“What are the best Fiction and Literature books released in 2020?” We looked at 328 of the top Fiction and Literature books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 37 books, all appearing on 4 or more “Best Fiction and Literature” book lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 275+ titles, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.

Our other Best Of 2020 Articles:

• The Best Art, Photography, And Coffee Table Books
• The Best AudioBooks
• The Best Biography And Memoir Books
• The Best Graphic Novels And Comics
• The Best Cookbooks
• The Best Fiction Books
• The Best Books (All Categories)
• The Best History Books
• The Best Kids, Children, and Youth Books
• The Best Mystery, Horror, and Thriller Books
• The Best Nonfiction Books
• The Best Poetry Books
• The Best Science And Nature Books
• The Best Science Fiction And Fantasy Books
• The Best Young Adult Books

Previous Years: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015

All titles have been added to a Bookshop list as well!

Happy Scrolling!

Top 37 Best Fiction and Literature Books From 2020

37.) Breasts and Eggs written byMieko Kawakami

Lists It Appears On:

• Time
• NY Times
• TMN
• Pan Macmillan

The story of three women by a writer hailed by Haruki Murakami as Japan’s most important contemporary novelist, WINNER OF THE AKUTAGAWA PRIZE. “Breasts and Eggs took my breath away.”–HARUKI MURAKAMI A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2020 Vogue・Thrillist・The Millions・ Literary Hub・Now Toronto・Metropolis Ja

36.) Exciting Times written byNaoise Dolan

Lists It Appears On:

• She Reads
• Washington Post
• TMN
• The Guardian

“This debut novel about an Irish expat millennial teaching English and finding romance in Hong Kong is half Sally Rooney love triangle, half glitzy Crazy Rich Asians high living–and guaranteed to please.” –Vogue A RECOMMENDED BOOK FROM: The New York Times Book Review * Vogue * TIME * Marie Claire

35.) Hurricane Season written byFernanda Melchor, translated by Sophie Hughes

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• NY Times
• Book Riot
• The Guardian

Con un ritmo y un lenguaje magistrales, Fernanda Melchor, autora de Falsa liebre explora en esta obra las sinrazones que subyacen a los actos m s desesperados de barbarie pasional. Una novela cruda y desgarradora en la que el lector quedar envuelto, atrapado por las palabras y la atm sfera de terrib

34.) Mayflies written byAndrew O’Hagan

Lists It Appears On:

• Readings
• Financial Times
• The Guardian
• The Telegraph

An unforgettable coming-of-age novel that becomes a profound mediation on life, death, and lifelong friendship.

33.) Monogamy written bySue Miller

Lists It Appears On:

• Publishers Weekly
• NY Times
• Bookpage
• NPR

“A sensual and perceptive novel. . . . With humor and humanity, Miller resists the simple scorned-wife story and instead crafts a revelatory tale of the complexities–and the absurdities–of love, infidelity, and grief.” –O, the Oprah MagazineA brilliantly insightful novel, engrossing and haunting,

32.) Sisters written byDaisy Johnson

Lists It Appears On:

• Publishers Weekly
• NY Times
• Bookpage
• TMN

ONE OF THE TOP TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR– PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR–VULTURE “Daisy Johnson is the demon offspring of Shirley Jackson and Stephen King.” –The Observer “Builds a gothic plot to an artful and shocking climax.”–The New York Times “Ends with a magnificent t

31.) Utopia Avenue written byDavid Mitchell

Lists It Appears On:

• Kirkus 2
• Washington Post
• The Guardian
• The Telegraph

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER – The long-awaited new novel from the bestselling, prize-winning author of Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks. New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice – “Mitchell’s rich imaginative stews bubble with history and drama, and this time the flavor is a blend of Carnaby Street a

30.) Interior Chinatown written byCharles Yu

Lists It Appears On:

• Kirkus 2
• Washington Post
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• TMN
• NPR

2020 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST! One of the funniest books of the year … a delicious, ambitious Hollywood satire. –The Washington Post From the infinitely inventive author of How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe comes a deeply personal novel about race, pop culture, immigration, a

29.) Red Pill written byHari Kunzru

Lists It Appears On:

• Los Angeles Times
• Financial Times
• NY Times
• TMN
• NPR

From the widely acclaimed author of White Tears, a bold new novel about searching for order in a world that frames madness as truth. After receiving a prestigious writing fellowship in Germany, the narrator of Red Pill arrives in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee and struggles to accomplish anything at a

28.) The Night Watchman written byLouise Erdrich

Lists It Appears On:

• Kirkus 2
• Washington Post
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• TMN
• NPR

New York Times BestsellerBased on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes o

27.) Sharks in the Time of Saviors written byKawai Strong Washburn

Lists It Appears On:

• Kirkus 2
• Powells
• Amazon
• NY Times
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• TMN

Barnes & Noble Discover pick for March 2020 Amazon Editors’ Pick for March 2020 Sharks in the Time of Saviors is a groundbreaking debut novel that folds the legends of Hawaiian gods into an engrossing family saga; a story of exile and the pursuit of salvation from Kawai Strong Washburn. “Old myths c

26.) Summer written byAli Smith

Lists It Appears On:

• Kirkus 2
• Financial Times
• TMN
• The Guardian
• The Telegraph
• NPR

“A prose poem in praise of memory, forgiveness, getting the joke and seizing the moment.” –Dwight Garner, The New York Times In the present, Sacha knows the world’s in trouble. Her brother Robert just is trouble. Their mother and father are having trouble. Meanwhile, the world’s in meltdown­–and t

25.) The Cold Millions written byJess Walter

Lists It Appears On:

• Barnes & Noble
• Kirkus 2
• Publishers Weekly
• Amazon
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• TMN

A Most Anticipated Book by: The New York Times Book Review * Wall Street Journal * Time * Esquire * The Millions * Vogue * People * New York Post * USA Today * Medium * The Philadelphia Inquirer * NewsdayFrom the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins comes another “literary miracle

24.) The Death of Vivek Oji written byAkwaeke Emezi

Lists It Appears On:

• Washington Post
• NY Times
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• Bookpage
• TMN
• NPR

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NEW YORK TIMES EDITOR’S CHOICE Electrifying. — O Magazine Named one of the year’s most anticipated books by The New York Times, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, BuzzFeed, Refinery29, and more What does it mean for a family to lose a child they never really knew? One aftern

23.) The Pull of the Stars written byEmma Donoghue

Lists It Appears On:

• Kirkus 2
• Powells
• Washington Post
• Pan Macmillan
• The Guardian
• The Telegraph

In Dublin, 1918, a maternity ward at the height of the Great Flu is a small world of work, risk, death, and unlooked-for love, in “Donoghue’s best novel since Room” (Kirkus Reviews) In an Ireland doubly ravaged by war and disease, Nurse Julia Power works at an understaffed hospital in the city cente

22.) Writers & Lovers written byLily King

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• NY Times
• Kirkus 2
• Amazon
• Pan Macmillan
• NPR

Following the breakout success of her critically acclaimed and award-winning novel Euphoria, Lily King returns with an unforgettable portrait of an artist as a young woman. Blindsided by her mother’s sudden death, and wrecked by a recent love affair, Casey Peabody has arrived in Massachusetts in the

21.) A Children’s Bible written byLydia Millet

Lists It Appears On:

• NY Times
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• Washington Post
• Time
• NY Times 2
• TMN
• The Telegraph

Pulitzer Prize finalist Lydia Millet’s sublime new novel–her first since the National Book Award long-listed Sweet Lamb of Heaven–follows a group of twelve eerily mature children on a forced vacation with their families at a sprawling lakeside mansion.Contemptuous of their parents, who pass their

20.) Cleanness written byGarth Greenwell

Lists It Appears On:

• Kirkus 2
• Washington Post
• NY Times
• TMN
• Pan Macmillan
• The Telegraph
• NPR

In the highly anticipated follow-up to his beloved debut, What Belongs to You, Garth Greenwell deepens his exploration of foreignness, obligation, and desire Sofia, Bulgaria, a landlocked city in southern Europe, stirs with hope and impending upheaval. Soviet buildings crumble, wind scatters sand fr

19.) The Glass Hotel written byEmily St. John Mandel

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Washington Post
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• Bookpage
• TMN
• Pan Macmillan
• NPR

LONGLISTED FOR THE GILLER PRIZE The Glass Hotel may be the perfect novel for your survival bunker. –Ron Charles, The Washington Post A New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek, Bustle, Buzzfeed, GoodReads, Houston Chronicle, Writer’s Digest, Medium, Washington Independent Review of Books, The

18.) Weather written byJenny Offill

Lists It Appears On:

• Book Riot
• Readings
• Washington Post
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• The Guardian
• The Telegraph
• NPR

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER From the beloved author of the nationwide best seller Dept. of Speculation–one of the New York Times Book Review’s Ten Best Books of the Year–a “darkly funny and urgent” (NPR) tour de force about a family, and a nation, in crisis Lizzie Benson slid into her job a

17.) How Much of These Hills is Gold written byC Pam Zhang

Lists It Appears On:

• Book Riot
• Kirkus 2
• Powells
• Readings
• Washington Post
• NY Times
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• Bookpage

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE 2020 CENTER FOR FICTION FIRST NOVEL PRIZE NATIONAL BESTSELLER A NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION 5 UNDER 35 HONOREE A GOOP Book Club Pick “A fully immersive epic drama packed with narrative riches and exquisitely crafted prose.” –San Francisco Chronicle

16.) Jack written byMarilynne Robinson

Lists It Appears On:

• Books A Million
• Kirkus 2
• Los Angeles Times
• Financial Times
• NY Times
• TMN
• The Guardian
• NPR

A New York Times bestseller Marilynne Robinson, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Humanities Medal, returns to the world of Gilead with Jack, the latest novel in one of the great works of contemporary American fiction Marilynne Robinson’s mythical world of Gilead, Iowa–the setting of he

15.) Memorial written byBryan Washington

Lists It Appears On:

• Barnes & Noble
• Kirkus 2
• Washington Post
• Amazon
• NY Times
• Bookpage
• TMN
• NPR

A GOOD MORNING AMERICA Book Club Pick! “Truly unlike anything I’ve read before. Bryan Washington’s take on love, family, and responsibility is as complicated and true as life itself. I can’t stop thinking about it.” –Ann Patchett, author of The Dutch House “Made me think about the nature of love, a

14.) Piranesi written bySusanna Clarke

Lists It Appears On:

• Kirkus 2
• Readings
• Washington Post
• Financial Times
• Bookpage
• TMN
• The Guardian
• The Telegraph

New York Times Bestseller! From the New York Times bestselling author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, an intoxicating, hypnotic new novel set in a dreamlike alternative reality. Piranesi’s house is no ordinary building: its rooms are infinite, its corridors endless, its walls are lined with thousa

13.) Real Life written byBrandon Taylor

Lists It Appears On:

• Book Riot
• Washington Post
• Financial Times
• NY Times
• TMN
• The Guardian
• The Telegraph
• NPR

A FINALIST FOR THE 2020 BOOKER PRIZE A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS’ CHOICE “A blistering coming of age story” –O: The Oprah Magazine A novel of startling intimacy, violence, and mercy among friends in a Midwestern university town, from an electric new voice. Almost everything about Wallace is at odds wi

12.) The Mirror and the Light written byHilary Mantel

Lists It Appears On:

• Bookpage
• NY Times
• Kirkus 2
• Time
• Publishers Weekly
• Washington Post
• The Guardian
• The Telegraph

The brilliant #1 New York Times bestseller With The Mirror & the Light, Hilary Mantel brings to a triumphant close the trilogy she began with her peerless, Booker Prize-winning novels, Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. She traces the final years of Thomas Cromwell, the boy from nowhere who climbs t

11.) Transcendent Kingdom written byYaa Gyasi

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Kirkus 2
• Amazon
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• Bookpage
• Worldly Gentleman
• Library Journal
• NPR

A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK! INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER Yaa Gyasi’s stunning follow-up to her acclaimed national best seller Homegoing is a powerful, raw, intimate, deeply layered novel about a Ghanaian family in Alabama. Gifty is a sixth-year PhD candidate in neuroscience at

10.) Homeland Elegies written byAyad Akhtar

Lists It Appears On:

• Kirkus 2
• Publishers Weekly
• Time
• NY Times
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• NY Times 2
• Worldly Gentleman
• Library Journal
• NPR

A “profound and provocative” new work by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Disgraced and American Dervish an immigrant father and his son search for belonging — in post-Trump America, and with each other (Kirkus Reviews). “Passionate, disturbing, unputdownable.” — Salman Rushdie A deeply person

9.) Luster written byRaven Leilani

Lists It Appears On:

• Kirkus 2
• Los Angeles Times
• Powells
• Amazon
• NY Times
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• TMN
• Pan Macmillan
• NPR

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER LOS ANGELES TIMES BESTSELLER WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER So delicious that it feels illicit . . . Raven Leilani’s first novel reads like summer: sentences like ice that crackle or melt into a languorous drip; plot suddenly, wildly flying

8.) The Lying Life of Adults written byElena Ferrante ; translated by Ann Goldstein

Lists It Appears On:

• NPR
• Financial Times 2
• Kirkus
• Kirkus 2
• Los Angeles Times
• Washington Post
• Bookpage
• The Telegraph
• The Guardian

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A NATIONAL INDIE BESTSELLER. Soon to be a NETFLIX Original Series. A POWERFUL NEW NOVEL set in a divided Naples by ELENA FERRANTE, the New York Times best-selling author of My Brilliant Friend and The Lost Daughter. “There’s no doubt [the publication of The Lying Life of

7.) A Burning written byMegha Majumdar

Lists It Appears On:

• Readings
• She Reads
• Washington Post
• Time
• Amazon
• NY Times
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• TMN
• Library Journal
• NPR

A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK! For readers of Tommy Orange, Yaa Gyasi, and Jhumpa Lahiri, an electrifying debut novel about three unforgettable characters who seek to rise–to the middle class, to political power, to fame in the movies–and find their lives entangled in the wake of a ca

6.) Leave the World Behind written byRumaan Alam

Lists It Appears On:

• Barnes & Noble
• Kirkus 2
• Los Angeles Times
• Powells
• Washington Post
• Bookpage
• TMN
• The Telegraph
• Library Journal
• NPR

A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick!Finalist for the 2020 National Book Award (Fiction)A Recommended Book From: Vogue * TIME * The Washington Post * Buzzfeed * The Boston Globe * The Wall Street Journal * Elle * Vulture * Newsweek * NY Observer * Refinery29 * The New York Post * Town & Count

5.) Such a Fun Age written byKiley Reid

Lists It Appears On:

• Goodreads
• Kirkus 2
• Washington Post
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• Bookpage
• TMN
• The Guardian
• The Telegraph
• Worldly Gentleman
• NPR

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A REESE’S BOOK CLUB x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK PICK “The most provocative page-turner of the year.” –Entertainment Weekly “A great way to kick off 2020.” –Washington Post “I urge you to read Such a Fun Age.” –NPR A striking and surprising debut novel from an exhila

4.) Deacon King Kong written byJames McBride

Lists It Appears On:

• Kirkus 2
• Powells
• Washington Post
• Time
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon
• NY Times
• Bookpage
• NY Times 2
• TMN
• Worldly Gentleman
• NPR

OPRAH’S BOOK CLUB PICK A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the author of the National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird and the bestselling modern classic The Color of Water, comes one of the most celebrated novels of the year. In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known as Sportc

3.) Shuggie Bain written byDouglas Stuart

Lists It Appears On:

• Kirkus 2
• Readings
• Washington Post
• Financial Times
• Time
• NY Times
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• TMN
• Pan Macmillan
• The Guardian
• The Telegraph
• NPR

NATIONAL BESTSELLER SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARDShuggie Bain is the unforgettable story of young Hugh “Shuggie” Bain, a sweet and lonely boy who spends his 1980s childhood in run-down public housing in Glasgow, Scotland. Thatcher’s policies have put husbands

2.) Hamnet written byMaggie O’Farrell

Lists It Appears On:

• Barnes & Noble
• Kirkus 2
• Powells
• Publishers Weekly
• Readings
• Financial Times
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• NY Times
• Bookpage
• NY Times 2
• TMN
• The Guardian
• The Telegraph
• Worldly Gentleman
• Library Journal

England, 1580: The Black Death creeps across the land, an ever-present threat, infecting the healthy, the sick, the old and the young, alike. The end of days is near, but life always goes on in this national best seller and winner of the Women’s Prize for Fiction. “All too timely … [An] exceptiona

1.) The Vanishing Half written byBrit Bennett

Lists It Appears On:

• Worldly Gentleman
• Barnes & Noble
• Book Riot
• Kirkus 2
• Los Angeles Times
• Powells
• Publishers Weekly
• Readings
• Washington Post
• Financial Times
• Time
• Amazon
• NY Times
• Bookshop Santa Cruz
• Bookpage
• NY Times 2
• The Guardian
• The Telegraph
• NPR

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD A GOOD MORNING AMERICA Book Club Pick “Bennett’s tone and style recalls James Baldwin and Jacqueline Woodson, but it’s especially reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s 1970 debut novel, The Bluest Eye.” –Kiley Reid, Wall Street Journal “A

The 275+ Additional Best Fiction and Literature Books Released In 2020

27 Best Fiction and Literature Book Sources/Lists