Books of the Year 2020

 For once, the winner is the same in the category of Fiction and Non-Fiction. The reason is simple: even if it is in essence a history book, the literary qualities are such that it outperforms many of the novels in the list below. 

Julian Barnes' "The Man In The Red Coat" is a must read for anybody. I also got to know French author Sorj Chalandon, whose "Profession Du Père" is equally powerful, and Coetzee's Jesus trilogy. 

In the non-fiction department, cognitive science and the history of science are high on my list of interests, so there is no surprise here. I really enjoyed Stephen Fry's "Heroes", and I was very disappointed by some other books, but OK, not everything can be good. 

The volume is less than in the previous years. Too much work, and much less travel. Usually hotel rooms, airports, planes and trains are good for reading. (Un)fortunately, that was not the case this year. 

Fiction

1. Julian Barnes - The Man In The Red Coat *****
2. Sorj Chalandon - Profession Du Père ****
3. J.M. Coetzee - The Death Of Jesus ****
4. Marieke Lucas Rijneveld - De Avond Is Een Ongemak ****
5. Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt - Madame Pylinska Et Le Secret De Chopin ****
6. Olga Tokarczuk - Primeval And Other Times ***½
7. László Krazsnahorkai - Baron Wenckheim's Homecoming  ***½
8. Lisa Huissoon - Alle Mensen Die Ik Ken ***
9. Elif Shafak - 10 Minutes 38 Seconds In This Strange World ***
10. Mario Vargas Llosa - The Neighborhood **
11. Yoko Ogawa - The Memory Police  **
12. Natsu Miyashita - The Forest Of Wool And Steel **
13. Louis de Bernières - The Autumn Of The Ace *

Non-Fiction

1. Julian Barnes - The Man In The Red Coat *****
2. Hugo Mercier - Not Born Yesterday ****
3. Carlo Rovelli - Anaximander ****
4. Pascal Boyer - Minds Make Societies ****
5. Ingrid D. Rowland - Giordano Bruno - Philosopher, Heretic ****
6. Anne Applebaum - Twilight Of Democracy  ***½
7. Stephen Fry - Heroes ***
8. Richard Dawkins - Outgrowing God ***
9. Erik Martens - De Boerenkrijg in Brabant ***
10. Dan Sperber - Explaining Culture ***
11. Edward J. Watts - Hypatia ***
12. Michael S.A. Graziano - Rethinking Consciousness ***
13. Donald D. Hoffman - The Case Against Reality **
14. Gilbert Sinoué - Averroès ou Le Secrétaire du Diable **½