Travis Lueth

At the beginning of the year I set a goal of reading at least 10/pgs day, and of 24 books for the year. According to Goodreads, I've read 61 books so far this year. A number which, honestly, surprises even me. If you've talked to me this year, more than likely you've heard me talk about what I've read or what I was currently reading. But you're not here to listen to me talk about how many books I've read, you’re here to find out which ones I liked the most.

12. Cutting School by Noliwe Rooks

I originally started reading this book in 2018, but found myself getting so upset with what I was reading that I had to take a break. Rooks takes a retrospective look at the longhand of privatization in public education and the impact it has had, especially on people of color. If you have ever really wanted to understand exactly why there is so much pushback around charter schools, etc. this is the book to read. It’s also a handy introduction to how education was/is weaponized to disadvantage minority communities.

11. Red Rising Trilogy by Pierce Brown

This arc of books was one hundred percent my main, solely for pleasure read of the year. Brown constructed a grand and glorious sweeping space opera that just pushed all the right buttons from me. It's a broad, intricately constructed world inhabited by a wild variety of characters. An interesting look at the future of humanity, and the vicious cycles we continue to fall into.

10. The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

Rarely does a book catch me off guard, but The 57 Bus was one of those books. A true story, it follows the twin narratives of two teens involved in a horrific incident on a public bus in Oakland. One telling us the story of the victim, one the story of the perpetrator. But overall it's a story of the challenges we face in this world, the unfairness of it all, and how some people work to look past that and help one another. This is a book so powerful that I've often told people that if everyone read it, we might finally be able to start working on getting ourselves back on track.

9. They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera

Set in a semi-futuristic world in which you get a phone call on the day you will die, Silvera drags you into a heart wrenching story of star-crossed lovers far more compelling and relatable than Romeo and Juliet.

8. White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo

If you are white, this book is required reading. No matter how much you believe you understand racism and your role in it, you do not until you have read this. FULL STOP. This book connected the dots on a variety of disparate ideas in my mind, creating a vivid and fully conceived image of what white supremacy is, how it operates, and how it is no longer enough to be 'not a racist', but rather how now is the time to be anti-racist.

7. The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

I added The Grace Year to my classroom library based on a single, one line review. It did not disappoint. A fascinating YA tale that is equal parts Crucible, The Village, Hunger Games, Handmaids Tale, and Lord of The Flys, it makes for a gripping feminist parable. The Grace Year was riveting (I finished it in 24 hours) and all around enjoyable.

6. The Nyxia Trilogy by Scott Reintgen

When I was first writing notes for this post, I added this series and next to it I put "Like Avatar, but not dumb". A neatly concocted “triad” about a corporation that selects a group of teens to travel to a distant planet to help harvest a new material with incomprehensible powers. Of course, along the way a menagerie of lies and secrets are revealed. Reintgen gives us a fresh take on teens in space while also addressing some excellent underlying themes around exploitation of nature, colonialism, and many others.

5. Arc of The Scythe Trilogy by Neal Shusterman

Shusterman is no newbie to YA, having penned close to a dozen books, but Scythe (book one in the series) introduces us to a peculiar and fascinating future in which a benevolent singularity is essentially humanity's caretaker. In a world that has essentially eliminaed worry, fear, and death the only thing left to try to curb overpopulation is an elite group of humans called Scythes. The Scythes are responsible for choosing and 'gleaning' those who will die. This series is a fascinating take on a myriad of issues, and has underlying themes for days.

Disclaimer: I have not yet actually read the final installment of this series, "The Toll". However based on the quality of the first two books, and the lack of uproar from fans, I can only assume that it was a satisfying conclusion.

4. The Overstory by Richard Powers

Winner of a Pulitzer Prize and also a NYT best seller "The Overstory" is the only book I read this year that I would describe as fiction for adults. And not in an NC17/XXX kind of way. It is simultaneously a book about people and connections and also a book about trees, nature, and our inexcusable disregard for the natural world. Powers manages to neatly weave together the stories of 12 different characters into a menagerie of heart wrenching stories.

3. Where Do We Go From Here by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This book changed me. As a white boy who grew up firmly middle class, surrounded by mostly other white people, and went to predominantly white schools, you only get one version of history: Brown v Board made all schools equal and the Civil Rights movement made all people equal. This book was a giant plunge into undoing the American mythology around race relations, labor relations, and capitalism that I grew up with.

2. PET by Akwaeke Emezi

Man, this book straight up pulled the rug out from under me. A book that clearly understands that sometimes a straight line is the best way to tell the most important stories. I still don't really know how to talk about this book other than to just overenthusiasticly point and wave at it to try and get you to read it.

1. Deep Work by Cal Newport

This book absolutely changed the way I look at work, at focus, productivity, at my time, and how and where and to what I am applying myself. Newport makes the argument that our modern world, regardless of our field or career, has fractured our ability to focus on meaningful work for extended periods of time. And not just like 45 mins of interrupted work, but hours if not days of critical, focused attention on that which matters most to us. If you feel like you can never focus, never get anything done, or are constantly starting and stopping and getting distracted, then read this book.

I also read his follow up book, Digital Minimalism, which focused more on the personal life aspect of this philosophy, but it really should have been an additional set of chapters in Deep Work. Same principles, just different context.

If you made it this far, drop a note in the comments. Have you read any of these books? What did you think? What were your favorite books of 2019?