While Top Five Wednesday has been on its summer hiatus, I’ve been revisiting some older topics. However, I decided to switch things up for today by creating my own topic! I’m in a little shock right now both IRL and from a bookish standpoint that it’s July! I can’t believe that there’s only about a month and half of summer left. Blogging wise, I can’t believe that it’s time to start working on my most anticipated books of Fall 2019 post.

Thinking about what books are left to come out this year and my own reading plans for this second half of the year, I decided that I wanted to talk about some of my favorite books of the year so far. Today I’ll be featuring and discussing my top five contemporary books of 2019.  I’m sure it’s no surprise that it was super difficult for me to choose the five books below. I decided to limit myself by only talking about YA books released in 2019 so far, considering that three of my favorite contemporaries of the year are new adult (and yes Red, White and Royal Blue is of course one of them). I have a feeling my favorites of 2019 list later in December is going to be a bit lengthy.

If I’m Being Honest by Emily Wibberley & Austin Siegemund-Broka – A slight change I’ve noticed this year in a few YA contemporaries are unlikeable protagonists! Cameron in If I’m Being Honest is definitely not the nice girl in her LA high school, but her personality- and let’s be honest, bitchiness- made her such a complex character.

There’s Something About Sweetie by Sandhya Menon – Sandhya Menon always make for  the cutest feels, but I particularly loved There’s Something About Sweetie. I think rom-com has been thrown around for a lot of YA contemporaries this year as well, and Sandhya Menon’s latest release sure fits the category! Following Ashish and Sweetie’s relationship, this book features a ton of relationship and character growth and plenty of LOL worthy moments.

Maybe This Time by Kasie West- One of the reasons why I started reading Kasie West’s books in 2019 was to prepare myself for Maybe This Time because I loved the synopsis so much! Our main character, Sophie, who works for her small town’s florist, also falls into the unlikeable protagonist category. Maybe This Time is a really unique book, told over nine events over one year.

The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen- I always need a new release from one of my favorite contemporary authors for the summer, and I was so happy it was Sarah Dessen this year. The Rest of the Story was a really nice blend of Sarah’s older work with her newer books. I really enjoyed the lakeside setting and while Sarah’s books do focus on romance and family, I’m glad that the latter was the focus in this book.

Serious Moonlight by Jenn Bennett- I’ve mentioned Serious Moonlight in so many posts this year because how could I not talk about one of my all time favorite books all the time? Jenn Bennett’s 2019 contemporary release set in Seattle had the perfect combination of romance, family, personal growth and pie.

Honorable Mentions 

Because choosing just five is hard, I also had to share some of my other favorites!

Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo- YA books taking place over only a few days have become more of a trend, but I think Maurene Goo’s take is my favorite! This book gave me the best Roman Holiday vibes.

Night Music by Jenn Marie Thorne- Night Music reminded me so much of a Morgan Matson book, with Jenn Marie Thorne’s own musically-inspired flair of course.

Small Town Hearts by Lillie Vale- Such a cute debut set in a beach town with plenty of desserts!

Top 5 Wednesday is a collaborative group of book bloggers from various platforms who love sharing lists on Wednesdays. The T5W group can be found here on Goodreads.

What 2019 contemporaries have you read? Any of the above? Share in the comments!