Is there any better season for reading than autumn? Maybe you can still sit outside, but you might need a cozy blanket or a cup of tea. Maybe it’s raining and you curl up with a good book by the window. Or maybe it’s an indian summer and you can still lay out in the sun. Whatever the case, half the year has passed and we can see what people have been reading so far this year. 

Publishers weekly just released their list of top selling books. President Barack Obama gave us his best summer reads of 2019! And I stopped by the British chain Waterstones and indie book seller Brick Lane Bookshop to see what was at the top of their lists! So if you still don’t have any books lines up for fall, you might find some here. Or follow my Journey around the world in books, where every month I choose to read authors from different countries! I’ve already had some amazing reads from Ireland, China,  and The Philippines!

Publishers weekly

1. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
2. Becoming by Michelle Obama
3. Girl, Stop Apologizing by Rachel Hollis 
4. Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis 
5. Educated by Tara Westover 
6. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
7. Unfreedom of the Press by Mark R. Levin
8. Howard Stern Comes Again by Howard Stern 
9. You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero 
10. The Mueller Report by the Washington Post 
11. StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath
12. It’s Not Supposed to Be This Way by Lysa Terkeurst
13. The Woman In the Window by A.J. Finn
14. The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
15. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson 
16. The Mister by E.L. James
17. The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman
18. The Lost Girls of Paris by Pam Jenoff
19. The Pioneers by David McCullough
20. Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Where the Crawdads sing has been embraced by most celebrities, bookbloggers and book clubs and reigns at the top of the bestseller list with over a million copies sold. (I personally tried it and could not get into it, maybe I’ll try again at some later time.) A close second is the praised book by Michelle Obama (and for good reason, the book is amazing!) Rachel Hollis has 2 books on the list! (You go girl!) and I have personally just started listening to Girl, wash your face. Just four chapters in and I’m hooked! Added her on instagram for a daily dose too!

President Obama’s summer reading list 2019

The last couple of years President Barack Obama has been sharing in August what he has read during the summer, and if you’re in doubt about what to pick up during the fall, his list is usually pretty epic.

Waterstones

1. Once upon a river by Diane Setterfield
2. The Wych Elm by Tana French
3. The Handmaid’s tale by Margaret Atwood
4. The Last by Hanna Jameson
5. Normal people by Sally Rooney
6. Mythos by Stephen Fry
7. Heroes by Stephen Fry
8. Nine perfect strangers by Liane Moriarty
9. The tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
10. The confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
11. In a house of lies by Ian Rankin
12. The silence of the girls by Pat Barker
13. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
14. A spark of light by Jodi Picoult
15. Paris Echo by Sebastian Faulks
16. The man who didn’t call by Rosie Walsh
17. Middle England by Jonathan Coe
18. Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine by Gail Honeyman
19. The Librarian of Auschwitz by Antonio Iturbe
20. A keeper by Graham Norton

Waterstones also has a countdown for the release of The Testaments by Margaret Atwood. The follow up to The Handmaid’s tale finally arrives, 34 years later. It’ going to hit the bestseller list for sure! Look out – September 10 it’s out!

Brick Lane Bookshop Bestsellers July

1. Normal People by Sally Rooney
2. Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney
3. Still Worlds Turning by No Alibis Press
4. This is Not a Drill by Extinction Rebellion
5. Factfulness by Hans Rosling
6. The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker
7. This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay
8. American Marriage by Tayari Jones
9. Just Kids by Patti Smith
10. On Earth We’re Briefly Georgeous by Ocean Vuong
11. The Gentle Art of Tramping by Stephen Graham
12. The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
13. Milkman by Anna Burns
14. Everything I know about love by Dolly Alderton 
15. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F**k by Mark Manson
16. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
17. The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang
18. Circe by Madeline Miller
19. How to Be Right by James O’Brien
20. English is Not Easy by Luci Guiterrez

Sally Rooney grabs the two top spots at the indie bookseller Brick Lane Bookshop in London. We see some of the same books as the chains have, but not all.

I’m still on my literary journey around the world and I will be reading books from Norway, India, Nigeria and Italy the rest of the year. I’ve been wanting to watch My brilliant friend on HBO, but I’m waiting to read the book first! Hopefully I’ll be able to squeeze in a few books off these lists too! I especially have my eye on Sally Rooney, Tara Westover, Tayari Jones and Madeline Miller.