Our speakers have had an incredible year! As 2020 comes to a close, we are proud to showcase some of this year’s celebrated books from authors on our roster. These debuts, award-winners, and fan favorites are a wonderful reminder of the universal impact of books, year after year.
Best Books of the Year
Interior Chinatown - Charles Yu
2020 National Book Award Winner, New York Times Bestseller, NPR’s Best Books of 2020, TIME Magazine‘s Best Books of 2020, The Washington Post’s Best Books of 2020, Vanity Fair’s Best Books of 2020, Vulture’s Best Books of 2020, Amazon’s Best Books of 2020, Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction of 2020, The New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2020, The Chicago Public Library’s Best Books of 2020
“Fresh and beautiful. . . . Interior Chinatown represents yet another stellar destination in the journey of a sui generis author of seemingly limitless skill and ambition.” —The New York Times Book Review
The Vanishing Half - Brit Bennett
Longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award, Longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize, A Good Morning America Book Club Pick, New York Times Bestseller, New York Times Top Ten Books of 2020, TIME #1 Book of 2020, A Washington Post Notable Book of 2020, A New York Times Notable Book of 2020, Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2020, New York Times Best Books of 2020, The Washington Post’s Best Books of 2020, TIME Magazine’s Best Books of 2020, NPR’s Best Books of 2020, Amazon’s Best Books of 2020, EW’s Best Books 0f 2020, Vulture’s Best Books of 2020, USA Today’s Best Books of 2020, GQ’s Best Books of 2020, Vanity Fair’s Best Books of 2020, Harper’s Bazaar’s Best Books of 2020, Glamour’s Best Books of 2020, Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction of 2020, Goodreads Best Historical Fiction of 2020
“Bennett’s tone and style recalls James Baldwin and Jacqueline Woodson, but it’s especially reminiscent of Toni Morrison’s 1970 debut novel, The Bluest Eye.” —Kiley Reid, Wall Street Journal
Caste - Isabel Wilkerson
Longlisted for the 2020 National Book Award, New York Times Bestseller, A Oprah’s Book Club Pick, TIME Magazine’s #1 Nonfiction Book of 2020, The Washington Post’s Best Ten Books of 2020, People’s Best Ten Books of 2020, Publishers Weekly’s Best Ten Books of 2020, The New York Times Book Review Best Books of 2020, Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2020, O: The Oprah Magazine’s Best Books of 2020, NPR’s Best Books of 2020, Amazon’s Best Books of 2020, Bloomberg’s Best Books of 2020, The New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2020, Fortune’s Best Books of 2020, Smithsonian Magazine’s Best Books of 2020, Marie Claire’s Best Books of 2020, Slate’s Best Books of 2020, Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction of 2020, Goodreads Best History and Biography of 2020
“An instant American classic and almost certainly the keynote nonfiction book of the American century thus far.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times
A Burning - Megha Majumdar
Shortlisted for the 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, Longlisted for 2020 The National Book Award, Instant New York Times Bestseller, A Today Show Book Club Pick, A New York Times Notable Book of 2020, Amazon’s Best Books of 2020
“Propulsive…ambitious…beautiful and supple…heartbreaking.”—The Boston Globe
Such a Fun Age - Kiley Reid
Winner of the Africa American Literary Award, Longlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, Finalist for The New York Public Library’s 2020 Young Lions Fiction Award, Finalist for The Mark Twain American Voice in Literature Award, Finalist for The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, Finalist for The NAACP Image Award, Instant New York Times Bestseller, A Hello Sunshine x Reese Witherspoon Book Club Pick, A Marie Claire Book Pick, A Buzzfeed Book Pick, The Washington Post’s Best Books of 2020, NPR’s Best Books of 2020, Slate’s Best Books of 2020, Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction of 2020, Goodreads Best Debut Novel of 2020
“The most provocative page-turner of the year.”–Entertainment Weekly
The Office of Historical Corrections - Danielle Evans
Longlisted for the Aspen Words Literary Prize, A Washington Post Notable Book of 2020, O: Oprah Magazine’s Best Books of 2020, Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction of 2020
“The novel is full of brilliantly revealing moments, sometimes funny, often poignant…. [Gifty is] provokingly vital.”—James Wood, The New Yorker
Transcendent Kingdom - Yaa Gyasi
A Today Show Book Club Pick, Instant New York Times Bestseller, NPR’s Best Books of 2020, The Washington Post’s Best Ten Books of 2020, Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction of 2020
“The novel is full of brilliantly revealing moments, sometimes funny, often poignant…. [Gifty is] provokingly vital.”—James Wood, The New Yorker
The Glass Hotel - Emily St. John Mandel
Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2020, NPR’s Best Books of 2020, TIME Magazine’s Best Books of 2020, The Washington Post’s Best Books of 2020, EW’s Best Books of 2020, Fortune’s Best Books of 2020, Glamour’s Best Books of 2020, Elle’s Best Books of 2020, The Economist’s Best Books of 2020, The New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2020
“Another gripping tale of interconnected lives.”—People
Memorial - Bryan Washington
A Good Morning America Book Club pick, A New York Times Notable Book of 2020, The Washington Post’s Best Books of 2020, TIME Magazine’s Best Books of 2020, O: The Oprah Magazine’s Best Books of 2020, Amazon’s Best Books of 2020, Esquire’s Best Books of 2020, Harper’s Bazaar’s Best Books of 2020, NPR’s Best Books of 2020, Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction of 2020
“A masterpiece.” —NPR
The Beauty in Breaking - Dr. Michele Harper
A New York Times Bestseller, A New York Times Notable Book of 2020
“Riveting, heartbreaking, sometimes difficult, always inspiring.”—The New York Times Book Review
Hidden Valley Road - Robert Kolker
A Oprah’s Book Club Pick, New York Times Bestseller, New York Times Top Ten Books of 2020, Wall Street Journal Top Ten Books of 2020, People’s #1 Best Book of the Year, Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2020, New York Times Best Books of 2020, The Washington Post’s Best Books of 2020, NPR’s Best Books of 2020, TIME Magazine’s Best Books of 2020, Smithsonian Magazine’s Best Books of 2020, Amazon’s Best Books of 2020
“A feat of empathy and narrative journalism.”—Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times
Missionaries - Phil Klay
New York Times Notable Book of 2020, Wall Street Journal’s Ten Best Books of the Year, Barack Obama’s Favorite Books of 2020, NPR’s Best Books of 2020, Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction of 2020
“This is a gray universe where it’s difficult to distinguish the good guys and gals from the bad, and it rings true to those of us who have spent time in these places….will stick with you.”—NPR
Minor Feelings - Cathy Park Hong
New York Times Best Books of 2020, The Washington Post’s Best Books of 2020, NPR’s Best Books of 2020, TIME Magazine’s Best Books of 2020, BuzzFeed’s Best Books of 2020, The New York Library’s Best Books of 2020
“Minor Feelings is a major reckoning, pulling no punches as the author uses her life’s flashpoints to give voice to a wider Asian American experience, one with cascading consequences.”—NPR
What Are You Going Through - Sigrid Nunez
O: The Oprah Magazine’s Best Books of 2020, NPR’s Best Books of 2020, New York Times Critics’ Top Books of 2020, People’s Top Ten Books of 2020, Kirkus Reviews Best Fiction of 2020, National Bestseller
“I was dazed by the novel’s grace.”–The New Yorker
Antiracist Baby Picture Book - Dr. Ibram X. Kendi
New York Times Bestseller, Goodreads Best Picture Book of 2020
“Antiracism’s starting point.”–Kirkus Reviews
Death in Her Hands - Ottessa Moshfegh
Elle’s Best Books of 2020, Bustle’s Best Books of 2020, New York Public Library’s Best Books of 2020
“[An] intricate and unsettling new novel . . . Death in Her Hands is not a murder mystery, nor is it really a story about self-deception or the perils of escapism. Rather, it’s a haunting meditation on the nature and meaning of art.”—Kevin Power, The New Yorker
Perestroika in Paris - Jane Smiley
Instant New York Times Bestseller, NPR’s Best Books of 2020
“If you’re looking for a feel-good escape, try this.”—The New York Times
A Knock at Midnight - Brittany K. Barnett
Amazon’s Best Books of 2020, Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction of 2020
“An essential book for our time . . . Brittany K. Barnett is a star.”—Van Jones, CEO of REFORM Alliance, CNN Host, and New York Times bestselling author
The Last Million - David Nasaw
NPR’s Best Books of 2020, Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction of 2020
“In The Last Million, Nasaw has done a real service in resurrecting this history . . . Anyone who thinks President Trump’s demonization of foreigners is an aberration should read this history.”—Washington Post
Whistleblower - Susan Fowler
NPR’s Best Books of 2020
“A very important read . . . frightening but also very empowering.”—Gayle King, CBS This Morning
JFK - Fredrik Logevall
Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction of 2020
JFK reminds readers of what America once was—and could be again.”—The Economist
Oak Flat - Lauren Redniss
Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction of 2020
“Lauren Redniss has produced a supernova. . . . A vivid, searing, indelible act of witness.”—Patrick Radden Keefe, New York Times bestselling author of Say Nothing