My Back Pages, 2019

December 8, 2019 3:41 PM

"I made an effort to read more books in 2019 and mostly succeeded (I think). But there are so many good books out there I couldn’t get to, which is at once both panic-inducing (OMG, the endless bedside stack of books) and exciting (so much to look forward to reading). It’s in this spirit that I went through a bunch of end-of-the-year books lists to pull out some of our collective favorite books of the year for 2019." Jason Kottke rounds up some of this year's page-turners.

Includes lists from: NYT; TLS; WaPo; Book Riot; Kirkus; Time; Library Journal; Goodreads; and many others.

Bonus: Kottke on reader's block

Previously: NPR's Book Concierge 2019

posted by MonkeyToes (5 comments total)

Thank you! This is a good way for me to find non-fiction recs (I usually read fiction). Like Kottke, I loved The Testaments. I mostly read books this year that were published earlier, but the other 2019 book I enjoyed was Elizabeth Gilbert’s City of Girls—I listened to the audiobook and Blair Brown did an amazing job. Very entertaining historical fiction, mostly set in the theatre world of 1940s Manhattan.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:51 PM on December 8, 2019

Ooooooh!

This is an early Christmas present. Thank you, MonkeyToes.
posted by BlueHorse at 3:58 PM on December 8, 2019

Thanks! This is super useful as I search for Christmas presents for Mom.
posted by rednikki at 6:49 PM on December 8, 2019

"Code Girls" was fantastic history and biography and real life crypto.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:44 PM on December 8, 2019 [1 favorite]

Science Friday's Best Science Books of 2019 had a few that looked interesting.

I always find ones on The Economists' book list (free with registration) that I don't find on other lists. Several on that list sound intriguing, e.g., Good Reasons for Bad Feelings (link to Guardian review), about the evolutionary roots of mental disorders.
posted by slidell at 10:25 PM on December 8, 2019