35 Books to Read in 2019

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Another year, another laundry list of books we want to read. To get you excited about all the literary possibilities, we’ve compiled a list of the 35 books we’re most looking forward to reading in 2019.

an orchestra of minorities chigozie obioma

Cover: Little, Brown and Company; Background: Twenty20

1/35

An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma (Jan. 8)

Narrated by a guardian spirit common to Igbo cosmology, Obioma’s second novel is about a young Nigerian poultry farmer who falls in love with a young woman he stopped from committing suicide. Preorder the book

Cover: Doubleday; Background: Twenty20

2/35

The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh (Jan. 8)

In this dystopian feminist revenge fantasy, three sisters on an isolated island are raised by their father to fear men. Then he disappears... Preorder the book

Cover: Algonquin Books; Background: Twenty20

3/35

Sugar Run by Mesha Maren (Jan. 8)

In 1989, a 17-year-old is sentenced to life in prison. When she’s released 18 years later, she finds herself reeling from the unexpected freedom and determined to turn her life around. Preorder the book

Cover: The New Press; Background: Twenty20

4/35

Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom (Jan. 8)

Award-winning professor and acclaimed author of Lower Ed McMillan Cottom explores all sides of the Black American female experience with everything from SNL to Trump rallies. Preorder the book

Cover: Random House ; Background: Twenty20

5/35

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker (Jan. 15)

From the author of The Age of Miracles, this latest work is a science-fiction fairy-tale about a mysterious illness putting inhabitants of a California community to sleep. Preorder the book

Cover: Grove Press; Background: Twenty20

6/35

The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay (Jan. 15)

After her mother’s death, a privileged young woman from Bangalore sets out for a remote Himalayan village to confront a man she’s convinced was involved in her mother’s loss. Preorder the book

Cover: Catapult; Background: Twenty20

7/35

To Keep the Sun Alive by Rabeah Ghaffari (Jan. 15)

Set just before the Iranian Revolution of the late 1970s, Ghaffari’s novel examines the lives of Iranians from different walks of life—retired judges, children, servants—as they go about their business amidst political turmoil and strife. Preorder the book

Cover: Berkley; Background: Twenty20

8/35

The Suspect by Fiona Barton (Jan. 22)

When two 18-year-old girls go missing in Thailand, investigators, journalists and their families are left to wonder what happened—and what the girls were up to before they disappeared. Preorder the book

Cover: Ecco; Background: Twenty20

9/35

Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken (Feb. 5)

A woman is discovered unconscious in a Massachusetts cemetery. Her only possessions? A bowling ball, a candlepin and 15 pounds of gold. Bowlaway charts three generations of her unconventional family’s lives. Preorder the book

Cover: Riverhead Books; Background: Twenty20

10/35

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James (Feb. 5)

The first novel in James’s Dark Star trilogy, Black Leopard, Red Wolf melds history and mythology as a mercenary attempts to find a missing child. Preorder the book

Cover: Celadon Books; Background: Twenty20

11/35

?The Silent Patient ?by Alex Michaelides (Feb. 5)

Seemingly out of nowhere, a famous painter upends her own privileged life by shooting her husband—and then refusing to speak. Enter a renowned criminal psychotherapist, whose drive to get her to talk takes over his life. Preorder the book

Cover: Balzer + Bray; Background: Twenty20

12/35

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (Feb. 5)

The latest from best-selling YA author Thomas (The Hate U Give) is an insightful story, that doubles as a love letter to hip-hop, about a 16-year-old determined to become the greatest rapper of all time. Preorder the book

Cover: Knopf; Background: Twenty20

13/35

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli (Feb. 12)

In this powerful and timely novel, a family embarks on a road trip from New York City to the former Apache territory in Arizona as a modern-day immigration crisis rages on America’s southwestern border. Preorder the book

the care and feeding of ravenously hungry girls anissa gray1

Cover: Berkley; Background: Twenty20

14/35

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray (Feb. 19)

Mother-daughter relationships are at the center of this debut novel about three grown sisters reckoning with their family’s troubled past. Preorder the book

Cover: Random House; Background: Twenty20

15/35

The Art of Leaving by Ayelet Tsabari (Feb. 19)

Award-winning Israeli writer Tsabari’s father died when she was nine years old. His passing, her grief and the subsequent search for identity make up the essays in this intimate memoir. Preorder the book

Cover: Riverhead Books; Background: Twenty20

16/35

Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi (March 5)

Oyeyemi’s (Boy, Snow, Bird) latest is influenced by the strange place gingerbread holds in classic children's stories and concerns a family whose legacy centers on a gingerbread recipe. Preorder the book

Cover: Viking; Background: Twenty20

17/35

The Altruists by Andrew Ridker (March 5)

Ridker’s darkly funny debut novel is about a professor at a midwestern college who, unable to keep up with his mortgage, plots to win back the inheritances his late wife left for their children. Preorder the book

the lady from the black lagoon mallory omeara

Cover: Hanover Square Press; Background: Twenty20

18/35

The Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mallory O?Meara (March 5)

Milicent Patrick was one of Disney’s first female animators. Horror-film enthusiast O’Meara set out to find out why so few people know about her legacy. Preorder the book

Cover: Abrams Press; Background: Twenty20

19/35

Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez (March 12)

Subtitled “Data Bias in a World Designed for Men,” Criado Perez’s book explores how so much data fails to take gender into account, treating men as the default and women as atypical—much to women’s detriment. Preorder the book

Cover: Gallery/Scout Press; Background: Twenty20

20/35

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams (March 19)

In this Bridget Jones-esque story, a Jamaican British woman working at a London newspaper seeks comfort in the wrong places after a messy breakup from her white boyfriend. Preorder the book

Cover: Scribner; Background: Twenty20

21/35

Sing to It by Amy Hempel (March 26)

Each story in this collection—Hempel’s first in more than a decade—introduces characters who are lonely, adrift and searching for connection, from a spurned wife to a volunteer who relates more to dogs than to people. Preorder the book

Cover: Atria Books; Background: Twenty20

22/35

Unbecoming by Anuradha Bhagwati (March 26)

After spending her whole life trying to please her strict Indian parents, Bhagwati abandoned her Ivy League grad school career to join the Marines. Her powerful memoir is about pushing yourself beyond your limits. Preorder the book

the art of simple living shunmyo masuno2

Cover: Penguin Books; Background: Twenty20

23/35

The Art of Simple Living by Shunmyo Masuno (April 2)

Written by a Japanese Zen monk, this is a clear and practical guide to finding happiness through actions as simple as lining up your shoes after you take them off or putting down your fork after every bite. Preorder the book

Cover: Henry Holt and Co.; Background: Twenty20

24/35

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi (April 9)

In the early 1980s, two students at an elite performing arts high school fall obsessively in love with each other, not understanding that their relationship will soon take a dark and thrilling turn. Preorder the book

Cover: Doubleday; Background: Twenty20

25/35

Southern Lady Code by Helen Ellis (April 16)

From the author of American Housewife, a fiercely funny essay collection about living life as a “proper” Southern lady. (Hint: "If you don't have something nice to say, say something not-so-nice in a nice way.”) Preorder the book

with the fire on high elizabeth acevedo2

Cover: Harper Teen; Background: Twenty20

26/35

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (May 7)

Since getting pregnant freshman year of high school, all of Emoni’s decisions have been about her family. But on the eve of graduation, she reconsiders whether her dreams of becoming a chef are as far-fetched as she thinks they are. Preorder the book

Cover: Random House; Background: Twenty20

27/35

The Farm by Joanne Ramos (May 7)

In New York’s Hudson Valley, a luxury retreat offers every amenity you could want for a hefty price. The only catch? You can't leave the grounds for nine months, while you dedicate yourself to the task: Producing the perfect baby. Preorder the book

Cover: Hachette; Background: Twenty20

28/35

The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West (May 28)

Eye-opening and funny (in an I-can’t-believe-this-is-real way), this collection of essays from West (Shrill) examines how patriarchy, intolerance and misogyny have conquered politics and American culture. Preorder the book

Cover: Tin House Books; Background: Twenty20

29/35

Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett (June 4)

Eccentric and darkly funny, Arnett’s debut novel is about a woman who, following her father’s suicide, takes over the family’s taxidermy business. Preorder the book

Cover: Riverhead Books; Background: Twenty20

30/35

?City of Girls ?by Elizabeth Gilbert (June 4)

Set in the New York City theater world during the 1940s, Gilbert's (Eat, Pray, Love) latest is about a young woman discovering that you don't have to be a good girl to be a good person. Preorder the book

Cover: Viking; Background: Twenty20

31/35

Bunny by Mona Awad (June 11)

At a highly selective MFA program in New England, an outsider gets a taste of the inside when she’s drawn into a clique of rich girls who call each other "Bunny,” a name that is far sweeter than the magic they practice behind closed doors. Preorder the book

Cover: Doubleday; Background: Twenty20

32/35

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (July 16)

After winning a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award for The Underground Railroad, Whitehead is back with the story of two boys sentenced to a reform school in Jim Crow-era Florida. Preorder the book

Cover: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Background: Twenty20

33/35

Coventry by Rachel Cusk (August 20)

Combining memoir, cultural criticism and writings on literature, family life, gender and politics, Coventry is an insightful first collection of essays by Cusk (Outline). Preorder the book

Cover: Bloomsbury Publishing; Background: Twenty20

34/35

Bottle Grove by Daniel Handler (August 27)

Set in San Francisco in the middle of the tech boom, Bottle Grove is a dark comedy about two marriages and the forces that can drive couples together, apart and into sinister realms. Preorder the book

Cover: Nan A. Talese; Background: Twenty20

35/35

?The Testaments? by Margaret Atwood (Sept. 19)

Atwood hasn't released much information about the highly-anticipated Handmaid's Tale sequel, except that it's set 15 years after Offred’s final scene and is narrated by three female characters. Preorder the book

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35 Books We Can't Wait to Read in 2019

An Orchestra of Minorities by Chigozie Obioma (Jan. 8)

The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh (Jan. 8)

Sugar Run by Mesha Maren (Jan. 8)

Thick: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan Cottom (Jan. 8)

The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker (Jan. 15)

The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay (Jan. 15)

To Keep the Sun Alive by Rabeah Ghaffari (Jan. 15)

The Suspect by Fiona Barton (Jan. 22)

Bowlaway by Elizabeth McCracken (Feb. 5)

Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James (Feb. 5)

?The Silent Patient ?by Alex Michaelides (Feb. 5)

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas (Feb. 5)

Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli (Feb. 12)

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray (Feb. 19)

The Art of Leaving by Ayelet Tsabari (Feb. 19)

Gingerbread by Helen Oyeyemi (March 5)

The Altruists by Andrew Ridker (March 5)

The Lady from the Black Lagoon by Mallory O?Meara (March 5)

Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez (March 12)

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams (March 19)

Sing to It by Amy Hempel (March 26)

Unbecoming by Anuradha Bhagwati (March 26)

The Art of Simple Living by Shunmyo Masuno (April 2)

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi (April 9)

Southern Lady Code by Helen Ellis (April 16)

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo (May 7)

The Farm by Joanne Ramos (May 7)

The Witches Are Coming by Lindy West (May 28)

Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett (June 4)

?City of Girls ?by Elizabeth Gilbert (June 4)

Bunny by Mona Awad (June 11)

The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead (July 16)

Coventry by Rachel Cusk (August 20)

Bottle Grove by Daniel Handler (August 27)

?The Testaments? by Margaret Atwood (Sept. 19)

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