Six Stunning Must Read Books of 2019
We’ve reached the mid point of 2019. It’s a good time to take a pause and reflect.
A time to ask yourselves some questions. Have you:
- kept up with your challenges and projects?
- nailed that TBR stack?
- found any knock out, truly brilliant books?
My answers to the above are, in order, partly, no and YES.
I won’t bore you with how much I’m behind on my projects to read my classics club list or the Booker prize winners. And I’ve already confessed about the rising state of my TBR.
Let’s talk about something far more interesting: six books I’ve read so far this year that were stunning. There’s a psychological thriller, a classic novel, two memoirs and two literary fiction titles.
Milkman by Anna Burns
After a few years when the winning novel in the Booker Prize didn’t set my world alight, in 2018 we finally got a book that absolutely deserved the prize. Milkman by Anna Burns is an intense and powerful novel about trying to survive in a city where to be different, is to be in danger. The unconventional narrative form (no character is ever named) takes a little getting used to but don’t give up. If you do you’ll miss one of the most compelling novels I’ve read in years.
Mary Barton by Elizabeth Gaskell
Gaskell wasn’t alone among Victorian novelists in her anguish about the plight of workers in the newly industrialised cities. Like Dickens she wrote about their appalling living conditions, sickness and hunger. Mary Barton was her first novel and it’s a no holds barred tale about industrial strife in Manchester. This is a must-read novel for anyone interested in social issues.
The Woman in the Dark by Vanessa Savage
Vanessa Savage’s debut novel is a spectacular psychological thriller. The Woman in the Dark is a tale of a family’s descent into crisis when they move into a house whose previous occupants were murdered. Within this she spins a disturbing narrative about the legacy of child abuse. Just one warning before you begin reading this: you’ll lose lots of sleep because you won’t be able to put it down .
The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
Imagine you’ve lost your home and your business. You have nothing but a few hundred pounds in your savings. Your husband has just been diagnosed with a degenerative brain condition. Faced with that situation Raynor Winn decided to take a walk. Rather a long walk. Six hundred miles in fact. The Salt Path is her account of walking the coastal path, camping wild and encountering hostility because strangers thought they were untouchable homeless vagrants. This is a memoir that can make you angry but it will also make you laugh because Winn has a wonderful eye for the absurd situations in life.
This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay
Adam Kay was a hospital doctor specialising in obstetrics for six years and kept a diary of his time on the front line of healthcare. This is Going to Hurt is astonishingly funny but also sobering because Kay shows how poorly junior doctors are treated. Underpaid and expected to work well beyond their contracted hours, the job puts a strain on friendships and relationships. This is an astonishingly frank novel but despite his criticisms, Kay is still a firm believer in the principles of public healthcare.
Circe by Madeline Miller
This was a book I wasn’t looking forward to reading. I did so only because it was selected by the other book club members. But this re-imagining of Circe (the Greek sorceress who gets a brief mention in Homer’s Odyssey) was a revelation. Miller’s descriptions of the world inhabited by the Titans among the Greek gods is breathtaking. If you’ve not yet read this, do yourself a huge favour and go out now and buy a copy. You won’t be sorry.
Those are my six choices for the first half of 2019. It will be interesting to see if any of them still make the cut when I come to the end of the year.
What would you choose from your own reading so far this year? Any knock out reads for you?
I am reading 3 books at the moment and have read Milkman of Anna Burns. The three books which i am reading did not make it to the long list but was submitted for consideration and they are CIRCE, NORMAL PEOPLE and WOMEN TALKING. I should be able to finish reading them by 5 September 2019 i.e. by the time Shortlist is out. I liked Anna Burns ‘Milkman’ specially in terms of the form adopted sledgehammering the phrase “Brevity is the soul of Wit”.
It was surprising Circe didn’t get onto that longlist. I thought it was a superb book
I will be reading Circe and The Song of Achilles soon in anticipation of meeting Miller at an author event in September. They both keep getting excellent reviews. I have had many outstanding reads this year so far: We Are Okay, The Shape of Water, Giovanni’s Room, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, Less, The Atomic Weight of Love, Chocolat, Beartown, The Night Circus, Call Me By Your Name, When They Call You a Terrorist, The Truth According to Us, One Crazy Summer, Pachinko, Soul on Ice, The Calculating Stars, The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and Where the Crawdads Sing. Honestly, all of these have been wonderful reads! It’s been a great year! And I look forward to more as the year progresses! I am even more interested in Milkman, given your recommendation!
You lucky person, getting to meet Miller. I bet that will be a fascinating event. I read a review today of Where the Crawdads Sing – it does sound interesting
Books about walks of various kinds could almost be a subgenre of their own. Walking and writing memoir (walking through life’s path) definitely have an affinity. This one sounds very worth seeking out.
I’m so glad you liked Circe! I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it so much because I wasn’t that enchanted by Miller’s first novel. But for some reason this one clicked with me.
Salt is absolutely worth reading Lory….
Circe was one I wasn’t expecting to enjoy either but for different reasons – I struggle with books about characters that are not real…..
But in the event Miller wrote about these characters in such a compelling way their ‘other worldy’ nature didn’t bother me one iota
Karen, I am very pleased to hear you recommend Mary Barton, as it is on my Classics Club list. I would also love to read Circe. Some of my stand out reads of the year are Howards End by E. M. Forster, Bellewether by Susanna Kearsley and By Sword and Storm by Margaret Skea.
I do like Gaskell’s harder hitting novels. North and South is still my favourite
I keep trying to avoid Milkman. Reviews such as this bring back to it. I need to bite the bullet I think. I’m eagerly awaiting the moment I can begin The Salt Path and looking forward to your review of Circe – there seem to be mixed feelings about that one.
Do not delay the excitement. Go ahead and read it, I enjoyed it and I am sure you will too.
I must admit The Salt Path appeals – I’m keeping an eye out for it locally! 😀
I find it so much easier to remember my ‘knock-out’ reads the same year I’ve read them-I’ve got a terrible memory apparently, so this is a great idea for a post. I’m still hesitant to pick up Milkman but you may have convinced me. So far this year, I’ve loved French Exit by Patrick deWitt and Autopsy of a Boring Wife (review to come!)
I used to do challenges but now I just have two slow burners and don’t actively work on either of them.
But I think they can be a good idea for people who want to read more and find it hard to make time for it. And sometimes they can bring up the ‘new, exciting and unexpected’: I discovered some good stuff from a challenge called What’s in a Name?
What was involved in What’s in a Name?
Wow! You’re the first person to talk about Circe in a way that actually made it sound interesting enough to me to make me put it on my TBR. I think it was because, like me, you said you weren’t that psyched about reading it. I hope I end up enjoying it as you did. I’ll keep an eye out for your official review!
I put holds on the other books you talked about, if the library had ebooks available, and if not, I put them on my TBR.
I’d say my top read so far this year are:
The Goldfinch
The River
Allegedly
We Were LIars
Sadie
Radio Silence
I’m delighted to see such a positive rec for Milkman. I frequently question why certain books ever won the Booker so it’s nice to see that they got it right for a change. I have a copy of it myself that I really need to get to sometime soon.
I started to lose interest in the Booker about three years ago. I miss the diversity of authors from different countries that you saw a decade or so ago because it introduced me to authors I never heard of
I loved Milkman. I would also recommend another book by an up and coming Irish writer: Her Kind. Set in the 13th century it is a reworking of the real Kilkenny witch trial. Like Milkman t has some quirky style conventions but the plot and the characters are brilliantly realised.
I hadn’t heard of this book Frank so went looking for a review. It does sound good. But the paperback isn’t out until Feb next year….
I will have to look back at my own pile, but Circe and Milkman will certain be on the list. I think Milkman is a work of pure genius.
It’s beyond my comprehension how it wasn’t chosen for the Women’s Prize for Fiction. The actual winner was really insipid….
I see you’ve knocked that headline problem on the head! The Salt Path is the one that most appeals.
It’s easier to write headlines for list posts or thought pieces. The really tough one is to write a title for a review – still wrestling with the question of whether to include the book title.
I think it helps those looking for a review to have title and author in the headline.
I’ve been discussing this with a guy who’s an expert on blogging and he recommended not to do it (because everyone else does that so your blog doesn’t stand out). As I say, I’m not absolutely convinced yet
I like the sound of The Salt Path and Circe, I shall add them to my lists.
Both very different books of course but well worth exploring Rosie
Great post. I’m putting The Salt Path on my wishlist – my birthday is coming up soon.
I shall say Happy Birthday in advance 🙂 and hope some kind person follows your hint about what to buy you
I’ll try to find some of the titles.Thank you for the short review of each book.
Hope you can find them Arlene. Book Depository is usually a good place and they ship free worldwide
Thanks!
I haven’t read the other titles yet, but I completely agree with Circe!
Have you read The Silence of the Girls? I’ve heard some people comment they thought that was even better?
All six are books I’ve heard about, but not read. On they go to my TBR.
Always happy to add books to other people’s reading lists (then I don’t feel so guilty about my own stacks)
All of these sound so good. The Salt Path is the only one I’ve read and I loved it. I still think about that couple. I’ve looked at the others but don’t have them. I need to focus on the TBR but oh my…..you know how that goes!🤠🐧
I read an interview with Raynor Winn in the Guardian and she sounds so happy. Moth is apparently doing well also
Very happy to hear that.🤠🐧
The years and selfies both great reads so far. Salt path is one I may try at some point in the future
Selfies definitely appeals to me
I really enjoyed Circe – and The Salt Path is on my holiday pile 🙂 I’ve just finished West by Carys Davies. It’ll make my Top Ten at the end of the year 🙂
I’m looking forward to reading West. Her short story collection was fabulous
I’ve *just* pressed ‘publish’ on my review – loved West. I must now get hold of her short stories!
Ohmygosh West sounds good! Added it to my list!
It is properly fab 🙂
You could say that the point of challenges and TBR piles is to find those stunning novels, right? So that is good. I too have been blown away by so many books already this year. Here’s to another stunning 6 months!
Sometimes I feel we do challenges just for the point of doing a challenge….rather than as you say to introduce us to something new, exciting and unexpected