Although in 2019 I did not meet my reading goal of 100 books, it was still a pretty great reading year. I read 68 books. I can remember two dry spells where I just couldn’t focus enough to read – at the beginning of the year and then at the very end with those crazy holidays. I’m surprised when I look back over the books I read. There are so many good ones!
I discovered two lovely YA series, Jenny Han’s To All the Boys I’ve Love Before trilogy and The Selection series by Kiera Cass. YA romances are like sweets to me. When nothing else sounds good, they can always satisfy me.
I enjoyed more books by authors I already loved including Still Me by Jojo Moyes and The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen. That was my last of her backlist. Man I wish there were more books. Her writing is magic! Love Under Different Skies by Nick Spalding was hilarious and Karen M. McManus’s second book, Two Can Keep a Secret, did not disappoint in the mystery/thriller genre!
I had a short burst back to my obsession with nutrition when I found Jo Robinson’s Eating on the Wild Side followed by Food Can Fix It by Dr. Mehmet Oz. The first inspired some new foods making their way into our home from the farmer’s market.
Other nonfiction books I loved include Destination Simple by Brooke McAlary and diy MFA from Gabriela Pereira. Both were very inspiring! I also listened to Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari on our anniversary camping trip. Listening to his imagined scenes of ancestors’ lives while laying under the stars contemplating our existence could not have been better matched. From Here to Eternity by Caitlin Doughty was also great. I still want to read Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lesson from the Crematory by her.
Last year I read more graphic novels than in any year prior. I fell in love with Lucy Knisley’s graphic memoirs starting with Relish then Kid Gloves and finally Something Borrowed. Other graphic novels I heart from 2019 – Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell (my library loan arrived just in time to read it on Halloween) and the second Wires and Nerves book called Gone Rogue by Marissa Meyer.
I could keep going. But I will end with a few honorable mentions:
Nora Robert’s Chronicles of the One series – I read the first two right before the last one came out. The first one scared me so bad I had to gulp it down while my husband was home. The second took a different twist/tone I wasn’t expecting but I liked it. I was really disappointed in the final book. It felt anticlimactic the whole time.
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness – this one was great but I didn’t like the second one very much which I also read in 2019. I recently finished the “last” book.
These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling – It was amazing but dang it this is why I don’t like to read series until all the books are out already!
Just Listen by Sarah Dessen – my first one but I will be reading more by her, eventually.
The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw – I wasn’t crazy about the ending and I called the twist too far before it was revealed. However her atmospheric writing has me looking forward to her next book.
I use goodreads to log my books and keep track of my reading challenges. This year I’m going for 52 books! After my dry spells in 2019, one book a week felt manageable.
How was your 2019 reading year? What helps you keep reading in times of stress?
