Riot Headline Book Riot’s 2025 Read Harder Challenge
News

Amazon Releases List Of The Best Books of 2020

This content contains affiliate links. When you buy through these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Matt Grant

Staff Writer

Matt Grant is a Brooklyn-based writer, reader, and pop culture enthusiast. In addition to BookRiot, he is a staff writer at LitHub, where he writes about book news. Matt's work has appeared in Longreads, The Brooklyn Rail, Tor.com, Huffpost, and more. You can follow him online at www.mattgrantwriter.com or on Twitter: @mattgrantwriter

It’s that time of year for everyone to start releasing their “Best Of” lists. Here at Book Riot, we love seeing what other publications choose for the best books of the year.

Yesterday, Amazon released their picks for the best books of 2020. The list, selected by Amazon editors, includes a total of 100 titles from a wide range of genres, including biography and memoir, literature and fiction, mystery and thriller, children’s, science, and more.

https://twitter.com/amazonbooks/status/1329427679695736836?s=20

According to an insider peek from the Amazon Book Review, the majority of the year’s Best Of picks come from Amazon’s Best of the Month series. Editors collect these selections in October and consider any upcoming titles before voting on the best of the year. Many of the books selected are bestsellers, but editors try to include lesser-known titles as well.

cover image of A Knock at Midnight by Brittany K. Barnett

Looking over the list is a great reminder that, all other things aside, this was at least a great year for literature. This year’s top title is Brittany K. Barnett’s memoir A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom, which chronicles Barnett’s struggle to help three clients caught in the the criminal justice system.

Other titles in the Top 20 include The Vanishing Half by Britt Bennett, Caste by Isabel Wilkerson, Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Deacon King Kong by James McBride.

If you want even more options, you can browse more top titles by category, Holiday Gift Picks, and even Celebrity Picks.

Whatever your taste, you’re sure to find something on the list that you’ve been meaning to read—or find a gift or two for fellow bookworms in your life.

Book Riot will release our own picks for Best Books of the Year next month. In the meantime, you can peruse our midyear list of Best Books of 2020 So Far!