112 Time November 30/December 7, 2020
THE 100 MUST-READ BOOKS OF 2020 • FICTION
Kim Jiyoung,
Born 1982
CHO NAM-JOO
In this novel, which
helped inspire a new
wave of feminism
in South Korea,
Kim Jiyoung wakes
up each day as a
different woman—
and who she once
was appears to be
lost to her strange
condition.
Oligarchy
SCARLETT THOMAS
Thomas invigorates
her dark tale of an all-
girls boarding school
where fitting in
means staying thin
with splashes of
humor, especially in
protagonist Tash’s
biting observations
about the ills of
growing up in the age
of Instagram.One to Watch
KATE
STAYMAN-LONDON
As dramatic and
bingeable as the
show it parodies,
One to Watch follows
a plus-size blogger
who lambastes the
lack of body diversity
on a Bachelorette-like
dating show—but
then is offered the
chance to star in it.Memorial
BRYAN
WASHINGTON
Right when Mike
leaves for Japan to
visit his dying father,
his mother appears
at the Houston
home he shares
with his boyfriend
Benson. Facing new
challenges, the men
begin to re-examine
their relationship.
Nights When
Nothing Happened
SIMON HAN
The Chengs, a
Chinese immigrant
family in Texas, must
consider the value
of the American
Dream when their
fragile unity and
tenuous status in the
community are blown
up after a terrible
misunderstanding.Migrations
CHARLOTTE
MCCONAGHY
In Migrations, the
sole remaining
flock of Arctic terns
is about to make
its final descent
from the Arctic to
the Antarctic—and
Franny Stone, a bird
lover with a messy
past, is determined
to follow them.The Only
Good Indians
STEPHEN GRAHAM
JONES
The horror veteran
traces the violence
that follows when the
spirit of an elk—a
mythical creature in
the Blackfeet Nation
tribe’s tradition—
takes its revenge on
the members who
killed it.His Only Wife
PEACE ADZO MEDIE
There’s no room for objection when Afi, a seamstress
in rural Ghana, is asked to marry the wealthy Elikem.
She knows she’s being used to separate him from the
lover his family hates. But Afi is driven to question her
limits as a woman and a wife as she finds the freedom
to consider, for the first time, what she wants in life.The Glass Hotel
EMILY ST. JOHN MANDEL
The toppling of a Bernie Madoff–esque schemer
impacts a large group of seemingly unconnected
characters in a story about personal responsibility at
a time when everything seems out of control.The Lying Life
of Adults
ELENA FERRANTE
Young Giovanna is
wounded when her
father calls her ugly,
comparing her to
his sister, whom he
despises. But when
she finally meets
her aunt, Giovanna
begins to realize
the truth is far more
complicated.
The Night
Watchman
LOUISE ERDRICH
Erdrich takes
inspiration from her
grandfather’s life,
following a Chippewa
man in the ’50s
who by night minds
a factory and by
day his tribe, which
is threatened by a
federal bill promising
“emancipation.”