Amazon’s bestselling books of lockdown 3.0, from ‘Bridgerton’ to ‘Pinch of Nom’

With a focus on helping you create simple, healthy dishes, Kay Featherstone and Kate Allinson, the duo behind the popular Pinch of Nom, guide you through a range of dishes, from one-pot wonders to sweet treats.

Far from a conventional picture book, this contains a non-linear narrative that works to bring people together. Mackesy’s inspiring paintings and delicate words celebrate the importance of being kind, compassionate and hopeful. It’s a tome that carefully conveys a vital message that has been helpful during the past year.

Full of one-liners and featuring an artfully constructed twist, this novel is set in a peaceful retirement village and centres around four 80-year-old friends – Elizabeth, Joyce, Ibrahim and Ron – who form “The Thursday Murder Club”.

The group meet weekly to investigate unsolved killings, but the suspicious demise of a property developer finds them in the middle of their first live case. Joyce and the gang will become your favourite crime-solving team in this compelling read.

Owing to its popularity, it has been shortlisted for the Crime and Thriller Book of the Year in the British Book Awards 2021.

A big hitter over the past year, Where the Crawdads Sing was one of Amazon’s bestselling books of 2020 and was also included in the Duchess of Cornwall’s first book club, The Reading Room.

It’s a murder mystery, coming-of-age novel and a celebration of nature all at once. Set in date-jumbling and tension-building order from 1952 to 1970, the story follows Kya Clarke from aged six to 25 as she grows up in a North Carolina swamp after being abandoned by her family. After years of surviving alone, Kya pines for touch and love, and as two boys from the local town become intrigued by her, she opens up to the idea of a new life. Then, the unimaginable happens.

Character-driven and with a poignant sense of place and time, Where the Crawdads Sing is an animated story of a community beset by tragedy. It’s painfully beautiful and definitely worthy of being your next lockdown read.

Given the popularity of the Netflix period drama series, it comes as no surprise that all of Julia Quinn’s six novels featured in the top 50 most-sold books on Amazon, with two making it into the top 10.

The Duke and I is the very book that inspired the show and tells the story of the oldest daughter of the Bridgerton family, Daphne, and the Duke of Hastings, Simon Bassett. The pair befriend one another and enter a fake courtship – her mission is to strike the interest of more suitors and for him to escape the eagle eyes of ambitious society mothers. Real feelings develop and the pair quickly realise they want their ruse to become reality. 

Featuring in our review of the best novels of 2020 as well as our editors’ picks of what we’ve been reading and loving in lockdown, The Midnight Library has been a favourite at IndyBest, so it’s no surprise that it features in Amazon’s bestselling list from lockdown 3.0. Plus, it’s also been shortlisted for Fiction Book of the Year in the British Book Awards 2021.

Haig’s novel follows 35-year-old Nora Seed, who views her life as one of misery and regret. But when she finds herself at the Midnight Library, she discovers she can undo her previous worries and plan her perfect future.

Ahead of the eagerly anticipated second season of Bridgerton, it’s no surprise that the second instalment in Quinn’s book series features here. It focuses on Anthony Bridgerton, who has been head of the family ever since his father died, taking care of all responsibilities except for finding himself a wife, opting instead to be London’s most eligible bachelor. He decides it’s time to settle down and find a suitable match, but under one condition – he can’t love her. After finding the perfect candidate he becomes more interested in her sister, Kate, who provides a welcome distraction. It’s a story of love and the impact of grief, loss and trauma. 

Having only been released on 4 March, Solomon’s debut topped the charts with an overwhelming number of pre-orders. Following her “tap to tidy” Instagram stories, she’s turned the phenomenon into a book that is filled with positive, upbeat and quotable lines, as well as tips and tricks for tidying and organising your home.

Featuring in our review of the best crime and thriller novels of 2020, Candlish’s story is set in London’s docklands and follows the life of forty-something barista Jamie, who lives in a showy home on the river with his partner Clare. After they forge a friendship with Kit and his girlfriend Melia, the four of them start commuting to work via the riverbus. But one morning Kit doesn’t turn up and Jamie is in the frame for murder. Our reviewer called it a clever, pacy novel that they read “in one sitting”.

Following the lives of the Harrington family and their nanny, Big Rita, The Glass House is told in two timelines set in 1971 and the present day. The former follows Rita and the secrets she uncovers about a mystery body that was found at the bottom of the garden. Meanwhile, the present-day story follows Sylvie, dealing with divorce and looking after her mother and daughter. As both timelines unravel, it becomes apparent how connected the past and present really are. The Glass House is a pacy and suspenseful read.