The book reading routine I was accustomed to six years ago is nearly unobtainable at this present time. However, I did manage to read quite a few thick books both in content and page count. Here is a short list of 12 books read in 2019:
- Amusing Ourselves to Death, Neil Postman
- Bright Moon, White Clouds: Selected Poems of Li Po
- The Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway
- Facing the Moon, Li Bai and Du Fu
- Hamlet, William Shakespeare
- Julius Caesar, William Shakespeare
- Lament for a Son, Nicholas Wolterstorff
- Macbeth, William Shakespeare
- My Antonia, Willa Cather
- The Poems of T. S. Eliot
- The Republic, Plato
- Total Truth, Nancy Pearcey
This is not a complete list. And a few of the books were a second reading. It is safe to say, there is not a single book on my reading list that appears in the best books of 2019 lists of Chicago Review of Books, the Guardian, Washington Post, or the New Yorker.
Whether poetry or play, novel or nonfiction, these 12 books are recommended. Which of these books is my favorite? Some of these books challenged ideas, disturbed my understanding of the cosmos, and lead to changes in my life. But which is my favorite?
Coffeehouse Junkie 