SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ EE E3
I
f 2020 was a tidal wave that left us adrift in
an ocean of uncertainty, books became our
islands, providing safe harbor for our ex-
hausted psyches. ¶ In a year that made history in
myriad, often tragic ways, our reading habits re-
flected our coping methods. As a deadly virus sent
Americans into lockdown, novels about pandem-
ics and isolation resurfaced on bestseller lists
years after publication. It could be so much worse,
realized those surveying the devastation of Emily
St. John Mandel’s “Station Eleven”; and Amor
Towles’s “A Gentleman in Moscow,” about a man
under house arrest, provided instruction for mak-
ing the most of a homebound existence. As the
country faced a racial reckoning, readers tried to
make sense of inequality and find solutions to an
insidious problem. Their education? “How to Be
an Antiracist,” by Ibram X. Kendi and “So You
Want to Talk About Race,” By Ijeoma Oluo,
among other nonfiction. And a deeply divided
electorate found validation in political books re-
flecting partisan worldviews. Of course, plenty of
people opted for escape rather than confronting a
dire reality, flocking to romance and science fic-
tion, thrillers and more thrillers. ¶ 2 020 may not
have been bursting with bright spots, but at least
there was this: Tremendous books kept coming.
In honor of that remarkable abundance, we’ve
put together a celebration of the books that
helped us maintain our wits during trying times.
We’ve singled out the 10 best books of the year,
plus 100 fiction and nonfiction titles worth read-
ing. We also look back at the year’s standout po-
etry collections, romance novels, thrillers and
mysteries, children’s books, feel-good novels,
graphic novels, audiobooks, science fiction and
fantasy. And, because this was a year like no oth-
er, we explore the books that most uncannily con-
veyed our year’s roller-coaster news cycle. Of
course, the year isn’t over yet. But here are hun-
dreds of ways to make it a happy ending.—Stephanie Merry, Book World editor
AUGUST
“Live Free or Die”
By Sean Hannity
The rush of Trump books — basi-
cally its own genre this year —
continued with this missive from
the vociferous Fox host. Hannity
offers a fervent defense of the presi-
dent, and he outlines all the reasons
he believes that the country would
suffer if Americans elected a Demo-
cratic president in 2020.“The End of Everything
(Astrophysically Speaking)”
By Katie Mack
Well, what do you know? The
world is, in fact, ending — but not
for another 5 billion years. That’s
according to Mack, a theoretical
cosmologist whose new book ex-
plores various end-of-time scenar-
ios, such as vacuum decay and the
Big Crunch. Irreverent humor
helps compensate for the inherent
morbidity.“His Truth Is Marching On”
By Jon Meacham
Meacham, the prolific historian,
profiles John Lewis in this biogra-
phy, released one month after the
congressman’s death. It focuses on
Lewis’s activism in the 1950s and
’60s, when he championed nonvio-
lence in the civil rights movement
— even as he was brutally, and
repeatedly, beaten. It’s a glowing
tribute to Lewis’s resolve and hope-
ful ideals.SEPTEMBER
“Alone Together: Love, Grief,
and Comfort During the Time
of COVID-19”
By Jennifer Haupt
More than 90 authors — includ-
ing Kwame Alexander, Nikki Gio-
vanni and Dani Shapiro — describe
their pandemic experiences in this
earnest anthology. You’ll probably
recognize yourself in their grief,
their interrupted days, their pursuit
of normalcy — and feel a little less
alone because of their words.OCTOBER
“The Purpose of Power: How We
C ome Together When We Fall Apart”
By Alicia Garza
Garza, an activist who co-founded
the Black Lives Matter movement,
shares lessons from a 20-year career
spent organizing for change. In addi-
tion to reflecting on what propelled
her forward, she instructs readers on
birthing a movement, and she ex-
pounds what it means to join one.
[email protected]Angela Haupt is a freelance writer and
full-time editor in D.C.ing the 1918 Great Flu, the deadliest
pandemic in recent history — was,
by mere coincidence, published as
the coronavirus was sweeping the
globe. It’s about a nurse in Ireland,
holed up in a hospital, working to
save pregnant women and their
newborns as her life intertwines
with those of the people she’s quar-
antined with.“A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking”
By T. Kingfisher
What’s that you say — you’re
defensive baking, too? Building up a
wall of carbs, one loaf at a time?
Then you’ll enjoy this fantasy star-
ring a wizard whose familiar is, wait
for it, a sourdough starter named
Bob. It’s whimsical and witty.“Intimations”
By Zadie Smith
Smith’s six new essays were draft-
ed during the early months of the
pandemic and completed after
George Floyd’s death. “Intimations,”
which examines the strange and
shared experience of a world unrav-
eling, is wise and searing, with
intimate reflections that will reso-
nate with many.is packed with action — and lots of
parallels to our current situation.JUNE
“The Room Where It Happened”
By John Bolton
President Trump’s former nation-
al security adviser produced a near-
ly 600-page tell-all about the admin-
istration — one of many such books
this year. It’s full of alarming revela-
tions about the “chaos” Bolton ob-
served, about which many said he
should have spoken out sooner.JULY
“The Rules of Contagion: Why Things
Spread — and Why They Stop”
By Adam Kucharski
Misinformation. Gun violence.
Deadly viruses. In this book,
Kucharski, an epidemiologist, ex-
plores the source of outbreaks —
and finds similarity in how things
spread, from social media fads to the
novel coronavirus. No judgment,
and same here, if you flipped to the
end to find out how it all stops.“The Pull of the Stars”
By Emma Donoghue
Donoghue’s 13th novel — set dur-States were literally ablaze. This
family memoir is a galvanizing ac-
count of how Greta Thunberg be-
came the face of the youth climate
movement, and the crises she faced
at home. It’s intimate and gutsy,
tinted with hope.“The City We Became”
By N.K. Jemisin
Jemisin’s urban fantasy — the
first of a trilogy — transports read-
ers to a New York City that has
come alive, personified in a human
avatar. As the city is attacked by
nefarious forces, five other avatars
band together to save it and its
people. The novel, which landed as
Americans were entering lock-
down, is a love letter to New York —
and a celebration of resilience and
overcoming evil.APRIL
“The End of October”
By Lawrence Wright
A virus emerges in Asia and then
goes global, devastating an ill-pre-
pared world. No, it’s not a 2020
retelling. It’s the plot of Wright’s
thriller, an eerily-timed story about
a pathogen with no cure. “October”BY ANGELA HAUPT“That’s so 2020,” people collec-
tively heaved, again and then again,
during a year ravaged by a global
pandemic, climate crises and politi-
cal and social dissent. A year that is,
finally, almost over.
As our worlds careened off the
cliffs of normalcy, some books were
so prescient — so very well timed —
that you had to wonder: What did
these authors know that we didn’t?
Presenting, the most 2020 books
of 2020, organized by month of
publication:JANUARY
“American Dirt”
By Jeanine Cummins
The first literary scandal of 2020
arrived early in this year that felt
like a decade. Cummins’s novel,
about an undocumented Mexican
woman who flees to the United
States to escape a drug cartel, gener-
ated early buzz and was an Oprah’s
Book Club pick. But critics were
quick to point out that Cummins is
White and isn’t an immigrant,
which led to claims of cultural ap-
propriation. Despite its divisive-
ness, “American Dirt” became a
bestseller while sparking conversa-
tions about who gets to tell which
stories. Looking back, perhaps it
was an early sign that we were in for
a tumultuous year.“The Shapeless Unease: A Year of
Not Sleeping”
By Samantha Harvey
Long before the pandemic de-
stroyed once-stable sleep routines,
Harvey lay awake through the wee
hours — 2 a.m., 3 a.m. and as the sun
climbed into the sky. The experience
inspired her memoir of insomnia —
and its friends anxiety and existen-
tial despair. This introspective and
observant book is something to
reach for in the middle of another
long, sleepless night.“Me and White Supremacy”
By Layla Saad
Saad’s book was relevant when it
was published, and it became even
more urgent as a social justice move-
ment erupted later in the year. The
anti-racism guide helps White read-
ers understand their privilege and
the role they play in white supremacy.MARCH
“Our House Is on Fire: Scenes of a
Family and a Planet in Crisis”
By Greta Thunberg, Svante Thunberg,
Malena Ernman and Beata Ernman
The world was metaphorically on
fire, and then swaths of the Unitedbest books
In a tumultuous year,
reading helped
us all cope
A bibliography t hat captures
the frantic spirit of 2020
AYSHA TENGIZ FOR THE WASHINGTON POST