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“The Overstory” by Richard Powers

Upon finishing The Overstory, I needed someone to discuss it with immediately. In the opening section, “Roots,” which is the book’s strongest section and would stand alone as a spectacular short story collection, we are introduced to a suite of characters (and their ancestors) whose lives are then pulled together in the later sections. The structure is being lauded as untraditional, but I didn’t find it so. The content, however, is truly different from anything I’ve read. It would be impossible for The Overstory to fully live up to the hype it’s received, but it comes quite close.

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“All Adults Here” by Emma Straub

All Adults Here is a charming and approachable novel that will leave you with that warm, fuzzy feeling that is much-needed these days. It’s a perfect patio read for this summer. Astrid Strick, the family’s matriarch, holds together an ensemble cast of slightly maladjusted but well-meaning Stricks. Witnessing her lifelong nemesis struck and killed suddenly by a school bus, Astrid starts questioning how well (or poorly) she has raised her three now-grown children and how honest she is being with them and herself about who she is. Fans of Straub’s earlier work will find another favorite here.

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“Miracle Creek” by Angie Kim

The Yoo family, having recently immigrated to Virginia from Korea, establishes a hyperbaric oxygen therapy business that is used to treat a variety of conditions. When there’s a deadly explosion at the site, everyone must provide their account of events and, not surprisingly, these accounts differ dramatically. Miracle Creek takes on big topics head-on, including immigration and belonging, adultery and honesty, and autism, infertility and parenting. It seems like some readers have trouble getting into this book, but I found it captivating from the first chapter. Kim’s training as a lawyer shines in the convincing and gripping courtroom scenes.

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“On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong

I listened to a podcast in which Vuong described the opening of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous as pieces of debris. Indeed, the characters themselves - the protagonist Little Dog, his mother, and his grandmother - are perhaps pieces of debris themselves, washed into America as refugees of the war in Vietnam. Written as a semi-autobiographical letter from Little Dog to his illiterate mother describing the violence of her PTSD and his own coming of age and coming out, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is somehow both delicate and powerful. Vuong distinguishes himself as an exceptional writer and first-time novelist.

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“The Golden Hour” by Beatriz Williams

I chose The Golden Hour as my BOTM back in June and my only regret is not reading it right away. The primary storyline focuses on Lulu Randolph who moves to the Bahamas in 1941 to cover the social circle of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, falls in love, and gets herself tangled up in some World War II intrigue. In Lulu and Elfriede - the female lead in the secondary storyline - Williams has created two strong and unconventional women. The Golden Hour is historical fiction with romance and murder mystery woven in seamlessly.

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“Gods of Jade and Shadow” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Gods of Jade and Shadow inserts prominent figures of Mayan mythology into Mexico in the 1920s. Teenager Casiopea Tun inadvertently frees Vucub-Kame, the god of Death, from a case in her grandfather’s bedroom, and from there, girl and god are inextricably bound together. This is a coming-of-age tale with family members (both mortal and immortal) going head-to-head while the fate of the world ostensibly hangs in the balance. I liked the idea of this book, but it never managed to pull me in and I found even the story’s climax a bit underwhelming.

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“Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens

Where the Crawdads Sing is the “it” book of 2019. Abandoned by her family and ostracized by the locals, Kya Clark raises herself in the marshes of North Carolina. The narrative jumps back and forth between her unusual coming of age in the early 1960s and 1969 - the year in which the body of Chase Andrews is found under the fire tower. The descriptions of the marsh and its inhabitants are glorious and vivid, and Owens brilliantly weaves Kya’s study of animal behavior into her understanding of human behavior. Parts of this book are eyeroll-inducing, but overall the story is fast-paced and highly entertaining.

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My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Otessa Moshfegh

The unnamed narrator of My Year of Rest and Relaxation, armed with a surplus of prescription drugs, goes to the extreme in testing the idea that a good night’s sleep can fix all your problems. Working with a small handful of characters, Moshfegh creates a story that is fully strange and wonderful. On its face, this is a mournful story. Yet in its telling, it is funny in a lighthearted and irreverent kind of way. Fans of Batuman’s The Idiot will particularly appreciate this novel.

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“The Female Persuasion” by Meg Wolitzer

On their own, each of the layers that makes up The Female Persuasion is a solid story, and together they make an engaging examination of feminism and power that juxtaposes both genders and generations. Greer Kadetsky, a hesitant college freshman who is at least a little lost, meets Faith Frank, a prominent if somewhat dated feminist, and this encounter completely reshapes how Greer views herself in the world and launches her young career. The Female Persuasion is timely in its subject matter and thought-provoking in its approach. I devoured this book and can’t wait to read others by Wolitzer.

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“Washington Black” by Esi Edugyan

Ten year-old slave George Washington “Wash” Black is the perfect size to serve as ballast on the “Cloud-Cutter,” a hot air balloon type contraption built by Christopher “Titch” Wilde, the brother of Wash’s master. Thus begins a highly-improbable, globe-trotting adventure for Wash. Washington Black is an exploration of captivity in both a literal and a figurative sense even after Wash is slightly older and more independent. The novel’s first section is the strongest, and the plot moves from surreal to slightly absurd in the later sections with an ending that feels a bit hollow and contrived.

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“Loving Frank” by Nancy Horan

Loving Frank is a novelization of the love affair between Mamah Borthwick Cheney and famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright in the early 1900s. Mamah comes across as a woman who wanted to chase her desires with complete disregard for others (including her children), suffer no consequences and still get your sympathy. I found her to be one-dimensional and reputation-obsessed, and this feels a disservice to the real Mamah. Loving Frank will be much more shocking to those who don’t know how the story of Mamah and Frank ends, and still the three-hundred pages of build-up is not worth the payout.

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“The Magicians” by Lev Grossman

Having been unexpectedly admitted to an elite school for magicians, Quentin escapes the monotony of his everyday life and gets a chance to live out his magical childhood fantasies. In typical fantasy fashion, a rag-tag crew is assembled and an adventure begins. Similarities between The Magicians and novels in the Harry Potter and Chronicles of Narnia series abound. The Magicians was a fun, easy read that scratched the fantasy itch for me. My sole frustration is that Quentin has moments of male chauvinism and self-absorption, but I am hoping he’ll outgrow these in book two, which I fully intend to read.

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“The Far Field” by Madhuri Vijay

The Far Field will likely not appear on any “Best of 2019” lists, but it should. It’s a moving exploration of grief and good intentions. The writing is lovely, and the characters are relatable in an incredibly frustrating yet satisfying way. Aimless and apathetic after the death of her mother, twenty-four year old Shalini leaves her childhood home in Bangalore for Kashmir to find a traveling salesman who used to visit her and her mother. Shalini’s personal journey gets tangled with the political conflict in the region, and her impulsive decisions have lifelong consequences for the individuals she meets.

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“An American Marriage” by Tayari Jones

Celestial and Roy are just a year married when Roy is wrongly convicted of rape and sentenced to twelve years in prison. They correspond by mail, but as the years pass and as Celestial’s career and her life grow and blossom, she drifts from Roy. Theirs is an imperfect marriage from the beginning, and it is constantly juxtaposed with the marriages of their parents, which are equally imperfect yet rock solid. An American Marriage is a heart-rending depiction of the long-term and deeply personal impact of the injustice of our justice system.

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“Daisy Jones & the Six” by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Written in a tell-all documentary style, Daisy Jones & the Six covers the rise and fall of the titular (fictional) band in the 1970s. Daisy Jones and Billy Dunne have undeniable chemistry on stage. Behind the scenes, their relationship is tumultuous and capricious, impacting the whole band’s dynamic. This book is pure escapism, and I tore through it in just a few days. While Daisy and Billy star, the supporting acts and their relationships are just as fully-developed and earnest. Daisy Jones & the Six is the perfect summer read. Read it now before it’s a movie!

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“Special Topics in Calamity Physics” by Marisha Pessl

Having traveled across the United States with her brilliant father for years, Blue Van Meer is eager to grow roots when she arrives at St. Gallway for senior year. She is drawn to the “Bluebloods,” a group of unconventional seniors with the enigmatic teacher Hannah Schneider at its center. From the beginning, we know that Hannah winds up dead, and Special Topics takes a literature-laden journey to reveal how it happened and why. Special Topics feels like a lighthearted version of Tartt’s The Secret History. I enjoyed the first 90% immensely but found the falling action and resolution sluggish.  

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“Normal People” by Sally Rooney

Normal People is a no-frills, not-quite love story that lays on the heartbreak. Marianne and Connell are classmates operating in dramatically different social circles in high school. This continues and reverses as the two transition to college and as they become lovers but never label themselves “boyfriend” and “girlfriend.” Their relationship is complex and co-dependent even when they are apart. Rooney’s prose is simple and punchy, and in just 280 pages, she paints a convincing, frustrating, and devastating portrait of two young people who are perfect for each other or anchors around each other’s ankles or both.