2019 Reading Challenge: Read a Book Published in 2019

In 2019, OPL invites patrons to take part in the reading challenge! Each month, OPL will highlight a theme and offer suggestions for titles to read or listen to. As you’re working through the challenge, feel free to tag @omahalibrary on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook to let us know which read you picked up this month!

Now that we’re in month nine of this year (where has the time gone?), it’s time to explore some of the great books published so far in 2019 to compete the “read a book published in 2019” challenge.

While it would be much too time-consuming to list every one of the thousands of new titles we have and will be adding to the library’s collection this year, I will highlight a few to help you work your way through this challenge. 

If you’re lucky or patient enough to get your hands on bestsellers or popular titles, some of the most checked out titles so far this year include: 

The Silent Patient” by Alex Michaelides
Daisy Jones & the Sixby Taylor Jenkins Reid
An Anonymous Girl” by Greer Hendricks
Zoo Nebraska” by Carson Vaughan
Women Rowing North” by Mary Pipher

Self-improvement and motivational nonfiction works have been very popular lately. Some available now or soon are:

1000+ Little Things Happy, Successful People Do Differently” by Marc and Angel Chernoff
Brave, Not Perfect” by Reshma Suajani
The Algebra of Happiness” by Scott Galloway
Be Fearless” by Jean Case

With Michelle Obama’s memoir “Becoming” being reported as the best-selling book of 2018, other autobiographies, biographies and memoirs are trending this year, too. Here are a few to consider:

Dapper Dan Made in Harlem” by Daniel R. Day
More Than Enough” by Elaine Welteroth
How We Fight for Our Lives” by Saeed Jones
A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee” by Danny Fingeroth
Here We Are: American Dreams, American Nightmares, opens a new window” by Aarti Namdev Shahani  

A few more titles out now or coming out later this year that you could put on your hold list include “Motherhood So White” by Nefertiti Austin, “Fair Play” by Eve Rodsky, “The Queens of Animation” by Nathalia Holt, “The Ghosts of Eden Park” by Karen Abbott, “The Starless Sea” by Erin Morgenstern (the author’s first book since her huge debut Night Circus), “Cold Storage” by David Koepp, “After the Flood” by Kassandra Montag (a Nebraska author!), “Nothing to See Here” by Kevin Wilson, “The Topeka School” by Ben Lerner, “The Right Swipe” by Alilsha Rai, and “Royal Holiday” by Jasmine Guillory.


Be sure to also check on these titles in multiple formats. OPL buys many popular titles in audiobook and we stand by the statement that listening to an audiobook is not cheating -- it's reading! 

This titles are compiled in this list if you want a resource to reference. If none of these strike you as interesting, simply browse our new and on order 2019 titles in the catalog, using the filters on the left-hand side to narrow in on what you like.

As you’re working through the challenge, feel free to tag @omahalibrary on Twitter or Instagram to let us know what book you’re reading to kick off the 2019 Reading Challenge!