2019: A Year in Books

Did I really read so many books in 2019? Once again, the year is a blur.
 
My goal was to read more non-fiction, so there are 26 non-fictions (starred) on this list.
 
I taught some new courses this year, and that meant more work-related reading: Lab Girl by Hope Jahren, Dopesick by Beth Macy, Handling the Truth by Beth Kephart, The Memoir Project by Marion Roach Smith, Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson, Well-Read Black Girl by Glory Edim, Fun Home: A Family Tragi-Comic by Alison Bechdel, Heating & Cooling by Beth Ann Fennelly, The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez.
 
And then there were the books that stomped on my heart, broke it into a million pieces and put most of them together again: The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne, Go Went Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck, Bear Town by Fredrik Backman, Circe by Madeline Miller, The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker, Rules of Civility by Amor Towles, Tin Man by Sarah Winman, Commonwealth by Ann Patchett
 
Some weird but wonderful books: A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki, Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
 
Some that kept me up all night: Dear Wife by Kimberly Belle, Until the Day I Die by Emily Carpenter, Woman on the Edge by Samantha M. Bailey, The Lost Man by Jane Harper
 
And some books that stand out as damn good reads, not mentioned previously: The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty, The Wolf Wants in by Laura McHugh, The Last Romantics by Tara Conklin, Normal People by Sally Rooney

110. The Woman in the Window – A.J. Finn
109. The Story Hour – Thrity Umrigar
108. The Lost Man – Jane Harper
107. Searching for Sylvie Lee – Jean Kwok
106. Commonwealth – Ann Patchett
105. The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek – Kim Michele Richardson
104. Sunburn – Laura Lippman
103. Sycamore – Bryn Chancellor
102. Normal People – Sally Rooney
101. The Crime Writer – Jill Dawson
100. Behind Every Lie – Christina McDonald
99. Freshwater – Akwaeke Emezi
98. The Book of Essie – Meghan MacLean Weir
97. Bearskin – James A. McLaughlin
96. His Bloody Project – Graeme Macrae Burney
95. After the Flood – Kassandra Montag
94. The Farm – Joanne Ramos
93. Tin Man – Sarah Winman
92. The Ruin – Dervla McTiernan
91. The Female of the Species – Mindy McGinnis
90. Eileen – Ottessa Moshfegh
89. The Brutal Telling – Louise Penny
88. Only Love Can Break Your Heart – Ed Tarkington
87. The Tattooist of Auschwitz – Heather Morris
86. The Night Tiger – Yangsze Choo
85. The House We Grew Up In – Lisa Jewell
84. *When We Were the Kennedys – Monica Wood
83. The Night Child – Anna Quinn
82. Rules of Civility – Amor Towles
81. *The Seven Sins of Memory – Daniel L. Schacter
80. The Dolls House: M.J. Arlidge
79. *Heating & Cooling – Beth Ann Fennelly
78. When Mockingbirds Sing – Billy Coffey
77. Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands – Chris Bohjalian
76. Where You Once Belonged – Kent Haruf
75. The Last Romantics – Tara Conklin
74. *Heart Berries – Terese Marie Mailhot
73. A Matter of Chance – Julie Maloney
72. *Coming Clean – Kimberly Rae Miller
71. Calling Me Home – Julie Kibler
70. *Fun Home: A Family Tragi-Comic – Alison Bechdel
69. *Well-Read Black Girl – Glory Edim
68. The Mothers – Brit Bennett
67. Piecing Me Together – Renee Watson
66. *Let’s Pretend this Never Happened – Jenny Lawson
65. The Book of Unknown Americans – Cristina Henriquez
64. The Book of M – Peng Shepherd
63. *The Memoir Project – Marion Roach Smith
62. Woman on the Edge – Samantha Stroh Bailey
61. *Handling the Truth: On the Writing of Memoir – Beth Kephart
60. I Am Watching You: Theresa Driscoll
59. *Dreamland: The True Tale of America’s Opiate Epidemic – Sam Quinones
58. Watch Me Disappear – Janelle Brown
57. *Searching for Sunday – Rachel Held Evans
56. The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells – Andrew Sean Greer
55. Kindred – Octavia Butler
54. *Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America – Beth Macy
53. Dear Wife – Kimberly Belle
52. Layover – David Bell
51. Descent – Tim Johnston
50. *Once You Go In: A Memoir of Radical Faith – Carly Gelsinger
49. Circe – Madeline Miller
48. *Shortest Way Home – Pete Buttigieg
47. *The Dark Heart: A True Story of Greed, Murder, and an Unlikely Investigator – Joakim Palmkvist
46. Within and Without – Deborah Maroulis
45. The Dreamers – Karen Thompson Walker
44. Sadie – Courtney Summers
43. I’ll Never Tell – Catherine McKenzie
42. The Marsh King’s Daughter – Karen Dionne
41. The Girl Who Played with Fire (reread) _ Stieg Larsson
40. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (reread) – Steig Larsson
39. The Girl who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (reread) – Steig Larsson
38. *In the Country We Love – Diane Guerrero
37. The Night Before – Wendy Walker
36. *People Who Eat Darkness – Richard Lloyd Parry
35. In West Mills – De’Shawn Charles Winslow
34. I know This Much is True – Wally Lamb
33. *Inheritance – Dani Shapiro
32. The Salt House – Lisa Duffy
31. The Wolf Wants In – Laura McHugh
30. Bear Town – Fredrik Backman
29. The Loyal Wife – Natalie Barelli
28. Before She Was Found – Heather Gudenkauf
27. Missing Molly – Natalie Barelli
26. Silver Sparrow – Tayari Jones
25. The Mother-In-Law – Sally Hepworth
24. Beautiful Bad – Annie Ward
23. *Charged: Overzealous Prosecutors, the Quest for Mercy, and the Fight to Transform Criminal Justice in America – Emily Bazelon
22. Saving Meghan – D.J. Palmer
21. Until the Day I Die – Emily Carpenter
20. Go Went Gone – Jenny Erpenbeck
19. An Old Betrayal – Charles Finch
18. The Cottingly Secret – Hazel Gaynor
17. *The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl – Timothy Egan
16. Woman 99 – Greer McAllister
15. *Anne Perry and the Murder of the Century – Peter Graham
14. The Chaperone – Laura Moriarty
13. The Winter Sister- Megan Collins
12. *The Radium Girls – Kate Moore
11. The Night Olivia Fell – Christina McDonald
10. My Dear Hamilton – Stephanie Dray
9. *A Death in White Bear Lake – Barry Siegel
8. True Places – Sonja Yoerg
7. A Tale for the Time Being – Ruth Ozeki
6. An Anonymous Girl – Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
5. *The Lost City of the Monkey God – Douglas Preston
4. Daisy Jones & The Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid
3. *Lab Girl – Hope Jahren
2. The Fever – Megan Abbott
1. The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John Boyne

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