As 2019 comes to a close and various literary publications share their “Top of 2019” lists, I thought I would culminate my own list of my top reads of the year.
This year, I read a total of over 60 books (I am still hoping to finish up a couple before the end of the month!). Many of these books were for courses for my English Literature major— courses including one on contemporary novels, on empire in global literature, and on literature of the Americas. Others were from the service Book of the Month, which I started using this January. Overall, most were books I’ve been wanting to read and picked up simply because they interest me.
I have chosen seven books that I would consider my most memorable and most treasured reads this year. Only two of them were actually released in 2019, but I decided to culminate a list of books I read this year rather than books released this year because I only read about twelve 2019 releases.
I have provided short reviews for all the books included in this list in my Summer Reading Review and Autumn Reading Review posts, so while I will briefly cover the plot and themes, I will delve more deeply into why I enjoyed these books and cherish them as my favorites of the year. I hope this list offers suggestions for your reading, and would love to hear your favorite reads of this year!
The Overstory by Richard Powers
The Overstory is a work of eco-fiction that emphasizes how the environment, specifically trees, impacts everyone. It features a diverse cast of characters, whose stories all weave together and intertwine in dynamic ways throughout the novel. I have always been a fan of this narrative structure, and find that Powers’s execution of it in The Overstory is impeccable. He is able to flesh out a large cast of dynamic, independent characters, each with their own experiences, knowledge base, and emotional conflicts.
The Overstory was my introduction to eco-fiction (or cli-fi). Since reading it, my interest in the genre— which is not as recent as it is often made out to be— has peaked and I have read many other eco-fiction works. However, none of them have impacted me the way The Overstory has. This novel contextualizes the climate crisis in the lives of the characters, showing the emotional implications of the dying environment as well as the physical, actionable impact. Rather than being a book about the climate crisis, Powers has crafted a novel about life in a time (this time) where the climate crisis affects everyone and everything.
Further, Powers is an incredible writer. His prose is poetic and sharp. He covers a grand scope, looking forwards and backwards in time, without pretentiousness. This novel is a monumental achievement and contains a story and outlook on life that I will carry with me into the future.
In the Distance by Hernan Diaz
Unlike The Overstory, which I knew I would love before I read it, I wasn’t sure what to expect from In the Distance. I had never read Hernan Diaz’s work, and though the premise of a story about a foreigner traveling across America styled like a Western intrigued me, I didn’t think it would become such a favorite.
The novel follows Håkan, a young Swedish boy, who gets separated from his older brother during their journey to America. Once he arrives, he is determined to reunite with him. He must learn to survive the American frontier in the 1800s, between the natural elements and the society, where rumor spreads quickly. This novel is atmospheric and vast. It thoroughly explores isolation through a coming of age tale.
This feels like a novel written exactly for me, as it includes so many themes and ideas I enjoy. The writing is stunning and transportive; it deals with themes of loss, isolation, and independence; it describes science and anatomy in gruesome and fascinating terms; it challenges notions of storytelling and what it means to be represented through story. In just over 200 pages, this novel takes readers through a lifetime. This novel was a surprising favorite, and I am eager for the opportunity to reread it and experience it again.
The Changeling by Joy Williams
I did not think The Changeling would be on this list when I was reading it— I enjoyed the novel quite a bit, but I didn’t feel the kind of instant awe evoked by my other favorites. However, eight months after reading this one, I can’t shake it. This novel is so unique and provocative that I continuously find myself thinking back to it and reminding myself of how magnificent it is.
(I am pasting my summary from my Summer Reading Review; I think it sums up this novel the best I can): The Changeling is a dark, fairytale-esque story about a woman named Pearl and the island she lives on with her husband’s family and all of the family’s adopted children. In response to a series of traumatic events, Pearl descends into alcoholism and is left watching over many bizarre, intelligent, and haunting children. Though the plot is fragmented and unexpected, this novel examines the feelings of isolation from the self and from a maternal role quite coherently. While the book does start somewhere and end somewhere else, it tends to move in circles and explore themes and form.
While I’ve read a sort of psychedelic, circular fiction before (Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled, for example), I had never seen it used to explore womanhood and being a caretaker. Yet this pairing is remarkable; understanding the self, as a woman, through this circular, timeless work provides such a fulfilling reading experience in ways that linear, action plots rarely deliver. This novel is an experience, and it is certainly one that I won’t forget.
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
A Brief History of Seven Killings is a book frequently referred to as a “masterpiece.” Though I usually disagree with such titles and praise, I genuinely can’t find a better word to describe it. The basic plot of this novel follows the assassination attempt on Bob Marley, referred to as The Singer. However, this 600+ page novel follows over 75 characters, spanning decades and continents. It describes the personal and political fallouts of the assassination attempt on The Singer.
This is a difficult book to read— of all the novels I read this year, this one took the longest by far. There are many perspectives and it is sometimes difficult to follow the various political and personal affiliations of each perspective. However, this is an incredibly rewarding and masterful novel.
If you, like me, find enjoyment in literary analysis or reading literary criticism, this novel is a field day. It is so rich in commentary and themes (many I likely missed). It is clear James is incredible at his craft— the writing is so expansive and diverse, it was often hard for me to imagine each character and perspective was written from the mind of one author. I am sure this is a novel that will remain celebrated and read into the future, as there is truly nothing else like it.
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
If you saw my “best reads of 2018” list last year, it included Whitehead’s incredible novel The Underground Railroad. I loved that novel so much, that when I heard The Nickel Boys was coming out, I ordered it and picked it up on release day! This is the first book I’ve ever gotten on release day, but I just could not resist! 🙂
The Nickel Boys is a fictional story about a punitive boarding school based on the real life abuse that occured at the Dozier School in Florida. It follows Elwood Curtis, a character wrongfully put into the school, who tries to find justice in an abusive situation when no one is listening. This novel deals with issues of race, class, and masculinity through the lens of Martin Luther King Jr.’s words and a young Elwood as he comes of age.
Whitehead’s writing is sharp as ever in The Nickel Boys. He exposes brutal and horrifying experiences without indulgence (i.e. he doesn’t use trauma for reaction or to be shocking, but instead to bring such injustice into the light). In a short novel, he explores trauma and how it can manifest for decades after abuse. This story truly emphasizes the power of storytelling and what can occur to those who are not listened to or provided a voice. I wasn’t sure what Whitehead would write to follow The Underground Railroad, so this book certainly exceeded my expectations.
The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
Another category of books I’ve gained an appreciation for this year is novels about writing. A class I took this past semester focused on reading as a writer, or learning about writing through reading successful writing, and this is one of the novels we looked at. Sigrid Nunez’s The Friend is about much more than just writing— it describes grief, companionship, and teaching— but what has stuck with me most about this novel is its insight into the writing process and what it means to use writing to heal.
On a plot level, this novel follows a writer who has lost a close friend to suicide and, in the midst of her grief, must take care of his dog. The novel is told in short sections that explore the writer’s history with their friend, care of the dog, and process as a writer. She analyzes the current literary scene and looks deeply at the roots of being a female writer. I found myself constantly noting these sections and revisiting them in my own work. If you enjoy short, poignant works, or are a writer yourself, this novel is so wonderfully insightful. It speaks to this moment but also transcends time through its roots in universal themes of loss and grief (and love for dogs).
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
On the same light-night Barnes & Noble trip I went on to pick up The Nickel Boys on release day, I picked up this highly anticipated 2019 release. I have been a big fan of Ocean Vuong since I saw him read from his poetry collection Night Sky with Exit Wounds at my university. I was eager to read Vuong’s debut novel, and it did not disappoint.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a moving letter from a son, Little Dog, to his Vietnamese mother who can’t read. It explores the shifting family dynamic within a Vietnamese immigrant family, Little Dog’s coming of age and sexual identity, and a mother-son bond. This novel also includes a discussion of what it means to be a writer and poet. This novel is poetic and filled with moments of beautiful language and brilliant insight. I have quotes from it scattered through my notebooks, and I frequently turn back into its pages to inspire my own writing.
When I saw Salman Rushdie speak at my university this year, he mentioned On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous as one novel of an increasingly mainstream American literary cannon of queer and immigrant narratives— rather than an obsession with “Great American Novel,” narratives like this one tell us stories of Great American People. I am so excited to read Vuong’s future work, and am happy this novel has received so much well deserved praise.
zoreads 
Love this list!! Will definitely try to read more eco-fiction in 2020 🙂
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All of these are/were on my list—I’ve read two of them. I’m looking forward to reading the rest!
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