Best Fiction 2020

During the first weeks of quarantine, giddy at the thought of having time to read, we loaded up on dozens of critically reviewed literary titles. But as the weeks went by and dread sank in, we craved quirkier lighter fare. Our top picks consist of an eclectic mix of heavy and lightweight reading. Not everything is Pulitzer-worthy because right now what we really need is an escape. We‘ll be adding to this list until the end of the year so please check back often. However, if you want real time updates on the books we’re loving then follow us on Instagram @thewhathq, where we post a new book every week. Follow us here.

GP’s growing collection of finished books, not all of which made it on to this year’s list.

FIVE EASY PIECES.
Fun to read books that you shouldn’t struggle to get into or finish. Smarter beach reads.

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson. This book is uproariously LMAO funny. The beyond absurd plot centers on an underachieving young woman who accepts a bizarre nanny gig to care for troubled 10 year old twins who occasionally burst into flame when they get emotional. Yes, you read that correctly: spontaneously combustible children. And yet despite its sensational plot, there are poignant moments about friendship, childhood trauma, love and parenting. It might be funny but it’s not silly. And you will absolutely laugh out loud. BUY IT HERE

Pretty As A Picture by Elizabeth Little. A fun, fast-paced whodunit murder mystery that unfolds on a remote island—the on-location film set of a true crime movie in production. The cast of characters include an awkward but endearing film editor, a volatile director, teen sleuths, and other eccentrics. Perfect to read on a beach vacation or on your couch in your living room. BUY IT HERE

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld. Imagine if Hillary Clinton had never married Bill? Would she have still soared to great heights? Would he? Curtis Sittenfeld is a great writer with an even greater imagination. Her passages of young Hillary in flagrante delicto with a handsome grad student from Arkansas are priceless. It gets a little thick in the middle, which you can skim, but overall we’re thrilled we read it (even if we thought it was under-edited). No matter what you think of HRC, you won’t be able to resist her avatar’s dazzling intelligence, dry wit, and lusty human nature. BUY IT HERE

Frankly In Love by David Yoon. This is a Young Adult crossover coming-of-age tale about a Korean American senior in high school who struggles between living up to his immigrant parents’ high expectations as well as his own. My teenage daughter loved it and we took turns reading it aloud together. Themes of identity, interracial relationships, deep friendship, and the ties that bind. It’s charming, witty, bittersweet, and a walk down memory lane of first loves and growing up. It’ll make a great rom-com someday. BUY IT HERE

All Adults Here by Emma Straub. A dysfunctional family from a small town in Hudson Valley fumble to mend old rifts after their father passes and their mother comes out of the closet with her new female lover. Straub tackles sexuality, abortion, and gender identity with humor, insight, and warmth. It may not be fine literature but if you’re being driven crazy by your family right now, this book provides an absorbing escape. And, who knows … you may absorb a little compassion through osmosis. BUY IT HERE

BETTER STORYTELLING.
Substantial reading about things that matter.

Writers & Lovers: A Novel by Lily King. This novel has been described as A Portrait of An Artist As A Young Woman, which is apropos. Casey Peabody, the young protagonist, is a talented but struggling writer who waits tables in Harvard Square while grappling with writer’s block, her mother’s death, stalled romance, near poverty, and a host of other pitfalls and longings. It’s one of our favorite books of the year and a must-read for writers and readers who appreciate the literary process. BUY IT HERE

Sea Wife by Amity Gaige is like the ocean—deep, dazzling, terrifying, timeless, volatile, and filled with mystery and wonder. It’s about a Connecticut couple with a stale marriage, and two young kids, who take a year off to sail from Panama all the way back home. This book is a voyage in itself, spanning topics of unresolved childhood trauma; the struggles of parenthood and marriage; depression; freedom; and political differences. It was also illuminating to read what a conservative husband thought of his wife’s liberal ideology in a way that made both points of view seem reasonable. Gaige’s descriptions of what it feels like to sail the open seas are so vivid you can almost feel the sun and wind on your face, as well as the sheer terror from being caught unprepared in an angry squall. There are many parallels to quarantine and being alone with your family on a small boat in the middle of an unpredictable ocean. It may not always be smooth sailing but it’s a journey that, if processed properly, can lead to resilience and eventual joy. BUY IT HERE

The Margot Affair by Sanaë Lemoine. It’s like a trip to Paris down the memory lane of a Parisian teenager whose mother is a struggling but acclaimed theater actress and her father is a publicly known culture minister with another illustrious family. Her father lives a double life between the two families but only his mistress and daughter know. Remember Mitterrand’s mistress and wife standing together at his funeral? This book seems to be inspired by that legendary triangle but focuses on the second family. Beautifully written and a pleasure to read it’s a coming of age tale about the intensity and complexity of mothers, daughters, women—the envy, control, and covetous nature of female relationships—from mothers and daughters to confidantes and mentors. And how men get in the way and muddy the waters with their weak desire—the simplicity of lust, flesh while for women it’s about becoming something more, transcending, learning, trusting. The end is cathartic—not an end but a beginning of understanding what it means to be a woman and not a girl. BUY IT HERE

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett tells the story of gorgeous, teenage identical twin sisters who flee their stifling hamlet, which prides itself on light-skinned Black inhabitants like themselves, for adventure and freedom in the Big Easy. After a few years scraping by in segregated New Orleans they separate abruptly from each other and their lives take unexpected turns. It’s a story that starts in the 1950s and spans through decades and cities—exploring privilege, wrenching heartache, identity crises, a longing for connection, and race and gender switching. Britt Bennett is a writer of immense talent and imagination. BUY IT HERE

The End of The Ocean by Maja Lunde. This novel toggles between the two stories that revolve around an environmental activist trying to save a shrinking glacier and water sources in Norway in 2017 and a father and daughter struggling to stay alive in 2041 Bordeaux, France in a poorly stocked humanitarian refugee camp for Europeans fleeing from war, drought, and firestorms. It’s a cautionary tale of the fate of us all if we continue to ignore the glaring signs of climate collapse. BUY IT HERE

A Burning by Megha Majumdar looks at systemic corruption and anti-Muslim brutality in an Indian slum that starts with a terrorist train attack and results in finding a patsy to take the blame. The story follows a high school age girl who quits school to support her rickshaw-pulling father made lame by police beatings and her cook mother who narrowly escaped gang rape while walking back from the markets in the middle of the night. After the terrorist attack in a train station our young protagonist makes a seemingly harmless comment on a Facebook post which sets off a brutal chain of events. BUY IT HERE

THOUGHTFUL SUSPENSE.

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel. The Glass Hotel is about living on the edge and in denial: literal crimes, crimes of omission, ghosts, addiction, the complicated relationships we have with family and, by virtue, ourselves. It’s about knowing (while not knowing) and the fragile membrane between socioeconomic hierarchy and the shadowlands of people who live on the fringe and off the grid without a net. When we read the book blurb we thought it would be centered on the mechanics of a Ponzi scheme—more of a suspense, crime novel—but thankfully it’s about matters much more profound. The Ponzi scheme unfolds beneath the surface of a world where characters make trade offs morally, emotionally, philosophically to aim for a material life of comfort and success that we’re all trained to want. We’re sad this book is over. Highly recommended. Five stars. Sidenote: we struggled through the first part of the book until we got to the chapters on Vincent, an enigmatic heroine that Hemingway would have been envious to write.
BUY IT HERE

A Beautiful Crime by Christopher Bollen. We love to read books that take us on trips to our favorite cities. This book is A Talented Mr. Ripley-esque thriller set in Venice and New York. It’s a fast-paced beautifully written novel with intricate shadowy twists like Venice’s magical canals and labyrinthian streets. BUY IT HERE

The Anthill by Julianne Pachico follows Carolina, an educated half-British woman back to her homeland of Colombia (where she was born and raised until age 8) to work with her mysterious childhood best friend Matty who runs a daycare refuge for street kids in Medellin. As the story unfolds we learn about Carolina’s past, her present day self-sabotaging anxiety, and the real story of her family’s relationship to Matty. But the true power of the novel lies in the politics, corruption, poverty, class struggle, and identity both in the sense of belonging as well as Colombia vis a vis the world. There’s a passage about clueless westerners lining up for a tour of Pablo Escobar’s manses, which underscores the country’s on-going identity crisis. There’s also a metaphysical twist that makes this book even more unique.  BUY IT HERE

CAVIAR READS.
Books that some friends wax poetic about while others find torturous. We enjoyed investing the time to read but acknowledge they might take patience and be an acquired taste.

Apeirogon by Colum McCann meaning “a shape with a countably infinite number of sides” makes little sense the first time you encounter the word in the book but it reappears like a tide returning to shore and eventually sinks in. It’s an extraordinary work of historical fiction—a profound, kaleidoscopic story that spans time, place, and race centered on the true stories of two men: one Palestinian, the other Israeli. Both endure gutting, incomprehensible losses and through grief find themselves inexorably drawn down an unthinkable yet transcendent path. This is not “another book” about the Israel-Palestine plight. Apeirogon is an expansive master class in humanity that will cleave open both your heart and mind. Every country in conflict can find parallels in this story, especially ours right now. Author Colum McCann deftly weaves his imagination and historical research into an odyssey that doesn’t have to end in tragedy. Among the many embers that spark insight is a callback to a phrase on a bumper sticker—“It will not be over until we talk.”  The world will continue to brutalize, segregate, and oppress until we learn each other’s stories and not accept the propaganda and prejudices we are taught. McCann's storytelling in Apeirogon offers us a paragon of hope. BUY IT HERE

Breasts And Eggs is a literary tour de force by Mieko Kawakami. It’s a slow read, not in a negative sense, but like slow food—made with quality ingredients, exquisite, hand-crafted, not processed for the masses. Utterly satisfying. (Was that a pun?) It’s a book that challenges the feminine in a rigid society with few options for women. It’s meditative, funny, lonely, fascinating, awkward, honest, and ingenious. Haruki Murakami recalled “the pure sense of astonishment” he felt after reading Kawakami’s work. We felt similarly awestruck and were further blown away when we read about the friendship Murakami and Kawakami struck up then teamed up for a series of discussions regarding the former author’s female characters (Murakami rarely gives interviews but was impressed by Mieko’s talent). BUY IT HERE

GUEST BOOK REVIEW

"Cozying up with Willa's Grove has been a silver lining to these trying times. By the end of the book, the characters were in my heart as if I'd known them for years. And, without being able to travel these days, I
loved the opportunity to take my imagination to Montana...the perfect getaway from your living room couch. Laura's writing is captivating and real; her themes timely and honest. Trust me, this book will feel like an old friend. We’re all asking the question they are asking right now: so now what."

-Grace Kraaijvanger, Founder and CEO, The Hivery

OTHER GREAT READS FROM 2019

Suspense
The River
The Plotters

Dystopian Future
The Parade
Recursion
The Farm
Frankisstein
Machines Like Me
The Testaments

Artsy
Costalegre
Museum of Modern Love

Oddball
Cherry
Vacuum In The Dark
The Feral Detective
Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of The Dead

Beautiful Writing
The Aviator
Lost Children Archive
Washington Black
The Topeka School

Note: We personally support indie bookstores but we link to Amazon in this case for ease as well as the fact that they pay affiliates and we need every penny we can get to weather the pandemic. If you know an indie bookstore that carries all these titles and pays affiliates please let us know.

-Gina Pell, The What Content Chief

SUBSCRIBE TO THE WHAT LIST

Join the 70,000+ readers who rely on us for WHAT to know, WHAT to buy, WHAT to try, and where to go. Everything to help you kick ass at whatever you do. Delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe here.