Year in Books — 2019
2019 is almost ending and when the year began I signed up for the Goodreads reading challenge and I challenged myself to read 25 books in the year. I feel accomplished that as the year is ending, I have read 26 books covering various genres — fiction, non-fiction, poetry etc. So what I wanted to do was take a moment and categorize my favorite reads and recommendations from each genre. I have only started with a few genres myself such as non-fiction and I believe my findings as a beginner in this genre will also help others who are starting to explore this as well.
1. Fiction
Fiction is my most explored area in books. So here are my top 4 from this year:
Normal People by Sally Rooney is a book about normal people living normal lives yet it is equally compelling and thought provoking. The book explores two characters Connell and Marianne and their relationship from them being teenagers to young adults.The story explores the so called millennial lifestyle and how society and peer pressure tricks us into making decisions based on what people think of it rather than what we want to do.The characters are well-written and one of my favorite things about the book is their well-detailed growth throughout the book.
2. The Hate U Give — Angie Thomas
The hate u give by Angie Thomas calls out issues such as police brutality and racism. The story’s lead is Starr Carter, a 16 year old black girl who switches back and forth between her two worlds; her school Williamson Prep, where she is one of the two black people in her grade and Garden Heights, her suburban black neighborhood where she grew up. The book follows the growth of Starr from being an introverted girl who was afraid to speak up against racism and accepting things for how they are, to someone who stands up and is not afraid to stand up for what’s right. What I really appreciated about the book was that the story not only focuses on the broader issue of being discriminated on the basis of color but also on bits of casual racism. It tries to highlight how even words that meant no harm or weren’t said in a racist sense can affect someone in an entirely negative way.
3. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine — Gail Honeyman
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine is my favorite book on mental health. At thirty years-old, Eleanor Oliphant is alone in this world. She always has been, actually. In and out of foster care since she was a little girl, she has never been touched by anyone in a loving way and doesn’t even know what that would feel like, but that’s okay. All of her physical needs are met and she has never had any emotional needs. Seeing as she doesn’t have any friends, Eleanor is quiet and socially awkward. Eleanor has no aspirations though she has done accounting at an office for the last 9 years. Throughout the book, Eleanor slowly experiences a metamorphosis, one that often makes you smile, laugh and of course, cry. She is damaged and quirky but so special. I loved her dearly. For more reasons than one. I identified with Eleanor Oliphant and for that, I was unprepared. The book really tells you, you never really mean it when you say “completely fine”.
4. An Equal Music — Vikram Seth
An Equal Music by Vikram Seth is a romantic musical tale. While a music student in Vienna, violinist Michael Holme falls in love with pianist Julia McNicholl. They play together in a string trio, but when Michael has a nervous breakdown because of tensions with his stern and demanding violin teacher he abruptly leaves Vienna–and Julia–without warning. When, after some months pass, he tries to contact Julia again, he gets no reply. Ten years later, still in love with her, he meets her again in London when she attends a concert he is giving with his string quartet, the Maggiore. Still a performing pianist, she is now married to an American banker and has a child. Julia agrees to tour Vienna and Venice with Michael and the Maggiore Quartet and for a brief, magical time everything seems possible. The novel tells how relationships and people change and grow over the years.
My other top reads — Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell, The Color Purple by Alice Walker, A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
2. Non-Fiction
Non-Fiction is a genre which I started exploring later in this year. And so far I have read only 4 non-fiction books and I have really liked 3 of those. I do understand that this is not a huge pool to recommend books from but I do feel non-fiction to beginners might seem boring and I somehow ended up picking books which were not. So here are my 3 non-fiction reads:
Lori describes her journey as a therapist and we see the transition of her patients throughout the book — all of them unique, each of them with a different set of questions and issues that are bothering them. We see these patients come in every week and tell their stories and Lori’s mindset on how she deals with them every step along the way. Apart from this we also see Lori struggling with her own issues — coming out of a long term relationship and when she isn’t able to deal with it she finds help from Wendell. What I really liked about the book was how throughout the book Lori has sprinkled snippets of psychology — such as theories about different defense mechanisms people build for themselves. There were times in the book where I stopped and contemplated my own behavior around these theories. The book normalizes therapy for everyone.
2. Sapiens — Yuval Noah Harrari
There is nothing I can probably say more about Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harrari that hasn’t already been said. The book covers a brief timeline and origin of the humankind. The book is divided into four parts where Harrari talks about the cognitive revolution — the evolution of Homo Sapiens, the agricultural revolution — a journey of how farming started as a practice and how humans started identifying themselves in groups, the unification — a history of how religions were formed and the evolution of science where the Harrari talks about capitalism and other concepts that exist today. Sapiens explains historical thoughts in a way everyone can understand it.
3. One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter — Scaachi Koul
This book with the incredibly long title is a set of essays from the author’s life where she talks about the Indian culture and how women are brought up in India. Schaachi talks about a lot of stereotypes that are part of the upbringing of a girl in many households in India such as being fair is equivalent to being beautiful. My favorite essays ranged from her detailing the slowly-crumbling timeline of a once-reliable college friendship, to her personal experiences with sexual harassment and her close-calls with sexual abuse. It’s a book that expands on the point that even though we struggle, there’s always a broader context, and it’s our job to look for it.
Some of the Other Reads I liked this year:
Poetry:
The Essential Rumi
Fantasy:
King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
Thanks for reading. Hope you do pick up a book from the mentioned ones above. What were your favorite books from the year?
