2019 Book List

Jan 7, 2020

7 min read

Another year, another book list! Where are my fellow bookworms?! Continuing the trend from previous years, I found myself reading more and more non-fiction books. I even added in a few short-stories and books of poems to mix things up a bit. Thanks to a bit of travel burnout in the spring, a summer spent camping (and hiding from mosquitoes and black flies in the tent), and an autumn and winter full of a bit of aimlessness and uncertainty, I was able to read a lot this year. I still use my kobo religiously (borrowing ebooks online from the library), but I have to admit that visiting the library in person this fall and checking out real books was a nice change. (I’ll still always travel with my kobo though!)

So now, without further ado, here is my 2019 book list. As always, my favourites are highlighted in bold.

*****

2019 Book List

Fiction

The Year of the Flood– Margaret Atwood: This is the follow-up book to Oryx and Crake (with MaddAdam completing this dystopian trilogy). These are totally different books to what I normally read, but I was so enthralled by all three of them and I couldn’t put them down! Highly recommended.

MaddAddam – Margaret Atwood

We’ll All Be Burnt in our Beds Some Night – Joel Thomas Hynes

The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden – Jonas Jonasson

The Thing Around Your Neck – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Purple Hibiscus – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi: This book definitely lived up to the hype. The story follows the descendants of two families beginning in rural Africa a few hundred years ago through slavery and later to suburban America. This book was fascinating, enlightening, and truly captivating.

The Great Alone – Kristin Hannah: Warning, don’t read books by Kristin Hannah in public… there’s a high chance you’ll turn into a blubbery mess of tears and snot… at least that’s what happened to me. This book is about a troubled family that moves to rural Alaska to start anew. Things don’t exactly go the way they’re planned and trouble soon catches up to them.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society – Mary Ann Shaffer

A Tale for the Time Being – Ruth Ozeki

The Best Laid Plans – Terry Fallis

The High Road – Terry Fallis

Up and Down – Terry Fallis: I had read the Best Laid Plans and The High Road several years ago (and LOVED THEM… hence rereading them again this year), and Up and Down was no different. A new hire at a marketing agency pitches the idea for two average citizens to spend a week in space with NASA and CSA astronauts. What ensues is hilarious, moving, and definitely makes for a page turner. This might be in the running for my favourite book of 2019.

Starlight – Richard Wagamese

Paper Aeroplanes -Dawn O’Porter

*****

Non-Fiction

Braving the Wilderness – Brené Brown: WOW. I felt like Brene was peering into my soul a little bit with this book. She touches on what it’s like to have different thoughts and opinions from the common masses and how it can be lonely to forge your own path and stand up for what you believe in. (But the rewards for doing so are so worth it.)

Lost on Planet China – J. Maarten Troost

CouchSurfing in Iran – Stephan Orth

The Happiness of Pursuit – Chris Guillebeau

Rediscovering Travel – Seth Kugel: This was a great book to read while travelling as it opened my eyes to a different way of doing things. I read this book in the Balkans, and after nearly a year of travelling, it was becoming easier and easier to sightsee and then retreat back to our accommodation phones/eReaders/computer in hand for the night. This book shed light on how the best travel experiences are often had while randomly exploring with no set agenda and zero expectations.

She Explores – Gale Straub

Notes on a Nervous Planet – Matt Haig

Goodbye Sarajevo – Atka Reid & Hana Schoefield: I read this book shortly after leaving Sarajevo and it helped me gain a better and deeper perspective on the tragedies of what happened during the Siege of Sarajevo in 1994. I’d highly recommend reading this one, even if you haven’t been, or aren’t planning on going to Bosnia and Herzegovina. It’s truly an enlightening read for everyone.

The Year of Living Danishly – Helen Russell

Animal Vegetable Miracle – Barbara Kingsolver: Kingsolver and her family commit to going an entire year living off the land (or eating as local as possible). They grow the majority of their food in their garden, and seek out nearby farmers and artisans for the rest (eg bread, honey, milk, cheese, etc). Their story was so fascinating and it made me want to start my own garden (someday… I still have a pretty black thumb).

Digital Minimalism – Cal Newport

Rage Becomes Her – Soraya Chemaly

A Walk in the Woods – Bill Bryson

Zen on the Trail – Christopher Ives

Motherhood – Sheila Heti

Road Trip Rwanda – Will Ferguson: Even though he’s a humour writer, Ferguson taught me so much about Rwanda and its awful history (aka the genocide of the Tutsi people in 1994). I honestly didn’t know very much about the country, but Ferguson shed light on its past, while also highlighting how things have changed in recent decades (for the better).

Beyond Soap – Dr. Sandy Skotnicki: An enlightening read about how as a society we’ve become obsessed with being “clean”, when in fact, these cleansers and soaps are doing more damage to our skin than we realize.

Grandma Gatewood’s Walk – Ben Montgomery

We Are the Weather – Jonathan Safran Foer

On Fire – Naomi Klein: This book is a collection of essays from the past 10 years by Canadian climate activist and writer, Naomi Klein. I’m not going to sugar-coat it, the planet is in pretty dire straits right now. This isn’t a feel-good book by any means, but it definitely helped me to better understand what’s currently happening, how we got here, and what we can do to change (for the better).

Live Creatively – Dana & Lou | Wild we Roam

Do Cool Sh*t – Miki Agrawal

Climate Justice – Mary Robinson: In this manifesto, Robinson argues that we can’t address climate change without addressing gender (in)equality. (The subtitle for the book is A Man-Made Problem with a Feminist Solution.) She highlights several female grassroots leaders who are doing incredible things to help stop climate change. This was truly an educating and inspiring read.

The Final Report – Rick Mercer

*****

Autobiography/Memoir

Let My People Go Surfing – Yvon Chouinard: Chouinard is the founder of outdoor retailer, Patagonia, and he holds some pretty incredible values for his company. With the rise of fast-fashion and consumerism, it was really refreshing to read this book from a company with some of the highest standards (in quality, labour, materials, etc) in the industry.

Girl In The Woods – Aspen Matis

Tender at the Bone – Ruth Reichl

Lands of Lost Borders – Kate Harris: This book follows Harris’s journey along the Silk Road (on bicycle). This is an area of the world I’d love to travel to, and this book only cemented that fact.

Becoming – Michele Obama: Michelle Obama is so badass. ‘Nuff said.

Meet the Frugalwoods – Liz Thames

Educated – Tara Westover: I may currently be on an entirely different path from what I studied in university, but I’m so grateful that I was afforded that opportunity in the first place. Westover was born in rural Idaho to survivalist, highly-religious parents who kept her from going to school as a young girl. She struggles, but eventually she manages to get herself a high school education and later a masters and PhD at Cambridge University. This was quite the fascinating read and it made me so incredibly grateful for my own education.

60 Degrees North – Mallacky Tallack: This author hails from Shetland – Scotland’s most northern island (at 60 degrees north of the equator). Our CouchSurfing host in Shetland is friends with Tallack and recommended this book. It covers his journey as he travels around the northern hemisphere visiting other cities and communities located at 60 degrees north in search of a feeling of home.

The Push – Tommy Caldwell

Presto! – Penn Jillette

Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home – Heather “Anish” Anderson

Thirst – Scott Harrison: Harrison is the founder of charity:water, a non-profit charity which has 100% of people’s donations going directly to building wells in Africa. His journey started on a hospital ship in west Africa over a decade ago. It was there that he learned that the majority of illnesses and diseases he was seeing on the ship could be prevented if the patients had access to clean drinking water. I could not put this book down. It 100% changed the way I look at water, and I will never take it for granted again.

No Friend but the Mountains – Behrouz Boochani

*****

Short Stories & Poems

Things We Lost in the Fire – Mariana Enriquez

Dear Life – Alice Munro

Love in a Dish and Other Pieces – MFK Fisher

The Elephant Vanishes – Haruki Murakami

Deal of a Lifetime – Fredrick Backman

Milk and Honey – Rupi Kaur

*****

Tell me, what was your favourite book this year?

Check out my previous book lists:

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