{"id":31641,"date":"2019-11-21T08:00:12","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T13:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=31641"},"modified":"2019-11-21T08:00:12","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T13:00:12","slug":"the-holiday-202019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=31641","title":{"rendered":"The Holiday 20 for 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>My annual task of producing The Holiday 20, DDG’s annotated picks of the season, 20 books in 10 different categories, is such a longstanding annual tradition that even writing about the\u00a0task here in ShelfTalker has become a bit of a seasonal tradition. Danger lurks therefore. In treading back over familiar ground one might easily step upon the toes of the past if one doesn’t take care. Glancing back I see that I have previously compared the task of sifting through the year’s books for the Holiday 20 to such things as cleaning out the attic and preparing for a long hike. This year will be different, though, because it is ironically all about being haunted by differences. Indeed, The Ghost of Holidays 20 Past has joined us to hold me accountable for how this year’s list has parted ways with its forebears.
\n
\nThe Ghost of Holidays 20 Past: <\/span>Behold. I have come forth to upbraid you.
\nKenny:<\/span> I stand ready to be rebuked.
\nThe Ghost of Holidays 20 Past: <\/span>You have chosen 4 fiction books and only 2 nonfiction. This is an odious spurning of tradition! In the past it has always been 2 and 2.
\nKenny:<\/span>\u00a0True, though one year it was really 3 and 1 because I listed The Magicians<\/em> by Lev Grossman under nonfiction for fun and also because I couldn’t pare the novels down to 2.
\nThe Ghost of Holidays 20 Past: <\/span>That was a dastardly deed, but not so odious as your actions this year, for in the prior case you still respected the basic structure of the gift guide.
\n\"\"<\/a>Kenny:<\/span>\u00a0Honestly, oh Ghost of Holidays 20 Past,\u00a02019 was such a strong year for fiction that I truly struggled in paring it down to 4. I was stuck at 5 for some considerable time. Ninth House, Hollow Kingdom<\/em>, and Starless Sea<\/em> were all musts, and I struggled mightily between A Hero Born<\/em> and Recursion<\/em> just to keep it at 4. Sigh.
\nThe Ghost of Holidays 20 Past:<\/span> I’m still appalled and what say you to not having a Cookbook section this year and bundling Humor, Gift and Coffee Table into one section. I’m surprised that you can walk upon the ground and not be galled to the quick\u00a0by the shame of it.
\nKenny:<\/span>\u00a0Something had to give, what with the extra fiction and also, truth to say, It seemed more important to me to find space for Ross Gay’s marvelous Book of Delights<\/em>, and Julia Drake’s sublime The Last True Poets of the Sea<\/em> than cleaving to a Cookbook section.
\nThe Ghost of Holidays 20 Past:<\/span> Ah yes, I noted that you slipped Julia’s book under Maine Interest to salve your conscience for having overloaded Young Adult.
\n\"\"<\/a>Kenny:<\/span>\u00a0Guilty indeed, but I feel more guilty for having left off so many outstanding YA and Middle Grade titles. There was such a rich trove to choose from that full justice was impossible. No Jackpot<\/em>, or Wilder Girls<\/em>, or Slay, Lovely War<\/em> or Malamander<\/em> or Dead Voices<\/em> or yet other books I’ve loved this year. It is galling. Still, if I can paraphrase Brandoch Daha “Blame us not overmuch, dear Ghost of Holidays 20 past. Who shoots at the mid-day sun, though he be sure he shall never hit the mark, yet as sure he is he shall shoot higher than who aims but at a bush.” And that was indeed my aim to do my best even if that meant bending tradition a bit.
\nThe Ghost of Holidays 20 Past:<\/span> Bah. Hmmn, well perhaps I Bah too much. Yet do not let this variance from tradition become a tradition, Kenny.
\nKenny:<\/span>\u00a0We shall see, and in the meantime here is the full list of this year’s titles.<\/p>\n

DDG’s Holiday 20<\/u><\/strong><\/h1>\n

Fiction:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Ninth House \u00a0<\/strong>By Leigh Bardugo<\/em>
\nPublisher: Flatiron
\nHollow Kingdom <\/strong>By Kira Jane Buxton
\n<\/em>Publisher: Grand Central
\nA Hero Born <\/strong>By Jin Yong
\n<\/em>Publisher: St. Martin’s
\nStarless Sea <\/strong>By Erin Morgenstern
\n<\/em>Publisher: Doubleday<\/span><\/p>\n

Humor, Gift and Coffee Table:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

This Book Is Literally Just Pictures of Cute Animals That Will Make You Feel Better <\/strong>By Smith Street Books
\n<\/em>Publisher: Smith Street Books
\nThe Book of Delight\u00a0<\/strong>By Ross Gay
\n<\/em>Publisher: Algonquin
\nYe Olde Cat Memes <\/strong>By Eulalie Osgood Grover
\n<\/em>Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
\nMorning Glory on the Vine <\/strong>By Joni Mitchell
\n<\/em>Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt<\/p>\n

Young Adult and Middle Grade:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As Many Nows As I Can Get <\/strong>By Shana Youngdahl
\n<\/em>Publisher: Dial
\n<\/span>
\nKlawde: Evil Alien Warlord Cat #1<\/strong> By Johnny Marciano, Emily Chenoweth, Robb Mommaerts (Illustrator)
\n<\/em>Publisher: Penguin Workshop
\nCharlie Thorne and the Last Equation <\/strong>By Stuart Gibbs
\n<\/em>Publisher: Simon and Schuster
\nA Treason of Thorns <\/strong>By Laura E. Weymouth
\n<\/em>Publisher: HarperTeen<\/p>\n

Non-Fiction:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

How To: Absurd Scientific Advice for Common Real-World Problems <\/strong>By Randall Munroe
\n<\/em>Publisher: Riverhead ooks
\nA Woman of No Importance <\/strong>By Sonia Purnell
\n<\/em>Publisher: Viking<\/span><\/p>\n

Maine Interest:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

When You Find My Body: The Disappearance of Geraldine Largay on the Appalachian Trail <\/strong>By D. Dauphinee
\n<\/em>Publisher: Down East
\nThe Last True Poets of the Sea <\/strong>By Julia Drake
\n<\/em>Publisher: Disney-Hyperion<\/p>\n

Picture Book:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fox and the Box <\/strong>By Yvonne Ivinson
\n<\/em>Publisher: Greenwillow
\nDragon Night<\/strong> By J.R. Krause
\n<\/em>Publisher: Putnam<\/p>\n

Holiday Books:<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Dasher <\/strong>By Matt Tavares
\n<\/em>Publisher: Candlewick
\nThe Crayons’ Christmas <\/strong>By Drew Daywalt, Oliver Jeffers (Illustrator)
\n<\/em>Publisher: Penguin Workshop
\nIf anyone would like to see the the full Holiday 20, reviews included, it is here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ghost of Holidays 20 Past holds this year’s book picks to account.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31641\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}