The Top 20 books of 2019 as rated by BookBrowse subscribers

Top 20 Best Books of 2019

Recommended books found: 20

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Each year, BookBrowse subscribers rate their favorite books of the year to choose our Top 20 Best of Year titles. More about how the books are selected.

With the Fire on High

by Elizabeth Acevedo

Hardcover: May 2019 | Paperback: Mar 2021

Critics' Consensus:

From the New York Times bestselling author of the National Book Award title The Poet X comes a dazzling novel in prose about a girl with talent, pride, and a drive to feed the soul that keeps her fire burning bright.

Becoming

by Michelle Obama

Hardcover: Nov 2018 | Paperback: Mar 2021

Critics' Consensus:

Winner of the 2019 BookBrowse Nonfiction Award

An intimate, powerful, and inspiring memoir by the former First Lady of the United States.

The Dutch House

by Ann Patchett

Hardcover: Sep 2019 | Paperback: Jan 2021

Critics' Consensus:

Ann Patchett, the New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth and State of Wonder, returns with her most powerful novel to date: a richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and...

The Water Dancer

by Ta-Nehisi Coates

Hardcover: Sep 2019 | Paperback: Nov 2020

Critics' Consensus:

In his boldly imagined first novel, Ta-Nehisi Coates, the National Book Award–winning author of Between the World and Me, brings home the most intimate evil of enslavement: the cleaving and separation of families.

Olive, Again

A Novel

by Elizabeth Strout

Hardcover: Oct 2019 | Paperback: Nov 2020

Critics' Consensus:

Winner of the 2019 BookBrowse Fiction Award

Prickly, wry, resistant to change yet ruthlessly honest and deeply empathetic, Olive Kitteridge is "a compelling life force" (San Francisco Chronicle).

Butterfly Yellow

by Thanhha Lai

Hardcover: Sep 2019 | Paperback: Oct 2020

Critics' Consensus:

Winner of the 2019 BookBrowse Award for Best Young Adult Novel

Perfect for fans of Elizabeth Acevedo, Ibi Zoboi, and Erika L. Sanchez, this gorgeously written and deeply moving own voices novel is the YA debut from the award-winning author of ...

The Seine

The River that Made Paris

by Elaine Sciolino

Hardcover: Oct 2019 | Paperback: Oct 2020

Critics' Consensus:

A vibrant, enchanting tour of the Seine from longtime New York Times foreign correspondent and best-selling author Elaine Sciolino.

The World That We Knew

by Alice Hoffman

Hardcover: Sep 2019 | Paperback: Sep 2020

Critics' Consensus:

In 1941, during humanity's darkest hour, three unforgettable young women must act with courage and love to survive, from the New York Times bestselling author of The Dovekeepers and The Marriage of Opposites Alice Hoffman.

The Testaments

by Margaret Atwood

Hardcover: Sep 2019 | Paperback: Sep 2020

Critics' Consensus:

In this brilliant sequel to The Handmaid's Tale, acclaimed author Margaret Atwood answers the questions that have tantalized readers for decades.

Where the Light Enters

by Sara Donati

Hardcover: Sep 2019 | Paperback: Aug 2020

Critics' Consensus:

From the international bestselling author of The Gilded Hour comes Sara Donati's enthralling epic about two trailblazing female doctors in nineteenth-century New York.

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead

by Olga Tokarczuk

Hardcover: Aug 2019 | Paperback: Aug 2020

Critics' Consensus:

In a remote Polish village, Janina devotes the dark winter days to studying astrology, translating the poetry of William Blake, and taking care of the summer homes of wealthy Warsaw residents. Her reputation as a crank and a recluse is amplified by ...

The Nickel Boys

by Colson Whitehead

Hardcover: Jul 2019 | Paperback: Jun 2020

Critics' Consensus:

In this bravura follow-up to the Pulitzer Prize, and National Book Award-winning #1 New York Times bestseller The Underground Railroad, Colson Whitehead brilliantly dramatizes another strand of American history through the story of two boys sentenced...

The reviewer of each book decides which categories it belongs in - but we're only human, mistakes happen. If you see a book that you think is in the wrong place, tell us!

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