My top book picks of 2019

Couldn’t resist. This year, I kept as much of an eye on new releases as I could; here are my top picks, culled from an admittedly short list. Hyperlinks, when present, take you to my reviews on Goodreads.

On global warming, we have The Uninhabitable Earth, by David Wallace-Wells, On Fire, by Naomi Klein and the Warmer collection, on Amazon Kindle (six short books—my favorite was Jesse Waters’ The Way the World Ends). ) Because global warming is looming, and we need the facts and the art to deal with it

 Then there was The Nickel Boys, by Colson Whitehead. What a great followup to his last novel. Gripping. Horrifying.

Then there was Why They Can’t Write: Killing the Five Paragraph Essay by James Baldwin—he tells writing instruction like it is. I also loved The Problem With Everything, by the wonderful Meghan Daum—she's a unique feminist voice we need more of.

It was a bit of a grind, but Bhaskar Sunkara’s The Socialist Manifesto should be required reading for both those who espouse a greater social safety net for today’s vulnerable people and aging, bitter white collar types grousing about young people and their “entitlements.” I didn’t fully agree with Matt Taibbi’s takedown of the mainstream media in Hate Inc, but he’s ideologically and intellectually consistent, and well worth listening to.

Lisa Taddeo’s Three Women was so good, I read it through twice. Yes. It’s that good.

 But because we live in the world we live in, I also have to put before you Trumponomics, by Stephen Moore and Arthur Laffler. It’s total crap, but if you want to see the direction his financial advisers took us, look no further. (Also, my review is at the top of the Goodreads page, so if you like it, you're fighting the power--hint hint).  

None of these books are on this list. But they're still good.

Runners up: Whose Boat Is This Boat? by Stephen Colbert (because yes, it’s accurate, he really said all that) and Greta Thunberg’s No One is Too Small to Make a Difference (which I haven’t read yet, but going off her speeches and media coverage, I think it belongs on any list worth considering).

 Happy 2020. Read on.