Selecting the "Best Novels of 2019" is both a difficult and arbitrary task. I read more than fifty novels in the last year and almost all of them were quite good. I'm particular about what I read and rarely select a novel that hasn't come with a recommendation or review from someone I respect so winnowing the list down to ten is somewhat capricious. That said, the following were exceptional and I believe they'll stand the test of time. There are also a few that I'll include on the "Best Mysteries and Thrillers" list that could have been listed here. I've listed them alphabetically by title and included more information about each below. They are:
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Inland by Téa Obrecht
Lights All Night Long by Lydia Fitzpatrick
Little Faith by Nickolas Butler
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout
Optic Nerve by Maria Gainza
The River by Peter Heller
Women Talking by Miriam Toews
Later this week, I'll share the "Best Mysteries and Thrillers," the "Best Nonfiction," and the "Best Debut Fiction" lists. My reading year begins on December 1 and ends on November 30 and all the books I've read in that period are listed on my annual list. That means that a few outstanding books published in 2019 may not appear on my best lists until 2020. Had I read Julia Phillips' The Disappearing Earth before December 1, it would certainly be on this list as might some others. C'est la vie.
Daisy Jones and the Six immerses the reader into the life of Daisy, a singer experimenting with sex, drugs, and the party scene in late sixties LA when her voice gains recognition and she connects with The Six, a band led by a stubborn singer/songwriter. The story is told as an oral history of the time and embeds the reader into the 1970s music scene. It’s a magnificent novel that you’ll want to read in a day and remember forever. Passionate, headstrong characters, addictive writing, and a propulsive storyline make it a winner. Read the full review here. GPR/S, BC
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
The Dutch House is a brilliant Hansel and Gretel meets Cinderella tale. Maeve and Danny live in a mansion outside Philadelphia with their father and servants who feel like family. After their mother left them, their father married an evil stepmother with two daughters. Danny tells their story, and the reader falls into the boiling pot of family stew. I love all of Patchett's novels and this is one of her best. A bonus for me is that Patchett named a character for my wonderful friend Julie, who founded McLean & Eakin Books and who helped inspire her to open her bookstore. G/GPR, BC
Inland is an accomplished tale of an Old West we rarely encounter in fiction. It’s a world in which dying of thirst or heat is routine. Nora can’t get over the death of her first child and still talks with her daily. Lurie, also haunted by ghosts, is on the run when he joins an outfit herding camels in the desert. The Carnegie Medal nominee presents the 19th Century southwest as more diverse and nuanced than most offerings. Exquisite language explores grief, fear, and ambition. I didn't have enough post-it notes for all the passages I wanted to highlight. The camels captured this reader, oh, those camels. G/S/SN, BC
Lights All Night Long by Lydia Fitzpatrick
Lights All Night Long combines gorgeous language, a compelling story, a mystery, AND captivating characters. Ilya, the smartest kid in his small Russian refinery town, is going to spend a year in high school in a refinery town in Louisiana, but he can’t stop thinking of ways to help his older brother who’s in prison for confessing to a crime Ilya knows Vladimir didn’t commit. Like the lights that burn all night long in the town, this novel allows the light to break through. The last pages are a pure gift filled with love and wonder. It's hard to believe that this is a debut. Read the full review here. G/GPR, SN, BC
Little Faith is the novel readers have been wanting since Kent Haruf’s All Souls at Night. It’s an engaging, thought-provoking tale of a grandparent’s love for his grandson and for the life he’s blessed to live. It’s a novel of gratitude for the natural world and of the threats to the things we hold sacred. It’s holy ground in rural Minnesota. It will make you ponder religious beliefs and what people do in the name of them. Beg your book club to discuss it. My book club loved it and the discussion prompted others to read it as well. Read the full review here. G/GPR, BC
The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
The Nickel Boys proves that Whitehead is a genius. Coming after his magnum opus, Pulitzer Prize winner—The Underground Railroad, this is a different animal in every manner except excellence. This is realistic narrative, straight-shooting storytelling; yet both novels tell the truth of the stain that racism levies on the US regardless of the century. Elwood, a smart, hardworking teen gets sent to the Nickel Academy, a reform school, despite his innocence. There, in the early 1960s, he encounters inconceivable sadism. He wants to heed Dr. King’s words to love. His friend thinks him naive. Read this novel and give thanks for the gift of Colson Whitehead who makes us see and feel the pain. G/SN, BC
Olive, Again takes the reader back to Maine and the remarkably ordinary life of Olive Kitteridge. I adored Olive Kitteridge and the sequel didn’t disappoint. It’s a realistic, wry view of aging and of the realization that learning who we are is a full-time occupation. I'm also hoping that Frances McDormand will reprise her role as Olive. The adaptation of Olive Kitteridge was one of the best I've ever seen. G, BC
Optic Nerve by Maria Gainza
Optic Nerve is both a novel and a course in art history that follows an unnamed Argentinian woman through the lives and works of illustrious painters. The narrator visualizes life and culture via Toulouse-Lautrec, Rothko, Courbet, Rousseau, Foujita, and El Greco. This short, inventive novel offers much to ponder and the last chapter is exquisite. I keep reading pages of it aloud and sighing. It makes me wonder how many other great international works, we English speakers miss. This was published in 2014 but not translated into English until this year. Thanks to Publishers Weekly for selecting it as a 2019 Top 10 book. I'd have overlooked it otherwise. G/SBP/SN, BC
The River is a spectacular adventure and one of the best-written novels I’ve read in a long time. Wynn and Jack are on a canoe trip in a remote Canadian area and they’ve smelled smoke for two days and know that they’re approaching a forest fire when they meet two frightening drunks. This book celebrates nature and epitomizes the best aspects of true friendship. It’s a thriller, an outdoor lover’s dream of an adventure and a spectacular novel. Read the full review here. G/GPR, BC
Women Talking by Miriam Toews
Women Talking is based on the true story of 130 Mennonite women and children in Bolivia who were drugged and raped for four years and had been told that ghosts had attacked them. Toews turns their story into a propulsive novel showing how eight women in the colony might have reacted. As they were all illiterate, their story is narrated by a shunned man who keeps “minutes” of their conversations. This is an original and fierce manifesto that reveals itself in an irresistible story that it’s tempting to read in one sitting. Select it for your book club. Read the full review here. G/SF, BC
