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The Guardian Books of the Year 2020

Members: 8 participating members
geocroc, elkiedee, kara.shamy, mazzzie, sarahemmm, gypsysmom, steller0707, ahef1963

1 2

Rank Title Author Added

1

by Maggie O'Farrell

3,111 members

182 reviews

4.2

7 Members: sarahemmm, geocroc, elkiedee, gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy, steller0707
Explanations: sarahemmm: I've heard such good things about this one!
elkiedee: Read 2020, Kindle

2

The Vanishing Half

by Brit Bennett

4,325 members

205 reviews

4.1

7 Members: geocroc, elkiedee, gypsysmom, ahef1963, kara.shamy, steller0707, mazzzie
Explanations: elkiedee: Read 2021, Kindle

3

The Pull of the Stars

by Emma Donoghue

1,227 members

83 reviews

4.1

5 Members: geocroc, elkiedee, gypsysmom, kara.shamy, mazzzie
Explanations: elkiedee: Read 2021, Library, Kindle

4

482 members

26 reviews

4.1

5 Members: geocroc, elkiedee, kara.shamy, steller0707, mazzzie
Explanations: elkiedee: TBR 2021, Kindle

5

by Andrew O'Hagan

215 members

12 reviews

4.1

4 Members: geocroc, elkiedee, kara.shamy, mazzzie
Explanations: elkiedee: TBR 2021, Kindle

6

by Albert Camus

17,205 members

225 reviews

4

3 Members: sarahemmm, geocroc, ahef1963
Explanations: sarahemmm: I read this in French for my A-levels, forty years ago, and hated it. Time to try again?

7

by Marilynne Robinson

651 members

33 reviews

½ 3.6

4 Members: geocroc, elkiedee, kara.shamy, steller0707
Explanations: elkiedee: TBR 2020, Kindle

8

2,500 members

150 reviews

3.8

4 Members: sarahemmm, geocroc, ahef1963, kara.shamy

9

by Douglas Stuart

1,872 members

103 reviews

4.2

4 Members: sarahemmm, geocroc, gypsysmom, kara.shamy

10

by Jenny Offill

999 members

63 reviews

½ 3.6

3 Members: geocroc, kara.shamy, steller0707

11

This Mournable Body

by Tsitsi Dangarembga

297 members

11 reviews

3.2

3 Members: geocroc, elkiedee, gypsysmom
Explanations: elkiedee: TBR 2019, paperback then Kindle

12

399 members

31 reviews

3.8

3 Members: geocroc, elkiedee, kara.shamy
Explanations: elkiedee: Read 2021, Library, Kindle

13

by Mark Billingham

108 members

11 reviews

4.1

3 Members: geocroc, elkiedee, mazzzie
Explanations: elkiedee: TBR 2020, Kindle

14

The Last Protector

by Andrew Taylor

90 members

5 reviews

4

3 Members: geocroc, elkiedee, mazzzie
Explanations: elkiedee: TBR 2021, Kindle

15

The Mirror and the Light

by Hilary Mantel

2,284 members

94 reviews

½ 4.3

3 Members: geocroc, elkiedee, kara.shamy
Explanations: elkiedee: Current library loan

16

by Curtis Sittenfeld

579 members

38 reviews

½ 3.7

3 Members: sarahemmm, geocroc, kara.shamy

17

Motherwell: A Girlhood

114 members

3 reviews

½ 3.5

3 Members: sarahemmm, geocroc, elkiedee
Explanations: sarahemmm: I was deeply impressed by DeborahOrr's columns in The Guardian, so this will add to my understanding of what made her tick (she died of cancer a few years ago).
elkiedee: Read 2020, Library, Kindle

18

Mr Wilder and Me

by Jonathan Coe

179 members

7 reviews

4.1

3 Members: geocroc, elkiedee, mazzzie
Explanations: elkiedee: TBR 2021, Kindle

19

The Lying Life of Adults

by Elena Ferrante

941 members

41 reviews

½ 3.5

3 Members: geocroc, elkiedee, steller0707
Explanations: elkiedee: Current library loan

20

by David Mitchell

926 members

62 reviews

4

3 Members: geocroc, elkiedee, mazzzie
Explanations: elkiedee: TBR 2020, Kindle

21

213 members

18 reviews

4

3 Members: geocroc, elkiedee, mazzzie
Explanations: elkiedee: TBR 2020, Kindle

22

This Land: The Story of a Movement

21 members

1 review

4

2 Members: sarahemmm, geocroc

23

Why the Germans Do it Better

by John Kampfner

114 members

3 reviews

3.9

2 Members: sarahemmm, geocroc

24

The Shadow King

by Maaza Mengiste

578 members

28 reviews

3.9

2 Members: geocroc, gypsysmom

25

by Steven Appleby

33 members

3 reviews

3.8

2 Members: geocroc, gypsysmom

26

by Susie Steiner

130 members

11 reviews

3.8

2 Members: sarahemmm, geocroc

27

1,677 members

93 reviews

3.9

2 Members: geocroc, mazzzie

28

The Thursday Murder Club

by Richard Osman

3,229 members

182 reviews

3.9

2 Members: sarahemmm, geocroc

29

by J. K. Rowling

1,039 members

18 reviews

3.9

2 Members: sarahemmm, geocroc

30

Reality and Other Stories

by John Lanchester

70 members

1 review

½ 3.3

2 Members: sarahemmm, geocroc

31

Hurricane Season

by Fernanda Melchor

521 members

13 reviews

3.9

2 Members: geocroc, mazzzie

32

by Susanna Clarke

3,890 members

199 reviews

4.2

2 Members: geocroc, mazzzie

33

Your House Will Pay

332 members

21 reviews

4.2

2 Members: geocroc, mazzzie

34

A Journal of the Plague Year

by Daniel Defoe

3,294 members

59 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: geocroc

35

When No One Is Watching

972 members

52 reviews

½ 3.6

2 Members: geocroc, steller0707

36

Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line

by Deepa Anappara

525 members

25 reviews

3.8

2 Members: geocroc, gypsysmom

37

The Dominant Animal: Stories

by Kathryn Scanlan

45 members

½ 2.5

2 Members: geocroc, kara.shamy

38

The Ministry for the Future

by Kim Stanley Robinson

1,058 members

49 reviews

3.8

2 Members: geocroc, gypsysmom

39

Leave the World Behind

1,576 members

103 reviews

½ 3.5

2 Members: geocroc, steller0707

40

246 members

9 reviews

½ 3.7

2 Members: geocroc, kara.shamy

41

Just Us: An American Conversation

by Claudia Rankine

269 members

5 reviews

4.1

2 Members: geocroc, steller0707

42

We Begin at the End

by Chris Whitaker

801 members

53 reviews

4

2 Members: geocroc, gypsysmom

43

480 members

25 reviews

2.8

Member: geocroc

44

The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again

by M. John Harrison

185 members

8 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: geocroc

45

Inside Story: A novel

125 members

3 reviews

4

Member: geocroc

46

by Naoise Dolan

366 members

21 reviews

½ 3.3

Member: geocroc

47

by Graeme Armstrong

31 members

½ 4.3

Member: geocroc

48

131 members

3 reviews

4

Member: geocroc

49

427 members

21 reviews

3.2

Member: geocroc

50

by Brandon Taylor

704 members

23 reviews

3.8

Member: geocroc

51

The Liar's Dictionary

by Eley Williams

651 members

34 reviews

½ 3.5

Member: geocroc

52

The Discomfort of Evening

by Marieke Lucas Rijneveld

600 members

33 reviews

½ 3.3

Member: geocroc

53

by Daniel Kehlmann

718 members

24 reviews

3.9

Member: geocroc

54

by Samanta Schweblin

431 members

20 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: geocroc

55

When we cease to understand the world

by Benjamín Labatut

671 members

30 reviews

4

Member: geocroc

56

by Cathy Sweeney

11 members

1 review

½ 4.3

Member: geocroc

57

The Voice in My Ear

by Frances Leviston

16 members

1 review

3

Member: geocroc

58

Good Citizens Need Not Fear: Stories

88 members

4 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: geocroc

59

Essex Girls: For Profane and Opinionated Women Everywhere

13 members

1 review

3

Member: geocroc

60

What Cats Want: An illustrated guide for truly understanding your cat

by Dr. Yuki Hattori

64 members

6 reviews

3.9

Member: geocroc

61

by David Sedaris

469 members

11 reviews

4

Member: geocroc

62

The Roasting Tin Around the World: Global One Dish Dinners

by Rukmini Iyer

46 members

Member: geocroc

63

Welcome to the New World

by Jake Halpern

71 members

4 reviews

3.8

Member: geocroc

64

The Wolf of Baghdad (Graphic Memoir)

by Carol Isaacs

11 members

4

Member: geocroc

65

Paying the Land

198 members

7 reviews

½ 4.4

Member: geocroc

66

by Matthew Dooley

50 members

3 reviews

4

Member: geocroc

67

Ailefroide : Altitude 3 954

by Jean-Marc Rochette

29 members

1 review

4.2

Member: geocroc

68

Wendy, Master of Art

by Walter Scott

27 members

1 review

½ 3.7

Member: geocroc

69

251 members

3 reviews

½ 3.3

Member: geocroc

70

The New Wilderness

413 members

16 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: geocroc

71

King of the Rising

by Kacen Callender

38 members

½ 3.3

Member: geocroc

72

War of the Maps

by Paul McAuley

87 members

6 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: geocroc

73

The Man on the Street (Jimmy Mullen Newcastle Crime Thriller)

36 members

2 reviews

3.9

Member: geocroc

74

Black Rain Falling

26 members

2 reviews

½ 4.3

Member: geocroc

75

by John Vercher

57 members

1 review

3.9

Member: geocroc

76

131 members

8 reviews

3.9

Member: geocroc

77

by Rebecca Wait

39 members

1 review

½ 3.7

Member: geocroc

78

Summer of Reckoning

by Marion Brunet

27 members

3 reviews

½ 3.4

Member: geocroc

79

The Devil and the Dark Water

by Stuart Turton

941 members

38 reviews

3.8

Member: geocroc

80

21 members

Member: geocroc

81

My Darling from the Lions

28 members

1 review

½ 3.7

Member: geocroc

82

Tongues of Fire

by Seán Hewitt

31 members

5

Member: geocroc

83

31 members

½ 4.5

Member: geocroc

84

by Caroline Bird

12 members

3

Member: geocroc

85

Postcolonial Love Poem

by Natalie Diaz

229 members

6 reviews

4.2

Member: geocroc

86

How to Wash a Heart

30 members

1 review

½ 3.3

Member: geocroc

87

5 members

Member: geocroc

88

Magnetic Field: The Marsden Poems

by Simon Armitage

25 members

3.8

Member: geocroc

89

by Hope Mirrlees

25 members

2 reviews

4.8

Member: geocroc

90

The Historians: Poems

by Eavan Boland

11 members

½ 4.3

Member: geocroc

91

The Fire of Joy: Roughly 80 Poems to Get by Heart and Say Aloud

56 members

1 review

4.1

Member: geocroc

92

What We'll Build: Plans For Our Together Future

by Oliver Jeffers

114 members

4 reviews

4

Member: geocroc

93

Julián at the Wedding

by Jessica Love

147 members

10 reviews

4

Member: geocroc

94

Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright! - an Animal Poem for Every Day of the Year: National Trust

36 members

1 review

5

Member: geocroc

95

by Philip Pullman

394 members

17 reviews

½ 3.6

Member: geocroc

96

The Midnight Guardians

by Ross Montgomery

28 members

1 review

½ 4.3

Member: geocroc

97

Eight Pieces of Silva

by Patrice Lawrence

23 members

5

Member: geocroc

98

The Silent Stars Go By

by Sally Nicholls

32 members

3 reviews

½ 3.7

Member: geocroc

99

by Richard Lambert

3 members

5

Member: geocroc

100

Left Out: The Inside Story of Labour Under Corbyn

by Gabriel Pogrund

39 members

1 review

3.8

Member: geocroc

1 2

About This List

Started: geocroc
December 2020
Type: Numbered and unnumbered

Related Lists

Finished in 2019

Economist Books of the Year 2020

Related Tags

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