read them
Girl, Woman, Other, Bernardine Evaristo. It was in fact published in 2019, but was still on many lists (I think it came out in 2020 in the US) and rightly so. One of my books of the year.
The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett. Another one that topped many lists and I understand why, although I didn’t love it as much as I did Evaristo. But Bennett has done us all a favour by writing an extremely accessible novel about race, colourism and passing.
The Glass Hotel, Emily St John Mandel. I don’t know whether it should be in the genre section, but to me it feels more like literary fiction. A lovely, atmospheric read about money, deceit and ghosts.
Luster, Raven Leilani. MUCH hyped and out in the US for a while already, I believe it has just reached the UK and Europe. A fascinating, somewhat weird read about race, sex, power and intimacy.
Death in Her Hands, Ottessa Moshfegh. Also much hyped, but not as successful as Moshfegh’s The Year of Rest and Relaxation in my view. I kept feeling like the author was running an experiment to determine the cleverness of the readers and taking much delight in the fact that they were less clever than her.
Summerwater, Sarah Moss. I liked Moss’s Ghost Wall better, but this is a good, intelligent read about ordinary people and their faults and sadnesses. To be read on a rainy day.
Weather, Jenny Offill. A meditative little book on the state of the world (climate change in particular) against the backdrop of the very personal. Liked, but didn’t quite love it.
Books that could objectively be on the list but aren’t
The Midnight Library, Matt Haig. This was Goodreads’ fiction book of the year, but it seems predictable and shallow to me (unhappy woman will be able to live different versions of her life to… learn a lesson?). Might read it anyway to see if I’m right.
Deacon King Kong, James McBride. Pretty universally praised, but I simply suspect this isn’t for me.
The Mirror and the Light, Hilary Mantel. Would be on the list, if I had read the first two books. Which I will try to do in 2021.
Anxious People, Federick Backman. Backman is extremely popular, but I’m suspicious of him for exactly that reason. I could absolutely be missing out, though.
American Dirt, Jeanine Cummins. Another very popular book about a Mexican bookseller that has to escape cartel-related violence. Sounds interesting, but enough people who know what they are talking about have said it’s at best incredibly clichéd and at worst racist. I could read it and find out for myself, but I’ll pass.
Which 2020 books are you looking forward to reading the most? Anything you’d add to my list?
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Several of the books on your to read list are also on mine. However, many got stuck when the libraries in Stockholm closed due to covid. They will all turn up all at once I suspect. Oh joy. Got my copy of Luster earlier this week, so very jazzed about that. Said no to an ARC of Djinn patrol at some point because they made serious demands of posts etc. in return (and honestly I’m still not that excited by it). And to be honest, You only read to read Wolf Hall of the trilogy. And you’re a pretty sophisticated reader so I don’t know if you’ll be that impressed by it. I don’t know if I would be even if I read it now. But Mantel Pieces is a gem, I should have put it in my best of 2020. And Mantel hit it out of the park with A place of greater safety. You should read that. Tonight I will start on the Obama book so that’s gonna take me fucking two weeks (given my work load). ..
I think the iPad ate my reply to your comments, I distinctly remember writing them… I’m taking note of A Place of Greater Safety. A good friend with sophisticated tastes just raved about the Mantel trilogy and this has renewed my motivation to try it again. I had some issues with Mantel Pieces (not quality related, she is so intelligent and an exceptional writer), but curiously, this has also intrigued me rather than put me off. I know I need to read Hamnet, I’m just waiting for the right mood… And I hope you’ll like Obama, I really did. it took me much longer than two weeks, though. It’s a moster. A friendly and intelligent one.
Chipping in here to say that A Place of Greater Safety is my favourite Mantel (I love her, but anyway) and reading her view of the French Revolution felt almost hallucinatory. I’m interested in moments when a society as a whole goes through something unimaginable (I’m far less keen on living through such a moment, but anyway) and the French Revolution (they re-invented time!!) has fascinated me for a long while. I felt almost drugged while reading it, it was quite an experience. Is it too late to wish you a happy birthday dear A? But happy birthday 🙂 xxx E
It is never too late for something nice! Thank you.
And note well taken of A Place of Greater Safety. I have not really had much interest in the French Revolution since my very early teens, but one of Mantel’s essays in Mantel Pieces made it all come back. Your description of your reading experience has made me want to read APOGS immediately!
And also: Hamnet is great, Burnt Sugar really isn’t (but you should read it anyway I guess to make up your own mind) and why haven’t I got around to reading Emily St Mandel John yet?
I’m on the last 100 hundred pages of Say Nothing (about the Troubles in Northern Ireland) and I think it’s very well written and hard to put down. I highly recommend it in case you didn’t get to it last year.
I didn’t! It was in fact on my list already last year, but well… Good to know in any case that you recommend it too.
Although, as a parent, some of Hammet is extremely sad, I would still recommend it. I’m with you on Elena Ferrante – I struggled through the first novel and didn’t feel compelled to read the others. The Wolf Hall trilogy I enjoyed but I think Hilary Mantel’s style (quite minimalist, precise, present tense prose) can jar a little with the content and context so it depends if you can get on with that. Thanks for a great round up Anniky!
Thanks, Gem! I will get my act together and read Hamnet at some point. Have you read Mantel’s A Place of Greater Safety? In Mantel Pieces, there was an essay about the French Revolution that I really liked and now I’m kind of interested in APOGS. Also, Eliza praised it here in the comments. But it’s a huge investment.
No I haven’t tried APOGS. Before Wolf Hall I was very sceptical as I didn’t enjoy Beyond Black or An Experiment in Love, and neither do I often pick up historical fiction, so my expectations were low. It took me a while to get into but I’ve found the trilogy quite compelling, even though you know the main events.
Similarly, I’d pretty much written off Kate Atkinson until I read Life After Life, where the different structure and premise seemed to liberate her.
I read Atkinson’s Human Croquet ages ago, when I was in the University, and really liked it. But then I didn’t read anything until Life After Life. I am on the brink of giving up on Ali Smith, who seems to irritate and underwhelm me rather than inspire the love she does in my (very intelligent and sophisticated) friends.
With Mantel’s trilogy, my historical knowledge is probably shallow enough to keep me guessing:)