I collected over 14 lists of the Best Books of 2020 from the Internet, newspapers and magazines and combined them into one meta-list. Here are the results, every book on at least three of the original source lists, organized by rank (that is, with the books on the most lists at the top).
NOTE: These are not my personal opinions and I have not read all these books.
On 14 lists
Fiction
HAMNET. By Maggie O’Farrell
On 13 lists
Nonfiction
CASTE: The Origins of our Discontents. By Isabel Wilkerson
On 9 lists
Fiction
HOMELAND ELEGIES. By Ayad Akhtar
THE VANISHING HALF. By Brit Bennett
On 8 lists
Fiction
DEACON KING KONG. By James McBride
TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM. By Yaa Gyasi
Nonfiction
VESPER FLIGHTS. By Helen Macdonald
On 7 lists
Fiction
HOW MUCH OF THESE HILLS IS GOLD. By C. Pam Zhang
LUSTER. By Raven Leilani
THE MIRROR & THE LIGHT. By Hilary Mantel
Nonfiction
MEMORIAL DRIVE: A Memoir. By Natasha Trethewey
On 6 lists
Fiction
A BURNING. By Megha Majumdar.
A CHILDREN’S BIBLE. By Lydia Millet.
LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND. By Rumaan Alam
MEMORIAL. By Bryan Washington
MEXICAN GOTHIC. By Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Nonfiction
HIDDEN VALLEY ROAD: Inside the Mind of an American Family. By Robert Kolker.
JUST US: An American Conversation. By Claudia Rankine.
THE SPLENDID AND THE VILE: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz. By Erik Larson.
On 5 lists
Fiction
THE CITY WE BECAME. By N. K. Jemisin
CLEANNESS. By Garth Greenwell
THE DEATH OF VIVEK OJI. By Akwaeke Emezi
REAL LIFE. By Brandon Taylor
WEATHER. By Jenny Offill
WRITERS & LOVERS. By Lily King
Nonfiction
THE DEAD ARE ARISING: THE LIFE OF MALCOLM X. By Les Payne and Tamara Payne
WOW, NO THANK YOU: Essays. By Samantha Irby
Poetry
AFRICAN AMERICAN POETRY: 250 Years of Struggle & Song. Edited by Kevin Young
On 4 lists
Fiction
CLAP WHEN YOU LAND. By Elizabeth Acevedo
HURRICANE SEASON. By Fernanda Melchor. Translated by Sophie Hughes.
THE COLD MILLIONS. By Jess Walters
INTERIOR CHINATOWN. By Charles Yu
SHUGGIE BAIN. By Douglas Stuart
SUCH A FUN AGE. By Kiley Reid
Nonfiction
HOOD FEMINISM: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot. By Mikki Kendall
MINOR FEELINGS: An Asian American Reckoning. By Cathy Park Hong
NOTES ON A SILENCING: A Memoir. By Lacy Crawford
A PROMISED LAND. By Barack Obama
THE UNDOCUMENTED AMERICANS. By Karla Cornejo Villavicencio
On 3 lists
Fiction
THE FIRST WOMAN. By Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
HITTING A STRAIGHT LICK WITH A CROOKED STICK: Stories from the Harlem Renaissance. By Zora Neale Hurston
THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB’S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES. By Grady Hendrix
THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB. By Richard Osman
THE OFFICE OF HISTORICAL CORRECTIONS. By Danielle Evans
PIRANESI. By Susanna Clarke
THE GLASS HOTEL. By Emily St. John Mandel
SHARKS IN THE TIME OF SAVIORS. By Kawai Strong Washburn
WHEN NO ONE IS WATCHING. By Alyssa Cole
HIS ONLY WIFE. By Peace Adzo Medie
Nonfiction
THE DRAGONS, THE GIANT, THE WOMEN: A Memoir. By Wayétu Moore
RED COMET: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath. By Heather Clark
WAGNERISM: Art and Politics in the Shadow of Music. By Alex Ross
WORLD OF WONDERS: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments. By Aimee Nezhukumatathil. Illustrated by Fumi Nakamura
Poetry
HOMIE: Poems. By Danez Smith
POSTCOLONIAL LOVE POEM: Poems. By Natalie Diaz
WHEN THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD WAS SUBDUED, OUR SONGS CAME THROUGH: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry. Edited by Joy Harjo