Must Reads of 2019 from our BookMatchers

A 15-year train wreck. Gorgeous and evocative. Magisterial work. 

Just a few descriptions our very own BookMatch Librarians have used for some of their favorite books of 2019. Take a look at these recommendations to figure out your end of decade reads or a head start to your 2020 reading goals! Please check back often as we will add more titles to this list. 

Fiction

The Archive of Alternate Endings -- Lindsey Drager

This is a slim, gut punch of a novel. Told in interlocking vignettes that follow the 75-year path of Haley's comet from 1378 to 2365, it reimagines the story of Hansel and Gretel throughout the course of human history. Ultimately, it's about stories and who gets to tell them and who needs to hear them.

Jess H. -- McKinley Park

City of Girls -- Elizabeth Gilbert

A wonderful trip through New York in the forties and beyond. My theater friend was convinced the actors, producers, and theaters described must have existed. I also really appreciated the knowing tone of the narrator, especially when she questioned social norms that liberate men while restraining women.

Maria M. -- Macon

Butterfly Yellow -- Thanhha Lai

Butterfly Yellow is my favorite book of the year. It's a gorgeous, evocative story about the people you hold onto at all costs, the choices you make to be your best self even when you aren’t sure who that is, and the resilience you need to build a life when it feels so much easier to choose bitterness or failure.

Emma C. - Youth Wing, Central 

The Satapur Moonstone (A Perveen Mistry Novel, Book 2) -- Sujata Massey

For travel to another world and time with a fascinating and independent guide. This second installment matches the first as it delves into the cloistered world of Indian royalty and the ways women who have been stripped of agency may find ways to wield power. Perveen is a woman Parsi lawyer practicing in 1920s Bombay, but this adventure sends her to the remote state of Satapur, where male heirs of the royal family are dying (accidentally) at an alarming rate.

Maria M. -- Macon

Middlegame -- Seanan McGuire

Every time I try to describe Middlegame, I find myself a little lost. Middlegame is the story of Rodger and Dodger, twins engineered by a mad alchemist who hopes that they will embody godhood. McGuire is a master SFF author working at the height of her powers in this one, and trust me, you want to go on this wild ride. 

Jess H. -- McKinley Park

Gods of Jade and Shadow -- Silvia Moreno-Garcia

A mixture of historical fiction, magic realism and mythology based dark fantasy. A delightful read and a good introduction into Mayan myth and beliefs.

Carl F. -- Bay Ridge

The Flatshare -- Beth O'Leary 

Tiffy and Leon share a bed. It may sound crazy, but Tiffy and Leon have never met. In an scenario that could only happen in a rom-com, Tiffy needs a cheap flat, ASAP, and Leon works the night shift and needs cash. So Tiffy moves in to Leon's one bedroom apartment, occupying it only while he's at work, and communicating solely via post-it notes, they make this unusual living arrangement work. Mix in a crazy ex-boyfriend, quirky clients at work, and devoted friends and you have the ingredients for a classic romantic comedy with a modern twist. The Flatshare ends up being so much more than the sum of its parts though, due to O'Leary's distinct, endearing protagonists, her willingness to address real-world issues like emotional manipulation and going to therapy, and a cast of richly developed supporting characters.

Megan S. - Walt Whitman

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts -- Kate Racculia 

An eccentric billionaire drops dead, leaving clues to find his fortune in a treasure hunt full of twists and trivia. I was so engrossed in the characters and plot twists that I nearly missed my subway stop, more than once. The characters are so detailed, I'm genuinely disappointed they're not real people.

Elizabeth W. -- Dekalb

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics -- Olivia Waite

Ladies loving ladies in historical romance? I was on board with just the premise, but this delightful romp of a novel delivers on all the most delightful tropes of the genre while still feeling fresh. 

Jess H. -- McKinley Park

Non-Fiction 

The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez -- Aaron Bobrow-Strain

This book is not just an incredible and heartrending story of one woman's experience trying to navigate the border, it’s also an examination of how what that border means has changed over time

Cecilia H. -- Gerritsen Beach

Accidental presidents: eight men who changed America -- Jared Cohen

These are eight men who inherited the world's most powerful office through death or resignation  of an American president. How did they deal with the issues challenging their time--some totally unprepared.  The politics and problems are fascinating. Lots of information, well written and gives new insights into what it means to be a vice president and a heartbeat away from the president.

Deborah M. -- Central

White fragility: why it’s so hard for White people to talk about racism -- Robin DiAngelo

A really helpful book for anyone who is hoping to be an ally without causing more pain or labor to those who have already had to bear so much. Robin DiAngelo has been working for decades on social justice issues, and she unflinchingly examines the reactions of others and herself when confronted with the privilege they unknowingly, and unreasonably have been given.

Maria M. -- Macon

Sympathy for the Drummer: Why Charlie Watts Matters -- Mike Edison 

I've read many books about the Stones, and this is one of the best. Mike Edison knows his music history, backwards and forwards, and by no means just as it pertains to the Stones. In making a very convincing case for Charlie Watts as the essential overlooked weapon in the Stones' arsenal, Edison manages to educate us, in highly entertaining fashion, about jazz, early rock 'n' roll, the blues, C&W, and why Dean Martin was a jerk.

Tom A. -- Brower Park

Hard to Handle: the Life and Death of the Black Crowes: a Memoir -- Steve Gorman with Steven Hyman 

Reading this book, at times, is like watching a 15 year train wreck. A band that started out with amazing promise with a massively successful album in 1990 had, by the end of the Crowes' run, managed to alienate fans, members, labels, and, in an act of extraordinary hubris on the part of guitarist Rich Robinson, Jimmy Page, a huge Crowes fan. Here is drummer Steve Gorman's fascinating account of how it all went to Hell.

Tom A. -- Brower Park 

Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval -- Saidiya Hartman

Groundbreaking, brilliant, and powerfully written. Hartman makes innovative use of archival research to uncover the stories of black women in the early 20th century who built free societies on their own terms in the face of a national culture bend on keeping them oppressed.  

Brian M. - Clinton Hill

Dominion: How the Christian Revolution remade the world -- Tom Holland  

Tom Holland's latest magisterial work  is an exhilarating and rich narrative that traces the origin of Western values from classical antiquity to the present--values that, even under manifold secular guises, remain alive and well today.

Peter O. -- Central 

Hard to Love: Essays and Confessions -- Briallen Hopper

I will read any number of thoughtful essays about friendship, and this collection has lots, as well as ones about love, religion, race, and the meaning of writing itself.

Melissa M. -- Central

Because Internet -- Gretchen McCulloch 

A well-constructed study of the culture and language of the Internet- the ways people communicate and express emotion when they only have text and emojis to work with. Very informative and great fun!

 Elizabeth W. -- Dekalb

Broken Places & Outer Spaces -- Nnedi Okoafor 

In this micro memoir, futuristic author Nnedi Okorafor recounts the trauma and tenacity that lead to her career as a writer. I’m recommending this because it’s a quick but impactful read that gives new insight into the author of Binti, Akata Witch, and so many other amazing books.

Djaz Z. -- Business and Career Center

Chumps to Champs: How the worst Yankee teams in history led to the 90s dynasty - Bill Pennington 

A meticulous narrative history of how the Yankees dug themselves out of the AL east basement to the formation of new dynasty in less than a decade.

Carl F. -- Bay Ridge

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper -- Hallie Rubenhold 

A forensic biography of the victims of Jack the ripper showing that they were anything but prostitutes. Instead their memory has been diminished by a brutally misogynistic society. 

Carl F. -- Bay Ridge 

Lima : Limon -- Natalie Scenters-Zapico 

Crackling with energy and heartrending weight the poems in this collection excavate the deep complexity of life on the U.S.-Mexico border. Never staying in one place, or one language, Scenters-Zapico experiments paint intimate portraits suddenly dashed by violence that never lose your attention. 

Brian M. -- Clinton Hill 

Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion -- Jia Tolentino 

Jia Tolentino is one of the most incisive cultural observers around. Her writings on feminism, digital life, our racial history in the US, and more are available in book form for the first time – do yourself a favor and add yourself to the holds list!

Melissa M. -- Central