Bill Buford, the writer and former fiction editor at The New Yorker, once said: "Stories protect us from chaos, [and are] essential to the way we make sense of our lives." Given the tumult of this past year, we've needed stories more than ever. And fortunately, while 2020 has fallen wildly short of many expectations, it's been a boon for readers who enjoy great books. 

Each month the Amazon Books editorial team chooses 10 favorites. It's rare, but every once in a while a particular month will be so chock-full of compelling contenders that we extend the list to 12. In 2020 that happened an unprecedented five times, making the task of homing in on the Best Books of the Year that much harder. These are the "problems" we like to have.  

Below you'll find the top 10 books that made the cut, starting with our number one pick of 2020, Brittany K. Barnett's A Knock at Midnight.

To view all of our selections, visit The Best Books of 2020. There you’ll see our overall top 20 picks, plus favorites in categories from biographies, to literary fiction, to romance and sci-fi (and everything in between).