I had a MAJOR reading year! I finished 62 books in 2019. (And I wrote a few lines about each one here.) For the record, I don’t keep track of books I started and didn’t finish, but there were plenty of those, too.

I credit the increase from the usual 50 to spending a good part of the year listening to audiobooks instead of podcasts. However, I still love podcasts so I’m not sure I will keep up that pace in 2020.

I enjoyed so many books in 2019 that doing a “top 10” feels impossible. Instead, I’m doing a “best of” organized by my own categories. I suppose these are superlatives, like in a yearbook.

First, some breaking down of what I read:

• 37 Novels and/or Short Story Collections
• 19 Memoirs and/or Essay collections
• 6 General nonfiction

How I read:

• 21 out of the 62 were on audio using both Libro.fm and the library.
• 5 were advance releases via netgalley.com, which I read on my Kindle.
• The rest were in paperback or hardcover either purchased by me, borrowed from the library, or in one case, given to me as an advance copy from the author.

FINALLY—MY “BEST OF” FOR 2019

KEPT ME UP TOO LATE (IN A GOOD WAY)

Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane

RECOMMENDED OFTEN

Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

EXCELLENT WRITING IN EVERY WAY

Magical Realism for Non-Believers by Anika Fajardo

ESSAYS THAT MADE ME THINK LONG AFTER READING

Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino

MOST RELATABLE ESSAY COLLECTION

I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philpott

BOOK I’M SURPRISED TO STILL BE THINKING ABOUT MONTHS LATER

The Parting Gift by Evan Fallenberg

BOOK I’M NOT SURPRISED TO STILL BE THINKING ABOUT MONTHS LATER:

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

MOST CHARMING

Meet Me at The Museum by Anne Youngson

When You Read This by Mary Adkins

The Lager Queen of Minnesota by J. Ryan Stradal

The Last Book Party by Karen Dukess

FAVORITE MEMOIRS

Save me the Plums by Ruth Reichl

Inheritance by Dani Shapiro

MOST CLEVER STRUCTURE

Twenty-one Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks

The Book of Delights by Ross Gay

SHORT STORIES COLLECTIONS I WILL KEEP IN MY OFFICE 

We Love Anderson Cooper by R.L. Maizes

The Book of Jeremiah by Julie Zuckerman

FAVORITE EARLY RELEASE (LOOK FOR THIS ONE IN 2020)

Oona Out of Order by Margarita Montimore

*Links are affiliate links to indiebound.org, a site that benefits your local bookstore.

Photo by Aung Soe Min on Unsplash

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Nina Badzin

Nina Badzin hosts the podcast Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship. She's been writing about friendship since 2014, co-leads the writing groups at ModernWell in Minneapolis, and reviews 30+ books a year on her website.

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