Best YA Fiction Read in 2019

I always enjoy looking back over the books I read in a year and grouping them into genre categories, and then ranking them. I use the star ratings on Goodreads for each individual review, but when it comes to picking my favorites, I typically just go for the ones that stuck out in my mind. Too often I hear a title or see a cover and try to remember if I read it or not, because it seems vaguely familiar but I have no clue what the story was about. Well, these are not those books. These are the books that I loved reading and that I have recommended to many others as soon as I finished the last page, and now I'm recommending them to you.

I'm including publication years because I am not one of those hip book bloggers who limits "Best of 2019" to books that were actually published in 2019 - I'm not sure I read enough of those. These are just books I happened to read in 2019. They're fairly recent, with 4/5 being from 2018 and one (already timeless story) from 2017. In YA, I know that might be a little "old", but I think these books are amazing and worth reading.

Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu (2017). Viv is sick of the way boys in her high school seem to get away with everything, but she doesn't know how she can push back against it, since it's so ingrained in her small town. Inspired by her mom's Riot Grrrl history, Viv creates and anonymously distributes a feminist zine that starts a buzz in her high school.
     I cannot rave about this book enough. I keep thinking “I wish I had this when I was in high school” but honestly, it seems just as important to me as an adult. It’s inspirational, moving, and will make you feel empowered. Beautiful writing, wonderful story. Highly recommend for EVERYONE to read.

     I was thrilled to meet Mathieu at the YALSA Symposium in November. I got a signed copy of Moxie and raved about her book to her and how much it meant to me, even as an adult.

The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding (2018). This was recommended to me because I loved What If It’s Us so much, and I loved Jordi Perez even more! The story was very interesting and unique - a girl with a fashion blog and a photographer are sharing an internship at a local fashion boutique. Everything was pretty happy, even when there were problems, so I’d say it’s more of a fluff read, but it’s so easy to get into and obviously it's stuck with me since I read it, so I think it's a really good book. I thought the stuff with the sister could have been developed a bit more, and the ending felt pretty rushed, but I enjoyed it and definitely recommend it as a fun read.

The Alcatraz Escape (Book Scavenger #3) by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman (2018). My history with these books goes back to reading the first one in 2016 and it blowing me away. I was heavily engrossed in in children's and YA lit from my MLS and my public library job, and this just hit me as fresh and intriguing and engaging. I've re-read it each time a new book comes out, so I've read the first one thrice, the second one twice, and Alcatraz just once - but I can't wait to re-read the entire series (so far???) in 2020. This was seriously my go-to recommendation for kids in the public library who wanted adventure or mystery, and they always came back to tell me they loved it. I used Book Scavenger as the pick for the Upper Elementary Family Book Club this April, and everyone loved it - students and parents! I created a library scavenger hunt and the winner got a copy of book two, but I think we need to add two and three to our school library. But I digress!
     I absolutely loved this third book. Sometimes sequels and trilogies can get tired, or you can tell the author is running out of ideas. Not the case with Bertman. This book was AMAZING, and might even be my favorite of the Book Scavenger trilogy yet! I love the Alcatraz history and that twist, my goodness! PERFECTION. The best part is, the delight and satisfaction of a good book has stuck with me, but I don't remember exactly what happened, so I can't wait to read it again.

What If It's Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera (2018). Arthur and Ben meet randomly at the post office, but neither is sure if the other is flirting, and neither thinks to get contact information so they can try to find out. When they find each other again, it's got to be "meant to be", right? Except each date seems to be a disaster in a different way, and they can't seem to get on the same page.
     I loved this story about chance meetings and finding again. I loved how distinct each character was - it can be hard to remember who’s who in multiple viewpoint books, but this worked great. I’m adding the other books by these authors to my TBR, and you should too.
Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake (2018). Mara and Owen are twins and best friends who understand each other better than anyone else. But when Owen is accused of raping his girlfriend, who also happens to be one of Mara's closest friends, Mara feels ripped apart. How could her brother do that? How could she turn her back on him because of it? Because she believes her friend - she has to - but everyone seems to expect something different from her, and she can't seem to win. But she has to stay true to herself and find out what really happened.
     I wanted to read this book because it was nominated as a YALSA’s Teens’ Top Ten title, and I’m so glad I did. This book is important and powerful and emotional. I was totally weeping by the end of it. I wish I had books like this when I was a preteen and teenager, but I’m so glad they’re available for teens now. I think everyone should read this to understand things that are going on, and know they can speak up and have empathy for others.

Best Adult Nonfiction Read in 2019

I typically make the disclaimer that these are books I read in 2019, not necessarily books that were published in 2019. But for adult nonfiction, 4/5 books were actually published this year, and one was from 2018, so I feel pretty on top of my game right now. ALSO - please note ALL OF THESE BOOKS WERE WRITTEN BY WOMEN!!! WHOOHOO!

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? by Caitlin Doughty (2019). I’ve loved Doughty since I read her first book, and was so excited to see she had a new one out. Her first was interesting and engaging, her second was incredibly informative, and this one is fascinating. I love that it’s written based off questions from children, and I suppose it could be read by children, but I don’t know if it’s being marketed that way. The questions are interesting, though - surely we’ve all wondered about some of them at one point or another. Doughty’s answers are well-researched but also understandable even without extensive knowledge of death science. She also displays her excellent sense of humor in pretty much every answer. I want to be her friend. Also, the illustrations are AMAZING.

Goodbye, Sweet Girl by Kelly Sundberg (2018). I read this at the perfect time in my life. When you're going through a relationship ending, reading about others experiencing the same can really make you feel like you have a support system, even if you don't, or can't be this open with others around you. (Although I would recommend this to anyone and everyone, because it's just a great book all-around.) It was recommended by a friend, and I would in turn recommend it to pretty much anyone. Sundberg is so open and honest about her relationship history, her marriage, and being a mother. Her prose is beautiful and emotional and touching. Many sections had me nodding in agreement, others had me biting my nails, and others had me weeping. A must-read.

Sorry I'm Late, I Didn't Want to Come by Jessica Pan (2019). The summary of this book screamed that it was perfect for me. Spoiler alert: IT WAS. I want to be Jessica’s best friend but as a fellow shintrovert, I know we will never hang out. Twitter friendship it is. Jess takes a year to set goals to push herself out of her comfort zone and try to become an extrovert. She tells a story in front of an audience for The Moth, she takes stand up and improv classes and performs at clubs, she goes to networking events and actually networks, she speaks to strangers. It all gave me small anxiety attacks (which made me feel alive!) and also had me laughing out loud in so many sections. I loved relating so hard to this person and her year. It also reminded me of the year I pushed myself out of my comfort zone to go to grad school in DC, where I also spoke to strangers and took comedy classes. But here I am, shintrovert for life, reading as much as possible and living vicariously through those books. I have since loaned out my copy to others, and recommended the title to even more.

Southern Lady Code by Helen Ellis (2019). I liked American Housewife, but this blew it away in my mind. I loved the style of lists and “How To” articles for obscure things. I loved pretty much every essay in this book. Can’t get enough of Ellis’ style! It was a fun, entertaining, but interesting read right when I needed it. Definitely one you should check out and either read a bit at a time, or all the way through in one sitting.

Sounds Like Titanic by Jessica Chiccehitto Hindman (2019). The idea of going on tour as part of an orchestra that doesn’t actually play grabbed my attention, but Hindman’s writing made this book more than that. The whole thing seemed so surreal, but Hindman put enough personality into it where you felt like you were also trapped in this strange situation. (Literally - much of the book is written in second person, which is very immersive and interesting.) Who wouldn't pretend to play an instrument for good money?! If you like strange stories, you should check this out. And then google to find out who The Composer is, and then watch tons of his videos on YouTube and see if you can tell if the musicians are really playing or not. Don't forget to check out the CONSTANT SMILES! And also fall down the rabbit hole of Threatin, if you haven’t already.


Have you read any of these nonfiction books? What did you think of them? What nonfiction books would you recommend to me?

Best Adult Fiction Read in 2019

I always enjoy looking back over the books I read in a year and grouping them into genre categories, and then ranking them. I use the star ratings on Goodreads for each individual review, but when it comes to picking my favorites, I typically just go for the ones that stuck out in my mind. Too often I hear a title or see a cover and try to remember if I read it or not, because it seems vaguely familiar but I have no clue what the story was about. Well, these are not those books. These are the books that I loved reading and that I have recommended to many others as soon as I finished the last page, and now I'm recommending them to you.

I'm including publication years because I am not one of those hip book bloggers who limits "Best of 2019" to books that were actually published in 2019 - I'm not sure I read enough of those. These are just books I happened to read in 2019, but this year it's interesting that 2/5 were published this year, and 2/5 were published last year. How very contemporary of me.

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (2015). If I could have picked all of Kent Haruf's books for this list, I would have. And yes, I know it's my list and I can do whatever I please, but 5 is such a delightful number for a round-up list. Anyway, I discovered Haruf this year thanks to a bookstagram/librarian friend, and I am forever in his debt. I later found out that my dad loves this author but never recommended him to me, and I'm trying to not harbor anger about that. (Joking, kind of.) Anyway, something about Haruf's writing is so simple and beautiful and powerful. If I had to compare him to anyone, it would be Steinbeck, and I love me some Steinbeck, but I think Haruf beats him overall.
     Our Souls at Night was Haruf's last book, published after his death, but it's a great final book. It's not part of his trilogy, but it is set in the same town. Some of the dialogue makes vague references to Haruf's previous work, which might seem like he's full of himself, but it's actually so amazing and self-aware and really made the book, in my opinion. The story itself is wonderful - an elderly widow and an elderly widower are neighbors and begin a relationship, kind of out of the blue. They are honest and to the point and everything about it makes you want to strip your life down to the necessities and forget the rest, which is a good way to look at Haruf's other works. He only has 5 novels, so do yourself a favor and read them all. If you only read one, read this one. If you're reading them all, please read them in publication order.
     Our Souls at Night was made into a movie on Netflix, but I'm debating watching it. I always love the book more than the movie, but this book was SO GOOD that I'm not sure if the movie would ruin it for me, even if it's decent.

Alice Isn't Dead by Joseph Fink (2018). I love the Welcome to Night Vale podcast, so when Alice Isn't Dead started as a podcast, I downloaded all the episodes. I never got a chance to listen, due to time constraints, having a small child around, etc. So when the book came out, I was excited to get to experience the story in some way. The book is AMAZING. Such a great mystery, such creepy circumstances, and the writing really portrays the suspense. I still haven't listen to the podcast, but I think I'll re-read the book next year and then make time to start listening. Have you listened to the podcast and/or read the book?

Nothing To See Here by Kevin Wilson (2019). I would have chosen this one on the anticipation alone. Kevin Wilson has been one of my favorite authors ever since I read his story collection Tunneling to the Center of the Earth years ago. Every time I find out he has a new book being released, I get incredibly excited, because he does surrealism so... realistically. I had this book on my "To Read" Goodreads shelf ever since it was announced, and then it was an October Book of the Month choice, so I got to read it before it was officially released! Waiting from when I chose my book to when it was delivered was almost unbearable, but of course worth it.
     Kevin Wilson is one of my favorite authors for the way he can make you laugh and make you cry with straightforward words, not trying too hard. When I saw this book was about spontaneous human combustion, I was worried it might be a little too out there for me to really be interested in (or believe) the subject matter. But Kevin Wilson is the king of taking slightly strange or unrealistic aspects and making them understandable and palatable for any reader. As always, his stories are about the characters more than what’s actually happening to them, and he presents some amazing, realistic characters in this book.   

Daisy Jones & the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid (2019). I know this book has already won awards and is on so many "Best of" lists, but I think it's earned, and not just hype.
     This book blew me away. I love classic rock and the band lifestyle of that era, and this is a great interpretation of that time. I loved the style of the writing. I have to admit that I'm a huge Aerosmith fan, and when I was in 8th grade I got a copy of their autobiography, Walk This Way. It's told as interviews with band members, and I read it so many times I probably still have parts memorized. This book reminded me so much of that, so it rang true to me. I loved the approach, the rock stories, the music. I have to say, it's hard for me to get into "music" in books, as in the lyrics written out. I couldn't hear it in my head so I mostly just skimmed. Also, the “twist” didn’t do much for me, but I can see how it affects the story overall, so I’ll take it, but I felt like it was presented in a strange way, and meant to be a big reveal, but it just didn’t work for me. Overall I loved the book though, and am reading more by the author already. I haven't listened to it myself, but I've heard the audiobook is told with many different actors doing voices, and I love how that must bring the story to life.

Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering (2018). I wasn't sure what to expect when I checked this book out just because I was seeing it everywhere, but this book blew me away. There was a lot of drama, which kept it interesting and had be turning the pages. Even with that being said, it was so real, so well developed, and so intriguing. Many of the characters made me think of real people, which was both good and bad considering the main male character was a psychopath. I could hardly put this down.

Have you read any of these adult fiction books from my top five? Which ones? What are your top five books read in 2019?