Well hello everyone! With Christmas behind us and only a few days until New Years we have decided to start a tradition of award giving here on Stack in the Stacks that we are calling: Top of the Stacks- essentially the books that were our favorites in any given genre. We have also sought to be inclusive in both our selections and categories. We are not limiting our list to 2019 releases either. If we read it this year, it is in the running for a Top of the Stacks Award.
So, without further ado, on with the show!
Favorite Contemporary
Haley’s Pick- A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum
Emily’s Pick: This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
Honorable Mention: How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper
Favorite Debut
Haley’s Pick: Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
Emily’s Pick: A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum
Honorable Mentions: Well Met by Jen DeLuca; Little Darlings by Melanie Golding
Favorite Dystopian
Haley’s Pick: Red Clocks by Leni Zumas
Emily’s Pick: Red Rising by Pierce Brown
Honorable Mentions: The Line Between by Tosca Lee
Favorite Fantasy
Haley’s Pick: The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
Emily’s Pick: Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay
Honorable Mentions: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik; Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey; The Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger
Favorite Historical Fiction
Haley’s Pick: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Emily’s Pick: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
Honorable Mentions: This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger
Favorite Horror
Big Press: Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
Small/Indie Press: A Place for Sinners by Aaron Dries
Honorable Mentions: Ration by Cody T. Luff; Inspection by Josh Malerman; The Hatching by Ezekiel Boone
Favorite LGBTQIA+ Read
Haley’s Pick: Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Emily’s Pick: The Binding by Bridget Collins
Favorite Literary Fiction
Haley’s Pick: The Secret History by Donna Tartt
Emily’s Pick: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Favorite Mystery
Haley’s Pick: The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware
Emily’s Pick: A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn
Honorable Mentions: The Last by Hannah Jameson
Favorite Nonfiction
Haley’s Pick: Rough Magic: Riding the World’s Loneliest Horse Race by Lara Prior-Palmer
Emily’s Pick: The Sound of Gravel by Ruth Wariner
Honorable Mentions: Leaving the Witness: Exiting a Religion and Finding a Life by Amber Scorah; Bad Blood by John Carreyrou
Favorite OwnVoices Novel
Haley’s Pick: Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
Emily’s Pick: The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Honorable Mentions: Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia; Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse; Severance by Ling Ma
Favorite Romance
Haley’s Pick: The Bride Test by Helen Hoang
Emily’s Pick: Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan
Honorable Mentions: Things You Save In A Fire by Katherine Center; One Day in December by Josie Silver; Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
Favorite Science Fiction
Haley’s Pick: Recursion by Blake Crouch
Emily’s Pick: Binti by Nnedi Okorafor
Honorable Mentions: The Need by Helen Phillips
Favorite Thriller
Psychological Thriller
Haley’s Pick: The Arrangement by Robyn Harding
Emily’s Pick: Final Girls by Riley Sager
Honorable Mention: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides; The Chain by Adrian McKinty; Escape Room by Megan Goldin; The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond; The Wives by Tarryn Fisher; The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell
Survival Thriller
Haley’s Pick - Wicked River by Jenny Milchman
Haley’s Honorable Mention: Into the Jungle by Erica Ferencick; The River at Night by Erica Ferencick; The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
Best Audiobook
Haley’s Pick: Passengers by John Marss
Emily’s Pick: Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
What About You?
Do you have any favorites that we missed? Have you read hany of our favorites? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
There are some books I’ve read and loved on your list. Plus some I still want to read.
Too fun! A lot on here that I want to read like Daisy Jones and Imaginary Friend.
-Lauren
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