Year-End Lists

Spin: The 10 Best Albums of 2019

[see also 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2012, 2011]

1. Big Thief — Two Hands
2. Purple Mountains — Purple Mountains
3. Lana Del Rey — Norman Fucking Rockwell!
4. Angel Olsen — All Mirrors
5. FKA twigs — Magdalene
6. Freddie Gibbs & Madlib — Bandana
7. Bill Orcutt — Odds Against Tomorrow
8. Mdou Moctar — Ilana (The Creator)
9. black midi — Schlagenheim
10. Ras G & The Afrikan Space Program — Dance of the Cosmos

Michael Phillips: The Best Movies of 2019, as published by The Chicago Tribune

[see also 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2011]

1. Parasite — Bong Joon-ho
2. Marriage Story — Noah Baumbach
3. Ash is Purest White — Jia Zhang-ke
4. Portrait of a Lady on Fire — Céline Sciamma
5. The Irishman — Martin Scorsese
6. One Child Nation — Nanfu Wang and Jialing Zhang
7. Waves — Trey Edward Shults
8. Present.Perfect. — Shengze Zhu
9. The Last Black Man in San Francisco — Joe Talbot
10. Little Women — Greta Gerwig

11-20, alphabetically

• Apollo 11 — Todd Douglas Miller
• Atlantics — Mati Diop
• Dolemite Is My Name — Craig Brewer
• The Farewell — Lulu Wang
• Knives Out — Rian Johnson
• Long Day's Journey Into Night — Bi Gan
• The Nightingale — Jennifer Kent
• Toy Story 4 — Josh Cooley
• Us — Jordan Peele
• The Wild Pear Tree — Nuri Bilge Ceylan

She Reads: The Best Books of 2019

Literary Fiction

• The Most Fun We Ever Had
  Claire Lombardo
• Queenie
  Candice Carty-Williams
• The Testaments
  Margaret Atwood
• On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
  Ocean Vuong
• Red at the Bone
  Jacqueline Woodson

Thrillers

• The Whisper Man
  Alex North
• The Chain
  Adrian McKinty
• The Lost Man
  Jane Harper
• The Silent Patient
  Alex Michaelides
• My Sister, the Serial Killer
  Oyinkan Braithwaite

Historical Fiction

• Daisy Jones & The Six
  Taylor Jenkins Reid
• The Huntress
  Kate Quinn
• Mrs. Everything
  Jennifer Weiner
• The Water Dancer
  Ta-Nehisi Coates
• The Night Tiger
  Yangsze Choo
• The Nickel Boys
  Colson Whitehead

Fantasy

• Gods of Jade and Shadow
  Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• The Ten Thousand Doors of January
  Alix E. Harrow
• The Red Scrolls of Magic
  Cassandra Clare
• Black Leopard, Red Wolf
  Marlon James

Romance

• The Bride Test
  Helen Hoang
• Love At First Like
  Hannah Orenstein
• The Wedding Party
  Jasmine Guillory
• The Girl He Used to Know
  Tracey Garvis Graves

Science Fiction

• Recursion
  Blake Crouch
• This Is How You Lose the Time War
  Amal el-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

Horror

• The Institute
  Stephen King
• Full Throttle
  Joe Hill
• Imaginary Friend
  Stephen Chbosky

Nonfiction

• Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
  Lori Gottlieb
• Three Women
  Lisa Taddeo
• Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love
  Dani Shapiro
• Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will to Survive
  Stephanie Land
• More Than Enough: Claiming Space for Who You Are (No Matter What They Say)
  Elaine Welteroth
• Know My Name
  Chanel Miller

Emily VanDerWerff: The 21 TV Shows that Explained the 2010s, as published by Vox

[see also 2019, 2018, 2017]

1. Nathan for You
2. BoJack Horseman
3. The Leftovers
4. The Americans
5. Halt and Catch Fire
6. Enlightened
7. Orange is the New Black
8. Adventure Time
9. Atlanta
10. Bob’s Burgers
11. Hannibal
12. Fleabag
13. Girls
13. Better Things
14. Mr. Robot
15. The Magicians
16. The Good Place
16. Superstore
17. One Day at a Time
18. Parenthood
19. American Crime Story
20. The Handmaid’s Tale
21. Game of Thrones

Honorable mentions

• 12 Monkeys
• Barry
• Bates Motel
• Better Call Saul
• Black-ish
• The Carmichael Show
• Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
• Hbomberguy
• Homeland
• Jane the Virgin
• Justified
• Key and Peele
• Manhattan
• Mom
• New Girl
• Person of Interest
• Rectify
• Sense8
• Silicon Valley
• Succession
• You’re the Worst

NME: The 50 Best Albums of 2019

[see also 2010s, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2012, 2011]

1. Billie Eilish — When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
2. Tyler, The Creator — IGOR
3. Lana Del Rey — Norman Fucking Rockwell!
4. slowthai — Nothing Great About Britain
5. Little Simz — GREY Area
6. FKA twigs — Magdalene
7. Fontaines D.C. — Dogrel
8. Michael Kiwanuka — Kiwanuka
9. Weyes Blood — Titanic Rising
10. Clairo — Immunity
11. Bring Me the Horizon — amo
12. Vampire Weekend — Father of the Bride
13. Slipknot — We Are Not Your Kind
14. Solange — When I Get Home
15. Foals — Part 1 Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost
16. Lizzo — Cuz I Love You
17. Dave — Psychodrama
18. The Chemical Brothers — No Geography
19. Amyl and The Sniffers — Amyl and The Sniffers
20. Post Malone — Hollywood's Bleeding
21. Kanye West — Jesus Is King
22. James Blake — Assume Form
23. AJ Tracey — AJ Tracey
24. Angel Olsen — All Mirrors
25. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds — Ghosteen
26. PUP — Morbid Stuff
27. Kano — Hoodies All Summer
28. JPEGMAFIA — All My Heroes Are Cornballs
29. Sharon Van Etten — Remind Me Tomorrow
30. Ariana Grande — thank u, next
31. Octo Octa — Resonant Body
32. Dessert Sessions — Vols. 11 & 12
33. Bon Iver — i,i
34. DIIV — Deceiver
35. Denzel Curry — ZUU
36. BTS — Map of the Soul: Persona
37. Stormzy — Heavy Is The Head
38. Sam Fender — Hypersonic Missiles
39. Orville Peck — Pony
40. Doja Cat — Hot Pink
41. Taylor Swift — Lover
42. Anderson .Paak — Ventura
43. Coldplay — Everyday Life
44. Maggie Rogers — Heard It In A Past Life
45. Madonna — Madame X
46. Sneaks — Highway Hypnosis
47. Charli XCX — Charli
48. Rex Orange County — Pony
49. Juice WRLD — Death Race for Love
50. The Japanese House — Good at Falling

Kristen Yoonsoo Kim: Favorite Films of 2019, as posted to Twitter, limited to films with U.S. distribution

1. Asako I & II — Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
2. Hotel by the River — Hong Sang-soo
3. Diamantino — Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt
4. Our Time — Carlos Reygadas
5. Ash is Purest White — Jia Zhang-ke
6. La Flor — Mariano Llinás
7. Richard Jewell — Clint Eastwood
8. Grass — Hong Sang-soo
9. High Life — Claire Denis
10. Long Day's Journey Into Night — Bi Gan

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky: The Best Films of 2019, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013]

1. Uncut Gems — Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
2. The Irishman — Martin Scorsese
3. Her Smell — Alex Ross Perry
4. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood — Quentin Tarantino
5. Transit — Christian Petzold
6. Ad Astra — James Gray
7. Under the Silver Lake — David Robert Mitchell
8. High Life — Claire Denis
9. Us — Jordan Peele
10. Ash is Purest White — Jia Zhang-ke
11. Knives Out — Rian Johnson
12. Parasite — Bong Joon-ho
13. Relaxer — Joel Potrykus
14. Waves — Trey Edward Shults
15. Long Day's Journey Into Night — Bi Gan

Vikram Murthi: The Best Films of 2019, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2018]

1. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood — Quentin Tarantino
2. Transit — Christian Petzold
3. The Irishman — Martin Scorsese
4. Under the Silver Lake — David Robert Mitchell
5. Uncut Gems — Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
6. Parasite — Bong Joon-ho
7. Give Me Liberty — Kirill Mikhanovsky
8. In My Room — Ulrich Köhler
9. The Souvenir — Joanna Hogg
10. Asako I & II — Ryûsuke Hamaguchi
11. Her Smell — Alex Ross Perry
12. High Flying Bird — Steven Soderbergh
13. Marriage Story — Noah Baumbach
14. Knives Out — Rian Johnson
15. The Day Shall Come — Christopher Morris

Via Negativa: Best Poetry Books of 2019, compiled from the responses of poets and bloggers who were asked for their favorite collections of the year

• Something Like Forgiveness
  Rebecca Schumejda
• A Machine for Remembering
  Justen Ahren
• Agringada: Like a gringa, like a foreigner
  Tariro Ndoro
• Space Struck
  Paige Lewis
• Gravity Assist
  Martha Silano
• tsunami vs. the fukushima 50
  Lee Ann Roripaugh
• Nightingale
  Paisley Rekdal
• Without Protection
  Gala Mukomolova
• Cyborg Detective
  Jillian Weise
• Soft Science
  Franny Choi
• Nobody
  Alice Oswald
• Saint Worm
  Hailey Leithauser
• come see about me, marvin
  Brian Gilmore
• Tap Out
  Edgar Kunz
• Lima :: Limón
  Natalie Scenters-Zapico
• Long River
  Yang Jian
• Dunce
  Mary Ruefle
• Deaf Republic
  Ilya Kaminsky
• Honeyfish
  Lauren K. Alleyne
• Battle Dress
  Karen Skolfield
• Hail and Farewell
  Abby E. Murray
• Scattered Clouds
  Reuben Jackson

Jesse Hassenger: The Best Films of 2019, as published by The A.V. Club

[see also 2018, 2017]

1. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood — Quentin Tarantino
2. Under the Silver Lake — David Robert Mitchell
3. The Irishman — Martin Scorsese
4. Parasite — Bong Joon-ho
5. Marriage Story — Noah Baumbach
6. Uncut Gems — Ben Safdie and Joshua Safdie
7. The Last Black Man in San Francisco — Joe Talbot
8. Knives Out — Rian Johnson
9. Slut in a Good Way — Sophie Lorain
10. Us — Jordan Peele
11. Luce — Julius Onah
12. Toy Story 4 — Josh Cooley
13. Little Women — Greta Gerwig
14. Gloria Bell — Sebastián Lelio
15. Portrait of a Lady on Fire — Céline Sciamma