LibGuides: Best Books of 2020: Best Book Lists

New York Times 10 Best

Fiction

A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet

Deacon King Kong by James McBride

Hamnet by Maggie O'Farrell

Homeland Elegies by Amad Akhtar

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

Nonfiction

Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Koilker

A Promised Land by Barack Obama

Shakespeare in a Divided America by James Shapiro

Uncanny Valley: A Memoir by Anna Wiener

War: How Conflict Shaped Us by Margaret MacMillan

Source: nyt.com

Award Winners

Nobel Prize in Literature
Awarded to Louise Glück "for her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal."
Pulitzer Prizes
National Book Awards
The mission of the National Book Foundation is to celebrate the best literature in America, expand its audience, and ensure that books have a prominent place in American culture.
Booker Prize
The leading literary award in the English speaking world, which has brought recognition, reward and readership to outstanding fiction for over 50 years. Awarded annually to the best novel of the year written in English and published in the UK or Ireland.

Lit Hub's Ultimate Best Books

Emily Temple of Lit Hub collates all the best book lists she can find, tallies their recommendations, and figures out which books were most often included. Here's the list for 2020!

Other Best Book Lists

Book Riot
Book Riot is the largest independent editorial book site in North America, designed around diverse readers and across all genres.
Goodreads Choice Awards
The only major book awards decided by readers
Library Journal
In a year that many would call one of the worst in recent memory, we were still rewarded with lots of great books. These 144 titles across 15 categories will help get readers through to better days.
Maureen Corrigan
10 Books That Will Connect You In A Socially Distant Year from the book critic for NPR's Fresh Air.
NPR
Use NPR's Book Concierge to mix and match filters and years to explore 2500 recommendations from NPR staff and trusted critics.
Smithsonian Scholars
This wide-ranging list offers much-needed context for the issues at the forefront of the national conversation

Best Books of 2020: Best Book Lists

We Love Year-End Best Book Lists!

New York Times 10 Best

Award Winners

Lit Hub's Ultimate Best Books

Other Best Book Lists