Favorite books from this year
Has another year almost passed? How is such a thing possible? Have we survived? If we survived, has reading books had something to do with our survival?
I like to think so. At least, I can’t really imagine navigating the thicket of reality without the companionship of books.
There’s never enough room to celebrate all the great books I read this year, but let these stand in for the whole.
Best Book I Haven’t Yet Read of the Year (tie)
■ “The Water Dancer” by Ta-Nehisi Coates
■ “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong
■ “Disappearing Earth” by Julia Phillips
I’m putting this first to remind everyone that all best books lists created by single authors are inherently suspect in that even those of us who do our best to read a lot of books cannot read all of the books. I’ve wanted to get to each of these, but haven’t had the time. I hope to remedy this shortcoming.
I Told Y’all to Read This Book (Nonfiction)
■ “Thick: And Other Essays” by Tressie McMillan Cottom
I told people in January 2019 that they needed to read this book and this writer, and lo and behold what book was a finalist for the National Book Award? That’s right, this one.
I Told Y’all to Read This Book (Fiction)
■ “Trust Exercise” by Susan Choi
In May, I said you should read Susan Choi’s novels generally and “Trust Exercise” specifically. It’s another book that wound up a finalist for the National Book Award. I don’t know how someone gets on those committees, but I’m thinking that they should be taking a look at yours truly.
Book That Will Make You Dab a Single, Delicious Tear Out of the Corner of Your Eye (tie)
■ “Rules for Visiting” by Jessica Francis Kane
■ “All This Could Be Yours” by Jami Attenberg
For my money, a book that sneaks up on you with a surprising moment of deep emotion is a more difficult task than crafting a straight-up tear-jerker. Both of these novels about people in search of family attachments quietly and carefully illuminate the interior space of the human heart.
Book I Think of Every Time I Look at Philip Roth’s Clock Radio That I Won at Auction
■ “Fleishman Is in Trouble” by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
In July, I wrote about how I bid on Philip Roth’s old clock radio in an online estate auction. I won! This is also around the time I was reading “Fleishman Is in Trouble,” which takes Roth’s focus on troubled men and manages to both honor and subvert the questions Roth was concerned with in his work. These two things be forever entwined in my consciousness.
Book That Will Help You Better Understand the Messed-Up Nature of the World (tie)
■ “The Fire Is Upon Us: James Baldwin, William F. Buckley Jr., and the Debate Over Race in America” by Nicholas Buccola
■ “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World” by Anand Giridharadas
Technically, it is the paperback version of “Winners Take All” that was published in 2019, but I’m bending eligibility to encourage people to read a book that helps illuminate the degree to which the ultra-wealthy have hijacked our democracy.
“The Fire Upon Us” is the story of two men leading up to a 1965 debate at the Oxford Union on the problem of race in America. It’s a problem we’ve not managed to shake.
That’s all the words I’m allowed, but trust that there are many more great books from 2019. Ask around, and you’ll find them.
Kurt Andersen
Nussbaum
Ware
Lisa Lutz writes character-based suspense that has more than its share of wit and contemporary social commentary. Her 2019 novel, involves a multiplicity of voices at a boarding school and a plot for revenge.
Get a reading from the Biblioracle
Send a list of the last five books you’ve read to books@chicagotribune.com.