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 Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam a scary, tough, compassionate look at a small group of people dealing with the first few hours of a global catastrophe.