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Bookworms, rejoice: Amazon released its annual list of the 100 best books of the year. The editors at Amazon Book Review narrowed down some of the best titles of 2020 from various genres, such as literature and fiction, memoirs, mysteries and thrillers, romance, children’s books, cookbooks, and more. Whether you’re gift shopping for the book lover in your life or simply searching for new titles for yourself to dig into for the long winter ahead, allow Amazon’s extensive list to provide some inspiration.
Browse the full list of the 100 best books by category on Amazon. Below, check out some of the top 10 books that made the list complete with reviews from Amazon editors—from Brit Bennett’s “The Vanishing Half” to Stephenie Meyer’s “Midnight Sun.” Happy reading!
“This memoir will take your breath away, make your eyes prick with tears and rage, and then fill you up with hope, which is why the Amazon Editors named ‘A Knock at Midnight’ the Best Book of 2020,” Al Woodworth writes. “At times, this reads like page-turning crime fiction; at others, a galvanizing and redemptive portrait of a lawyer trying to defend Black lives that were never protected in the first place. Urgent, necessary—and a knockout read.”
“Teeming with adventure, darkness, love, and loss, ‘Migrations’ is the best novel of 2020,” Woodworth writes. “Why? Because it’s impossible to put down as you learn about the life of Franny Stone, a sharp, flawed, and determined woman who will stop at nothing to track down what she’s lost. She’s on the run and on the loose, and it is one heck of a ride on the open seas.”
“Ideal for book clubs, ‘The Vanishing Half’ examines sisterhood, personal identity, starting fresh, and what it means to be Black (and white) in America,” Woodworth writes. “Bennett is known for creating taut family dramas, and like her brilliant debut, ‘The Mothers,’ this novel shows just how strong the bonds of sisters are, even at their weakest.”
“Isabel Wilkerson’s ‘Caste’ will change the way you think,” Chris Schluep writes. “She clearly lays out her argument, starting broadly and then introducing historical examples meant to erase any doubts. As I read this book, I finally had to consciously stop myself from highlighting passages. Because I was highlighting most of the book.”
“The first thing one notices is Bryan Washington’s dialogue,” Schluep writes. “Very quickly the characters take over and sweep the reader along with them. Mike and Benson, who from page one are separated by an ocean, are engaged in a sort of anti-rom-com that explores love, desire, otherness, and what really makes a family. This is a standout debut novel, and the Amazon Editors named it one of the Best Books of the Year.”
“You will seethe with rage but then your heart will swell after reading this rousing tale of courage and pluck about a young girl in Nigeria who is sold into servitude,” Erin Kodicek writes. “You will also never take the luxury of an education for granted again.”
“A thoughtful, thought-provoking debut set in modern day India,” Schluep writes. “Told from three points of view, the story mostly follows Jivan, a young Muslim woman who leaves an innocuous Facebook comment that will soon haunt her. Majumdar explores important themes, but never at the cost of the inner lives of her memorable characters.”
“The gothic novels of today are not like those of yesteryear: Female protagonists are smart and proactive, and vaguely disquieting events become truly terrifying,” Adrian Liang writes. “Put plenty of me-time on your calendar, because you won’t want to stop for breaks while you race through Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s creepy, glorious read that is pitch-perfect for today’s audience.”
“‘Sigh, Gone’ is one of the funniest and most profound memoirs of 2020, which is why the Amazon Editors named it a Best Book of the Year,” Woodworth writes. “Without rose-colored glasses and with a flair for humor, Tran recounts his childhood as a Vietnamese kid growing up in a small Pennsylvania town: the racism, dislocation, and violence that surrounded him, how he fought to fit in, and how he fell in love with literature.”
“In Stephenie Meyer’s latest novel, she returns to the story that changed a genre, redefined vampires, and put a whole new spin on dangerous obsession and star-crossed love,” Seira Wilson writes. “There are two sides to every story and we’ve long had Bella’s—now, thanks to ‘Midnight Sun,’ we can see the whole picture.”
