The Best Books of Fall 2020 For Those Long, Chilly Nights

Six staggering months into the coronavirus pandemic, you’ve likely binged every television show on your interminable list, constructed every jigsaw puzzle you own, and maybe even baked bread. What’s left to do, you ask? The answer, of course, is to read. What better way to fill up the long, cold nights than with a blanket and a book?

From living legends to literary newcomers, heavily reported nonfiction to fantastical fiction, luckily this season in publishing has something for everyone. Our favorite books of fall are formally adventurous, taking shape not just as novels, stories, and books of nonfiction, but as lyric arrangements and anthologies. They speak to these fractured times, examining weighty ideas about race, class, gender, and privilege, yet they also whisk us away to fantastical worlds, where houses contain oceans and spurned women transform into mythical monsters. Whether you’re looking to grow your mind, escape your reality, or all of the above, our favorite books of fall are what you need.