Everyone says you're supposed to stay closed to home these next few months to keep the coronavirus pandemic under control and wait out a vaccine - so you might as well read a good book while you're at it.
The New York Public Library released its Best Books of 2020 lists on Tuesday, covering a variety of age ranges and languages.
The lists come just in time for holiday gifting, with book sales already reported to be up double digits this year, a side effect of people staying at home and entertainment venues being closed.
Some of the library system's top-10 lists are below. For the full, searchable and filterable list, click here.
Top 10 Children’s Books
- Black Heroes of the Wild West by James Otis Smith
- Evelyn Del Rey Is Moving Away by Meg Medina, illustrated by Sonia Sánchez
- Go with the Flow by Lily Williams & Karen Schneeman
- Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohmann
- Land of the Cranes by Aida Salazar
- Magnificent Homespun Brown: A Celebration by Samara Doyon, illustrated by Kaylani Juanita
- Planet Omar: Accidental Trouble Magnet by Zanib Mian, illustrated by Nasaya Mafaridik
- When Stars Are Scattered by Victoria Jamieson & Omar Mohamed
- When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller
- You Matter by Christian Robinson
Los 10 mejores libros para edades 0–12 / Top 10 Books for Ages 0–12 (in Spanish)
- ¿Cómo lo ves? by Vera Galindo
- Amigas by Lauren Ace, illustrated by Jenny Lovlie
- La bañera by Lisa Biggi, illustrated by Paloma Corral
- La belleza del final by Alfredo Colella, illustrated by Jorge González
- Los carpinchos by Alfredo Soderguit
- Manos a la tierra: Crea tu propio jardín by Kirsten Bradley, illustrated by Aitch
- Mi abuelo by Émilie Chazerand, illustrated by Nicolas Duffaut
- Mi lazarilla, mi capitán by Gonzalo Moure, illustrated by Maria Girón
- Música en el jardín by Mariana Ruiz Johnson
- Los tomates de Mila by Sanne Dufft
Top 10 Teen Books
- All Boys Aren’t Blue: A Memoir-Manifesto by George M. Johnson
- Displacement by Kiku Hughes
- Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
- The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
- Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles
- Poisoned Water: How the Citizens of Flint, Michigan, Fought for Their Lives and Warned the Nation by Candy J. Cooper with Marc Aronson
- Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi & Yusef Salaam
- Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
- We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
- We Are Not From Here by Jenny Torres Sanchez
Top 10 Adult Books
- The City We Became: A Novel by N.K. Jemisin
- Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague by Maggie O’Farrell
- Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall
- Interior Chinatown: A Novel by Charles Yu
- The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
- Luster by Raven Leilani
- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
- The Sacrifice of Darkness by Roxane Gay & Tracy Lynne Oliver
- The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires: A Novel by Grady Hendrix
- Temporary: A Novel by Hilary Leichter
Top 10 Poetry Books
- Finna: Poems by Nate Marshall
- Galleons: Poems by Rick Barot
- Grimoire by Cherene Sherrard
- Gut Botany by Petra Kuppers
- Homie by Danez Smith
- Kontemporary Amerikan Poetry by John Murillo
- My Baby First Birthday: Poems by Jenny Zhang
- Nail the Evening Hangs On by Monica Sok
- Nancy Reagan Collection by Maxe Crandall
- Postcolonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz
