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Smithsonian Magazine Best Books of the Year 2019

Smithsonian Magazine Best Books of the Year 2019 names 50 books across 5 categories. 10 of them also won or were shortlisted for an award.

Children's

  1. A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood by Fred Rogerssource (opens in a new tab)
  2. A Wild Child's Guide to Endangered Animals by Millie Marottasource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Dr. Seuss's Horse Museum by Dr. Seusssource (opens in a new tab)
  4. If I Built a School by Chris Van Dusensource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Magic Ramen by Andrea Wangsource (opens in a new tab)
  6. My Tiny Pet by Jessie Hartlandsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Parker Looks Up by Parker Currysource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Planting Stories by Anika Aldamuy Denisesource (opens in a new tab)
  9. The Very Short, Entirely True History of Unicorns by Sarah Laskowsource (opens in a new tab)
  10. United Tastes of America by Gabrielle Langholtzsource (opens in a new tab)

Food

  1. Burn the Place by Iliana Regansource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Drive-Thru Dreams by Adam Chandlersource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Hungry by Jeff Gordiniersource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Indian-Ish by Priya Krishnasource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Jubilee by Toni Tipton-Martinsource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Mastering Spice by Lior Lev Sercarzsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Notes from a Young Black Chef by Kwame Onwuachisource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Red Meat Republic by Joshua Spechtsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. Signature Dishes That Matter by Pat Noursesource (opens in a new tab)
  10. The Fate of Food by Amanda Littlesource (opens in a new tab)

History

  1. American Radicals by Holly Jacksonsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. How to Hide an Empire by Daniel Immerwahrsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Lakota America by Pekka Hamalainensource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Policing the Open Road by Sarah A. Seosource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Spying on the South by Tony Horwitzsource (opens in a new tab)
  6. The Cigarette by Sarah Milovsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. The Ghosts of Eden Park by Karen Abbottsource (opens in a new tab)
  8. The Season by Kristen Richardsonsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. They Were Her Property by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogerssource (opens in a new tab)
  10. Thomas Paine and the Clarion Call for American Independence by Harlow Giles Ungersource (opens in a new tab)

Science

  1. Eating the Sun by Ella Frances Sanderssource (opens in a new tab)
  2. End of the Megafauna by Ross D E MacPheesource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Extraordinary Insects by Anne Sverdrup-Thygesonsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perezsource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Origins by Lewis Dartnellsource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Superior by Angela Sainisource (opens in a new tab)
  7. The Body by Bill Brysonsource (opens in a new tab)
  8. The End of Ice by Dahr Jamailsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. The First Cell by Azra Razasource (opens in a new tab)
  10. The Reality Bubble by Ziya Tongsource (opens in a new tab)

Travel

  1. Airline Maps by Mark Ovendensource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Around the World in 80 Trains by Monisha Rajeshsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Fierce Beauty by Eric Meolasource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Great Cities Through Travelers' Eyes by Peter Furtadosource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Literary Places by Sarah Baxtersource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Mud and Stars by Sara Wheelersource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Travel Anywhere by Jeralyn Gerba and Pavia Rosatisource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Underground by Will Huntsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. Underland by Robert Macfarlanesource (opens in a new tab)
  10. Wayfinding by M. R. O'Connorsource (opens in a new tab)

About the Smithsonian Magazine Best Books of the Year

Smithsonian magazine's year-end "Ten Best" subject lists, one category per list: History, Science, Travel, Food and Children's for 2017-2025, and Photography for 2017 and 2020-2025. Each list has ten books; none is ranked. The 2018 and 2019 best-books hubs link no photography list, so those years have none. robots.txt allows all agents, but Cloudflare blocks scripted fetches of smithsonianmag.com, so pages were read from copies. 2017-2019 lists and all Photography lists come from Wayback Machine copies of the Smithsonian articles. 2020-2025 History, Science, Travel, Food and Children's lists come from booklisti.com, which copies each article's full list and links back to it. 2024 History was checked against the Smithsonian article itself: booklisti adds an 11th book, Jon Grinspan's Wide Awake, which the article only mentions in its intro, so it is left out. 2017-2019 articles name books only through Amazon widgets. Their titles drop Amazon's subtitles and series tags, and their authors are Open Library's first-listed author for the linked ISBN (co-authors and illustrators dropped). Exceptions: two 2019 Science authors come from the article text (both linked to Kindle editions), and three Photography books whose heading names no author use a retailer listing (Sneaker Freaker: Simon Wood) or Open Library (I'm So Happy You Are Here: Pauline Vermare; Life Dances On: Robert Frank). booklisti titles and authors are kept, with corporate credits (Atlas Obscura, Britannica) and degree suffixes dropped and three all-caps entries fixed against Open Library. Not included: 2014-2016, where the Wayback Machine has only scattered lists; the Smithsonian scholars' favorite-books roundups, which are staff picks; and one-off gift guides.

Organization: Smithsonian magazine. Official site (opens in a new tab)

The most recommended books of 2019