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My 10 Favorite Books of 2019


This year I managed to read some 140 books (there's still 13 days to go so I'm sure my number will grow). Here were my top 10 of 2019 that were published in 2019 (along with some other titles I loved this year).

 1. Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth Reichl. 
I want to describe this book as The Devil Wears Prada but with food. But that’s a gross misrepresentation of Reichl’s journey from food writer to editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine. Reichl shows us that food writing is more than just about food; it’s about politics, family and travel. It is at our essence as humans. Reichl’s book is the most human piece of 2019. 2. Daisy Jones & the Six: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid. 
Daisy Jones is the reason why I read. To get lost. To become so utterly submersed in a world that the character’s feel tangible. Written from the perspective of over half-dozen characters, with interviews and monologues, Daisy Jones is a biting, hilarious and enjoyable look at pop-culture and what it means to be famous. 3. Kiss Number 8 by Venable and Cranshaw If Lady Bird turned into a graphic novel, this is what you would have. A coming of age story with queer themes, Kiss Number 8 will bring back the horrors of your teenage self with all of its insecurities, mistakes and loves. It’s a love letter to the 00s. But it’s also a surprisingly tender piece about our identity during our formative years, and learning that our parents are not as infallible as we hoped. 4. I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver  No other has so clearly described the world of non-binary persons like Mason Deaver. You will fall in love with Ben as they are ostracized from their family and learn to navigate their world. More people need to pay attention to Mason Deaver, as they have written one of the most important books of 2019.

 5. Thick: and Other Essays by Tressie Cottom Cottom views the world through eyes I cannot imagine. An examination not just on our culture, black America and feminism, this is a collection of essays that will haunt you. This is the best writing of 2019, but it’s also the most sobering. Cottom will force you to reflect, and we are all the better for it.

 6. Exhalation: Stories by Ted Chiang Ted Chiang has perfected the short story. In his collection of essays that covers time travel, singularity, and avatars, Chiang gets to the heart of technology, and poses the real question: What does it mean to be human? Those wondering what happened to authors like Wells or Lovecraft, need not look any further.

7. Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
Queenie gave me whiplash. The amount of times I shook my head at her decisions feels insurmountable. But Queenie is our 20 something self. Full of ambition and mistakes, Queenie is the voice of a new generation. In the year we loss Toni Morrison, we should find comfort that Candice Carty-Williams is writing so we can have a whole new experience.

 8. Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me by Adrienne Brodeur
This is so much more than a memoir. The story of Malabar and her affair with a man and involving her daughter should come off tawdry; instead, the reader is immersed in a world of fine dining and secret motives. A literary non-fiction memoir of morals, Wild Game, Adrienne, and the story of Malabar will resonate with me for years to come.

 9 The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
This is the water cooler conversation of 2019. This is your Gone Girl, your Girl on the Train, your Sometimes I Lie. It’s gossipy. It’s fun. It’s just the right amount of over-the-top. It’s also more than just popcorn fluff. There’s a weight with all of its twistiness, and it will surprise you each step of the way. This is the most fun you will have in 2019. Buy it for yourself, your friends, and your coworkers. You’re welcome.

 10. The Toll by Neal Shusterman
What Shusterman lacks in craft, he makes up for in the most pulse-pounding texts of 2019. When the Arc of Scythe series began in 2016, Shusterman’s scope felt limited. Three years later, we have one of the most satisfying conclusions of the year (sorry Star Wars). This is the story we deserved, and Shusterman delivered on every front.

Five other books I loved of 2019 (published in 2019) but didn’t make the list:
The Other Americans by Lalai Lalami
The New Me by Halle Butler
You Know You Want This by Kristen Roupenian
Good Talk by Mira Jacob
With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Five books I loved that were not published in 2019
Damsel by Elana K. Arnold
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour
I, Claudia by Mary McCoy
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Read

Best Audible Books of 2019:
Daisy Jones & the Six: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid. 
The Other Americans by Lalai Lalami
Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

Daniel Valentin teaches American Wilderness, Ethics, and English 9 at Horace Greeley High School. He is currently reading The Person You Mean to Be by Dolly Chugh and is listening to The Half-Life of Marie Curie by Lauren Gunderson. He wants his students to feel empowered through books. Follow him on Twitter @DanielJValentin
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