Pile by the Bed reviews Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon – a type of hero’s origin story which grapples with the power to confront a turbulent and violent history.

Pile by the Bed reviews Foregone by American novelist Russell Banks in which truth and fiction converge with aspects of Banks’ own life in the fictional reflections of an ageing film maker.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Others by Mark Brandi, a story of vulnerability, abuse of power and resilience set deep in the Australian bush.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Talk to Me by TC Boyle’s 18th novel, this one dealing compassionately and empathetically with issues of animal exploitation, experimentation and ethics.

Pile by the Bed reviews Black Buck by Mateo Askaripour a pointed, redemptive take down of the capitalist dream machine.

Pile by the Bed reviews All That I Remember About Dean Cola by Tania Chandler, a tough but compassionate story of a woman dealing with mental illness and a deep seated past trauma.

Pile by the Bed reviews Second Place by Rachel Cusk – an rish exploration of life, art, parenthood and gender.

Pile by the Bed reviews The Final Revival of Opal and Nev, Dawnie Walton’s debut which explores issues of racism, gender relations, privilege and entitlement in the context of the story of a pair of 1970s music maker.

Pile by the Bed reviews Two Week Wait by Luke Jackson, Kelly Jackson and Mara Wild a graphic novel that charts one couple’s journey through the IVF system.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Like Mother by Cassandra Austin – a dark, engaging thematically rich novel with a devastating premise.

Pile by the Bed reviews Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro, a story about what it means to be human that is thematically consistent with his broader body of work.

Pile by the Bed reviews Nick – Michael Farris-Smith’s prequel to The Great Gatsby, exploring the early life of that book’s narrator Nick Carraway

Pile by the Bed reviews The Last Good Man by Thomas McMullen a post-apocalyptic dystopia that considers the power of crowd-sourced justice.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends Open Water, the assured debut novel by British author Caleb Azuma Nelson.

Pile by the Bed reviews Memorial, the debut novel by Bryan Washington – a story of lost family, found family, acceptance and love.

Pile by the Bed reviews and recommends the new translation of the ancient English epic poem Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley.

Pile by the Bed reviews Olga by Bernhard Schlink, a novel which explores Germany in the Twentieth Century through the eyes of one woman.

A pre-apocalypse, the labyrinth, an Australian drought, the US gold rush from a new perspective and an ode to our relationship with trees form Pile by the Bed’s Top 5 reads for 2020, together with six just as interesting and engaging honourable mentions.

Pile by the Bed reviews Sara Sligar’s debut Take Me Apart, a book that is part mystery, part thriller, part exploration of the world of art.

Pile by the Bed reviews Reproduction the first novel by Canadian poet Ian Williams which explores human relationships and the intersect between biological and found families.