My Favorite Books of 2019

2019 was an unexpectedly wonderful literary year. I met Celeste Ng and Ocean Vuong, attended a lecture by Min Jin Lee, wrote the most I ever have in one year, and read 124 books. Out of that number, these ones were my favorite (in no particular order):

I’m Thinking of Ending Things by Iain Reid

A philosophical, psychological thriller that isn’t predictable. On a road trip with her boyfriend, a woman is thinking of ending the relationship. But a strange number keeps calling her phone and leaving odd voice messages. If you like to be creeped out while contemplating life, relationships, and love, this is the one for you.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender

In any food she eats, Rose can taste the emotions of the person who made it. Sadness, loneliness, anger, loss, joy…it’s all there for her taste buds to explore, but it gives her unwanted insight into the secret hearts of those closest to her. A coming of age story with magical realism, it is strange, sad, and beautiful, with the perfect balance of whimsy and depth.

The Young Elites Series by Marie Lu

My YA pick for the year features a powerful female antihero and a world of magic powers. It explores mental health, the strength of sisterhood, and the equally attractive desires to do both good and bad.

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

Perhaps the most depressing book I’ve read ever, this novel follows four friends as they leave college and enter their respective careers in NYC. It centers on Jude, a brilliant but enigmatic litigator with a deeply tragic past. It wasn’t exactly a favorite, but I can’t stop thinking about it. Definitely read a synopsis for trigger warnings before picking this up.

Without You, There Is No Us by Suki Kim

Journalist Suki Kim’s memoir of going undercover as a teacher in North Korea. Informative, heartbreaking, and tense, she describes the everyday life of young men from powerful families with all their questions, beliefs, and love. It’s written with a journalistic lens, but also empathy and a will to understand.

Bright Lights, Big City by Jay McInerney

A well-done use of the second person point of view. Reminiscent of Bret Easton Ellis’s American Psycho (but much less disturbing) for the satire and protagonist that is conventionally “successful” with a prestigious career and model wife but no idea of who he is and what he wants. It’s full of dark humor and irony but also moments of real emotional resonance.

The Lonely City: Adventures in Being Alone by Olivia Laing

A nonfiction piece exploring the paradoxical nature of cities: being surrounded by people but also feeling isolated from everyone. Laing looks at loneliness and how society perpetuates its status through artists and their works, specifically Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, David Wojnarowicz, and Henry Darger. It reads like fiction and avoids romanticizing loneliness while recognizing its validity.

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities by Chen Chen

A wonderful collection of poems about identity, specifically centered on being Chinese, gay, and a writer. I don’t think a month goes by where I don’t think of his opening poem “Self-Portrait as So Much Potential” and the genius, whimsy, and longing contained in it. It gets me excited about poetry again every time I read it.

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

A story of love, loss, sexuality, and masculinity. Set in 1950s Paris, a young American meets a bartender named Giovanni, and their relationship soon takes off. But the romance is tainted, and the push and pull between the two leads to disintegration. Short but it packs a punch.

The Yellow House by Chiwan Choi

A highly rhythmic collection of poetry focused on the yellow house he grew up in and the family, loss, longing, and displacement he associates with it.

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

There’s a scene in this epistolary novel that perfectly encapsulates youthful ignorance and rebellion in all its greatness and pitifulness. A sunset, two characters riding bikes, shitting on Coca-Cola but praising Sprite (which they later discover is a Coca-Cola product). With beautiful prose, this is an immigrant novel, a coming of age and (sort of) coming out novel, and a novel for mothers and sons. (Also, thank you to Vuong for being an absolutely wonderful human when I met him on the street)

The Nakano Thrift Shop by Hiromi Kawakami

Stories surround the woman who works in a vintage/antiques shop. From a letter opener to a sewing machine, these items for sale have their own stories and spur new ones in the people around them. The woman’s quirky boss and increasing romantic interest in her strong but shy coworker connect the dots. I wouldn’t classify this as a love story, but it discusses love and relationships and the beauty they have when they’re formed from everyday interactions.

Full reviews for most of these books have already been published on the blog, so take a look! :)

*note: these are books I read in 2019, not books published in 2019, although there are some of those, too.