Brainstorm 196: Top 10s of 2019 Part 1

It is December, which means it is time for me to pick my favorite books I’ve read in 2019. Picking top 10s can be excruciating, just because I read a LOT of books. For example, today’s list features middle grade fiction lists, and I’ve read over 150 middle grade fiction books this year. So the books that manage to make the lists today were superb. I actually excluded graphic novels from some of these lists not because I don’t think graphic novels are amazing and on par with full text books, but because otherwise the graphic novels would dominate all the lists, and I wanted to share some other books too! Today we’ll look at my top 10s for middle grade, young adult nonfiction, adult nonfiction, and because I am in a school in Asia and always on the hunt for good Asian topics in books for our students, top biographies/memoirs of people of Asian heritage. The books are listed with my favorites on top in descending order, but often I’d be hard-pressed to pick between some of those next to each other. It’s just quite a feat to make it to this list. I had to cut some amazing titles. The majority of the books that made the list were published in 2018 or 2019, but there are some older ones I’ve read for the first time this year sprinkled in. All are books I’ve read in 2019. I've also limited my selections to books that are in the libraries at the school where I work or on order for them. Click on the book titles to read my reviews of the books.

Here are the top 10s planned for the coming weeks:
Dec 13: My amazing coworker, Elementary teaching librarian, Sarah Foit, will share her top 10s.
Dec 20: Top 10s of Picture Books & Lower Grade Fiction, plus top Asian characters
Dec 27: Top 10s of Young Adult & Adult Fiction, Christian Fiction & Nonfiction, and top Asian settings & Asian creators

Top 10 Middle Grade Science Fiction/Fantasy Books
(limited to only 1 book per series, graphic novels excluded to give others a chance)

Wundersmith: the Calling of Morrigan Crow (Nevermoor, #2) by Jessica Townsend

The Ark Plan (Edge of Extinction, #1) by Lauren Martin

We’re Not from Here by Geoff Rodkey

Wicked Nix by Lena Coakley, ill. by Jaime Zollars

The Knight’s Armor (Ministry of SUITs, #3) by Paul Gamble

A Problematic Paradox (Nikola Kross, #1) by Eliot Sappingfield

Sal & Gabi Break the Universe (Sal & Gabi, #1) by Carlos Hernandez

How to Tame a Human Tornado (The Genius Factor, #3) by Paul Tobin

Aru Shah and the Song of Death (Pandva Quartet, #2) by Roshani Chokshi

Seventh Grade vs the Galaxy by Joshua Levy

Top 10 Middle Grade Contemporary Fiction/Historical Fiction Books
(limited to only 1 book per series, graphic novels excluded to give others a chance)

The Vanderbeekers to the Rescue (Vanderbeekers, #3) by Karina Yan Glaser

Louisiana’s Way Home (Three Rancheros, #2) by Kate DiCamillo

Skylark and Wallcreeper by Anne O’Brien Carelli

The Mystery of Black Hollow Lane (Black Hollow Lane, #1) by Julia Nobel

Spy School British Invasion (Spy School, #7) by Stuart Gibbs

Charlie Thorne and the Last Equation (Charlie Thorne, #1) by Stuart Gibbs

How I Became a Spy: a Mystery of WWII London by Deborah Hopkinson

Lion Down (FunJungle, #5) by Stuart Gibbs

The Ambrose Deception by Emily Ecton

Lu (Track, #4) by Jason Reynolds

Middle Grade Fiction Graphic Novels/Manga/Comics
(limited to those published in 2018-2019)

Sanity & Tallulah (Sanity & Tallulah, #1) by Molly Brooks

The Singing Rock & Other Brand-New Fairy Tales by Nathaniel Lachenmeyer, ill. by Simini Blocker

Nico Bravo and the Hound of Hades (Nico Bravo, #1) by Mike Cavallaro

Sea Sirens (A Trot & Cap’n Bill Adventure, #1) by Amy Chu, ill. by Janet K. Lee

New Kid by Jerry Craft

Invasion of the Scuttlebots (Star Scouts, #3) by Mike Lawrence

Snug Harbor Stories (Wallace the Brave, #2) by Will Henry

Pilu of the Woods by Mai K. Nguyen

Quantum Mechanics by Jeff Weigel

This Was Our Pact by Ryan Andrews

Top 10 Middle Grade/Young Adult Nonfiction Books
(limited to those published in 2018-2019, limited to 1 per series, graphic novels excluded)

Spooked!: How a Radio Broadcast and the War of the Worlds Sparked the 1938 Invasion of America by Gail Jarrow

We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls around the World by Malala Yousafzai with Liz Welch

Beneath the Waves by Lily Murray, ill. by Helen Ahnpornsiri

Ski Soldier: a WWII Biography by Louise Borden

Sea Otter Heroes: the Predators That Saved an Ecosystem by Patricia Newman

The Secrets of Tutankhamun: Egypt’s Boy King and His Incredible Tomb by Patricia Cleveland-Peck, ill. by Isabel Greenberg

My Family Divided: One Girl’s Journey of Home, Loss, and Hope by Dianne Guerrero with Erica Moroz

Maya Lin: Thinking With Her Hands by Susan Goldman Rubin

The Sound of Silence: Growing up Hearing with Deaf Parents by Myron Uhlberg

Code Girls: the True Story of the American Women Who Secretly Broke Codes in World War II by Liza Mundy, adapted by Laurie Calkhoven

Top 10 Middle Grade/Young Adult Nonfiction Graphic Novels/Manga/Comics
(limited to those published in 2018-2019)

Guts (Smile, #3) by Raina Telgemeier

Best Friends (Real Friends, #2) by Shannon Hale, ill. by LeUyen Pham

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, ill. by Harmony Becker

The Unwanted: the Story of Syrian Refugees by Don Brown

The Bridge: How the Roeblings Connected Brooklyn to New York by Peter J. Tomasi, ill. by Sara DuVall

The Life of Frederick Douglass: a Graphic Narrative of an Extraordinary Life by David F. Walker, ill. by Damon Smyth & Marissa Louise

Charlotte Brontë Before Jane Eyre by Glynnis Fawkes

Irena Book One: Wartime Ghetto by Jean-David Moravn, Séverine Tréfouël, ill. by David Evrard

Rocket to the Moon (Big Ideas That Changed the World, #1) by Don Brown

Birding Is My Favorite Video Game by Rosemary Mosco

Top 10 Adult Nonfiction Books
(excluding graphic novels, excluding Christian nonfiction which will have its own list)

Vanishing: the World’s Most Vulnerable Animals (The Photo Ark) by Joel Sartore

The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives edited by Viet Thanh Nguyen

The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick by Mallory O’Meara

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals about Death by Caitlin Doughty

The White Darkness: One Man’s Perilous Quest to Cross Antarctica in the Footsteps of Shackleton by David Grann

How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems by Randall Munroe

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

The Woman Who Smashed Codes: a True Story of Love, Spies, and the Unlikely Heroine Who Outwitted America’s Enemies by Jason Fagone

Bandersnatch: C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and the Creative Collaboration of the Inklings by Diana Palvac Glyer, ill. by James A. Owen

Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That’ll Improve and/or Ruin Everything by Kelly & Zach Weinersmith

Top 10 Biographies/Autobiographies/Memoirs of People of Asian Heritage
(*The person(s) of Asian heritage highlighted in the book and reason it was chosen for this list is/are listed below the title.)

Magic Ramen: the Story of Momofuku Ado by Andrea Wang, ill. by Kana Urbanowicz
*Momofuku Ado

Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix by Jacquelin Briggs Martin & Jun Jo Lee, ill. by Man One
*Roy Choi

The Displaced: Refugee Writers on Refugee Lives edited by Viet Thanh Nguyen
*Viet Thanh Nguyen, Thi Bui, Vu Tran, & Kao Kalia Yang

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, ill. by Harmony Becker
*George Takei

We Are Displaced: My Journey and Stories from Refugee Girls around the World by Malala Yousafzai with Liz Welch
*Malala Yousafzai & Ajida

Maya Lin: Thinking With Her Hands by Susan Goldman Rubin
*Maya Lin

Moth and Wasp, Soil and Ocean: Remembering Chinese Scientist Pu Zhelong’s Work for Sustainable Farming by Sigrid Shcmaltzer, ill. by Melanie Linden Chan
*Pu Zhelong

Let Her Fly: a Father’s Journey by Ziauddin Yousafzai with Louise Carpenter
*Ziauddin Yousafzai & his family

Birds, Art, Life, Death by Kyo Maclear
*Kyo Maclear & her mother

Honda: the Boy Who Dreamed of Cars by Mark Weston, ill. by Katie Yamasaki
*Soichiro Honda