I read a lot of books last year, but these are the 10 Best Books of 2019! A good mix of fiction and non-fiction this year.
In 2019 I read 158 books! It was an excellent year of reading. The downside to such a good reading year, however, is that it is very difficult to narrow my favorites down to just 10!
But I did it! I picked the 10 best books of 2019 (and a few honorable mentions).
First, here's a quick reading recap:
In 2018 I read 131 books, but I felt like I hadn't met my real reading goals for the year - more classics and more smart non-fiction. This year, I read the 5 Classic Books I set out to read, plus a few more. The standout classic of 2019 was East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I also thoroughly enjoyed The Haunting of Hill House, which surprised me!
However, I still came up short on the non-fiction front, with only 16 non-fiction books, and most of those were memoir/biography. My plan for 2020 is to read at least 2 non-fiction books a month, and only one of them can be memoir/biography.
Once again, I read a lot of fantastic Middle Grade books - 61 to be exact. It's such a wonderful genre, tackling difficult topics but with so much hope. I'm not including my favorite middle grade books of 2019 here because they deserve a list of their own.
I did quit several books this year, some of them I was even more than halfway through. They were books I wanted to like, or books that were getting a lot of buzz, but in the end they just weren't for me. Two that I wanted to like but really did not were Trust Exercises by Susan Choi and Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
(Note: the Amazon links in this post are affiliate links)
The Best Books of 2019
Circe by Madeline Miller | While I struggled putting this list together, I knew right away that this was my favorite book of the year. It's an absolutely gorgeous book. Greek mythology, a complex heroine, and masterful storytelling. I couldn't love it more.
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett | I'm a huge Ann Patchett fan! And this was just as good as I had hoped it would be. It's about a house and a family over the course of five decades. The book opens with a lot of heartbreaking loss and destruction, but the real power comes from watching the characters work through their grief and make their way to the other side. Absolutely wonderful. (And listening to Tom Hanks read it on audio was the best!)
The Arc of a Scythe Trilogy by Neal Shusterman | This YA series blew my mind. Reading this series made me miss college so much. I kept wishing I was reading it for a college class so I could go sit down and discuss/analyze the books with some smart thinkers.
Set in a post mortal world, humanity has conquered death, hunger, disease, and war. In order to keep the population size under control, Scythes must systematically cull the population. There's so much to say about this series, so maybe it deserves a post of its own?
East of Eden by John Steinbeck | This was a reread for me, but I hadn't read it since I was 18, so it felt like a first read to me. What a powerful book! It's a family saga and an epic retelling of the Cain and Abel story from the bible, but also just a fantastic historical tale as well. Steinbeck is so good at delivering complex characters and a masterful depiction of human nature. I also enjoyed the straightforward approach - no hidden symbolism here, the philosophy is laid bare.
Becoming by Michelle Obama | I listened to this one on audio, read by the author herself, and I loved every minute of it. This one deserves all the hype! I highly recommend this book.
Inheritance by Dani Shapiro | This memoir was my pick for book club this year and it was a great book to discuss. I loved it! On a whim, Dani Shapiro takes a DNA test, not realizing that it will rock her world. She discovers that her father was not actually her biological father, but both of her parents are deceased so she's left with a million questions. Her search for answers calls into question her Jewish faith, her sense of self, and the definition of family. It was absolutely fascinating.
Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson | 20 years ago, Anderson wrote Speak, a fiction book for teens about a girl who was sexually assaulted and didn't know how to speak up about it. This year she released this intense poetic memoir about her own experience with sexual assault, about Speak's legacy, and about how our society continues to fail victims. It's one of the most powerful memoirs I've ever read and it brought me to tears more than once.
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan | This book opens with Washington Black, an eleven-year-old field slave, on a Barbados sugar plantation. But by the time it ends Black has made his way around the world on a Jules Verne-like adventure. I loved the science/naturalist elements of this book as well as the fantastic writing. Edugyan tackles a lot of big themes in this book, but she does it so well!
The Valedictorian of Being Dead by Heather Armstrong | This book meant so much to me personally that I don't feel like I can really talk about it yet. I will say that I sobbed through most of this book.
Olive Again by Elizabeth Strout | Strout is one of my favorite authors so I grabbed this one as soon as it came out. I loved it! I really, really loved it - almost more than Olive Kitteridge (but if you haven't already, you should read that one first).
Honorable Mentions:
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
The Water Dancer by Ta-Nehisi Coates
The Brothers Karmazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Small Fry by Lisa Brennan-Jobs
Talking to Strangers by Malcom Gladwell
Save Me the Plums by Ruth Reichl
Share your Best Books of 2019 in the comments below. I'd love to see what you've been reading!
Jane says
Oh yay! I have decided that this year I will try to only read books recommended by a few trusted friends - you are one of the few people who always recommends excellent books. I started so many books I didn’t like last year because of instagram hype. I currently reading East of Eden and Nickel Boys. I loved Olive, Again. And a little book called Goodbye, Vitamin.
somethewiser@gmail.com says
I get sucked in by instagram book hype far too often. I'm vowing to avoid the hype this year as well.
I always like to see what you're reading too - I've found quite a few favorites from your recommendations. Here's to a great reading year for both of us. xx
Mieke says
I didn’t get around to reading much this year, but love East of Eden and The Brothers Karamazov. I can’t wait to start reading your above recommendations!!
somethewiser@gmail.com says
Re-reading East of Eden was so wonderful this year. If you haven't done a re-read recently, I highly recommend it. If you read any from my list, I'd love to hear what you think!
Andrea Vaughan says
That Arc of the Scythe series looks fantastic. It's just gone to the top of my 'when I finish the huge stack of books I've already bought on the KIndle' list! Maybe I'll save it for the summer when I'll be back in a country with libraries 🙂
somethewiser@gmail.com says
Ha! I know a little something about huge stacks of books to get through. Though I'm tempted to tell you to skip them all and dive right into the Scythe series . . . . it's THAT GOOD!
Andrea Vaughan says
Do you think it'd be ok reading for a 10 year old? He's an advanced reader, so not in that sense, more in the theme maturity...
I've got a friend who has it on her kindle, so I may just have to put it to the top of the list and read it on that!
somethewiser@gmail.com says
Maybe? So, there was a little bit of language in the 3rd book (like two or three words). The violence is probably on par with Hunger Games, but the overall theme is a little intense. I'd say if you'd let him read Hunger Games, this would probably be okay too, but it might be a little more mature.
Andrea Vaughan says
Thanks. I'll probably make sure I do the full read myself first. Haven't given him the Hunger Games to read yet, but now that it's on kindle unlimited I was planning on putting it on his kindle and giving him the option to read it.
Andrea Vaughan says
Just finished the first one. Wow....there is so much food for thought! I'm now recommending this left, right and centre to all my friends with tween/teen kids. Thank you for the recommendation as I doubt I'd have come across it any time soon otherwise. (And glad you're posting a lot more now, there are very few bloggers whose book recommendations I trust!)