Fav Four Books of 2019
I am not a book critic.
I don’t know what’s new or hip or popular. I doubt I even have very good taste. But I do know what I like.
Here are my fav four of 2019.
Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz
I’ve always been a sucker for music biographies. But this one rises to the top, not just of my 2019 list, but into the upper regions of my all-time favorite rock books. The Beasties not only tell the behind-the-scenes story of the band — from their frat boy beginnings to their Tibetan monk enlightenment days — they actually spend a lot of time talking about the music itself, which is surprisingly rare in this genre. Mike D and Ad-Rock also give plenty of love to fallen member MCA. It’s too bad he’s not around to read it.
I’ve never been a huge fan of Moby. In fact, through much of the early 2000s, he seemed like kind of a weiner. But I picked up his memoir Porcelain and loved every second of it. Porcelain covers Moby’s early years, from his time as a Bible-class-teaching punk, right up until his breakout hit album, Play.
Then It Fell Apart picks up right where the first memoir left off. But instead of remaining the loveable underdog from the first book, Moby quickly becomes the self-absorbed, egotistical creep we’ve come to know and loathe. It’s a tough read; every time you think he can’t get any lower, he does. But props to Moby for owning up to his past. Here’s hoping he becomes a better person by the next memoir.
The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Marie Kondo
Bored and scrolling through the Libby app one night, I decided to download the Marie Kondo book. I’d heard a little bit about getting rid of stuff that doesn’t “spark joy” and I’d skipped through one episode of her Netflix series. But I didn’t know much more about her techniques.
I read the whole book in a day or two (it’s only around 100 pages.) Undeterred by this quote…
When we discard everything in one go, which sometimes means disposing of forty garbage bags or stuff in one day, our bodies may respond in a way that resembles a short fast. We may get a bout of diarrhea or break out with pimples. There is nothing wrong with this. Our bodies are just getting rid of toxins that have built up over the years.
…I got to work and Marie Kondo-ed all of the clothes in my closet. By the end, I had 2-3 garbage bags full of stuff to go to Deseret Industries.
Per her suggestion, when I put my clothes back on their hangers at the end of each night, I say stuff like, “Thanks, pants, for protecting my butt all day.” And then I giggle.
No diarrhea yet. But we still have a lot of tidying up left to do.
Dear Evan Hansen (the novel)
Val Emmich
As usual, I read a handful of YA books this year — The Haters, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, Leah on the Offbeat, Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda — all of which could generally be summed up with one word: Meh.
Dear Evan Hansen was much better. I cared about the characters (both living and dead) and enjoyed both the message and arc of the story. I’m not much for musicals, but I’d even be willing to see this one on stage.
I’m looking forward to the movie version. YA is the one genre that often seems to work as well, or better, on the big screen. I loved the film adaptations of Love Simon, Me Earl and the Dying Girl, Everything Everything, and The Sun is Also a Star.
Honorable Mentions
I also liked these:
- Congratulations, By the Way: Some Thoughts on Kindness by George Saunders
- Gorilla and the Bird: A Memoir of Madness and a Mother’s Love by Zack McDermott
- Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
- When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
