Amazon reveals best books of the year so far – See the Top 20
Amazon reveals best books of the year so far – See the Top 20
Clare Mulroy, USA TODAYWed, June 10, 2026 at 1:01 PM UTC
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Amazon Books editors know what you should read this summer.
Around the halfway point every year, the Amazon Books editorial team of six gathers in Seattle to read, argue and craft the "Best Books of the Year So Far" list, advocating for their favorite titles published from January to June. This year's Top 5 all felt "super undeniable," says editor Al Woodworth, with books like "Yesteryear" by Caro Claire Burke and "Strangers" by Belle Burden sticking with readers long after the last page.
A recurring theme among this year's standouts is books about "being seen," whether it be by friends, family and media. Many titles grapple with how we present ourselves and are perceived online.
"As a reader, there's nothing greater than reading a book and feeling like a part of you is seen," Woodworth says. "To me, that's why you want to talk about it and why you want to share it with the world, is because you want to talk about something that is deep to you. I think literature offers that inroad."
Amazon reveals 'Best Books of the Year So Far'
Unlike Amazon's bestseller list, this one is curated based on editorial judgment, not sales data. A team of former publishing representatives, booksellers, writers, journalists and agents read hundreds of books to prepare. Their most beloved make it to the overall Top 20 list, and they create additional genre-specific lists with favorites in nonfiction, romance, history, sci-fi and more.
1. 'Kin' by Tayari Jones
"Kin" by Tayari Jones
What it's about: Two girls, both motherless, grow up in the 1950s South. Their bond as "cradle friends" continues even as they forge separate paths, one at Spelman College living among affluent peers and the other on a quest to find the mother who abandoned her.
Why Amazon Books editors loved it: Woodworth calls "Kin" "unforgettable, heartbreaking and redemptive": "It's a book that hits you immediately on a sentence level, but then to me it's also one that just kind of grows and grows and then lives inside you," she says.
2. 'London Falling' by Patrick Radden Keefe
"London Falling" by Patrick Radden Keefe
What it's about: A true crime investigation into the unexpected death of 19-year-old Zac Brettler, who, unbeknownst to his family, was posing as the son of a Russian oligarch.
Why Amazon Books editors loved it: "On the one hand, this is true crime. … It's also a story about London and its history and how they opened the doors to foreign money and, with that, conceded so much power and rules. And what happens when we allow capitalism and money to dictate our lives?" Woodworth says.
3. 'Yesteryear' by Caro Claire Burke
"Yesteryear" by Caro Claire Burke
What it's about: A tradwife influencer wakes up in 1855, far from her perfectly Instagrammable homesteading life. Now, she's forced to live in the pre-modern ways she advocated for online.
Why Amazon Books editors loved it: Sarah Gelman, executive director at Amazon Books, tells USA TODAY she loved that "Yesteryear" "blurred genres": "It hits on everything that's current in our culture and she is just so smart about it," Gelman says. "We read a lot and it's a big statement to say this is unlike anything we've ever read before."
4. 'Strangers' by Belle Burden
"Strangers" by Belle Burden
What it's about: In her memoir, Burden reflects on her husband's sudden departure after she found out about his affair. Someone she thought she knew so intimately is now a stranger who wants nothing to do with her, their kids or the life they created together.
Why Amazon Books editors loved it: "I love a divorce memoir, but I also think this is beyond a divorce memoir. I think of it as a forensic examination of a love and a marriage gone wrong and without any warning," Gelman says.
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5. 'Night Objects' by Eli Raphael
"Night Objects" by Eli Raphael
What it's about: After a family tragedy, a 15-year-old is sent to an elite boarding school in the Pacific Northwest where secret societies rule and a murder investigation is about to upend everything she thought she knew.
Why Amazon Books editors loved it: Gelman calls this Liz Moore's "God of the Woods" meets Donna Tartt's "The Secret History": "It was so moody and fresh and atmospheric. It just is one of those books that sticks in your head."
6. 'Land' by Maggie O'Farrell
"Land" by Maggie O'Farrell
What it's about: A man and his son work to complete a map of Ireland after the Great Hunger, but after an unsettling encounter among the trees, his life and family will never be the same.
Why Amazon Books editors loved it: Woodworth felt "enchanted" and "bewitched" by this new work from the "Hamnet" novelist: "I am completely transported out of Brooklyn; even though it is loud and there are sirens, I am in the middle of this cloudy, moody forest," she says. "This is a book that is totally transportive that you just want to linger and be in. Her sentences are divine."
7. 'American Men' by Jordan Ritter Conn
"American Men" by Jordan Ritter Conn
What it's about: The author paints a portrait of modern-day masculinity by following four different men and the ways they buck and uphold what it means to be a man in America.
Why Amazon Books editors loved it: "Looking at the space between society's expectations and the reality is so compelling and interesting," Woodworth says. "You're with all of these different men navigating life and you're rooting for them, your eyes are being opened."
8. 'Cherry Baby' by Rainbow Rowell
"Cherry Baby" by Rainbow Rowell
What it's about: While Cherry's soon-to-be ex-husband is getting rich and famous making a movie of his wildly successful and semi-autobiographical webcomic, Cherry is left to deal with the fallout of their unfulfilled future and his viral character who resembles her a little too much.
Why Amazon Books editors loved it: "Really, it's a book about forgiveness. It's a book about love and grief and the grief that we feel when we lose people in different ways," Gelman says. "The characters are so messy and so complicated, you forget that you're reading about characters and this isn't actually a true story."
9. 'Nothing Tastes as Good' by Luke Dumas
"Nothing Tastes as Good" by Luke Dumas.
What it's about: Emmett Truesdale enrolls in a clinical trial for a new weight-loss product and finds the results miraculous but horrifying.
Why Amazon Books editors loved it: This work of body horror is "visceral" but also fun, says Gelman: "It's darkly funny and sort of ridiculous in this way that's also very lifelike. It shines such a mirror on the way that society treats people that are overweight."
10. 'Crux' by Gabriel Tallent
"Crux" by Gabriel Tallent
What it's about: Two teens forge an intense bond over their love of rock climbing, but differences in obligations, class, family and talent threaten to tear them apart.
Why Amazon Books editors loved it: Woodworth says this "fiery, feisty book" reminded her of "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow." It's about "finding something that you love, finding somebody that loves the same thing" but "also then the blistering heartache of what happens when you maybe can't do what you want to do."
Amazon's Top 20 Best Books of the Year So Far -
"Kin" by Tayari Jones
"London Falling" by Patrick Radden Keefe
"Yesteryear" by Caro Claire Burke
"Strangers" by Belle Burden
"Night Objects" by Eli Raphael
"Land" by Maggie O'Farrell
"American Men" by Jordan Ritter Conn
"Cherry Baby" by Rainbow Rowell
"Nothing Tastes as Good" by Luke Dumas
"Crux" by Gabriel Tallent
"Transcription" by Ben Lerner
"Famesick" by Lena Dunham
"A Far-flung Life" by M.L. Stedman
"Five" Ilona Bannister
"Into the Blue" by Emma Brodie
"John of John" by Douglas Stuart
"Mad Mabel" by Sally Hepworth
"The Calamity Club" by Kathryn Stockett
"Homebound" by Portia Elan
"Lady Tremaine" by Rachel Hochhauser
Clare Mulroy is USA TODAY's Books Reporter, where she covers buzzy releases, chats with authors and dives into the culture of reading. Find her on Instagram, subscribe to our weekly Books newsletter or tell her what you're reading at cmulroy@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Amazon's Top 20 books of the year so far
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
