Twenty best novels I read in Year Zero.
20.
Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind by Molly McGhee
McGhee’s debut novel is about a schlub guy whose job it is to clean up people’s dreams. It’s weird, funny, angry and relatable.
19.
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver
Raymond Carver’s most famous collection of stories is incredible. His characters are all on the brink of (or in full-blown) catastrophe, and it’s impossible to look away. The stories are often uncomfortably relatable, and I remember them vividly more than half a year later.
18.
Denison Avenue by Christina Wong
This book is about a widow who has lived in Toronto’s Kensington Market for her entire adult life. When her husband dies, she becomes a bottle-collector to make ends meet. It’s full of illustrations by Daniel Innes of Kensington locations then and now. It’s a perfect Toronto book.
17.
The Safekeep by Yael van der Wouden
A late addition to the list, this is a historical literary romance. That alone wouldn’t have gotten me to crack the spine, but there’s a reason it’s shortlisted for the Booker. The less you know, the better the book will be.
16.
Service by Sarah Gilmartin
Sarah Gilmartin’s riveting #metoo novel is part courtroom drama, part character study, and part family drama, filled with tension and twists. At the core, Service is about abuse of power, sexual and otherwise.
15.
Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee
I’m new to Coetzee, and it was a tossup between this and Waiting for the Barbarians. This story of an entitled and lecherous man facing his legacy is upsetting, eye-opening and impossible to put down.
14.
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray
I loved The Bee Sting so much I sought this out, and it’s even better. Skippy does indeed die on the first page, and the next 600+ pages tell us why. It’s a campus novel/coming of age story about a private boys’ school in Dublin. It’s hilarious, touching and charming as hell.
13.
God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Liz Moore’s prior crime novel Long Bright River was one of my favourite novels of 2020, and The God of the Woods is even better. It uses a teenage girl’s disappearance at summer camp to tell a story about class, privilege and social dynamics spanning generations, and by the end I didn’t want the crime to be solved.
12.
Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
It’s a classic for a reason. Styron’s semi-autofictional story about a writer trying to make it in New York, and the two complicated friends that share his rooming house is brilliantly written, heartbreaking and surprisingly current.
11.
Rejection: Fiction by Tony Tulathimutte
This is the most of-the-moment novel I’ve read since No One is Talking About This. Tulathimutte pushes every conceivable boundary in this set of short, loosely-connected stories about incels, and the result is repulsive, hilarious and unforgettable.
10.
Martyr! by Kaveh Akbar
I’ve picked this book up regularly since reading it — Akbar’s characters and writing are flawless, and this story about a lost soul in recovery is funny, clever, and immensely personal. When I finished it, it felt like something magic had happened.
9.
Prophet Song by Paul Lynch
Winner of last year’s Booker Prize, this dystopian story of a mother trying to keep her family together in the face of a sudden shift in the rule of law feels sadly plausible (again). The book is brilliantly written, breathless and filled with tension. It’s the rare book that had me actually holding by breath.
8.
The Body in Question by Jill Ciment
The Body in Question is a good book, part courtroom thriller, part portrait of a woman in a midlife crisis. Reading it after Ciment’s newer memoir Consent adds a meta quality to it that elevates it to something unforgettable.
7.
A Love Affair by Dino Buzzati
Antonio Dorigo, a 50-year old architect meets a young prostitute named Laide and becomes infatuated, then obsessed with her. He risks destroying his life for her. The slowly escalating tension is almost unbearable, and the writing is lyrical and immersive.
6.
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
If you haven’t read this book, do it. No matter your demographic, this gothic story of an unhealthy relationship deserves all of the praise that it gets and more.
5.
Foster by Claire Keegan
Keegan’s short novel couldn’t have been more impactful. Her writing is poetic and gorgeous. This story of a young girl’s time being lent out by her struggling family is subtle, delicate and hits like a hammer.
4.
James by Percival Everett
Everett’s retelling of Huckleberry Finn through the eyes of Jim is going to win all the awards this year. It’s easy to read and incredibly intense, funny and upsetting and thought-provoking.
3.
The MANIAC by Benjamin Labatut
Toss up between this and When We Cease to Understand the World, but this feels more relevant to current events. Labatut’s novel is a genius thing, mixing historical figures with fictional elements to connect the Oppenheimer era to today’s AI fears. It’s brilliant.
2.
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
This was written when she was 21 years old and has wisdom and insight well beyond that age. McCullers centres her stories around social misfits and outcasts, but shows incredible heart and affection for them. It set me off on a quest to read all of her stuff and learn about her own tragic story.
1.
Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt
This is the story of a woman raising her granddaughter because her own daughter is an addict. It’s about self doubt of being a parent, and finding reasons to keep going. Boyt’s writing is flawless, and I was in full tears for the last 25% of this book. Several people I love are getting it for Christmas this year. You should get it for yourself too.