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Have you set a goal to read more books? I’m 50 books into my 75 book goal this year. As a voracious reader with a lofty goal, I’m always looking for more novels to add to my to-read list.
If you’re the same way, I’ve got 10 book suggestions for you to add to your “to-read” list in 2019. Some of them are new and some of them are old, but all of them are pretty much guaranteed to be worth the read.
10 Books to Read in 2019
1. Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini (2018)
My favorite book is A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini (2007). I read it in college and it changed the way I felt about writing, about sacrifice, and about love. I remember calling my mother after I finished the novel just to tell her I loved her (if you read this, you’ll know why)!
Sea Prayer, Hosseini’s newest short novel, promises to deliver another gripping take on the human condition. This time, Hosseini responds to the current refugee crisis with a fictional letter composed by a father to his son the night before they embark on a journey across the sea, choosing the risk of danger in the hopes of a better life.
2. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (2011)
I know this isn’t a recently published book, but the movie adaptation came out in 2018 and this book popped up everywhere again. I finally had the chance to read it, and it didn’t disappoint.
The dystopian future, where humanity is controlled by their obsessive need to conquer the virtual world through the OASIS game reminded me of the way we’ve become obsessed with our own status on social media and the internet.
3. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (2018)
I haven’t read this yet but I’ve been dying to read more of Hannah’s writing after devouring The Nightingale last year. Kristin Hannah consistently gives her readers strong, resilient female protagonists, which has never been more needed as we face a changing social landscape.
This novel follows Leni, a 13-year old coming-of-age during a tumultuous time in her family’s history, and Ernt, a POW from the Vietnam War. Both Leni and Ernt wound up in Alaska for similar reasons: to escape their demons and start fresh.
4. On The Come Up by Angie Thomas (2019)
From the author of The Hate U Give, we have another female protagonist teaching us a lesson in compassion, resilience, and hard work. This story has us follow 16-year-old Bri, a young woman determined to change her future and realize her dreams.
Even though she and her family face homelessness as a very real threat, she is committed to following her passion to become one of the greatest rappers of all time.
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5. Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis (2018)
Rachel Hollis, founder of TheChicSite.com and CEO of her own media company, Chic Media, has written a sort of how-to book on how-to avoid the lies that “they” tell you.
She helps her readers combat their low-self esteem or limiting mindset to overcome the fears that hold them back from reaching their dreams and finding success. Almost all of my friends have already read this with rave reviews when they finished.
6. The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen (2018)
This novel builds the suspense while forcing you to keep your snap-assumptions in check.
With an unreliable narrator, a jealous ex-wife, and a new wife-to-be ready to marry the man she loves, the readers are given a run for their money as they try to figure out the twists and turns of this new summer classic.
7. The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams (2018)
Can’t get enough thrilling mystery? Then pick up a copy of best-selling author, Beatriz Williams’, latest novel.
Described as a novel about romance, murder, class, power, and dark secrets set in the 1950s and ’60s, we follow Miranda as she arrives on the Long Island Sound, reeling from the loss of her father and catapulting into a whole new world, foreign to her more humble upbringing.
8. My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfeg (2018)
Otessa Moshfeg is a funny, witty, creative writer. I had the pleasure of listening to her read from her novel, Eileen, and mid-sentence she laughed, later saying “I had forgotten I wrote that. And I still really enjoy it!” I appreciate an author who both does and doesn’t take herself seriously.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a bright,, hilarious and oddly tender novel about a young woman’s experiment in narcotic hibernation, “aided and abetted” by one of the worst psychiatrists in the history of literature. If you haven’t read any of Moshfeg’s work yet, get started! You don’t want to be the odd-woman out at the dinner table when this brilliant author is brought up.
9. Now That I Am Gone by Allan MacDonell (2018)
I had the privilege of pre-reading this before its debut. I think it is one of the best books I’ve read in years. This pseudo-memoir captures Allan MacDonnell’s vision of what it would be like when he is gone, straddling between a zone of reflection and rumination of his existence and what will happen as life goes on after him. This novel is genius and hilarious, and kept me on my toes as I read on.
10. Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty (2018)
Best-selling author, Liane Moriarty has done it again. She’s introducing us to “nine perfect strangers” embarking on a life-changing journey at a health resort. If the success of Big Little Lies and Truly Madly Guilty then this new novel promises to be a gripping page-turner to amuse and pull at our heartstrings.
And there we have it – 10 books to read in 2019. Which book makes the top of your list?