My 20 Favorite Books I Read in 2019
“Don’t try to make me grow up before my time.”
With my list that commemorated the best books of the decade, I limited myself to books released from 2010 to 2019. But sometimes, new books are hard to come by. Therefore, my list of books in 2019 is inclusive to all books I read. That means that stories spanning centuries will be featured here and that’s okay! After all, it’s never too late for a recommendation.
It was a good year to be a reader and 2019 presented books that have become all-time favorites of mine! Libraries and bookstores are just so wonderful. As always, though, I feel uncomfortable ranking literature. That is why the list is presented in alphabetical order.
Speaking of the list, here it is!
Aftermath by Rachel Cusk
A memoir of divorce by the great essayist, Rachel Cusk, this was recommended to me by a professor of mine. And wow, is it moving! Idiosyncratic and a different approach to a memoir all the same, it has become something of a model as I endeavor to write a memoir of my own.
The Age of Wonder by Richard Holmes
It takes special skill to make a comprehensive tome about the Romantic era in poetry, science, and more be this compelling. And yet, Richard Holmes has the deftness required to convey the swashbuckling, creatively booming, and ultimately damning nature of an era that continues to shape our culture today. Mary Shelley, John Keats, and more are profiled within.
As You Wish by Cary Elwes
I wrote about this book (as I did with the next one) in my Best of the Decade series. But it still warrants inclusion here! I really do appreciate the earnestness with which Cary Elwes regales us. Stories about one of the best movies ever made can never get old.
Bone by Yrsa Daley-Ward
Likewise, stories, albeit through the lyrical and poetic forms, about growing up and holding on and letting go and finding yourself and feeling yourself never get old either. Yrsa Daley-Ward reminds us what it feels like to be in love with being alive, warts and all, throughout Bone.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Catch-22 is considered to be among the canon of all-time literature, but somehow, it slipped through the cracks of my English education. As war satires go, though, Catch-22 is obviously very good. I mean, nothing I write about it is going to change anyone’s mind. This book has grown beyond that. But surely, it’s enough to know that I enjoyed Joseph Heller’s opus!
The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
2019 was also a year that I got super into reading books about some of the most notorious killers in American history. It’s a fun way to spend September and October, so long as you don’t mind putting it down to recover from the stomach-churning details of these horrific murders. The Devil in the White City is about those committed by H.H. Holmes. And while that would be more than enough for a book, I loved how Erik Larson juxtaposed the Holmes story against the story of Chicago adopting the World’s Fair. It just makes for such a rich text.
Dubliners by James Joyce
I haven’t read much from Joyce, but what could top Dubliners? “The Dead” alone would be enough to sustain a spot on this list (and then some), but throw in some “Araby” and some “Eveline” and oh, baby, Irish literature is just fantastic, isn’t it?
Elevation by Stephen King
Elevation was also included in my “Best of the Decade” list. If you’re unfamiliar with this Stephen King story, it’s about a man who loses weight at a rapid clip, but he doesn’t look any different physically. More of a novella than anything, it could be banged out in an hour if you wanted to.
Gun Island by Amitav Ghosh
Gun Island also came in on the “Best of the Decade” and for good reason. It feels so classic and yet every page is imbued with the contemporary problems that might plague us until the end of our days. Amitav Ghosh is a gifted writer.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
It’s well-established on this website how much I adored the Netflix miniseries, The Haunting of Hill House. That is why, in October, I decided to read the original story it’s based on by Shirley Jackson. There are some major, major differences, but the spookiness and the impeccable character work are palpable throughout. That’s really all you need!
Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi
One part serial killer narrative, one part legal proceedings narrative, Helter Skelter is a disturbing read that you’ll have to put down from time to time just to stay sane. What elevates the story of the Charles Manson murders, though, is the fact that it was written and accounted by Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor on the trial who was in the middle of everything. Not only do you get the best facts on the case, but you get unprecedented insight into the mindsets that made the era’s defining legal decisions.
I Like You by Amy Sedaris
I Like You is a hilarious book that is so much in Amy Sedaris’ wheelhouse that you wouldn’t be able to picture anyone else pulling off such a deliriously funny concept. A satirical self-help/cook book, I Like You has some of the funniest jokes I read all year. And with every page, I could hear her voice! That’s good writing.
Jim Henson by Brian Jay Jones
The definitive biography of Jim Henson was also included in my “Best of the Decade” list. Here’s a helpful tip, though. If a beloved Muppet performer ever dies, do not watch his, or her, performance at Henson’s funeral. I made that mistake with Caroll Spinney last month.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Beautiful and timeless and an undeniable classic across all walks of literature. My only regret is that it took me so long to read it, but when I finally did, I didn’t hesitate to immerse myself in the culture surrounding Louisa May Alcott’s pitch perfect story. Of course, I’m still rooting endlessly for Jo and Laurie. But that’s a whole other bag. One of my absolute favorites.
Love’s Labour’s Lost by William Shakespeare
I possess the goal of one day reading every play Shakespeare ever wrote. In 2019, I brought myself one step closer to achieving this by reading his comedy, Love’s Labour’s Lost. After Biron, Longaville, and Dumaine swear off women, a series of foibles ensues, of course. It’s a comedy of errors that wouldn’t be out of place in an episode of I Love Lucy or The Dick Van Dyke Show, but it’s also rife with Shakespeare’s brilliant prose.
Phantasmagoria / When She Saw What She Had Done by Nicole Mello
Both Phantasmagoria and When She Saw What She Had Done were written by my sister! The former is a collection of short stories that deal with all sorts of monsters, ghouls, and creepy figures. The latter is a shorter collection of poems which tell the story of Lizzie Borden, the famed maybe-murderer of Fall River, Massachusetts.
A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin
Like Little Women, this also shot up my all-time ranking of favorite books. Granted, this year I read the entire saga of A Song of Ice and Fire and while I loved all of them, I didn’t want the list inundated with Martin. Therefore, I chose to represent the story of Westeros with my favorite. A Storm of Swords is not only a masterwork of fantasy, it’s a masterstroke of fiction, as a whole. From the all-time arc of Jaime Lannister to the shocks of Catelyn Stark to the teeming tension between Arya and the Hound to insane feats by Jon Snow, it’s all here. Everything you want from Game of Thrones is right in this book and I loved all eleven hundred pages of it.
The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling
From the riotous “Babbity Rabbity and Her Cackling Stump” to the timely “The Warlock’s Hairy Heart” to the timeless “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” The Tales of Beedle the Bard is far and away the best piece of ancillary Harry Potter content we’ve ever received. And now, I carry my copy with me wherever I go, just as Hermione Granger did in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Additionally, in 2019, I finished my reread of Order of the Phoenix, but because I’ve read it so many times before, I opted to exclude it from this ranking.
When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
Every year, I try to read a Sedaris book. It helps keep me sane and it reminds me why I love books, comedy, and writing all the same. This year, his 2008 essay collection was positively divine. A good year for the Sedarises in my brain! My personal favorite essay from this grouping was “Solution to Saturday’s Puzzle,” which is about when he accidentally spit a throat lozenge onto his annoyed and slumbering seat mate on a flight. Classic Sedaris.
Zodiac by Robert Graysmith
You might take umbrage with the way Robert Graysmith decides to lay out the case for who he believes the Zodiac killer is. But not me. Maybe I’m biased because of the movie, but I thought it was the most gripping case I’d ever heard of for one of the most mysterious events in human history.
To read is to learn, to feel, to realize that the loneliness one feels may not necessarily be so alienating. There is a power in books that is available solely for the literary medium. It’s why we can’t stop coming back to them and why we never should stop either. Here’s to a 2020 full of more great reads!
See also:
My 40 Favorite Books of the Decade
More from the Year in Review:
