Press release

Amazon Announces the Best Books of 2019 So Far

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(NASDAQ: AMZN)–Today, Amazon announced its selections for the Best
Books of the Year So Far, naming Elizabeth Gilbert’s novel City of
Girls the top pick overall. Over the course of the year, the Amazon
Books editorial team reads hundreds of thousands of pages of new
releases to select the Best Books of the Month as well as the Best Books
of the Year So Far and, at the end of the year, the Best Books of the
Year. The annual list features the Top 20 books of the year, published
between January and June 2019, as well as top picks across various
categories, including literary fiction, mystery and thriller, biography,
children’s, and young adult. To explore the full list visit: www.amazon.com/bestbookssofar.

“We love selecting the Best Book of the Year So Far,” said Sarah Gelman,
Editorial Director, Amazon Books. “We’ve read so many great books this
year – a heart-wrenching memoir of loss, an intoxicating novel of a ’70s
rock band, a psychological thriller worthy of Agatha Christie
comparisons, and so much more. But one book stood out for us, Elizabeth
Gilbert’s City of Girls. It has so many elements that make
reading fun – the sparkle of youth, indiscretions, sassy characters, and
freedom in a city that doesn’t sleep – perfect summer reading in our
book.”

“What a delight and a joy, to have earned this great accolade! It’s my
understanding that they see a lot of books at Amazon, so this is a
particularly delicious honor,” said Elizabeth Gilbert, author of City
of Girls. “Thank you for loving City of Girls, and for
bringing it to the world’s attention. I’m truly grateful and thrilled.”

Elizabeth Gilbert’s novel City of Girls was also named the Best
Book of June by the Amazon Books editors. It joins previous Best Books
of the Year So Far picks that include Tara Westover’s Educated, Arundhati
Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness, Hope Jahren’s Lab
Girl, Helen Macdonald’s H Is for Hawk, and Adam Begley’s Updike.

The Amazon Books editors’ picks for the first 10 of the Best Books of
the Year So Far are:

     

1)

 

City of Girls: A Novel by Elizabeth Gilbert
(Riverhead Books): It’s the 1940s, and the frivolous and
fun-loving Vivian Morris arrives in New York with the goal of
“becoming someone interesting” (and in short order she is, but for
all the wrong reasons). The latest novel by the author of Eat,
Pray, Love is bawdy, big-hearted, and wise.

To listen to an interview with Elizabeth Gilbert about City of
Girls, visit the Amazon
Book Review.

2)

The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides (Celadon
Books): While we’re only halfway through the year, this debut
thriller with the twistiest of endings may be the thriller
of 2019.

Visit the Amazon
Book Review to read an interview with Alex Michaelides.

3)

Once More We Saw Stars: A Memoir by Jayson Greene
(Knopf): In the face of unimaginable tragedy, they say the
only way out is through. That’s exactly what Greene learns when
his daughter dies from a freak accident. This emotional memoir
shines a beacon of light in the darkest of places.

Visit the Amazon
Book Review to read a feature piece by Jayson Greene on
writing about grief.

4)

Mrs. Everything: A Novel by Jennifer Weiner
(Atria Books): Sweeping in its personal and political scope,
this tale of two sisters is a multi-layered and very moving story
for the #MeToo era, one that traces how far women have come, and
how far we have yet to go. Weiner’s most ambitious novel yet.

Visit the Amazon
Book Review to read a feature interview with Jennifer Weiner.

5)

The Night Tiger: A Novel by Yangsze Choo
(Flatiron Books): Supple and powerful, like the predator that
stalks the shadows of Choo’s ensnaring tale, this historical novel
set in 1930s Malaysia swirls around a strong-minded apprentice
dressmaker and a young houseboy whose destinies collide as they
both search for a very unlucky mummified human finger.

Visit the Amazon
Book Review to read a feature interview with Yangsze Choo.

6)

Daisy Jones & The Six: A Novel by Taylor
Jenkins Reid (Ballantine Books): Presented as a series of
interviews, this novel about a young, captivating singer who came
of age in the late ’60s/early ’70s will leave you thinking that
Daisy Jones & The Six really existed.

Visit the Amazon
Book Review to read why Taylor Jenkins Reid wrote the book the
way she did.

7)

Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert
Macfarlane (W.W. Norton & Company): A one-of-a-kind book, Underland
explores the universe beneath our feet, diving into catacombs,
caves, and the land under Greenland’s shrinking ice cap to delve
into the darker recesses of our imaginations—a place where
artists, adventurers, and criminals have traveled, willingly and
otherwise.

Visit the Amazon
Book Review to read the Best of the Month review of Underland.

8)

The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and
Everything That Comes After by Julie Yip-Williams
(Random House): Julie Yip-Williams’ beautiful memoir
speaks to one of our greatest fears, that we would be diagnosed
with a terminal disease, and to our greatest hope, which is that
we could face life straight on, fully, without squinting, and live
each day with honesty, ambition, and true feeling.

Visit the Amazon
Book Review to read the Best of the Month review of The
Unwinding of the Miracle.

9)

Save Me the Plums: My Gourmet Memoir by Ruth
Reichl (Random House): Save Me the Plums chronicles how
food writer Ruth Reichl came to be editor-in-chief of the magazine
she’d pored over as a child, how she transformed it from a stuffy
relic of the old guard into a publication that embraced a new
culinary era, and how Gourmet magazine met its end. A
memoir to savor.

To listen to an interview with Ruth Reichl about Save Me the
Plums, visit the Amazon
Book Review Podcast.

10)

Cari Mora: A Novel by Thomas Harris (Grand
Central Publishing): Thomas Harris’ harrowing new novel of
greed and survival, Cari Mora is as cinematic as one might
expect (and hope for), charged with smugglers and lawmen, gruesome
deaths, and deceit that crisscrosses the ocean between Colombia
and Miami. Harris is a masterful storyteller who knows exactly how
to get under our skin and into our heads.

Visit the Amazon
Book Review to read the Best of the Month review of Cari
Mora.

The top pick in the children’s category is:

The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan
Gemeinhart (Henry Holt and Co.): An unforgettable middle
grade novel about a girl and her father on a cross-country journey, the
people they meet, and how they find their way home again. This is a book
young readers won’t want to miss. Coyote’s story is wise, funny, and
holds onto your heart long after you’ve read the final page.

To see the complete list of the Best Books of the Year So Far, and to
purchase for Kindle or in print, visit www.amazon.com/bestbookssofar
or visit an Amazon Books location near you, www.amazon.com/stores.

For more coverage of the books featured on the Best Books of the Year So
Far list, as well as insightful reviews on new books, author interviews,
and roundups in popular categories, visit the Amazon Book Review, www.amazonbookreview.com,
and the Amazon Book Review Podcast, www.amazonbookreview.com/tag/podcast.

About Amazon

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excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping,
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are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more
information, visit www.amazon.com/about and
follow @AmazonNews.