my favorite reads of 2019
Hi friends—
I'm a sucker for year-end recaps. In that spirit, I've read 59 books so far this year and was lucky enough to have six 5-star reading experiences. Six feels like an embarrassment of riches, a lucky year of fantastic reading.
Everyone has their own subjective measures for ratings. Here's mine: a book's beginning and/or end can propel it from 3 to 4 stars. But it's the middle that makes a book a 5-star read for me. It's the feeling that I don't want the book to end. I'm not only reading to find out What Happens, but also and primarily to live in a different world for as long as I possibly can. They're books that force me to stop reading every handful of pages—because an emotion is rendered in a way I've never thought of before, because a sentence is so clever or true that it demands a re-read. These kinds of books are why I read. So whether you're looking for a distraction from family during the holidays, or have some last-minute gifts to buy (self-gifts count!), I hope you'll consider these gems, which were my absolute favorite books this year.
I realize The Great Believers isn't exactly new, but it is 100% worth a read if you haven't gotten around to it yet. The characters are so real, crushingly vulnerable, and entirely sympathetic. Makkai's retelling of 1980s Chicago made for a fascinating tour of my hometown during a period I never lived through. The story made me laugh, but more often, it made me cry. Whew boy, I was not prepared to sob. Generally speaking, a book might make me tear up, but it had been ages since one caused tears to stream down my face. Point: Makkai.
This story is structured as an oral history, which risks putting the reader at arm's length from the characters, but not so in Reid's expert hands. The characters felt shockingly vivid—so much so that I had to google whether Daisy Jones & The Six had, in fact, once been a band. They were not, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who was fooled. I'm typically not into stories about sex/drugs/rock & roll, but this one swept me away. And while all those themes are present, the ones I loved most were the examination of making art and what it means to be an artist.
Every year I tell myself I'm going to read more nonfiction, and every year I fail miserably. This year I read thirteen, which sounds pretty good, although much of it was for book 2 research. I digress. Bad Blood has to be the winner of Book I Read the Fastest This Year. I started it on a Saturday morning and quite literally didn't leave my couch, other than for food and bathroom breaks, until I had finished. I could not tear myself away. I love the genre of narrative nonfiction, and this one was pitch perfect in execution. It reads more like a thriller, and, to be honest, you won't be able to believe this is a true story the further you read.
On the opposite end of the speed-read spectrum sits the lovely Normal People. This quiet book is meant to be soaked in, slowly absorbed. Full disclosure: there's not a ton of plot in this one, which usually results in my attention lagging, but not so here. As I read, I pictured Rooney as a wise old owl because, honestly, how can someone so young have such a firm grip on what it means to be human? Truly, the insights that spill out of each page floored me. They were things I'd always thought but never knew how to verbalize. This story of young love totally blew me away.
After my love affair with Daisy Jones, I went in pursuit of Reid's second-most-recent novel, which is how I came across Evelyn Hugo. I love a book with an interesting structure; this one is divided into the seven husbands Evelyn had. It takes a clever writer to make someone as unsympathetic as Evelyn deeply sympathetic, but Reid was up to the task and then some. This book is, by turns, dishy and delicious, then sobering and heartfelt. It has something for everyone. And I will be an automatic Reid reader from now on.
I'm ending on what was perhaps my favorite read this year, but, AHHH, don't make me choose. I didn't know much about Bear Town before reading it, other than it being a book about hockey that non-sportfans would also love. It's one of those sneaky books that seems to be about one thing but turns out to be something entirely different. Backman makes even his most awful characters redeemable. It's a good reminder that we make snap judgments all the time, wanting to categorize people, but it's rare that those labels paint the full picture. We all have much more in common than we want to admit.
Can you believe it's already been one year of these monthly newsletters? Thanks to all of you who have been following this journey from the beginning, and welcome to the new readers. I hope you all have a very merry holiday. See you next year!
As always, here are the US retailers where you can pre-order my book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books A Million | Apple Books
IndieBound | Kobo | Google Play
And UK retailers: Amazon | Waterstones | iTunes | Kobo
3 months until publication!