Books of the Year 2020

We asked people we worked with during 2020 to share their read of the year, as well as a New Books in German choice that caught their eye.

Here’s what our colleagues had to tell us, we hope you will enjoy reading about their choices!

David Kilian Beck, Head of Culture, Swiss Embassy London

Favourite Book 2020

Out of the Shadows: The Psychology of Gay Men’s Lives by Walt Odets

“Being part of the post-AIDS generation, I have tasked myself to educate myself about our shared history, in fiction and non-fiction. Odets’ book investigates the after-effects the centuries of shame, and mass-dying due to AIDS had on gay men’s emotional wellbeing to the present day. Odets draws from his long experience as a psychologist and therapist, intertwines narratives of several cases and presents a kaleidoscopic mapping of gay men’s inner lives. It is a must-read for every gay man and allies, who want seek a deeper understanding of the queer male psyche.”

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Out of the Sugar Factory by Dorothee Elmiger

“Elmiger’s very precise use of language and the way she manoeuvres several perspectives to a captivating narrative make her a unique voice of contemporary writing from Switzerland.”

Jamie Bulloch, translator

Favourite Book 2020

Quichotte by Salman Rushdie

“I hadn’t read Rushdie since chewing my way through The Satanic Verses about twenty-five years ago, but Quichotte was a sheer delight: an author at the top of his game, spinning an enticing dual narrative, littering the text with literary references, and serving it all up with scrumptious prose and lashings of humour.”

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Die Bagage by Monika Helfer

“On the German side, one book I really loved was Monika Helfer’s Die Bagage. This novella, which was shortlisted for the Austrian Book Prize, came as a complete surprise to me. The book tells the story of the author’s grandparents, a simple farming family leading a marginal existence during the First World War. The writing is so compelling and the grandmother character so beautifully drawn: a mini masterpiece.”

Jen Calleja, writer and translator

Favourite Book 2020

Das Deutsche Krokodil by Ijoma Mangold

“I’m so glad I got to read literary critic Ijoma Mangold’s poignant and funny memoir Das deutsche Krokodil this yearhis way of telling his story of growing up mixed race in Germany is so compelling – he recreates the chaotic sense-making of a child perfectly. The passages about his mother are particularly wonderful.”

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Das flüssige Land by Raphaela Edelbauer

“As for my first recommendation, I have to cheat and recommend Das flüssige Land by Raphaela Edelbauer as I’ve just finished translating it and it’s a doozy.”

Winterbienen by Norbert Scheuer

“I also recommend Winterbienen by Norbert Scheuer, a strange, highly original book set during 1944-45 that is almost surreal through its protaganist’s unreliability and the desperate circumstances of war.”

Lúcia Collischonn, New Books in German autumn intern and PhD student – Translation Studies

Favourite Book 2020

Paula, by Sandra Hoffmann, translated by Katy Derbyshire

“This was a lovely read. The family history, the importance of memory, the overwhelming silence and the presence-absence of Paula, the grandmother and title character, drew my attention from the very start. Both author and translator are successful in writing in a style that snaps you from the first line and non-linearly takes you into the depth of this character through the eyes of her granddaughter.”

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Palast der Miserablen, by Abbas Khider

“Anything that Abbas Khider puts out is sure to be a good book, in my view. The author is always incisive, critical, with some light, fun and quirky moments peppered throughout.”

Annemarie Goodridge, Goethe-Insitut London

Favourite Book 2020

I called him Necktie by Milena Michiko Flašar, translated by Sheila Dickie

“This appealingly quirky story turned out to be not only a moving portrayal of the vulnerability and resilience of the human soul in an often-alienating world, but also unexpectedly prescient in relation to the lockdown situation of 2020. The storyline is told in the first person by the 20-year-old Taguchi Hiro. Taguchi has spent two years in a kind of self-imposed ‘lockdown’, confined to his bedroom at his parents’ house while experiencing a condition of social withdrawal known in Japan as ‘hikikomori’. Having taken the big decision to finally venture out of his bedroom and observe life at a safe distance from a park bench, Taguchi comes into contact with a careworn middle-aged ‘salary man’ in a suit (whose necktie, notes Taguchi, ‘wears’ him, rather than the other way round) who takes his lunch break on a nearby park bench. It turns out that the salaryman has been made redundant but pretends to go to work every day so that his wife doesn’t find out. Through the exchanges between these two characters, the reader comes to understand how the pressures and expectations of a conformist, materialistic society have taken their toll on these two individuals and led to a condition of self-doubt and alienation from the conditions of their lives. A bond forms between the two men with far-reaching consequences for both. I found this book very intimate and humane and the recurring motif of an ‘invisible thread’ which ties us to other people in our lives and is intrinsic to all human life, no matter how physically isolated from one another we become, is a powerful message to contemplate during these pandemic-related periods of enforced social isolation.”

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Love in Five Acts by Daniela Krien, translated by Jamie Bulloch

“This is a title which is most definitely on my reading list for early 2021. Daniela Krien’s novel deals with the complexity of human relationships from the perspective of five female friends living in modern-day Leipzig. It focuses on their expectations and experiences of marriage, family, friends, and career choices and thus reflects on the realities of the various roles associated with womanhood in the 21st century. What makes this novel particularly interesting is the setting of Leipzig. This city exemplifies the impact of German reunification on the lives of those who grew up in the former GDR. Through the portrayal of the five women, the reader gains an insight into how reunification has changed the courses of people’s lives through the transformation from a very controlled, rather bleak yet ‘safe’ communist society to a materialistic capitalist society with its promise of freedom and more complex range of choice and dilemmas. Daniela Krien won the Literature Prize of Saxony in 2020 for her prose work and Die Liebe im Ernstfall became a Spiegel bestseller. I’m really looking forward to reading it! “

Tanja Howarth, Tanja Howarth Literary Agency

Favourite Book 2020

Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin

Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann was my favourite read. It transports you into a world with unforgettable characters on a magical journey through history. To Kehlmann, language is like paint to an artist and the literary canvas he has created with this novel is a masterpiece.”

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Telefónica by Ilsa Barea-Kulcsar

“Madrid in the Autumn of 1936 seen through the eyes of a young woman journalist gives the reader the feeling of being in the midst of the horror of war and the struggle against fascism. It is a reminder of the battle for a better world.”

Dina Khadum, New Books in German spring intern

Favourite Book 2020

Was weiße Menschen nicht über Rassismus hören wollen by Alice Hasters

“My top read of the year would have to be Was weiße Menschen nicht über Rassismus hören wollen by Alice Hasters. It was just so well-written and enlightening: the perfect balance between personal and informative. We often laud Germany for its ability to confront its past but Hasters points out the huge blind spots (intentional or not) when it comes to Germany’s acknowledgement of its colonial history. “

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Aufprall by Heinz Bude, Bettina Munk & Karin Wieland
“As for my favourite book from the 2020 NBG selections, I’ve got to pick Aufprall, the book I reviewed. I thought it was so gritty and real, with significant historical events so beautifully woven in. Now that I’m living in Berlin, whenever I walk through Kreuzberg I just have to think of Luise and Thomas’ adventures around the neighbourhood, for better or for worse.”

Steph Morris, translator

Favourite Book 2020

Als ich mit Hitler Schnappskirschen aß by Manja Präkels

“A compelling story, about the far right as an existential threat. Relevant here, globally, but particular to its time and place: East Germany in the 90s.”

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Himmelwärts by Elisabeth Klar

“A foxy tale which got under my skin. Imaginative magic realism elements coupled with great observation and evocation of atmosphere, centering around a Vienna drag club.”

Sarah Rimmington, translator

Favourite Book 2020

Paula by Sandra Hoffman, translated by Katy Debyshire

Paula is a luminous, echoing meditation on family, silence, claustrophobia, pain and the unreliability of all narration, and Katy Derbyshire’s clear-eyed, poetic and spare translation has stayed with me for weeks.

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Während Wir Feiern by Ulrike Ulrich

I’m very much looking forward to reading Während Wir Feiern: the theme of the interaction of the personal and the political has never been more timely; nor has it ever been more important to explore the issues of nationalism, xenophobia, populism and migration. The structure, following a series of characters through a single day looks like a fascinating and creative way to personalise the nature of European society.

Jamie Lee Searle, translator

Favourite Book 2020

The Living Mountain by Nan Shepherd

This year, I’ve found solace above all in memoirs and nature writing: my favourite has been ‘The Living Mountain’ by Nan Shepherd, a short, beautiful account of her journeys into the Cairngorm mountains, and a meditation upon our connection (or lack thereof) with the landscapes around us. Knowing that it was composed during the Second World War gave me comfort, somehow; a glimmer of how to find our way through difficult times by looking to the rhythms of the natural world.

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Kalmann by Joachim B. Schmidt
My top pick from NBG’s 2020 selection is Kalmann by Joachim B. Schmidt, a tense thriller set in the wild landscape of Iceland, with a surprising and gripping narrative voice. I worked on the sample translation for Diogenes and would love to find this title a home with an English-language publisher.

Stefan Tobler, And Other Stories

Favourite Book 2020

Stern 111 by Lutz Seiler

Sonntags dachte ich an Gott by Lutz Seiler

Pech & Blende by Lutz Seiler


“Impossible to have one top read in a year, but alongside my first reads of classics like Daniel Deronda and The Recognitions, my discovery of the year was undoubtedly the breadth of Lutz Seiler’s brilliance. His novel Stern 111 may be a Wenderoman set in an alternative squat in early 1990s Berlin, but it is also one of the best Bildungsromane of an artist you’ll read. I savoured it, and his poems (starting with Pech & Blende‘s thorny sense and immediate music) and essays (Sonntags..) this year. So much so that it’s pushed me to finally take the leap and plan a poetry list.”


New Books in German 2020 Top Tip
Monster wie wir by Ulrike Almut Sandig

“Very glad to see that Seagull will publish this book, as they have her poetry. I enjoyed it a lot. As you can see, I like novels by poets.”

Mira Trenchard, Mira Trenchard Literary Scouting

Favourite Book 2020

Twelve Nights by Urs Faes, translated by Jamie Lee Searle

“This is is a beautiful, atmospheric tale about unrequited love, brotherly betrayal and the way the past keeps a hold over the self.”

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Der Verlorene Sohn by Olga Grjasnowa

“A wonderful novel about belonging, about the power of memories, a childhood cut short and what it means to be exiled, to have to leave a home behind without ever being able to return to it, even if the physical barriers are removed.”

Anne Vial, Anne Vial Literary Scouting

Favourite Book 2020

The Eighth Life (for Brilka) by Nino Haratischvili, translated by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin

“One of my all-time favourites! Few books can compete with this monumental master-piece of epic storytelling. Tolstoy meets Isabel Allende, literature at its best. A completely enthralling Georgian family drama across six generations and eight lives – set in Georgia, Moscow, London and Berlin, from 1900s- present day. A literary family saga written with insight, strength, heart, sensuality, humour. Absolutely recommendable: an utterly intriguing, impressive and addictive read. Nino Haratischwili is a genius.”

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Alle Hunde Sterben by Cemile Sahin

“I feel as strongly about her as I felt when I read Nino. She deserves to be published widely. ‘The opposite of peace is not war. The opposite of peace is torture.’ This novel really got under my skin and broadened my horizons. It´s a relentless, heart-breaking, harrowing and yet deeply humane book. Kurdish-German author & artist Cemile Sahin bravely denounces a vicious cycle of violence that has and is destroying lives irrevocably. A book about how violence permeates society, destroys and traumatizes lives for generations, and the vicious circle violence inflicts upon those who participate – on both sides.”

Jozef van der Voort, translator

Favourite Book

Balg by Tabea Steiner

“Not yet translated into English, and admittedly published a year ago, but still the best book I’ve read this year: Tabea Steiner’s debut novel Balg is a beautifully even-handed story about a boy named Timon going off the rails in a small Swiss town. Definitely an author to watch.”

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Forever the Alps by Benjamin Quaderer

“Another debut novel, Benjamin Quaderer’s fictionalised autobiography of the man who leaked Liechtenstein’s banking secrets to the world is a surreal and hilarious tour de force with a brilliantly unreliable narrator.”

Alexandra Wachek, Austrian Cultural Forum London

Favourite Book 2020

Tyll by Daniel Kehlmann, translated by Ross Benjamin

“History, magical realism, folklore and so much more can be found in this book. Very funny and thought provoking, original and well executed.”

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Das flüssige Land by Raphaela Edelbauer

“A unique but great book with a very large portion of (Austrian) social criticism. Linguistically very exciting, as the book is on an almost poetic level. I’m really looking forward to the English translation!”

Caroline Waight, translator

Favourite Book 2020

Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo

“Deadpan, unflinching and controversial. I was engrossed by this sharp indictment of paternalism and misogyny in contemporary South Korean society.”

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Out of the Sugar Factory by Dorothee Elmiger

“I’ve had my eye on this one since it was first submitted to NBG, and it’s now on my Christmas list. I can never resist this sort of combination of personal experience, fiction and history. Also sounds like it would go brilliantly with a mince pie.”

Shaun Whiteside, translator

Favourite Book 2020

The Sweet Indifference of the World by Peter Stamm, translated by Michael Hofmann

“My last literary event before the world closed down was a reading of Die sanfte Gleichgültigkeit der Welt by Peter Stamm in the Wirtschaft zum Bachtel near the Translators’ House in Looren, Switzerland. It’s a mind-bending hall-of-mirrors paradox of a novel of shifting identities that gradually leads the reader away from any kind of certainty about the events related, or whose mind, if any, they may have happened in. Written with Stamm’s customary cool precision. The reading was in German, but Hofmann’s translation is of course masterly.”

New Books in German 2020 Top Tip

Out of the Sugar Factory by Dorothee Elmiger

“My New Books in German top tip has to be Aus der Zuckerfabrik by  Dorothee Elmiger. A fascinating collage of ideas about travel, colonialism, desire and sugar, neither novel nor essay but somewhere in between, thought-provoking and completely unexpected.”

See all NBG’s recommended books from 2020

[book reviews will appear here…]