Below is a list of the best books I read in 2019 in no particular order. Only one of them was published in 2019.
When Breath Becomes Air (2016) by Paul Kalanithi : I am in awe of people who create works of literature while battling the demons of disease. Tragic and powerful, the author lives on in our thoughts even when he is dead, long after his breath has become air. Fair winds and following seas, Paul.
This Land is our Land: An Immigrant's Manifesto (2019) by Suketu Mehta: An impassioned plea from one of the best immigrant literary voices in the US of A.It is non-fiction, based on author's research, but it is one hundred percent an emotional appeal piece.
Girl at War (2015) by Sara Novic :Told through the eyes of a 10 year old tomboy turned child soldier, this debut novel by Sara Novic is a fictional account of the conflict in the Balkans in the 90s. I have not read many books about the Balkan conflict, nor did I associate the Serb-Croat-Bosnian civil war with child soldiers. This was an eye-opening, entertaining and relatable work. Highly readable.
Bad Blood : Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (2018) by John Carreyrou : A in-depth expose about a Silicon Valley startup founder. It's such a great work of investigative non-fiction that when I recently watched the HBO documentary (The Inventor : Out for Blood in Silicon Valley) on the same subject I found the documentary tepid and underwhelming. Here are my thoughts on Carreyrou's ground-breaking book.
Travels with Charlie in Search of America (1962) by John Steinbeck : Take a road trip in a tricked out camper with one of the greatest story teller's America has ever produced. The year is 1960. Your co-passengers are John Steinbeck and Charlie the dog. The mission is to search for the real America. Here are my thoughts after riding with the man and his dog.
Green River Running Red : The Real Story of the Green River Killer - America's Deadliest Serial Murderer (2004) by Ann Rule : 2019 was the year I got introduced to Ann Rule, America's number one true crime non-fiction writer. Between 1982 and 85, the Green River serial killer murdered 50+ women around Seattle area. Ms.Rule delves in to the lives of each and every victim and the police officers, in addition to the life of the killer himself. While speed-reading it sometimes become difficult to connect the dots, but I think this is the only way to present these crimes - giving importance to the victims and the people who worked hard to solve the cases.
Everything Happens For a Reason (And other lies I've loved) (2018) by Kate Bowler : Stage 4 cancer diagnosis, questions about the part God plays in this deadly mortality play and a few funny insights form the crux of Kate Bowler's memoir. While not heart-wrenching or emotionally gripping as Paul Kalanithi's it is an interesting piece of a near-miss death experience from a Christian perspective.
Pretending to be Normal (1999) by Liane Holliday Willey
Be Different : Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian (2012) by John Elder Robinson : At this very late stage in life, I realize I might be not be normal. But then again, the true average is the rarest to find, every one might be in one spectrum or the other.
My Life of the Road (2016) by Gloria Steinem : This is the first book I've ever read of Gloria Steinem's - one of feminism's primary crusaders. Here is my two-bit take on the book.
Gone Without a Trace (2017) by Mary Torjussen: Your significant other vanishes without a trace and you do not know what is going on. It's hard to do a complete scrubbing in this digital age but somehow this SO achieves that and leaves the girl to figure it out all by herself. One of the few pieces of fiction I consumed this year, with the focus on yet another unhinged young woman protagonist, along the lines of The Girl on the Train and I Let You Go.If you must read fast-food-fiction, this will fit the bill.
When Breath Becomes Air (2016) by Paul Kalanithi : I am in awe of people who create works of literature while battling the demons of disease. Tragic and powerful, the author lives on in our thoughts even when he is dead, long after his breath has become air. Fair winds and following seas, Paul.
This Land is our Land: An Immigrant's Manifesto (2019) by Suketu Mehta: An impassioned plea from one of the best immigrant literary voices in the US of A.It is non-fiction, based on author's research, but it is one hundred percent an emotional appeal piece.
Girl at War (2015) by Sara Novic :Told through the eyes of a 10 year old tomboy turned child soldier, this debut novel by Sara Novic is a fictional account of the conflict in the Balkans in the 90s. I have not read many books about the Balkan conflict, nor did I associate the Serb-Croat-Bosnian civil war with child soldiers. This was an eye-opening, entertaining and relatable work. Highly readable.
Bad Blood : Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup (2018) by John Carreyrou : A in-depth expose about a Silicon Valley startup founder. It's such a great work of investigative non-fiction that when I recently watched the HBO documentary (The Inventor : Out for Blood in Silicon Valley) on the same subject I found the documentary tepid and underwhelming. Here are my thoughts on Carreyrou's ground-breaking book.
Travels with Charlie in Search of America (1962) by John Steinbeck : Take a road trip in a tricked out camper with one of the greatest story teller's America has ever produced. The year is 1960. Your co-passengers are John Steinbeck and Charlie the dog. The mission is to search for the real America. Here are my thoughts after riding with the man and his dog.
Green River Running Red : The Real Story of the Green River Killer - America's Deadliest Serial Murderer (2004) by Ann Rule : 2019 was the year I got introduced to Ann Rule, America's number one true crime non-fiction writer. Between 1982 and 85, the Green River serial killer murdered 50+ women around Seattle area. Ms.Rule delves in to the lives of each and every victim and the police officers, in addition to the life of the killer himself. While speed-reading it sometimes become difficult to connect the dots, but I think this is the only way to present these crimes - giving importance to the victims and the people who worked hard to solve the cases.
Everything Happens For a Reason (And other lies I've loved) (2018) by Kate Bowler : Stage 4 cancer diagnosis, questions about the part God plays in this deadly mortality play and a few funny insights form the crux of Kate Bowler's memoir. While not heart-wrenching or emotionally gripping as Paul Kalanithi's it is an interesting piece of a near-miss death experience from a Christian perspective.
Pretending to be Normal (1999) by Liane Holliday Willey
Be Different : Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian (2012) by John Elder Robinson : At this very late stage in life, I realize I might be not be normal. But then again, the true average is the rarest to find, every one might be in one spectrum or the other.
My Life of the Road (2016) by Gloria Steinem : This is the first book I've ever read of Gloria Steinem's - one of feminism's primary crusaders. Here is my two-bit take on the book.
Gone Without a Trace (2017) by Mary Torjussen: Your significant other vanishes without a trace and you do not know what is going on. It's hard to do a complete scrubbing in this digital age but somehow this SO achieves that and leaves the girl to figure it out all by herself. One of the few pieces of fiction I consumed this year, with the focus on yet another unhinged young woman protagonist, along the lines of The Girl on the Train and I Let You Go.If you must read fast-food-fiction, this will fit the bill.
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