Amazon published their lists of best books of the year, including their top 100 titles, and 10 favorites, plus “editor’s picks” across 20 categories. Hachette Book Group lands just four titles on Amazon’s top 100, and all four are the only hardcovers offered at full retail price, without any discount. In order, they are: Those Who Wish Me Dead, by Michael Koryta (29); To Rise Again at a Decent Hour: A Novel, by Joshua Ferris (54); The Fever, by Megan Abbott (96); and The Farm, by Tom Rob Smith (97). Their pick for “book of the year” is Celeste Ng’s novel.
1. Everything I Never Told You, by Celeste Ng
2. All the Light We Cannot See, by Anthony Doerr
3. In the Kingdom of Ice, by Hampton Sides
4. The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, by Jeff Hobbs
5. Redeployment, by Phil Klay
6. Revival, by Stephen King
7. Savage Harvest, by Carl Hoffman
8. The Book of Unknown Americans, by Cristina Henríquez
9. Big Little Lies, by Liane Moriarty
10. Station Eleven, by Emily St. John Mandel
11. Updike, by Adam Begley
12. The Paying Guests, by Sarah Waters
13. Being Mortal, by Atul Gawande
14. The Bone Clocks, by David Mitchell
15. The Laughing Monsters, by Denis Johnson
16. Euphoria, by Lily King
17. The Painter, by Peter Heller
18. What If?, by Randall Munroe
19. We Were Liars, E. Lockhart
20. Deadly Wandering, by Matt Richtel
In other lists, the WSJ looks at big holiday releases landing in stores this week and head of “Black Friday” at the end of the month. We have a far more comprehensive table of 80 notable November releases, listed by pub date, in our monthly chart at Publishers Marketplace. Plus our newly-formatted chart of January 2015 releases has just been posted, joining the December list.