It's a simple question without an easy answer: What makes a best book of the year?
Is it a novel begging to become a contemporary classic or a retelling of the classics themselves? Is it a book that reflects the current zeitgeist? What about one that simply sweeps you off of your feet?
Amazon editors “Best Books of the Year” list is here, and what underpins the Top 10 list isn't a type, but a topic.
Many of them are about hope and their stories highlight underdogs, unsung heroes and relentless pursuit. But ultimately, the sprawling list (Amazon's full list features 100 titles) has “books for every kind of reader,” says Al Woodworth, senior editor at Amazon Books, with nonfiction picks that romance readers will enjoy, dark thrillers that even the cozy fantasy lover won’t be able to put down.
“All of these books make you feel deeply,” Woodworth says.
Check out: USA TODAY's weekly Best-selling Booklist
Amazon’s book list is curated based on editorial judgment rather than sales data. Every year, a team of former publishing sales reps, booksellers, writers, journalists and agents read thousands of books and then gather to advocate for their favorites. The most beloved make it to the overall Top 100 list and genre-specific Top 20 lists. This year, each editor will release their personal Top 10 as well.
Here’s a look at why these books made Amazon’s Top 10 Best Books of the Year list:
What it’s about: From New York Times reporter Thomas Fuller, this nonfiction book chronicles a football team at a state-run school for the deaf as it rises from underdog to undefeated led by a dynamic head coach who's also a deaf former athlete.
What Amazon Books editors are saying: “The Boys of Riverside” is a universal sports story up there with “Seabiscuit” and “The Boys in the Boat,” Woodworth says. And it’s not just for football fans: “It’s a story about brotherhood, it’s a story about immigrants in America, it’s a story about camaraderie and teamwork and finding your sense of self … and recognizing that as a strength,” she says.
What it’s about: This missing-person thriller follows a vanished 13-year-old camper in 1975. When Barbara Van Laar’s bunk is found empty, it prompts a panicked search to find the daughter of the summer camp owners, who employ most of the region’s residents. The hunt threatens the unveiling of dark family secrets, including the mystery of another Van Laar child – Barbara’s older brother, who disappeared 14 years ago.
What Amazon Books editors are saying: This book is also Amazon’s top choice in the mystery and thriller category. With themes of family dynamics, class, feminism and manipulative relationships, “The God of the Woods” is both escapist and smart, Woodworth says. “I really don’t read a lot of mysteries and thrillers, and this kept me up at night and then I also had to put it down because I was so scared and (had to) keep the light on,” she says, laughing.
What it’s about: “James” is a retelling of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” told from the perspective of the enslaved Jim. The story picks up after Jim overhears he is about to be sold to a man in New Orleans and separated from his wife and daughter. At the same time, Huck Finn has recently returned to town after faking his death to escape his violent father. The two embark on a dangerous and transcendent journey down the Mississippi River toward what they hope is liberation.
What Amazon Books editors are saying: The genius of “James” is not only the all-consuming adventure but also the agency, intelligence and care given to the character of Jim. “What Percival Everett does in retelling, reenvisioning a classic is completely knockout,” Woodworth told USA TODAY earlier this year. “This is a rip-roaring story that is both based on a classic but has become, I think, maybe even more important and better than the classic.”
What it’s about: “The Women” is the story of the women serving in the Army Nurse Corps during the Vietnam War. It follows 20-year-old sheltered nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath, who, while in Vietnam, makes friends and learns that every day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal. And when she comes home to a changed America, she has to face a country that wants to forget Vietnam and ignore the women who served in it.
What Amazon Books editors are saying: Another story of unsung heroes, this emotional read is a lesson on the forgotten, yet vital contributions of women throughout history. “She also manages to take historical events that you think you know and turn them on their head and give you a perspective that’s totally fresh,” Sarah Gelman, editorial director for Amazon Books, told USA TODAY in June.
What it’s about: Written by “America’s government teacher,” Sharon McMahon tells the story of ordinary heroes, including: a young boy at a Japanese incarceration camp; a formerly enslaved woman trying to reunite with her daughter and a teacher working with her enemies.
What Amazon Books editors are saying: This book is an entertaining page-turner that’s “surprising at every turn,” Woodworth says. Amazon editor Lindsay Powers calls it “a pitch-perfect dose of inspiration and reassurance in her fascinating retelling of history.”
What it’s about: This novel is a portrait of a young Iranian American man trying to discover what it means to live a life of value. It centers on Cyrus Shams, a young man grappling with his mother’s violent death in Tehran and his father’s life in America. He’s a drunk, an addict and a poet with an obsession with martyrs.
What Amazon Books editors are saying: The editorial team has described Akbar’s literary tone as a “male Sally Rooney.” This is Akbar’s debut, and a stunning one at that, Woodworth says. “This is an unforgettable narrator whose voice I always say sort of feels shot from a cannon, not unlike, in my mind, ‘Demon Copperhead’ (by Barbara Kingsolver),” Woodworth told USA TODAY in June. “It is so funny and it’s also deadly serious.”
What it’s about: The long-awaited memoir chronicles Garten’s life through her difficult childhood, meeting and marrying the love of her life, opening her store and eventually becoming the celebrated TV host and culinary icon she’s known as today.
What Amazon Books editors are saying: This isn’t just another celebrity memoir. Garten’s story is tinged with optimism, humor and relentless drive. “That’s what I took, and so many of our team members took away from this book,” Woodworth says. “It’s worth following your dreams, even if it’s hard.”
What it’s about: This novel opens as Phoebe Stone arrives at a luxurious Rhode Island inn to fulfill a longtime dream. Wearing a dress and heels, she’s mistaken for a wedding guest even though she’s the only person at the Cornwall Inn not attending the big event. A meticulously planned wedding gets turned on its head when Phoebe and the bride come face to face.
What Amazon Books editors are saying: This is the perfect book to get you out of a reading slump and it’s a rom-com that subverts your expectations. Amazon editor Abby Abell calls “The Wedding People” “one of the most honest, resonant, and funny books about how chance encounters can lead us down the most surprising paths.”
What it’s about: “I Cheerfully Refuse” is set in a dystopian, near-future America run by a billionaire ruling class and crumbling from illiteracy, poor infrastructure and lawlessness. The story follows a musician embarking on a sailing journey across Lake Superior in search of his departed wife.
What Amazon Books editors are saying: There’s an overwhelming sense of heartwarming love in Enger’s novel. “This is a book that is a tribute to books, to language and to this transformative power of receiving kindness,” Woodworth says.
What it’s about: This historical fantasy is set in Renaissance Spain and follows Luzia, a servant with a secret talent for magic. When her mistress discovers her hidden skills, she demands Luzia use them to the benefit of the family’s social status. But after Luzia gets the attention of the king’s secretary and is enlisted to use her magic in the war, she’ll have to wade through fraud and deceit, even enlisting the help of a resentful immortal.
What Amazon Books editors are saying: Bardugo's "The Familiar" is a “glittering jewel of a novel” that any reader will love, not just science fiction and fantasy lovers. Amazon editor Seira Wilson calls this book “a kaleidoscopic story of power, politics, magic, and love."
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