Ten Books to Bring Into the New Year

Photo by Lauren Olmeda.

Another year of reading has come to an end. But before it did, we were blessed with the best reading days of the whole year: the days between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. These few days exist in a time warp, an alternate universe, the upside-down, where there are no rules or responsibilities. It’s perfectly acceptable to eat leftover Christmas dinner or apple pie for breakfast, to pour a splash of Bailey’s into your coffee at 10 AM (maybe that’s just me?), and to stay in your pajamas all day long. All of these factors combined create the most atmospheric, stress-free reading experience of the year. I like to fill these days with Scandinavian crime novels or rereads of old favourites – I don’t feel the pressure to keep up with the book of the moment, or even to begin reading the new books I’ve received as gifts. Instead, it’s a time to read solely and simply for pleasure, whatever that looks like to you.

Looking back on 2019, I’ve compiled this list of my favourite reads. I tried to mix fiction and non-fiction in equal measure, but as usual I’ve come out ever-so-slightly heavy on the fiction. Even so, I think it was a better year for non-fiction, as two of the titles on my list (Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe and Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow) are two of the best books I’ve ever read.

Wishing you all many peaceful hours of uninterrupted reading this winter season!

Ten Books to Bring Into the New Year

Girl, Woman, Other, by Bernardine Evaristo

This is my number one book of the year. Each sentence is a wave, carrying the reader through an ocean of stories about (mostly) black women over the course of the last century. Evaristo writes with the same urgency and rawness as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and Zadie Smith, and she has created something incredibly powerful and moving in the stories of these women.

The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai

I didn’t expect this book to be as incredible as it was. Set in the AIDS crisis of the 1980s, the reader is transported to a New York City vastly different to the one we know today; the story overflows with humanity, pain, and beauty.

Beyond the Sea, by Paul Lynch

Two fishermen are stranded at sea, and as we follow their futile attempt to find their way home, their sanity is warped by darkness and isolation. I’m very partial to Irish writers and Lynch is no exception; his prose is lyrical.

The Fire Starters, by Jan Carson

Certainly the most unique book of the bunch – Carson effortlessly weaves elements of fantasy into this novel about inherited trauma in Northern Ireland through the eyes of two fathers.

The Life and Death of the Great Lakes, by Dan Egan

Normally I wouldn’t be a big fan of science non-fiction, but as this book deals with the lakes that surround my home state of Michigan, I found myself immediately drawn. What human carelessness and greed has done to the Great Lakes will anger anyone who reads this, not just Michiganders.

Three Women, by Lisa Taddeo

Apparently this is a very divisive book – you either love it or hate it. I loved it. The lack of representation is an obvious problem but otherwise, I absolutely couldn’t put it down and was wrapped up in the descriptions of power dynamics and female desire.

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, by Patrick Radden Keefe

What the reviews say is true: this book about the murder of Jean McConville in Northern Ireland during the Troubles is non-fiction, but you’d be forgiven if you thought it was a spy novel.  

Rival Queens: The Betrayal of Mary, Queen of Scots, by Kate Williams

A perfect companion to the film about Mary, Queen of Scots starring Saoirse Ronan as the fiery Scottish queen who ended up losing her head at the hand of her cousin, Elizabeth I of England.

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, by Ronan Farrow

Ronan Farrow is the rare man using his platform and privilege to elevate neglected and abused women, and is one of the best investigative voices of our time.

Priestdaddy: A Memoir, by Patricia Lockwood

I just laughed so much while reading this wild memoir focused on Lockwood’s father who is also, you guessed it, a priest that it had to be included on my best books list for this year.

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Lauren Olmeda holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in international relations. She works in public affairs in Dublin, Ireland and is Editor-at-Large of the Attic on Eighth.