Check Out Amazon's Top 10 Must-Reads of 2016

By Isabel Jones Updated Nov 15, 2016 @ 6:45 pm
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Each year, Amazon gives the gift that keeps on giving for those who didn't quite meet their book-a-week New Year's resolution: a digestible list of the retailer's favorite books released in the past year. Okay, so it's not actually that digestible—there's a ton of different categories, but for our purposes we've whittled it down to the site's top 10 picks from 2016.

Last year's top 10 included major titles like Paula Hawkins's recently adapted The Girl on the Train, Lauren Groff's wildly popular dual-narrative Fates and Furies, and Ta-Nehisi Coates's game-changing Between the World and Me.  

This year's list includes a good mix of memoir and fiction, thriller and historical drama—though it may be a bit less flashy than its 2015 predecessor. Among the top titles sits an account of growing up in middle class America, a historical tale of twin Holocaust survivors, and a coming-of-age story set in '70s-era Brooklyn.

Scroll through the titles below for a full look at Amazon's top ten books of 2016.

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1 of 10

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

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Whitehead's work of historical fiction chronicles the journey of a young slave named Cora, traveling through the Underground Railroad in an attempt to claim her freedom.

 $16; amazon.com

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2 of 10

Pumpkinflowers: A Soldier's Story by Matti Friedman

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Friedman's hybrid novel weaves memoir, history, and analysis together to create a captivating account of wartime.

$17; amazon.com

3 of 10

Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson

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The award-winning author's first novel in 20 years finds its core in 1970s Brooklyn.

$10; amazon.com

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4 of 10

Lab Girl by Hope Jahren

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Amazon's #4 pick is a memoir that follows the author's impressive career as a scientist.

$16; amazon.com

5 of 10

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance

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The Yale Law School alum's memoir tells the tale of his upbringing in a poor town in Middle America. 

$10; amazon.com

6 of 10

Swing Time by Zadie Smith

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Smith's decade-spanning fifth novel follows the lives of two young girls in London who aspire to be dancers—one has talent, while the other specializes in ideas.

$17; amazon.com

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7 of 10

Mischling by Affinity Konar

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Set in Europe's darkest hour, 1944, Konar's novel tells the story of two 13-year-old twin girls forced to suffer the harrowing experiments of Josef Mengele.

$10; amazon.com

8 of 10

The Nix by Nathan Hill

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Hill's latest is a tragicomic tale that chronicles a floundering mother-son dynamic.

$12; amazon.com

9 of 10

Before the Fall by Noah Hawley

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This suspense-filled novel follows the aftermath of a horrific plane crash.

$14; amazon.com

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10 of 10

The Wolf Road by Beth Lewis

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Lewis's debut novel trails a girl on the run, fleeing from a man who's both a murderer and responsible for teaching her everything she's ever known.

$10; amazon.com

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By Isabel Jones