BOOKS OF 2019
Themes of the year:
1. Nature writing
Wilding – Isabella Tree
2. The Law
The Secret Barrister – Anonymous
3. Quiz Books
O/S Quiz book
The British Library quiz book
4. Spies
The Spy and the Traitor – Ben Macintyre
A Foreign Country – Charles Cumming
Secret Service – Tom Bradby
White Hot Silence – Henry Porter
Agent Running in the Field – John Le Carre
5. Holocaust Novels/Non fiction
The Tattooist of Auschwitz – Heather Morris
The Cut Out Girl – Bart Van Es
The Boy who Followed his father into Auschwitz – Jeremy Dronfield
6. Children’s Environmental books
No one is too small to make a difference – Greta Thunberg
Greta’s Story – Valentina Camerinin
A Planet Full of Plastic – Neal Layton
7. Beautiful Children’s Books
A Wild Child’s guide to endangered Animals – Millie Marotta
The Lost words – Robert MacFarlane
Always In Vogue:
1. Great History writing
Normandy 44 – James Holland
The Anarchy – William Dalrymple
2. Top Autobiography
War Doctor – David Nott
Surprises:
Diary of a Bookseller – Shaun Bythell
Disappointments:
Unsheltered – Barbara Kingsolver
Transcription – Kate Atkinson
But……..
Big Sky (Kate Atkinson’s new one) was GREAT
My longest read of the year:
The Secret Commonwealth – Philip Pullman
(best to read Northern Lights trilogy first)
New Books from Big Authors:
Second Sleep – Robert Harris
Sweet Sorrow – David Nichols
Finally caught up with:
Late in the Day – Tessa Hadley
Big books for NEXT year:
The Flatshare – Beth O’Leary
Saving Missy – Beth Morrey
Great Food Writing:
From the Oven to the Table – Diana Henry
Clodagh’s Suppers – Clodagh McKenna
Best Children’s books:
The Skylark’s War – Hilary Mckay
The Time of Green Magic “
Local Authors:
Unlimited Overs – Roger Morgan-Grenville
The King’s Race – Lionel Beecroft
Legacy – Thomas Harding
A Short History of Falling – Joe Hammond
Prizewinners:
1.Booker
The Testaments – Margaret Attwood
Girl Woman, Other – Bernardine Evaristo
2. Costa
Normal People – Sally Rooney
(plus Cut out Girl and the Skylark’s War)
3. Women’s Prize for Fiction
An American Marriage – Tayari Jones
Top 10 Bestsellers for 2019:
Dear Mrs Bird – AJ Pearce
Take Nothing With You – Patrick Gale
Washington Black – Esi Edugyan
This is Going To Hurt – Adam Kay
All the Light we Cannot See – Anthony Doerr
A Gentleman in Moscow – Amor Towles
The Librarian – Salley Vickers
Love Is Blind – William Boyd
The Silence of the Girls – Pat Barker
The Salt Path – Raynor Winn
Likely Christmas Bestseller:
The Boy the Mole, the Fox and the Horse – Charlie Mackesy