Last year although I started working on my 2018 reading roundup it I never finished it. I'm determined not to let that happen again.
In 2019, I read or listened to 81 books in the following order.
Although I didn't break my record of the number of books I've read in a year, it was definitely one of my better years, tying with 2008 for second place. I'd love to make it to 100 but for that I'll need to retire and delete my Facebook account so that's not happening just yet.
Once again, I listened to more books than I read. I know there are people who don't think audiobooks count as reading, but I'm all about the story. Audiobooks have also opened up the world of non-fiction for me since I find it difficult to read. This year I listened to 12 non-fiction books and read another 2. They were informative, shocking, heartbreaking, fascinating, and inspiring.
The breakdown of the books I read per month formed a cool bell shaped pattern!
In order to focus my thoughts I'm going to participate in Jamie, the Perpetual Page-Turner's 10th Annual End Of Year Survey – 2019 edition. Be sure to check out the page for more reading recommendations.
1. Best Book You Read In 2019?How can I pick just one? Why should I have to?
I read some great non-fiction books this year which I definitely recommend: Michelle Obama's Becoming (she does a great job reading the audiobook) [See #4], Catch and Kill, Ronan Farrow's expose of Harvey Weinstein and other Hollywood predators [See #17 & 30], Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee by Casey Cep which tells several intertwined stories and made me curious enough to read Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman, Katherine Eban's investigation of the generic drug market, Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom [See #13], Abraham Verghese's My Own Country: A Doctor's Story [See #27], Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou [See #8], and The Library Book by Susan Orlean.
Some of the best fiction books I read this year were Sleeping Giants, The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by Michael David Lukas, The Dutch House [See #9, 10, 12, 20], Daisy Jones & The Six [See #25], Hope and Other Punchlines [See #28], The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin, Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane [See #6], Chances Are . . . by Richard Russo [See #12 & 20],The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray, and The River by Peter Heller [See #8, 19, 20].
How can I pick just one? Why should I have to?
Some of the best fiction books I read this year were Sleeping Giants, The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by Michael David Lukas, The Dutch House [See #9, 10, 12, 20], Daisy Jones & The Six [See #25], Hope and Other Punchlines [See #28], The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin, Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane [See #6], Chances Are . . . by Richard Russo [See #12 & 20],The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray, and The River by Peter Heller [See #8, 19, 20].
2. Book You Were Excited About ; Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
Everyone raved about Where the Crawdads Sing and I just did not love it.
3. Most surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
A lot of the books I read felt very predictable. I don't know if I found any of the books surprising but there were a few books which were on all the best of 2019 lists which I did. not. like. These include:
Fleishman Is in Trouble (According to Amazon: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLIST.
FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE’S JOHN LEONARD PRIZE FOR BEST FIRST BOOK • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY AND THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY AND ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • Time • The Washington Post • Vanity Fair • Vogue • NPR • Chicago Tribune • GQ • Vox • Refinery29 • Elle • The Guardian • Real Simple • Parade • Good Housekeeping • Marie Claire • Town & Country • Evening Standard • Kirkus Reviews • BookPage • BookRiot • Shelf Awareness)
Trust Exercise (WINNER OF THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION. NAMED A BEST BOOK OF 2019 by The Washington Post, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, Buzzfeed, Entertainment Weekly, Los Angeles Times, ELLE, Bustle, Town & Country, Publishers Weekly, The Millions, The Chicago Tribune, and TIME)
Where the Crawdads Sing (Bestselling print book in 2019, An Amazon Best Book of August 2018)4. Book You “Pushed” The Most People To Read (And They Did)?
I've been recommending and lending Michelle Obama's Becoming. I listened to it and really loved it. I wasn't a big Obama fan and I came away with a huge amount of respect for both Michelle and Barack Obama.
5. Best series you started in 2019? Best Sequel of 2019? Best Series Ender of 2019?
I listened to Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) and although I'm not usually a science fiction fan I loved this. I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much if I had read it and not listened. I'm looking forward to listening to books 2 and 3 in 2020.
I didn't finish any series or read any sequels but I did read a bunch of books from various crime/mystery/thriller series. If you haven't read Daniel Silva's Gabriel Allon books, Lee Child's Jack Reacher series, Michael Connelly's Harry Bosch, Gregg Hurwitz's Orphan X, or John Sandford's Lucas Davenport books, I recommend you check them out.
6. Favorite new author you discovered in 2019?
I really enjoyed Mary Beth Keane's Ask Again, Yes. Turns out she's written two other books which I may check out.
7. Best book from a genre you don’t typically read/was out of your comfort zone?
A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum is a novel about a young Palestinian woman married off to a Palestinian man in Brooklyn and the life she leads. Describing three generations of Palestinian women, the expectations of them, their roles in their closed community gave a view into a world that is both near and far away.
8. Most action-packed/thrilling/unputdownable book of the year?
In the fiction category Peter Heller's The River, about two college friends on a wilderness canoe trip kept me riveted.
The non-fiction Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou proves the adage truth is stranger than fiction. This is definitely a must read.
I listened to both as audiobooks.
9. Book You Read In 2019 That You Would Be MOST Likely To Re-Read Next Year?
I don't re-read books (too many new books waiting) but if I have to choose I think it would be Ann Patchett's The Dutch House, her best book since Bel Canto. Ann Patchett is a great writer and this book was so engaging.
10. Favorite cover of a book you read in 2019?
Definitely the cover of Ann Patchett's The Dutch House is my favorite. Don't you find it intriguing? Don't you want to know who the girl is and what is the story behind this cover?
11. Most memorable character of 2019?
This is a toss up between Teddy Telemachus, the patriarch from Spoonbenders and the unnamed narrator of Sleeping Gods.
12. Most beautifully written book read in 2019?
This is another toss up between two favorite author's Chances Are... by Richard Russo and The Dutch House by Ann Patchett.
13. Most Thought-Provoking/ Life-Changing Book of 2019?
Katherine Eban's non-fiction Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom is a must read not only for anyone who works in pharma but for anyone who takes medicines of any kind. You'll be reading those inserts much more thoroughly.
14. Book you can’t believe you waited UNTIL 2019 to finally read?
Not a specific book but I can't believe I never read anything by Kazuo Ishiguro
15. Favorite Passage/Quote From A Book You Read In 2019?
“I have come to believe that books have souls - why else would I be so reluctant to throw one away?” ~ Susan Orlean, The Library Book
16.Shortest & Longest Book You Read In 2019?
In 2019 I read 13, 402 pages and listened to 464:52 hours of literary content! The longest book I read was Shantaram (933 pages) and the longest book I listened to was Becoming by Michelle Obama (19 hours). The shortest book I read was Memoirs of a False Messiah (217 pages), the debut novel of my former boss's sister-in-law and the shortest book I listened to was kaddish.com (5:33).
17. Book That Shocked You The Most
(Because of a plot twist, character death, left you hanging with your mouth wide open, etc.)
Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
It was shocking to realize how many people knew about Harvey Weinstein and other sexual predators and how far they would go to cover it up.
It was shocking to realize how many people knew about Harvey Weinstein and other sexual predators and how far they would go to cover it up.
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (you will go down with this ship!)
(OTP = one true pairing if you aren’t familiar)
Mirabel and the Keeper of the Harbor from The Starless Sea.
19. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship Of The Year
Wynn and Jack, the best friends from Peter Heller's The River. I love their strong friendship and how they complement each other so well.
20. Favorite Book You Read in 2019 From An Author You’ve Read Previously
Again, I can't pick just one. I loved Ann Patchett's The Dutch House, Peter Heller's The River, and Richard Russo's Chances are...
What makes all three so wonderful are the strong relationships described, a brother and sister in The Dutch House and a pair and trio of male friends in The River and Chances are... respectively. It made me realize I don't often read books where men's friendship is a main theme in the book. Are they not out there or am I not finding them?
What makes all three so wonderful are the strong relationships described, a brother and sister in The Dutch House and a pair and trio of male friends in The River and Chances are... respectively. It made me realize I don't often read books where men's friendship is a main theme in the book. Are they not out there or am I not finding them?
21. Best Book You Read In 2019 That You Read Based SOLELY On A Recommendation From Somebody Else/Peer Pressure/Bookstagram, Etc.:
Outline by Rachel Cusk, was recommended to me by a work colleague and friend. It's not a long book, and not usually my type as there's not a lot of action. It's more introspective. But surprisingly I enjoyed it and I'm hoping to finish the trilogy in 2020.
22. Newest fictional crush from a book you read in 2019?
I didn't fall in love with any new fictional characters this year. But that's okay since I still have Gabriel Allon and Jack Reacher.
23. Best 2019 debut you read?
One of my favorite genres : young adult with seriously ill teenagers. Five Feet Apart by Rachael Lippincott is about teenagers with cystic fibrosis.
24. Best Worldbuilding/Most Vivid Setting You Read This Year?
I did not like Erin Morgenstern's highly awaited new novel, The Starless Sea, but the worlds she describes are fantastical and magical.
25. Book That Put A Smile On Your Face/Was The Most FUN To Read?
I don't really do fun books. One of my (other) favorite genres is dysfunctional families. Nothing like other people's messed up lives to make you feel better about your own. Daisy Jones & the Six, by Taylor Jenkins Reid was a great audiobook to listen to. I don't think I would have enjoyed it as much if I had read it. The various viewpoints and voices were so realistic that I often had to remind myself it was fiction, and not about a real band.
26. Book That Made You Cry Or Nearly Cry in 2019?
Once More We Saw Stars: A Memoir by Jayson Greene is about the death of Greene's two year old daughter in a freakish accident in NYC and the aftermath for Greene and his wife. I cried. A lot.
27. Hidden Gem Of The Year?
I loved Abraham Verghese's novel, Cutting for Stone and found
My Own Country: A Doctor's Story, the non-fiction description of his experiences as an infectious disease doctor in a small town during the dawn of the AIDS crisis fascinating.
My Own Country: A Doctor's Story, the non-fiction description of his experiences as an infectious disease doctor in a small town during the dawn of the AIDS crisis fascinating.
28. Book That Crushed Your Soul?
While not nearly as soul crushing as previous reads (A Little Life in 2017 or All the Bright Places in 2015), Hope and Other Punchlines by Julie Buxbaum, a young adult novel about two teens linked by 9-11 definitely has its moments.
29. Most Unique Book You Read In 2019?
36 Righteous Men by Steven Pressfield is a futuristic mystery thriller about someone who is murdering the lamed vavnikim, the 36 righteous (and hidden) men for whom the world is believed to exist (in their merit), according to the Jewish Talmud. It was not what I was expecting.
30. Book That Made You The Most Mad (doesn’t necessarily mean you didn’t like it)?
You can't read Ronan Farrow's Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators and not come away mad.
When I reviewed my reads from 2019, I was reminded that many of the books were suggested, recommended, or loaned to me by a variety of people in my life, including my daughter, her friends, my friends, my cousin, as well as various Ted talks, book blogs, and book forums I follow online. I'm so grateful to be part of this wonderful reading community and feel fortunate that there are a never ending stock of interesting books to help me escape into other worlds and expand my horizons.
I want to finish up by saying that if one of the 81 books I read is not featured in the list above, it doesn't mean I didn't like it. Lee Child and Daniel Silva are always enjoyable though I don't think these books were as engaging as others in their series. The non-fiction
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande was a good read and there are many others on my list that I liked (feel free to reach out and ask).
If you want to see what I'm reading in 2020 you can follow me on Goodreads
When I reviewed my reads from 2019, I was reminded that many of the books were suggested, recommended, or loaned to me by a variety of people in my life, including my daughter, her friends, my friends, my cousin, as well as various Ted talks, book blogs, and book forums I follow online. I'm so grateful to be part of this wonderful reading community and feel fortunate that there are a never ending stock of interesting books to help me escape into other worlds and expand my horizons.
I want to finish up by saying that if one of the 81 books I read is not featured in the list above, it doesn't mean I didn't like it. Lee Child and Daniel Silva are always enjoyable though I don't think these books were as engaging as others in their series. The non-fiction
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande was a good read and there are many others on my list that I liked (feel free to reach out and ask).
If you want to see what I'm reading in 2020 you can follow me on Goodreads
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| Taken from https://www.adazing.com/inspirational-reading-quotes-pt-3/ |
