My Favourite Fiction Books of 2019

One of my very favourite videos to watch and to make is Favourite Books of the Year, I have cheated a bit this year as I have split it in half. My non fiction favouirtes went up a few days ago, link below, and I sneak another category of books in at the very start of this video before I count down the fiction reads that have made my year. All books mentioned linked below as always.
My top non fiction books of 2019 • Video
Books Mentioned…
Bury It by Sam Sax www.bookdeposi...
The Perseverance by Raymond Antrobus www.bookdeposi...
Fleche by Mary Jean Chan (not currently on Book Depository)
Larry’s Party by Carol Shields www.bookdeposi...
Property by Valerie Martin www.bookdeposi...
A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore www.bookdeposi...
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak www.bookdeposi...
The Warlow Experiment by Alix Nathan www.bookdeposi...
Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips www.bookdeposi...
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh www.bookdeposi...
A Constant Hum by Alice Bishop www.bookdeposi...
Remembered by Yvonne Battle Felton www.bookdeposi...
Lanny by Max Porter www.bookdeposi...
The Offing by Benjamin Myers www.bookdeposi...
Happiness by Aminatta Forna www.bookdeposi...
This Taste for Silence by Amanda O’Callaghan www.bookdeposi...
On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong www.bookdeposi...
Girl with a Pearl Earring by Tracy Chevalier www.bookdeposi...
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo www.bookdeposi...
Me Elsewhere...
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GoodReads: / simon

[@tomreadsthings7145]

I love the diversity of these books! You really have had an amazing reading year! I really want to check out Bury It poetry book and so many others on this list. Fantastic picks! Fab!

[@joanc551]

Loved the Girl With a Pearl Earring!! I absolutely adored it, I have never forgotten it, which is unusual for me. It's the reason why I got back into reading.

[@MercysBookishMusings]

I’ve only read 2 of these but seeing how excited to talk about them you are I know I need to get to many more!

[@justdeb6091]

Thank you introducing me to A Constant Hum. I’ve started it and it is indeed fabulous and as an Australian who lived in Victoria during those fires, it’s sometimes emotional. Thank you for your thoughts for those effected by the current huge fires too. My favourite books this year are The Hoarder, The Talented Mr Ripley, Murder at the Vicarage, The Dry and One Hundred Nights of Hero.

[@cherylstevens9665]

I just recently discovered you and I must say, your videos are some of the best. Some book tubers videos are so overly-edited, it makes my head spin. You also tell what the book is about and say it's brilliant, beautiful or phenomenal. Some of the other folks just say, "oh, this book is really, really good" but they admit they don't know what it was about.your videos are superb. And also you're very funny? Keep it up, Simon!

[@SavidgeReads]

Awwww thank you so much. That’s such a lovely comment. Though I will say, sometimes I don’t always know what a book is about before I read it... or even afterwards. Hahaha.

[@spexi513]

Similar feels on My Year Of Rest and Relaxation- it didn’t quite hit me how clever it was until after I’d finished it and thought about it, as it was a little dull while reading. In retrospect, I feel like that’s actually intentional bc depression isn’t usually dramatic, but dull & mundane in a numbing way ( in my opinion)

[@suzannahdarcy6903]

The Girl with the Pearl Earring is one of my all-time favourites. I felt like I was in that room where Vermeer had painted all those gorgeous paintings. The film is wonderful too, but it's one you must actually *watch*, and not scroll on your phone or do other things.

[@SavidgeReads]

It’s such a stunning book. I haven’t had the urge to watch the film yet. One day.

[@lemonmiranda4233]

I want to read all of these! My favourites of the year were: Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss, Normal People by Sally Rooney, English Animals by Laura Kaye, Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng, The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne, and The Final Empire and The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. In the order I read them because I could not rank them - they're all so good!

[@novellenovels]

My favourite fiction book was the binding.. Tom inspired it and I loved it sooo much. Remembered really had an impact on me and I thought it was great 🥰

[@juliewoan298]

I loved this book too - gave it 4* on good reads!

[@natashalast9688]

Lanny and Girl, Woman, Other made it onto my list too. I also adored Hum If You Don’t Know The Words by Bianca Marais, The Hearts Invisible Furies, The Lumanaries and The Doll Factory 🏭

[@ReadABookGem]

Loving that stack of historical fiction books so looking forward to hearing you talk about those. I only heard about The Warlow Experiment through your channel and really want to read it as it sounds amazing!

[@olafkeith9186]

I also really loved Ocean Vuong‘s novel. Brilliant book. His poetry collection will be out in Germany this spring and I plan to read it as soon as I can get my hands on it😆

[@katiecatbooks6397]

Nice to see so many back list titles on your list! I read girl, woman, other over Christmas and it was great! Happy new year!

[@spexi513]

I’m bum rushing your channel, but ..... A Spell of Winter = I believe Jen Campbell ( spell ?) mentioned this and I was on a walk and told myself I’d remember the title to add to TBR later yet had forgotten so woohoo on your mention- added to TBR 💚

[@SavidgeReads]

Hope you like it when you get to it.

[@hazelodonnell2736]

Just discovered your channel . Thankyou so much for these recommendations. I now have every book on my wish list 😄

[@mradcaqbdb]

Brilliant list, Simon. I did a top 5 this year, which had two non-fiction in it. But this fiction books were The Nickel Boys, Stillicide, and You Will Be Safe Here. I’m currently trying to figure out which book to read first in 2020. You’ve given me a couple extra choices with your list.

[@yorkshirelasstracey5383]

Excellent review of your best books of the year Simon. I loved Lanny too and Girl,woman, other is on my list for this month. My book of the year was also the first book I read in 2019 All quiet on the western front by Erich Maria Remarque, it has stayed with me all year and I think it always will. Other books that blew me away were Winter and Spring by Ali Smith, The blind assassin by Margaret Atwood and The wind up bird chronicle by Haruki Murakami. Heres to a great 2020. 😊

[@CharlieBrookReads]

Love seeing your favourites from the year .So many of which I read because of you and always lots more to discover !! Xx Yeah for lots of amazing books in 2020!! 🥰❤️ Thank you for sharing these with us XXX

[@SixMinutesForMe]

Girl, Woman, Other! 🥰 And yay for so many Aussie books on this list. I love the film adaptation of Girl With a Pearl Earring, though the book was brilliant too 🙏

[@TheJtul]

*Finally* catching up with your videos. Love this list! A Spell of Winter sounds fab, hadn't heard of it before. Obviously I need to get to Bernadine Evaristo, but also Happiness haha. And many others. xx I have Things in Jars to read soon too, I'm soooo excited,

[@SM-vr8dz]

Okay, you have sold me on A Spell of Winter by Helen Dunmore. I have copies of many of these books, and your video makes me want to take so much time off just so I can read them all, lol. I think the best books I read this year are: Binti, The Parking Lot Attendant, The Collected Schizophrenias, Skin Folk, and Citizen: An American Lyric.

[@booksaremysociallife]

Girl, Woman, Other is on my shelves and I'm definitely going to be reading it this year!

[@muhlenstedt]

Thank you very much, I want to read at least 9 of these books!Sometimes I can not catch what you are saying because english is not my language , but your enthusiasm and charm make the video so enjoyable!My favourite book from 2019 was a not so new one"Mrs. Engels", from Gawin Mc Crea.Happy New Year!Happy reading Year!

[@YourTrueShelf]

I have just picked up Property to read next now 🙂 I also need a book and film adaptation for the reading women challenge, so I can use girl with a pearl earring for that one, as I already have it. I adored girl woman other, and I forgot to mention it in my favourites video!! It was on my list, I just missed it 🙄 Also really liked my year of rest & relaxation. I really enjoyed watching, and great recommendations.

[@byronsbrain]

Great video! Remembered is so going on my TBR!

[@bobfisher1992]

Moshfegh. Yes. Loved this. And i have you to thank for introducing me to it.😀

[@TheQuietMidden]

Thank you! I had some good reads this year thanks to your recommendations. Happy New Year!

[@annie-mz9956]

Absolutely loved your review! Thank you

[@nebinskip1010]

Loved your reviews, so well done! Keep it up. :)

[@jaylicious1]

Happy New Year 🎊 Lovely video, this year I’ll have to get to The Girl with the Pearl Earring , Property and Girl, Woman, Other (I’ve been patiently waiting for the paperback🤣)

[@MinestroneChad]

I read A Constant Hum this year too - maybe it's because I'm Australian, but I found it somewhat painful to read and rather general in its stereotypes of the characters? I know in a previous video you mentioned how there was some reoccurring imagery with burning cars - but adding in the reoccurring brittle peroxide hair, blue veined feet, young women who think about men and relationships in sometimes concerning ways, etc (I wish I'd written the examples down). Some things were very quintessentially Australian, others felt like they leaned on stereotype a bit heavily. Some of the stories were very, very powerful, but I feel like there was a general sense of the same kind of grief through all of these people? I'm in NSW and I've been affected by this fire season - though honestly, it keeps getting worse in other areas. My experience and my fears have been really quite different to a lot of the ideas represented in this book - though this was a ton of stories written by a single author. And I don't want to dismiss these ideas or grief outright, because I don't know how closely they're felt by other people that have been affected. I was planning on making a video about it, but the fire season has been quite overwhelming and hard to talk about. This book is an amazing feat, it's representation that's needed, but I didn't feel like it hit home for me quite as well?

[@SerenityYou]

I read A Single Thread and loved it! Cant wait to read more from Tracey Chevalier. I also read Girl, Women, Other but I only rated that a 3.5 stars.

[@juliewoan298]

Happy New Year Simon! I have read most of the books in your top ten - thanks to your recommendations and also 4 of the 5 in the historic pile you shared. My fav of the year was also Bernadine Evaristo and was disappointed when in Liverpool at Xmas not to pick up any of her other books in Waterstones...where did you buy the ones you have since bought?

[@curleduparmadillo124]

Yes to My Year of Rest and Relaxation! Very much no to Lanny, because that story falls apart at the end and just wasn't good. SPOILERS incoming, so don't read anymore if you don't want to. The character Dead Pappa something or other (I read it in Dutch) doesn't make sense. It seems evil at the beginning and there is something ominous about it. It seems to be a danger for the village. But at the end just helps Lanny and that's it. And there is this weird little bit that Lanny is the same as Dead Pappa blabla, which also doesn't make sense. I have to admit that the voices in the villages are really cool, how that's written and designed, but that's about it.

[@dreamlandcompany]

Omg. I’ve been waiting for this.

[@victoriaclark4913]

My favourite book of 2019 was All Among the Barley by Melissa Harrison. I absolutely loved it and has stayed with me. No.2 is The Offing by Benjamin Myers- loved it so much I bought a signed first edition from Toppings in Bath.

[@juliewoan298]

oh have both so must add to my Jan 2020 reads...

[@jacquelinemcmenamin8204]

I love these best of year lists. Mine would include The Man Who Saw Everything Ohio The Dutch House The Name Sake A Ladder To The Sky The Wife The Italian Teacher Last Stories Fruit of the Drunken Tree The Blowout FranKissStein Old Baggage Drive Your Plow Over The Bones of the Dead You Will Be Safe Here The Overstory Lost Children Archive Boy Swallows Universe Underground Time Women Talking A Place For Us The Confessions of Frannie Langton The Door Burial Rites A Gentleman in Moscow Mr Loverman Flights Once Upon a River Where The Crawdads Sing Before We Were Yours The Underground Railroad

[@NeetuSingh-eo4iu]

Jacqueline McMenamin A wonderful list of books. Have read quite a few and will be adding the others to my possibilities list. 🤗

[@mpsensha]

Things in Jars will hopefully be added to my shelves in February. 😃

[@bobfisher1992]

Happiness. Yes. Another one i loved. 😀

[@bluebell3441]

🥳 Thank you .

[@cathrineboysen1017]

📚💜🦄💜📚