NPR
Best Books of 2019
- 1919 by Eve L. Ewing (Haymarket Books)
- Cyborg Detective by Jillian Weise (BOA Editions)
- Dunce by Mary Ruefle (Wave Books)
- Lima :: Limón by Natalie Scenters-Zapico (Copper Canyon Press)
- Nightingale by Paisley Rekdal (Copper Canyon Press)
- Song for the Unraveling of the World by Brian Evenson (Coffee House Press)
- The Tradition by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
- Swimming in Darkness by Lucas Harari, translated by David Homel (Arsenal Pulp Press)
New Yorker
Best Books of 2019
- Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin (Transit Books)
- Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann (Biblioasis)
New York Times
Best Poetry Books of 2019
- The Next Loves by Stéphane Bouquet, trans. Lindsay Turner (Nightboat Books)
- To The Wren: Collected and New Poems by Janet Mead (Alice James Books)
- Fieldnotes on Ordinary Love by Keith S. Wilson (Copper Canyon Press)
Critics’ Favorites of 2019
- Baby, I Don’t Care by Chelsea Minnis (Wave Books)
- Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann (Biblioasis)
Best Crime Novels of 2019
- The Bird Boys by Lisa Sandlin (Cinco Puntos Press)
Notable Books of 2019
- Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann (Biblioasis)
- The Tradition by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
Best Illustrated Books of 2019
- Child of Glass by Beatrice Alemagna (Enchanted Lion Books)
- A Million Dots by Sven Volker (Cicada Books)
Wall Street Journal
Distinctive Novels of 2019
- Murmur by Will Eaves (Bellevue Literary Press)
NBC News
Best Books of 2019 by Latinx Authors
- I Offer My Heart as a Target / Ofrezco mi corazón como una diana by Johanny Vázquez Paz (Akashic Books)
Vanity Fair
Editors’ Favorite Books of 2019
- The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán, trans. Sophie Hughes (Coffee House Press)
- A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes (Akashic Books)
Brain Pickings
Best Children’s Books of 2019
- Cinderella Liberator by Rebecca Solnit, illus. Arthur Rackham (Haymarket Books)
- Crescendo by Paola Quintavalle, Alessandro Sanna (Enchanted Lion Books)
- Layla’s Happiness by Mariahadessa Ekere Tallie, Ashleigh Corrin (Enchanted Lion Books)
- Over the Rooftops, Under the Moon by JonArno Lawson, illus. Nahid Kazemi (Enchanted Lion Books)
- What If…? by Thierry Lenain, illus. Olivier Tallec, trans. Claudia Zoe Bedrick (Enchanted Lion Books)
PBS
Newshour Favorites of 2019
- The Tradition by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
- Empires by John Balaban (Copper Canyon Press)
Publishers Weekly
Best Graphic Novels of 2019
- Bradley of Him by Connor Willumsen (Koyama)
- Death of the Master by Patrick Kyle (Koyama)
- Motel Universe by Joakim Drescher (Secret Acres)
- Persephone’s Garden by Glynnis Fawkes
- Rat Time by Keiler Roberts (Koyama Press)
- When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll (Koyama)
Top 10 Books of 2019
- From the Shadows by Juan Jose Millas, trans. Thomas Bunstead (Bellevue Literary Press)
Best Fiction of 2019
- Black Forest by Valerie Mrejen, trans. Katie Shireen Assef (Deep Vellum Publishing)
- Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann (Biblioasis)
- From the Shadows by Juan Jose Millas, trans. Thomas Bunstead (Bellevue Literary Press)
- Exposed by Jean-Philippe Blondel, trans. Alison Anderson (New Vessel Press)
- Mars by Asja Bakic, trans. Jennifer Zoble (The Feminist Press at CUNY)
Best Nonfiction of 2019
- Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin (Transit Books)
Best Poetry of 2019
- To The Wren: Collected and New Poems by Janet Mead (Alice James Books)
- The Tradition by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
New York Public Library
Poetry
- Lima :: Limón by Natalie Scenters-Zapico (Copper Canyon Press)
- Soft Science by Franny Choi (Alice James Books)
- Library of Small Catastrophes by Allison C. Rollins (Copper Canyon)
Graphic Novels
- Cannonball by Kelsey Wroten (Uncivilized Books)
Crime Reads
Best Traditional Mysteries of 2019
- Iced in Paradise: A Leilani Santiago Hawai’i Mystery by Naomi Hirahara (Prospect Park Books)
Best Noir Fiction of 2019
- When Trouble Sleeps by Leye Adenle (Cassava Republic Press)
Best Crime Novels of 2019
- A Student of History by Nina Revoyr (Akashic Books)
Literary Hub
Books that Defined the Decade
- Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit (Haymarket Books)
Best Books of the Year: Staff Vote
- A Student of History by Nina Revoyr (Akashic Books)
- When Death Takes Something From You, Give it Back: Carl’s Book by Naja Marie Aidt, trans. Denise Newman (Coffee House Press)
Best Books of the Decade: Authors’ Vote
- Problems by Jade Sharma (Coffee House Press)
- The Book of Harlan by Bernice L. McFadden (Akashic Books)
- Spider in a Tree by Susan Stinson (Small Beer Press)
Best Novels of the Decade
- In the Distance by Hernan Diaz (Coffee House Press)
Best of the Decade: Editors’ Vote
- Men Explain Things To Me by Rebecca Solnit (Haymarket Books)
Best Essay Collections of the Decade
- The Mother of All Questions by Rebecca Solnit (Haymarket Books)
- Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions by Valeria Luiselli (Coffee House Press)
- Animals Strike Curious Poses by Elena Passarello (Sarabande Books)
- This Young Monster by Charlie Fox (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
Best Memoirs of the Decade
- When Death Takes Something From You, Give it Back: Carl’s Book by Naja Marie Aidt, trans. Denise Newman (Coffee House Press)
Best Poetry of the Decade
- When My Brother Was An Aztec by Natalie Diaz (Copper Canyon Press)
- Night Sky with Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong (Copper Canyon Press)
- Good Stock Strange Blood by Dawn Lundy Martin (Coffee House Press)
- Soft Science by Franny Choi (Alice James Books)
Best Translated Novels of the Decade
- The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli, trans. Christine MacSweeney (Coffee House Press)
- Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera, trans. Lisa Dillman (And Other Stories)
- Tram 83 by Fiston Mwanza Mujila, trans. Roland Glasser (Deep Vellum Publishing)
- Such Small Hands by Andrés Barba, trans. Lisa Dillman (Transit Books)
Best Covers of 2019
- The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán, trans. Sophie Hughes (Coffee House Press)
Kirkus Reviews Best of 2019
Best Middle-Grade Books of 2019
- Troublemaker for Justice: The Story of Bayard Rustin, the Man Behind the March on Washington by Jacqueline Houtman, Walter Naegle, Michael G. Long (City Lights Publishing)
- Hobgoblin and the Seven Stinkers of Rancidia by Kyle Sullivan, illustrated by Derek Sullivan (Hazy Dell Press)
Best Historical Fiction of 2019
- Murmur by Will Eaves (Bellevue Literary Press)
Best Fiction in Translation of 2019
- The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán, trans. Sophie Hughes (Coffee House Press)
- The Fragility of Bodies by Sergio Olguin, Miranda France (Bitter Lemon Press)
- The Promise by Silvina Ocampo, trans. Suzanne Jill Levine and Jessica Powell (City Lights Publishers)
- Night School by Zsófia Bán, trans. Jim Tucker (Open Letter)
Best Debut Fiction of 2019
- The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán, translated by Sophie Hughes (Coffee House Press)
Best Picture Books of 2019
- Noodlephant by Jacob Kramer, illustrated by K-Fai Steele (Enchanted Lion Books)
School Library Journal
Best Nonfiction of 2019
- Troublemaker for Justice by Jacqueline Houtman, Walter Naegle, and Michael G. Long (City Lights Publishers)
The Economist
Best Books of 2019
- Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann (Biblioasis)
The Comics Beat
100 Best Comics of the Decade
- It Never Happened Again by Sam Alden (Uncivilized Books)
- Sex Fantasy by Sophia Foster-Dimino (Koyama Press)
- Sunburning by Keiler Roberts (Koyama Press)
- Becoming Unbecoming by Una (Arsenal Pulp Press)
Best Comics of 2019
- When I Arrived at the Castle by Emily Carroll (Koyama Press)
Book Riot
Top Indie Books of 2019
- This Is My Body: A Memoir of Religious and Romantic Obsession by Cameron Dezen Hammon (Lookout Books)
- Fish Soup by Margarita García Robayo, trans. Charlotte Coombe (Charco Press)
Top Ten of 2019
- Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann (Biblioasis)
- Soft Science by Franny Choi (Alice James Books)
- Space Struck by Paige Lewis (Sarabande Books)
AV Club
Best Books of 2019
- Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin (Transit Books)
Brian Washington’s Top 10 of the Decade
- Longthroat Memoirs by Yemisi Aribisala (Cassava Republic)
- Tell Me How It Ends by Valeria Luiselli (Coffee House Press)
Rion Amilcar Scott’s Top 10 of the Decade
- The Tradition by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
- Olio by Tyehimba Jess (Wave Books)
Jenny Offill’s Top 10 of the Decade
- Madness, Rack, and Honey by Mary Ruefle (Wave Books)
Leslie Jamison’s Top 10 of the Decade
- Witch Wife by Kiki Petrosino (Sarabande Books)
- Calling a Wolf a Wolf by Kaveh Akbar (Alice James Books)
Patty Yumi Cottrell’s Top 10 of the Decade
- In the Distance by Hernan Diaz (Coffee House Press)
- Problems by Jade Sharma (Coffee House Press)
- A Greater Music by Bae Suah, trans. Deborah Smith (Open Letter)
Best Comics of the Decade
- Smut Peddler (2012 Edition) edited by C. Spike Trotman, Johanna Draper Carlson, Trisha L. Sebastian (Iron Circus Comics)
- You & A Bike & A Road by Eleanor Davis (Koyama Press)
Buzzfeed
Best Books of 2019
- Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea by Sarah Pinsker (Small Beer Press)
- Lima :: Limón by Natalie Scenters-Zapico (Copper Canyon Press)
- The Tradition by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
- Library of Small Catastrophes by Allison C. Rollins (Copper Canyon)
Autostraddle
Best Queer, Lesbian and Bisexual Books of the Decade
- Conflict Is Not Abuse by Sarah Schulman (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- Dirty River by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown (AK Press)
- How Poetry Saved My Life by Amber Dawn (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- I Hope We Choose Love by Kai Cheng Thom (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- Little Fish by Casey Plett (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- Mean by Myriam Gurba (Coffee House Press)
- Persistence: All Ways Butch and Femme edit. Ivan E. Coyote and Zena Sharman (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- Sodom Road Exit by Amber Dawn (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- We Were Witches by Ariel Gore (The Feminist Press at CUNY/Amethyst Editions)
- When My Brother Was An Aztec by Natalie Diaz (Copper Canyon Press)
Best Queer Books of 2019
- Pleasure Activism by adrienne maree brown (AK Press)
- Socialist Realism by Trisha Low (Coffee House Press)
- Soft Science by Franny Choi (Alice James Books)
- Catch Me When I’m Falling by Cheryl Head (Bywater Books)
Slate
Books Editor Dan Kois’ Top Ten
- Limbo by Dan Fox (Fitzcarraldo Editions)
GQ
Best Books of 2019
- When Death Takes Something From You, Give it Back: Carl’s Book by Naja Marie Aidt, trans. Denise Newman (Coffee House Press)
Oprah
Best LGBTQ Books of 2019
- The Tradition by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
- Permission by Saskia Vogel (Coach House Books)
Washington Post
Notable Works of Fiction of 2019
- Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann (Biblioasis)
Best Poetry of 2019
- Father’s Day by Matthew Zapruder (Copper Canyon Press)
- The Tiny Journalist by Naomi Shihab Nye (BOA Editions)
- The Tradition by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
Staff Picks
Library Journal
World Literature
- Sleepless Night by Margriet de Moor, trans. David Doherty (New Vessel)
- Flowers of Mold by Ha Seong-nan, trans. Janet Hong (Open Letter)
Poetry
- The Tradition by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
Chicago Review of Books
Books in Translation of 2019
- Mars by Asja Bakic, trans. Jennifer Zoble (The Feminist Press at CUNY)
Ms. Magazine
Hidden Gems of 2019
- Fat, Pretty, and Soon to be Old by Kimberly Dark (AK Press)
- Disintegrate/Dissociate by Arielle Twist (Arsenal Pulp Press)
- Odes to Lithium by Shira Erlichman (Alice James Books)
- 1919 by Eve L. Ewing (Haymarket Books)
PopMatters
Best Nonfiction of 2019
- William Stoner and the Battle for the Inner Life: Bookmarked by Steve Almond (Ig Publishing)
Best Fiction of 2019
- Song for the Unraveling of the World by Brian Evenson (Coffee House Press)
- Constantly by GG (Koyama Press)
Chicago Tribune
Best Books of 2019
- Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann (Biblioasis)
Essence Magazine
Best Books of the Decade
- Gathering of Waters by Bernice L. McFadden (Akashic Books)
World Literature Today
Notable Translations of 2019
- 77 by Guillermo Saccomanno, trans. Andrea Labinger (Open Letter)
- Accommodations by Wiolette Greg, trans. Jennifer Croft (Transit Books)
- And the Bride Closed the Door by Ronit Matalon, trans. Jessica Cohen (New Vessel Press)
- Empty Words by Mario Levrero, trans. Annie McDermott (Coffee House Press)
- Flowers of Mold by Ha Seong-nan, trans. Janet Hong (Open Letter)
- From the Shadows by Juan Jose Millas, trans. Thomas Bunstead (Bellevue Literary Press)
- History. A Mess Sigrún Pálsdottír, trans. Lytton Smith (Open Letter)
- Muslim by Zahia Rahmani, trans. Matt Reeck (Deep Vellum Publishing)
- The Next Loves by Stéphane Bouquet, trans. Lindsay Turner (Nightboat Books)
- Night School by Zsófia Bán, trans. Jim Tucker (Open Letter)
- Rain by Mia Couto, trans. Eric M. B. Becker (Biblioasis)
- The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán, trans. Sophie Hughes (Coffee House Pres
- Sun of Consciousness by Edouard Glissant, Nathanaël (Nightboat Books)
- The Wall by Max Annas, trans. Rachel Hildebrandt Reynolds (Catalyst Press)
- When Death Takes Something From You, Give it Back: Carl’s Book by Naja Marie Aidt, trans. Denise Newman (Coffee House Press)
Center for the Art of Translation
Best Translations of the Decade: Bookseller Vote
- Among Strange Victims by Daniel Saldaña Paris, trans. Christina MacSweeney (Coffee House Press)
- Not One Day by Anne Garréta, Emma Ramadan (Deep Vellum Publishing)
- Öraefi: The Wasteland by Ófeigur Sigurdsson, trans. Lytton Smith
- River by Esther Kinsky, trans. Iain Galbraith (Deep Vellum Publishing)
- Sidewalks by Valeria Luiselli, trans. Christina MacSweeney (Coffee House Press)
- Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera, trans. Lisa Dillman (And Other Stories)
- Sphinx by Anne Garréta, Emma Ramadan (Deep Vellum Publishing)
- Swallowing Mercury by Wioletta Greg, trans. Eliza Marciniak (Transit Books)
- Target in the Night by Ricardo Piglia, trans. Sergio Waisman (Deep Vellum Publishing)
- When Death Takes Something From You, Give it Back: Carl’s Book by Naja Marie Aidt, trans. Denise Newman (Coffee House Press)
Words Without Borders
Staff Favorite Translated Books of 2019
- Welcome to America by Linda Boström Knausgård, trans. Martin Aitken (World Editions)
Best Translated Books of 2019
- All My Goodbyes by Mariana Dimópulos, trans. Alice Whitmore (Transit Books)
- Die, My Love by Ariana Harwicz, trans. Sarah Moses and Carolina Orloff (Charco Press)
- The Forgotten Journey by Silvina Ocampo, trans. Suzanne Jill Levine, Jessica Powell, and Katie Lateef-Jan (City Lights Publishers)
- Mars by Asja Bakic, trans. Jennifer Zoble (The Feminist Press at CUNY)
Hyperallergic
Best Poetry Books of 2019
- Sight Lines by Arthur Sze (Copper Canyon)
- Dunce by Mary Ruefle (Wave Books)
- The Collected Poems of Bob Kaufman by Bob Kaufman, edit. Neeli Cherkovski, Raymond Foye, and Tate Swindell (City Lights Publishers)
- A Little More Red Sun on the Human by Gillian Conoley (Nightboat Books)
- Grief Sequence by Prageeta Sharma (Wave Books)
- The Revisionist and the Astropastorals by Douglas Crase (Nightboat Books)
- The Intangibles by Elaine Equi (Coffee House Press)
Independent Book Review
Best Indie Books of 2019
- Knitting the Fog Claudia D. Hernández (The Feminist Press at CUNY)
- Mars by Asja Bakic, trans. Jennifer Zoble (The Feminist Press at CUNY)
- The Tradition by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
Entropy Magazine
Best Poetry Collections of 2019
- Time by Etel Adnan (Nightboat Books)
- Soft Science by Franny Choi (Alice James Books)
- Grief Sequence by Prageeta Sharma (Wave Books)
- Invasive species by Marwa Helal (Nightboat Books)
- Dunce by Mary Ruefle (Wave Books)
- The Tradition by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
- Casting Deep Shade: An Amble by C.D. Wright (Copper Canyon Press)
- The Tiniest Muzzle Sings Songs of Freedom by Magdalena Zurawski (Wave Books)
- Oceanic by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Copper Canyon Press)
- Mitochondrial Night by Ed Bok Lee (Coffee House Press)
- Doomstead Days by Brian Teare (Nightboat Books)
- What I Knew by Eleni Sikelianos (Nightboat Books)
- Space Struck by Paige Lewis (Sarabande Books)
- Knitting the Fog by Claudia D. Hernández (The Feminist Press at CUNY)
- Personal Volcano by Laura Moriarty (Nightboat Books)
Best Fiction of 2019
- The Complete Gary Lutz by Gary Lutz (Tyrant Books)
- Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann (Biblioasis)
- I Hotel by Karen Tei Yamashita, trans. Jessica Hagedron
- Mars by Asja Bakic, trans. Jennifer Zoble (The Feminist Press at CUNY)
- Muslim by Zahia Rahmani, trans. Matt Reeck (Deep Vellum Publishing)
- The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán, trans. Sophie Hughes (Coffee House Press)
- Song for the Unraveling of the World by Brian Evenson (Coffee House Press)
Unabridged Bookstore
Best Books of 2019
- We Both Laughed in Pleasure the Selected Diaries of Lou Sullivan by Lou Sullivan, edited by Ellis Martin & Zach Ozma (Nightboat Books)
- Soft Science by Franny Choi (Alice James Books)
- The Tradition by Jericho Brown (Copper Canyon Press)
- When Death Takes Something From You, Give it Back: Carl’s Book by Naja Marie Aidt, trans. Denise Newman (Coffee House Press)
The Undefeated
25 Best Books of 2019
- A Tall History of Sugar by Curdella Forbes (Akashic Books)
- You Throw Like A Girl: The Blind Spot of Masculinity by Don McPherson (Akashic Books/Edge of Sport)
Southwest Review
10 Best Books of 2019
- The Dreamed Part by Rodrigo Fresán, trans. Will Vanderhyden (Open Letter)
- The Remainder by Alia Trabucco Zerán, trans. Sophie Hughes (Coffee House Press)
- Reinhardt’s Garden by Mark Haber (Coffee House Press)
Thrillist
Best Books of 2019
- Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann (Biblioasis)
Five Books
Best Nature Writing of 2019
- Ways to Go Beyond and Why They Work by Rupert Sheldrake (Monkfish Book Publishing)
Columbia Daily Tribune
Best Poetry of 2019
- Soft Target by Deborah Landau (Copper Canyon Press)
Texas Library Association
Graphic Novels Recommended Reading
- The White Snake by Ben Nadler (TOON Books/TOON Graphics)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Best Books of 2019
- Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea by Sarah Pinsker (Small Beer Press)
Tribal College Journal
Best Native Books of 2019
- Copper Yearning by Kimberly Blaeser (Holy Cow! Press)
Arts Fuse
Favorite Books of 2019
- Axiomatic by Maria Tumarkin (Transit Books)
- And the Bride Closed the Door by Ronit Matalon, trans. Jessica Cohen (New Vessel Press)
Evanston Public Library
Best Children’s Books of 2019
- The Clever Tailor by Srividhya Venkat, illus. Nayantara Surendranath (Karadi Tales Picturebooks)
KCRW Los Angeles
Best Books of 2019
- Dunce by Mary Ruefle (Wave Books)
Four Color Apocalypse
Top Ten Single Issues of 2019
- Stunt by Michael DeForge (Koyama Press)
Top Ten Original Graphic Novels of 2019
- The Death of the Master by Patrick Kyle (Koyama Press)
Multnomah County Library
Best Books of 2019
- Algernon Blackwood’s The Willows by Algernon Blackwood adapted by Nathan Carson, illustrated by Sam Ford (Floating World Comics)