Year four of the 2020’s and we aleeady have a big enough list to list the best books of the decade. And while it still may be early, we will be looking at Goodreads 40 best books of the 2020’s. Keep reading to find out which books made their list!
Yes, we know, this list is early as we aren’t even halfway in. But the shher amount of amazing books makes this the perfect time to make this list. Many of these books won’t even end up on the best books of the decade list. That is why we should celebrate them now while they are fresh on everyone’s minds.
And what better place to turn to than Goodreads? They have the largest book community and are reliable when it comes to discovering new books to read. The best books of the 2020’s list will look a lof different when the decade wraps up. But for now, these are the best books of the decade. You can see the full list below!
Goodreads 40 Best Books of the 2020’s
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
- The House in the Cerulean Sea (The House in the Cerulean Sea, #1) by T.J. Klune
- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
- Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
- Piranesi by Susanna Clarke
- My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
- House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City, #1) by Sarah J. Maas
- I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
- The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (The Hunger Games, #0) by Suzanne Collins
- Beach Read by Emily Henry
- A Court of Silver Flames (A Court of Thorns and Roses, #4) by Sarah J. Maas
- The Love Hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood
- Fourth Wing (The Empyrean, #1) by Rebecca Yarros
- Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
- Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
- The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
- The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games, #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
- Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
- The Guest List by Lucy Foley
- Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
- Babel by R.F. Kuang
- A Deadly Education (The Scholomance, #1) by Naomi Novik
- House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City, #2) by Sarah J. Maas
- Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune
- Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson
- Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro
- The Thursday Murder Club (Thursday Murder Club, #1) by Richard Osman
- Heartstopper: Volume Three (Heartstopper, #3) by Alice Oseman
- Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
- Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
- Book Lovers by Emily Henry
- Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5) by Martha Wells
- One of Us Is Next (One of Us Is Lying, #2) by Karen M. McManus
- Loveless by Alice Oseman
- From Blood and Ash (Blood and Ash, #1) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
- Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- Bell Hammers by Lancelot Schaubert
The Midnight Library
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig is a beautiful story about coming to terms with your choices. It came out in 2022 and made several end-of-year lists for good reason. It is about regrets and how small choices can have a big impact on your life. The protagonist gets to live various lives, trying to find the one that will truly make her happy.
I’m Glad My Mom Died
Jennette McCurdy’s autobiography I’m Glad My Mom Died has to be one of if not the best biographies of the 2020s. It is an honest account of being raised by a mother who lives vicariously through her daughter. It wasn’t Jennette’s dream to be an actress but she can’t let her mother down ever.
Fourth Wing
Violet is a 20-year-girl who is forced to enter the Rider Quadrant even though she was supposed to become a scribe. Now, she has to survive against all odds in the war college and become a dragon rider as other contestants try to kill her. This novel has taken the literary world by surprise and already has a large following in less than a year.
Mexican Gothic
This is a novel that I have seen on many BookTok lists and finally got around to reading and I loved every second of it. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is an amazing author and her writing style is unique and her attention to detail make her novels feel like a trip to another time period. Mexican Gothic is a horror novel about a haunted house with a fun new spin!
Babel
In the past couple of years, R. F. Kuang has emerged as one of the best new authors. And Babel is an amazing fanatsy novel that tells the story of colonization and languages. It is beautifully written and while you may have started reading it because of the fanatsy element but will stay for the course on languages. Kuang has become a must read author with every novel she writes no matter what genre she writes for.
Conclusion
That is at Goodread’s 14 best books of the 2020’s list. How many of these books have you read or plan to read? I have read a bunch of these books and will check out a few more of these as I will be adding them to my to-read list. Happy reading!