2020 Book List: 52 New and Exciting Titles to Read This Year

Reading is such a fun and way to begin or end each day. I love picking up a new book and reading it from cover to cover. I enjoy solving the mystery, learning from the lead characters, and gaining valuable knowledge from books I never thought possible! That is why, each year, I create a 52 book list to push myself to read one book per week. And, like clockwork, it’s that time of year to create a fresh new list to dive into! For this 2020 book list, I have researched the top titles of last year, the most anticipated books for this year, and so much more! Ready to check out some great new titles to add to your 2020 book list? Let’s get into it!

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*Update: Here are my newest book lists:

• 2024 Book List
• 2023 Book List
• 2022 Book List
• 2021 Book List
• 12 Goal-Setting Books that will Change Your Life
• Top Books You Must Read in Your 20’s!

Tips for Reading More This Year

Before we dive into the 2020 book list, let’s talk about my top tips for reading more books! As I’ve talked about in the past, I read roughly 52 books per year, or one book per week. Honestly, saying that now sounds like I have a ton of time on my hands! (I wish!). In reality? I am a college student, full-time worker, and involved with a ton of extra curricular activities. I have no time on my hands. Instead, I use the tips below to squeeze in as many reading hours as I can!

Top Tips for Reading More this year:

• Get in a habit of reading every night before bed
• Turn your phone off or to airplane mode (reading is much more productive than social media!)
• Actually purchase books for nighttime reading (so you aren’t reading from a screen)
• Utilize other times in the day for reading such as times when you are: commuting, working out, cleaning, and traveling
• When you aren’t reading in the evening, utilize Audible to read Audiobooks! (This is actually my number 1 tip, it’s how I read SO MUCH in so little time)
• Join a book club (either online through sites like GoodReads or in person)

For more reading tips, such as how to create your ultimate yearly reading list, check out my 2019 Book List Post!

2020 Book List: 52 Books to Read This Year

Alright, let’s dive right in! Below are the 52 different books I plan on reading this year. My 2020 book list ranges from non-fiction how-to books to popular books soon to become blockbuster films.

Non-Fiction Reads

• The Motivation Manifesto: 9 Decorations to Claim Your Personal Power by Brendon Burchard: First, this powerful book is a huge bestseller that reveals the secrets of motivation. It is among the top books you’ll see on the bookshelf of the top CEOs.
• Brain Wash: Detox Your Mind for Clearer Thinking, Deeper Relationships, and Lasting Happiness by David Perlmutter, MD and Austin Perlmutter, MD: Stop your social media addiction and learn about anxiety, depression, and mental health in the context of our new, fast-paced, technology-filled world.
• Who Moved My Cheese? An A-Mazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life by Spencer Johnson: This book is described as “amusing” and “enlightening,” and is about four metaphorical individuals inside a maze who attempt to balance nourishment and happiness. This is a HUGE bestseller and is raved about by countless CEOs and celebrities.
• The Broke Millennial: Stop Scraping By and Get Your Financial Life Together by Erin Lowry: Next, this book is supposed to give you the financial knowledge school failed to give you: money management. It helps 20- and 30-somethings debunk the mysteries of money and start living a stress-free life.
• Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered: The Definitive How-To Guide by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark: The fantastic ladies of the My Favorite Murder Podcast have created this amazing book. As the title suggests, it is a guide to not getting murdered with hilarious commentary.
• Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 535 Easy(ish) Steps by Kelly Williams Brown: As the title suggests, this is a great book for 20- and 30-somethings going attempting to figure out this whole adult life (cough, cough, like myself).
• Nice is Just a Place in France: How to Win at Basically Everything by The Betches: This is an older book but definitely on my reading list. It is a hilariously narrated guide at winning at life by the famous Betches!
• Next Level Basic by Stassi Schroeder: Vanderpump Rules star Stassi Schroeder wrote this hilarious book that serves as a great guidebook to embracing your best basic self.

Related: 21 Life-Changing Books to Read for 20-Somethings

Fiction Reads

Mysteries

• The Current: A Novel by Tim Johnston: After his novel Descent became a bestseller, Johnston wrote this new mystery that is supposed to be even better! It begins with two young women in Minnesota being pulled from their car that was found in an icy river.
• House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig: This young adult mystery is about a coastal girl who’s life is disrupted by tragedy over and over before the mystery is solved.
• Two Girls Down: An Alice Vega Novel by Louisa Luna: Next, this book follows the mystery of two missing girls, and the disgraced police officer and private investigator hired to find them.
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens: This huge best seller has been the top of the New York Best Seller List nearly all of 2019. It is about a handsome man who turns up dead in 1969 North Carolina.
• The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager: Next, this book follows a young woman who returns to her old summer camp to help solve the disappearance of a group of her friends. She may have been the last to see them, but can she unravel the truth of what happened right after they played the classic game of two truths and a lie fifteen years ago?
• The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie: As her first book, this mystery novel introduces Christie’s favorite Detective Hercule Poirot and I am so excited to dive in!

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Thrillers

• The Deep by Alma Katsu: This story is a chilling twist to the sinking of the Titanic and its sister ship, the Britannic.
• One of Us is Next by Karen M. McManus: After the huge success of the first book One of Us is Lying, McManus has brought us a sequel that follows the mysterious and thrilling events that occurred at Bayview High.
• The River: A Novel by Peter Heller: This bestselling novel follows two college students down a river. When they are met by other mysterious people in canoes, their desperate journey of survival begins.
• The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware: Bestselling author of In a Dark, Dark Wood, The Woman in Cabin 10, and The Death of Mrs. Westaway, Ruth Ware returns with this highly anticipated thriller that follows a woman who stumbles across a strange ad. This book is said to push the reader to solve the puzzle before the end of the book. Sign me up!
• The Lying Game by Ruth Ware: Speaking of Ware, this 2018 hit has been on my reading list for some time but I haven’t gotten to it, this is the year! This book is about a woman who’s dog pulls out an incredibly sinister object from the ocean.
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides: Next, this thriller is described as “shocking,” “unforgettable,” and “Hitchcockian Suspense.” It follows a therapist who is obsessed with uncovering a woman’s motive for attacking her husband.
• You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen: These bestselling ladies return with another great book this year that follows a woman you becomes friends with two successful, yet sinister sisters.
• An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen: Speaking of Hendricks and Pekkanen, this thriller is based on a woman who signs up for a phycology study and, as the questions become more personal and pressing, finds herself trapped in a strange, manipulating experiment. 
• Lock Every Door by Riley Sager: This thriller is about a woman who lands a new, mysterious job of apartment sitting. Her only rules? No visitors, no nights away, and no disturbing the rich and famous neighbors.

Literary, Historical, & Contemporary Fiction

• Ask Again, Yes: A Novel by Mary Beth Keane: Next on my 2020 book list is this 2019 bestseller that follows the shocking events that take place in the neighborhood where two NYC police officers live.
• Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid: This book flew skyrocketed to the top of the best sellers list in 2019 and I am excited to read it! It is about an iconic 1970’s rock group and the mysterious break up of the band. PS: Rumor has it that it is best experienced by Audiobook!
• The Subway Girls: A Novel by Susie Orman Schnall: This book wonders the path of two different timelines in New York, one in present day, and one in 1949. It follows the life of an advertising executive and of the Miss Subways contestants.
• A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne: A fame-seeking author follows the story of a veteran. Once he gets a taste of success, he will stop at nothing to get to the top.

Science Fiction & Fantasy

• The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders: This book takes place on the dying planet of January, where Sophie, a young revolutionary, miraculously lives and begins an epic journey.
• Magic for Liars: A Novel by Sarah Gailey: When a murder happens at her twin sister’s school, detective Ivy Gamble, a woman with no powers, is brought into a world of magic, lies, and secrets.
• House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City) by Sarah J. Maas: In this new, hugely anticipated adult-fantasy novel, a young magical artifact dealer’s life is shaken by a murder.
• Recursion by Blake Crouch: If you were a fan of Dark Matter like me, you might be as excited as I am to read this book! Crouch brought us a new and exciting book with Recursion that follows a New York City police officer and a neuroscientist who are investigating the strange mystery behind a new memory altering condition.
• Circe by Madeline Miller: Circe, daughter to the Titan Helios, god of the sun, is banished by Zeus after her strange witchcraft abilities are discovered. This book was among the top books of 2018 and I’m excited to get my hands on it!

Romance

• City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert: This fun love story, set in 1940’s New York City, follows a young woman through her life in the theater world.
• The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren: Next, this romantic comedy follows two enemies on a grand Hawaiian trip. Perhaps love gets in their way?
• Things you Save in a Fire: A Novel by Katherine Center: This book is about a young female firefighter who is attempting to follow her chief’s advice of never dating a fellow firefighter.
• The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang: A mathematician hires a man to teach her how to navigate the world of romance.
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern: This bestselling novel is about a circus that suddenly arrives into wonderful towns and the two magicians that battle for success within the tent’s doors.

Books to Become Films

• Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty: When nine people meet each other at an exclusive health resort, a mystery unfolds and their lives will be changed forever. This is going to be turned into a Hulu short series starring Nicole Kidman.
• Little Fires Everywhere: A Novel by Celeste Ng: Next, this will become another limited series on Hulu starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington. It is about a picture-perfect family who’s life is turned around.
• Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Myster by Agatha Christie: After the mystery that occurs during Murder on the Orient Express, a detective traveling to Egypt when a sudden death occurs. Soon to be a major motion picture film.
• Chaos Walking: The Complete Trilogy by Patrick Ness: Next, this book takes place in the future, where it is believed that all women have been killed by a particular pathogen. In this world, men have the ability to hear the thoughts of those around them. That is until Todd Hewitt runs into a woman. The first of this series will be a major film in 2020 starring Tom Holland.
• The Devil All The Time by Donald Ray Pollock: As his wife is succumbing to cancer, Willard Russell’s son is growing up too fast and a strange group of people, including a team of serial killers, become entwined into his life. This film will star Robert Pattinson, Haley Bennett, Tom Holland, and Bill Skarsgard.
• I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb: This book is soon to be a six-part HBO series starring Mark Ruffalo. I’ve read the book before, it kinda drags on but is a great read overall about twin brothers and their challenging lives.
• China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan: After the major success of his first film adaptation of Crazy Rich Asians, round two is coming soon! This book follows Rachel Chu on her wedding day.

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Seasonal Reads: October

• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling: It is always good to re-read some of your favorite books each year. For me, I am going to be reading the classic Harry Potter series again. Love following the boy with the lightning scar in the autumn months!
• The Defense by Steve Cavanagh: First in the famous Eddie Flynn Series, a con artist becomes a lawyer and is forced into the courtroom by the Russian mob after his daughter is kidnapped. There are times that this series is supposed to get pretty spooky!
• Dracula by Bram Stoker: This 1897 gothic classic is perfect to read in October!
• The Witches of Eastwick by John Updike: Witchcraft comes to the suburbs in this dark comedy, where three young women find themselves powerful in a small, Rhode Island town.

Seasonal Reads: December

• The Christmas Train by David Baldacci: This wonderful holiday book follows a man on his train journey across the United States and the people he meets along the way.
• Let it Snow by John Green, Lauren Myracle, and Maureen Johnson: Next, these three bestselling authors have put together this soon-to-be classic holiday book that follows three great holiday romances.
• The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: This Sherlock Holmes holiday story is the perfect mystery to solve during the holidays! Your clues? A holiday goose, an old hat, and a stolen jewel.
• Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie: Speaking of holiday mysteries, bestselling author Agatha Christie has thrown her favorite detective into the holiday world in this wonderful Christmas novel.

Further Reading

If you’re looking for some more great books to add to your 2020 book list, check out these related posts:

• 2019 Book List and How to Create a Yearly Book List
• 21 Life-Changing Books for 20-Somethings

Well, there you have it, my 2020 book list. Each of these titles are books I am personally going to read. I hope you have found some awesome titles to read this year and enjoy doing it! Happy reading!

Don’t forget to check out Audible to SMASH your reading list this year!