Somehow we've made it to the end of 2020. Despite being a trash year overall, it's still been an amazing year for books. Fiction seems to be the most compelling genre—see: Emily Henry's Beach Read and Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half—as we attempt to immerse ourselves in another world to escape the current political climate and COVID-19 crisis. Then there are the purely therapeutic books, like Lili Reinhart's Swimming Lessons and Maggie Smith's Keep Moving, that encourage us to practice more self-love. Ahead, a list of the 2020 book releases we loved the most.
'Long Bright River' By Liz Moore
The opioid crisis is plaguing our country. Liz Moore brings the crisis to light in a twisty mystery where one of two inseparable sisters addicted to drugs goes missing. Oh, and that just so happens while a string of murders are happening in their Philadelphia neighborhood.
Available January 7, 2020
'Topics of Conversation' By Miranda Popkey
If you loved Lisa Taddeo's Three Women, you'll appreciate Miranda Popkey's debut novel, Topics of Conversation. The book is formatted into a series of conversations between fictional women who discuss everything from motherhood to loneliness to anger and guilt.
Available January 7, 2020
'Followers' By Megan Angelo
Megan Angelo's debut novel traces the stories of three women, unexpectedly connected, who find themselves on the brink of high-profile success while discovering what their follower counts really means for their goals and dreams. It's a deep dive into the social media dominance we currently live within with lots of dark and hilarious turns.
Available January 14, 2020
'Uncanny Valley' By Anna Wiener
When Anna Wiener was in her mid-20s, she left her book publishing job in New York City for a data startup in Silicon Valley. What she didn't realize is that she'd find herself in a falsely progressive world masked by company ski vacations and in-office speakeasies. In her memoir, Wiener documents the rise and fall of her Silicon Valley dream.
Available January 14, 2020
'Open Book' By Jessica Simpson
Every person nostalgic for the early 2000s will fall in love with Jessica Simpson's juicy memoir, Open Book, where she talks about everything from her relationship with ex John Mayer to how she convinced people to take her seriously while building an epic career.
Available February 4, 2020
'Here For It' By R. Eric Thomas
One could argue that ELLE.com columnist R. Eric Thomas is one of the funniest people on the internet, and now he's blessing the world with his debut book, Here For It: Or, How to Save Your Soul in America, filled with humorous essays about growing up and feeling like an outsider.
Available February 18, 2020
'Anna K: A Love Story' By Jenny Lee
Marie Claire's March #ReadWithMC pick, Anna K, certainly doesn't disappoint. Jenny Lee's modern YA retelling of Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina follows rich kids in New York as they navigate everything from sex and relationships to drugs and depression. Expect to be reminded of Gossip Girl.
Available March 3, 2020
'Writers & Lovers' By Lily King
Lily King, the bestselling author of Euphoria (2014), knows exactly how to combine love, grief, creativity, and balance. A young prodigy who loses her mother must confront how to channel her ambition again...all while finding herself in love with two men at the same time.
Available March 3, 2020
'My Dark Vanessa' By Kate Elizabeth Russell
This isn't your cliché trope about a high school student-teacher relationship. Kate Elizabeth Russell brings forth all of the emotion and complexity when Vanessa discovers almost two decades later that her first love has been accused of sexual abuse by a former student.
Available March 10, 2020
'In Five Years' By Rebecca Serle
Rebecca Serle's New York Times bestselling novel, In Five Years, is Marie Claire's April book club pick. Read an exclusive excerpt here, then dive in with us throughout the rest of the month. You'll devour it.
Available March 10, 2020
'The Herd' By Andrea Bartz
Anybody obsessed with the exclusivity of private women's clubs, typically accessible only to the elite, will appreciate Andrea Bartz's latest thriller, The Herd, about what happens to the members of (fictional) NYC–based THE HERD when its glitzy founder vanishes without a trace.
Available March 24, 2020
'The Honey-Don't List' By Christina Lauren
You're always guaranteed a good time in Christina Lauren's novels, and The Honey Don't List is no exception. Home designers Melissa and Rusty Tripp have a very public Chip and Joanna Gaines-like relationship, except there's one problem: They actually can't stand each other. The story is told from the perspective of Melissa and Rusty's longtime employees, Carey and James, who are doing whatever it takes to keep their bosses' secret.
Available March 24, 2020
'It's Not All Downhill From Here' By Terry McMillan
Terry McMillan, the bestselling author of How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Waiting to Exhale is back with yet another heartwarming novel about the inevitabilities in life—this time with a 68-year-old who knows her best days are still ahead of her.
Available March 31, 2020
'The Beauty of Your Face' By Sahar Mustafah
The unfortunate timeliness of Sahar Mustafah's The Beauty of Your Face will be triggering for anybody who has experienced gun violence or lost a loved one to gun violence. In the novel, a Palestinian principal for an all-girl Muslim school in Chicago is confronted with a school shooter fueled by radical alt-right beliefs.
Available April 7, 2020
'Afterlife' By Julia Alvarez
Julia Alvarez, one of the most influential Latina writers of all time, returns with Afterlife—a story centered on Antonia Vega, an immigrant writer who is forced to cope with the sudden death of her husband, her sister's disappearance, and an undocumented teenager who shows up at her doorstep all at once.
Available April 7, 2020
'Joy at Work: Organizing Your Professional Life' By Marie Kondo
The inimitable Marie Kondo is here to transform your messy desks...and stressful work relationships.
Available April 7, 2020
'The Book of Longings' By Sue Monk Kidd
You'll recognize Sue Monk Kidd from her critically-acclaimed novel The Secret Life of Bees (2003). In her fourth novel, The Book of Longings, she takes readers all the way back to the first century in a tale about a young woman who meets 18-year-old Jesus. Yes, that Jesus.
Available April 21, 2020
'Rodham' By Curtis Sittenfeld
As one Marie Claire reviewer wrote, Curtis Sittenfeld writes a "frustrating but fascinating look" at Hillary Clinton's life if she didn't marry Bill.
Available May 19, 2020
'The Paper Girl of Paris' By Jordyn Taylor
Jordyn Taylor's debut novel, The Paper Girl of Paris, follows 16-year-old Alice who spends the summer in Paris and receives the keys to the apartment of her grandmother, who recently passed away. The catch? It's been locked for more than 70 years. Little does Alice know a whole world is waiting for her inside.
Available May 26, 2020
'The Vanishing Half' By Brit Bennett
Two identical twin sisters who grew up in a southern Black community and ran away at age 16 couldn't be more different as they navigate their lives as adults. Expect hard conversations about race, family, and how decisions of the past affects the rest of their lives.
Available June 2, 2020
'Exciting Times' By Naoise Dolan
Naoise Dolan's Exciting Times, Marie Claire's June #ReadWithMC pick, is a lovely novel about an Irish millennial expat in Hong Kong who finds herself in a love triangle with a male banker and a female lawyer.
Available June 2, 2020
'You Should See Me in a Crown' By Leah Johnson
Liz Lighty had a plan to get out of her small, rich, white town of Campbell, Indiana: attend Pennington College, play in its world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor. When the financial aid falls through, Lighty goes on a quest to become prom queen—the next best thing she can think of to receive scholarship money—and there's nothing she won't do to win.
Available June 2, 2020
'You Can't Catch Me' By Catherine McKenzie
If you're in need of a new thriller, Catherine McKenzie's You Can't Catch Me is a gripping account of a woman who escapes a cult and attempts to reenter society. All goes according to plan until she lands next to a woman in an airport bar with an identical name and birth date.
Available June 9, 2020
'Head Over Heels' By Hannah Orenstein
Hannah Orenstein is getting ready to release her latest novel, Head Over Heels, a rom-com set in the competitive gymnastics world. Avery Abrams is forced to learn a new way of life after her gymnast career suddenly ends. Meanwhile, her best friend slash former teammate, Jasmine, becomes an Olympic champion and marries their emotionally abusive coach, Dimitri. Twisty storylines about love and relationships follow.
Available June 23, 2020
'Party of Two' By Jasmine Guillory
Jasmine Guillory's Party of Two follows Olivia, a lawyer who moves to L.A. and unexpectedly meets a high-profile junior senator. Finally going public with their relationship after keeping it a secret, they couple is forced to deal with intense media scrutiny and the consequences of their past lives.
Available June 23, 2020
'The Last Flight' By Julie Clark
Psychological thriller The Last Flight tells the story of a woman, Claire, who plans to disappear from her seemingly-perfect life. When she meets a woman in an airport bar who's planning to do the same, they end up switching tickets. Tragically, the woman who ends up taking Claire's ticket dies in a plane crash (it was supposed to be Claire!), prompting Claire to assume the woman's identity and, therefore, her secrets.
Available June 23, 2020
'Blue Ticket' By Sophie Mackintosh
Sophie Mackintosh, author of The Water Cure, returns with Blue Ticket—a Handmaid's Tale-esque story centered on a disturbing reality where women report to a station the first day they bleed to discover their fate: a white ticket, which grants you marriage and children, or a blue ticket, which grants you a career and freedom.
Available June 30, 2020
'All the Broken People' By Leah Konen
Leah Konen's All the Broken People is a domestic thriller centered on Lucy, who flees from Brooklyn to Woodstock, New York, and meets a couple next door who asks her to help fake the husband's death. As you might imagine, things don't go exactly as planned.
Available June 30, 2020
'Destination Wedding' By Diksha Basu
Diksha Basu's Destination Wedding is a charming rom-com about Tina Das who escapes to India for her cousin’s lavish wedding thinking it will help solve her problems. Instead, she's met with family drama and life-changing decisions she's forced to confront.
Available June 30, 2020
'This Is My America' By Kim Johnson
In an unfortunately timely novel, Kim Johnson's This Is My America recounts the story of 17-year-old Tracy Beaumont who's working to get her innocent father off of death row. That is, until her older brother, Jamal, is accused of killing a white girl. Now, she's forced to discover the truth about what happened within the racist town her family resides in.
Available July 28, 2020
'Luster' By Raven Leilani
Marie Claire's August book club pick is Raven Leilani's brilliant debut about a young Black artist named Edie who finds herself in an open marriage with a man named Eric, a digital archivist, and his wife, an autopsist. What follows is an invitation into the couple's home, but not without struggles of racial and sexual identity as Edie attempts to navigate this chaotic world she's living in.
Available August 4, 2020
'The Death of Vivek Oji' By Akwaeke Emezi
What would you do if you were a mother who opened the front door and discovered your son's body wrapped in colorful fabric? Akwaeke Emezi's The Death of Vivek Oji is equal parts brilliant and heartbreaking as readers are taken on a journey to discover the hidden parts of Vivek's life and the mystery surrounding his death.
Available August 4, 2020
'The Black Kids' By Christina Hammonds Reed
When four LAPD officers are acquitted after beating a Black man named Rodney King half to death, Ashley's Blackness is front and center. Now, she's no longer just "one of the girls" and is forced to navigate the racism she experiences as a Black woman living in L.A. during the 1992 riots.
Available August 4, 2020
'They Wish They Were Us' By Jessica Goodman
After Jill's best friend, Shaila Arnold, was killed by her boyfriend freshman year, she attempts to begin her senior year in Gold Coast, Long Island, with a fresh mindset. That is, until she starts receiving texts insisting the boyfriend is innocent.
Available August 4, 2020
'She Will Rise' By Katie Hill
Former Congresswoman Katie Hill wrote She Will Rise in three months (!) to document the misogyny and double standards she faced after essentially being forced to step down from Congress when nude photos of her were leaked on the internet last year.
Available August 11, 2020
'Transcendent Kingdom' By Yaa Gyasi
Readers can expect the same genius in Transcendent Kingdom that Yaa Gyasi delivered in Homegoing (2016), which received the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award in 2017. In Transcendent Kingdom, Gyasi tells the story of a family from Ghana that struggles to make a home for themselves in small-town Alabama.
Available September 1, 2020
'The Lying Life of Adults' By Elena Ferrante
Elena Ferrante's The Lying Life of Adults, set in Naples, Italy, grapples with a young woman's journey to adulthood as she's constantly critiqued by her family. You can read more about the critically-acclaimed novel here.
Available September 1, 2020
'Punching the Air' By Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam
Bestselling author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five teamed up to write Punching the Air—a powerful YA novel about a boy convicted of a crime he didn't commit, who turns his grief into art as he fights for the world to learn his truth.
Available September 1, 2020
'When No One Is Watching' By Alyssa Cole
In Alyssa Cole's compelling thriller, When No One Is Watching, the gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood turns sinister when main character Sydney and her neighbor Theo realize that the neighbors may not have actually moved out at all.
Available September 1, 2020
'His Only Wife' By Peace Adzo Medie
Marie Claire's October book club pick is a modern Ghanaian love story chronicling the complicated relationship between Afi, a young seamstress in Ghana, and the family who has convinced her to marry a man she doesn't know, Elikem. You can read honest reader reviews about the novel here.
Available September 1, 2020
'The White Coat Diaries' By Madi Sinha
Fans of Grey's Anatomy will appreciate The White Coat Diaries—a story about Norah Kapadia, who landed the medical residency of her dreams and soon questions her fate after being involved in a cover-up that could jeopardize her career.
Available September 15, 2020
'Daughters of the Wild' By Natalka Burian
Natalka Burian's Daughters of the Wild tells the story of Joanie and her foster siblings who live on a farm in rural West Virginia tending for a magical plant called the vine. Joanie plans to escape with the help of her foster brother after an arranged marriage goes wrong, but before she leaves her baby goes missing and she's forced to summon the vine for help.
Available September 22, 2020
'The Book of Two Ways' By Jodi Picoult
New York Times bestselling author Jodi Picoult publishes a heartbreaking tale about a woman who survives a plane crash, realizing in what she thought would be her final moments that she wasn't thinking about her husband—but instead a man she met 15 years ago. She must then decide which path she wants to take as she moves forward with her life.
Available September 22, 2020
'Dear Justyce' By Nic Stone
Dear Justyce is the sequel to the New York Times bestseller Dear Martin, which gives readers an eye-opening look into America's broken prison system as Quan writes letters to his friend Justyce while incarcerated.
Available September 29, 2020
'All This Time' By Mikki Daughtry and Rachael Lippincott
Mikki Daughtry and Rachael Lippincott, authors of the New York Times-bestselling novel Five Feet Apart, are back with a crushing romance novel that begins with death and transforms into a heartbreaking love story. Make sure you have a box of tissues.
Available September 29, 2020
'Just Like You' By Nick Hornby
Sometimes who we think we're supposed to end up with turns out to be the wrong person after all. In Just Like You, Nick Hornby, author of High Fidelity, explores the relationship of an unexpected love match, and the rewards of opening your heart.
Available September 29, 2020
'Swimming Lessons' By Lili Reinhart
Actress/poet/beautiful human Lili Reinhart is releasing her first collection of poems this fall.
"One year ago, I decided I wanted to share my poetry with the world. It’s scary to reveal a part of myself that I don’t often show, but I like to consider this book as more of a story rather than a confession of thought," she shared on Instagram in October 2019. "Strangers, songs, films, fictional characters, love in various forms, and of course my own experiences were my inspiration throughout the creation of Swimming Lessons. This book means a lot to me and I’m very grateful to be in the position to finally share it."
Available September 29, 2020
'Leave the World Behind' By Rumaan Alam
The literary world cannot stop talking about Rumaan Alam's Leave the World Behind, centered on a family who's interrupted mid-vacation by the owners of the home they're renting who claim they're in a crisis. The real question is...can they actually trust them?
Available October 6, 2020
'The Searcher' By Tana French
One Marie Claire reviewer says Tana French's The Searcher is the mystery novel of the season that "has everything you love–the suspense, the questions, the unraveling of lies–without bureaucracy, clichés, or the moral high ground."
Available October 6, 2020
'Keep Moving' By Maggie Smith
Following Maggie Smith on Twitter is like entering an inspirational capsule of wisdom, truth, and vulnerability—and now we get the privilege to read more of the American poet's courageous words in her latest book, Keep Moving: Notes on Loss, Creativity, and Change.
Available October 6, 2020
'Plain Bad Heroines' By Emily Danforth
Emily Danforth's Plain Bad Heroines, Marie Claire's November book club pick, is a gothic horror-comedy comprised of twisty stories within stories, beginning with Flo and Clara—two students at the Brookhants School for Girls in 1902—who create the Plain Bad Heroine Society and are found dead on campus shortly after. Read an excerpt from the novel here.
Available October 20, 2020
'What Would Frida Do?' By Arianna Davis
In this part biography, part self-help book, Arianna Davis dives into the culture-shifting, vibrant world of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Going from a child prone to illness to one of the most recognized faces in history, Kahlo is the embodiment of resilience—just one of the many lessons we can learn from her.
Available October 20, 2020
'Zikora' By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, best known for her 2013 novel Americanah, is back with her short story, "Zikora," about a D.C. lawyer from Nigeria who tells her lover that she's pregnant and he ends up abandoning her—prompting her to reimagine what motherhood will look like for her.
Available October 27, 2020
'A Promised Land' By Barack Obama
In the first of two volumes, POTUS 44 provides an honest account of the lows and highs during his years in office, from inheriting the presidency during a global financial crisis to securing the passage of the Affordable Care Act, all while emphasizing the importance of preserving our democracy amid the challenging times we’re living in.
Available November 17, 2020
