I perused as many listicles as I could find announcing new book releases for 2019 and to save you time, I picked my own personal “standout titles” from each list.

My criteria for “standouts” are simple:

1. Is the book written by a writer of color?

2. Is the book written by a woman?

3. Is the story one that we readers have not yet heard before? AKA is this book another fun, typical crime thriller or does it have something totally new to offer us? I have nothing against genre reads, but I’d prefer to give this space to books that are doing something different. Genre reads are fun and engaging and exciting, so truly, I mean no offense by this criterion.