Year-End Lists

Decibel Magazine: Top 40 Albums of 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2012]

1. Throes of Joy in the Jaws of Defeatism
   Napalm Death
2. Ravening Iron
   Eternal Champion
3. Alphaville
   Imperial Triumphant
4. Im Wald
   Paysage d'Hiver
5. Enlightened In Eternity
   Spirit Adrift
6. Mortal
   Necrot
7. The Eternal Resonance
   Sweven
8. Djinn
   UADA
9. Obsidian
   Paradise Lost
10. Beyond Darkness
    Goden
11. Sect of Vile Divinities
    Incantation
12. Punching the Sky
    Armored Saint
13. Sulfuric Disintegration
    Of Feather and Bone
14. Glory, Glory! Apathy Took Helm!
    Vile Creature
15. 亂 (Luan)
    Ripped to Shreds
16. Dropdead 2020
    Dropdead
17. Reflections
    Godthrymm
18. Heir Of Ecliptical Romanticism
    Lamp Of Murmuur
19. Forgotten Days
    Pallbearer
20. Dream In Motion
    Kirk Windstein
21. Flashback
    Haunt
22. Under Sullen Skies
    Tombs
23. Stygian
    Atramentus
24. The World that Was
    Temple Of Void
25. Satan Is King
    ACxDC
26. Mass Cathexis
    Krallice
27. Rebirth by Blasphemy
    Midnight
28. The Secret Teachings
    Celestial Season
29. Conduit
    Proscription
30. Forever Black
    Cirith Ungol
31. Devouring Ruin
    Wake
32. Años en Infierno
    Xibalba
33. LUX
    In the Company of Serpents
34. Utgard
    Enslaved
35. When I Die, Will I Get Better?
    Svalbard
36. Mestarin kynsi
    Oranssi Pazuzu
37. Blood Hails Steel - Steel Hails Fire
    Megaton Sword
38. Solve Et Coagula
    Exgenesis
39. Sleeper Vessels
    Fawn Limbs
40. Spectres from the Old World
    Dark Fortress

Rough Trade: Albums of the Year 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019]

1. Untitled (Black Is)
   Sault
2. Punisher
   Phoebe Bridgers
3. Sawayama
   Rina Sawayama
4. Song for Our Daughter
   Laura Marling
5. Beyond the Pale
   Jarv Is
6. So When You Gonna...
   Dream Wife
7. Viscerals
   Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs
8. Bedroom
   bdrmm
9. Every Bad
   Porridge Radio
10. Sideways to New Italy
    Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever
11. England Is a Garden
    Cornershop
12. Saint Cloud
    Waxahatchee
13. Protean Threat
    Osees
14. Ultra Mono
    Idles
15. Suddenly
    Caribou
16. What Kinda Music
    Tom Misch & Yussef Dayes
17. By the Fire
    Thurston Moore
18. Galore
    Oklou
19. Working Men's Club
    Working Men's Club
20. Wake UP!
    Hazel English

Rounding out the top 100

• Wu Hen
  Kamaal Williams
• Heaven to a Tortured Mind
  Yves Tumor
• Jump Rope Gazers
  The Beths
• A Hero's Death
  Fontaines D.C.
• Seeking Thrils
  Georgia
• RTJ4
  Run the Jewels
• There Is No Other
  Isobel Campbell
• Head Above the Water
  Brigid Mae Power
• Inner Song
  Kelly Lee Owens
• Old Flowers
  Courtney Marie Andrews
• Sixteen Oceans
  Four Tet
• ACR LOCO
  A Certain Ratio
• UMMON
  SLIFT
• Coriky
  Coriky
• Keleketla!
  Keleketla!
• That's How Rumors Get Started
  Margo Price
• Introduction, Presence
  Nation of Language
• Some Kind of Peace
  Ólafur Arnalds
• Walking Like We Do
  The Big Moon
• Bug On Yonkers
  Damaged Bug
• What We Drew
  yaeji
• Home
  Romare
• Infinity of Now
  The Heliocentrics
• 3D Routine
  Mush
• All or Nothing
  Shopping
• Fading
  Pole
• Flower of Devotion
  Dehd
• Heritage of the Invisible II
  Aquiles Navarro & Tcheser Holmes
• Blue Hearts
  Bob Mould
• All the Time
  Jessy Lanza
• Will This Make Me Good
  Nick Hakim
• Alfredo
  Freddie Gibbs & The Alchemist
• Myopia
  Agnes Obel
• Anywhere But Here
  Habibi
• Man Alive!
  King Krule
• Invisible People
  Chicano Batman
• It Is What It Is
  Thundercat
• I Grow Tired But Dare Not Fall Asleep
  Ghostpoet
• Cenizas
  Nicolas Jaar
• Straight Songs of Sorrow
  Mark Lanegan
• FRIDAY FOREVER
  Everything Is Recorded
• Pleasure Line
  Video Age
• Happy Birthday
  Sneaks
• Shortly After Takeoff
  BC Camplight
• Fetch the Bolt Cutters
  Fiona Apple
• Voices
  Max Richter
• Even in Exile
  James Dean Bradfield
• The True Story of Bananagun
  Bananagun
• Making a New World
  Field Music
• Only for Dolphins
  Action Bronson
• Midnight Manor
  The Nude Party
• The Juice That's Worth The Squeeze
  Cherry Pickles
• The Long Goodbye
  Riz Ahmed
• Stray
  Bambara
• Collector
  Disq
• Gentle Grip
  Public Practice
• Miss Anthropocene
  Grimes
• Reunions
  Jason Isbell and The 400 Unit
• Tender Epoch
  Rudy de Anda
• Bonny Light Horseman
  Bonny Light Horseman
• Moveys
  Slow Pulp
• Alphabetland
  X
• The Land That Time Forgot
  Chuck Prophet
• Up in the Air
  Bent
• Mind Hive
  Wire
• Unlocked
  Denzel Curry & Kenny Beats
• Rough and Rowdy Ways
  Bob Dylan
• High Risk Behaviour
  The Chats
• songs
  Adrianne Lenker
• instrumentals
  Adrianne Lenker
• Have We Met
  Destroyer
• The Ascension
  Sufjan Stevens
• Visions of Bodies Being Burned
  clipping.
• Articulation
  Rival Consoles
• Mordechai
  Khruangbin
• Marigold
  Pinegrove
• It's Only Us
  Monophonics
• Debris
  Keeley Forsyth
• Superstar
  Caroline Rose
• Truth or Consequences
  Yumi Zouma
• The Mother Stone
  Caleb Landry Jones

Powell's Books: Best Fiction of 2020

[see also Best Nonfiction of 2023 • Best Fiction of 2023 • Best Nonfiction of 2022 • Best Fiction of 2022 • The 14 Best Nonfiction Books of 2021 • The 18 Best Novels of 2021 • Best Nonfiction of 2020 • Best Fiction of 2019 • Best Nonfiction of 2019 • Best Fiction of 2018 • Best Nonfiction of 2018 • Best Nonfiction of 2017 • Best Fiction of 2017 • Best Fiction of 2016 • Best Nonfiction of 2016 • Best Nonfiction Books of 2015 • Best Fiction Books of 2015 • Best Fiction of 2014 • Best Nonfiction of 2014]

• The Pull of the Stars
  Emma Donoghue
• Indelicacy
  Amina Cain
• Actress
  Anne Enright
• Deacon King Kong
  James McBride
• A Small Crowd of Strangers
  Joanna Rose
• Fracture
  Andrés Neuman
• The Vanishing Half
  Brit Bennett
• Beach Read
  Emily Henry
• Leave the World Behind
  Rumaan Alam
• Circe
  Madeline Miller
• My Dark Vanessa
  Kate Elizabeth Russell
• A Girl is A Body of Water
  Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi
• City of Girls
  Elizabeth Gilbert
• How Much of These Hills Is Gold
  C Pam Zhang
• Hamnet
  Maggie O'Farrell
• Little Gods
  Meng Jin
• Sharks in the Time of Saviors
  Kawai Strong Washburn
• The Women in Black
  Madeleine St John
• Luster
  Raven Leilani
• Rules for Being Dead
  Kim Powers
• 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World
  Elif Shafak
• Kingdomtide
  Rye Curtis
• Godshot
  Chelsea Bieker
• Walking on the Ceiling
  Aysegül Savas

Kirkus Prize: Nonfiction 2020, awarded by Kirkus Reviews

[see also Fiction 2023 • Nonfiction 2023 • Nonfiction 2022 • Fiction 2022 • Nonfiction 2021 • Fiction 2021 • Fiction 2020 • Nonfiction 2019 • Fiction 2019 • Nonfiction 2018 • Fiction 2018 • Nonfiction 2017 • Fiction 2017 • Nonfiction 2016 • Fiction 2016 • Nonfiction 2015 • Fiction 2015 • Nonfiction 2014 • Fiction 2014]

Winner

• Stakes Is High

  Life After the American Dream
  Mychal Denzel Smith

Finalists

• A Furious Sky

  The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's Hurricanes
  Eric Jay Dolin
• Fathoms

  The World in the Whale
  Rebecca Giggs
• The Address Book

  What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power
  Deirdre Mask
• World of Wonders

  In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments
  Aimee Nezhukumatathil
• Caste

  The Origins of Our Discontents
  Isabel Wilkerson

Kirkus Prize: Fiction 2020, awarded by Kirkus Reviews

[see also Fiction 2023 • Nonfiction 2023 • Nonfiction 2022 • Fiction 2022 • Nonfiction 2021 • Fiction 2021 • Nonfiction 2020 • Nonfiction 2019 • Fiction 2019 • Nonfiction 2018 • Fiction 2018 • Nonfiction 2017 • Fiction 2017 • Nonfiction 2016 • Fiction 2016 • Nonfiction 2015 • Fiction 2015 • Nonfiction 2014 • Fiction 2014]

Winner

• Luster
  Raven Leilani

Finalists

• Black Sunday
  Tola Rotimi Abraham
• Fiebre Tropical
  Julián Delgado Lopera
• The Lying Life of Adults
  Elena Ferrante
• Deacon King Kong
  James McBride
• Shuggie Bain
  Douglas Stuart

Powell's Books: Best Nonfiction of 2020

[see also Best Nonfiction of 2023 • Best Fiction of 2023 • Best Nonfiction of 2022 • Best Fiction of 2022 • The 14 Best Nonfiction Books of 2021 • The 18 Best Novels of 2021 • Best Fiction of 2020 • Best Fiction of 2019 • Best Nonfiction of 2019 • Best Fiction of 2018 • Best Nonfiction of 2018 • Best Nonfiction of 2017 • Best Fiction of 2017 • Best Fiction of 2016 • Best Nonfiction of 2016 • Best Nonfiction Books of 2015 • Best Fiction Books of 2015 • Best Fiction of 2014 • Best Nonfiction of 2014]

• Surviving Autocracy
  Masha Gessen
• Say It Louder!

  Black Voters, White Narratives, and Saving Our Democracy
  Tiffany Cross
• Vesper Flights
  Helen Macdonald
• Supreme Inequality

  The Supreme Court's Fifty-Year Battle for a More Unjust America
  Adam Cohen
• Caste

  The Origins of Our Discontents
  Isabel Wilkerson
• Uncanny Valley
  Anna Wiener
• To the Lake

  A Balkan Journey of War and Peace
  Kapka Kassabova
• The Dead Are Arising

  The Life of Malcolm X
  Les Payne and Tamara Payne
• The End of Everything

  (Astrophysically Speaking)
  Katie Mack
• Bland Fanatics

  Liberals, Race, and Empire
  Pankaj Mishra

Women's Prize for Fiction: 2020

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

Winner

• Hamnet
  Maggie O'Farrell

Shortlist

• Girl, Woman, Other
  Bernardine Evaristo
• A Thousand Ships
  Natalie Haynes
• Dominicana
  Angie Cruz
• The Mirror & the Light
  Hilary Mantel
• Weather
  Jenny Offill

Longlist

• Queenie
  Candice Carty-Williams
• The Dutch House
  Ann Patchett
• Actress
  Anne Enright
• Nightingale Point
  Luan Goldie
• Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line
  Deepa Anappara
• How We Disappeared
  Jing-Jing Lee
• The Most Fun We Ever Had
  Claire Lombardo
• Girl
  Edna O’Brien
• Red at the Bone
  Jacqueline Woodson
• Fleishman Is in Trouble
  Taffy Brodesser-Akner