The title of this post should probably be, “The books I read (and all the ones I never got around to reading) in 2019.” I had lofty reading goals for the past year and usually do when each new year hits. It wasn’t exactly a stellar reading year (which you’ll soon see), but I’m still going to celebrate the books I read in 2019 in between all of my crazy life changes that happened over the last 12 months. Even though I didn’t get around to reading everything on my list, at least I was reading something! I plan to share my reads with you guys each year moving forward, so although I didn’t read a million books this year, it still seems like a good place to start and will helpfully hold me more accountable moving forward!
Generally I tend to lean more towards mystery, suspense, and horror books, but I’m trying to switch things up a little bit and expand into genres I don’t typically read. I plan to do this a lot more with my 2020 reading list!
You can follow along with my books and goals over on Goodreads, which is what I use to track my progress. It’s free to sign up and has tons of cool features like book suggestions, best of lists in every genre each year, and book clubs and discussions too. I really love that I’m able to keep a list of the books that I want to read on my account as well. If you are already a member or end up joining, add me and let’s be Goodreads friends! (I’m not sponsored by Goodreads at all, I just generally love using the site and it makes my tracking my books so easy!)
I like to switch between using my kindle and reading actual paperback books. I used to buy a lot of books when I’d find them on sale and then never got around to reading many of them, so I’m trying to pick books off of my own bookshelf to read in between the ones I’m downloading. My kindle is much easier to use when traveling and if you’re a prime member you can download certain books on the Kindle Prime bookshelf and read them for free, which is an awesome perk! I’ve never been much of an audiobook person, but I might try to include a few of those this year and listen on my way to work or when I’m driving to visit Josh during the season.
Here are the books I read in 2019:
Where’d You Go Bernadette – I know, I know. I was waaaayy behind on reading this one, but this is a book I picked up years ago and never got around to reading. After I saw that a movie was coming out based on the book, I wanted to make sure I was able to read it before seeing it on the big screen. (Anyone else do this too?) I assumed this one was going to be more of a girly rom-com type of book, (which is probably why I never got around to reading it in the first place) but it wasn’t. It was more of a mystery book and a super short and easy read. The story follows Ms. Fox and her family, who try to navigate life after she disappears. It’s lighthearted and entertaining. I still haven’t seen the movie yet, but it’s on my radar.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time – This novel was recommended to me by a friend (thanks for letting me borrow it Michelle!) and although a mystery, it was a little hard for me to navigate at first. It’s written from the view of the main character who has a disability, so it took me a little bit to get comfortable with the writing style. It’s a short and an easy read overall. It was super interesting to get a direct view into the thoughts and brain of the character and how his mind works. Although I felt like the “mystery” was pretty obvious from the beginning, it was still worth reading and definitely a unique book.
Jane Doe – This book fits more in line with the typical genres I tend to read. It follows the story of a women who changes her whole life to seek revenge for a person from her past. It was a good and an easy read, and kept my attention the whole time, but the ending was just a bit lackluster. I wouldn’t say I didn’t enjoy it or wouldn’t recommend it, but I was expecting a bit more of a grand ending and didn’t really get it. Maybe I’m too used to those crazy endings that typical horror and murder mystery books provide?
The Rook: The Checquy Files #1 – This book was one of the top books I read this year. It held my attention from the first page through the whole story line and I was always left wanting to read more each time I set it down. It’s a fantasy, mystery, and thriller rolled up into one book and even gave me some Hunger Games vibes for some reason, although the story is completely different. I plan on reading more titles from this story down the road. Definitely recommend if you’re into this genre!
A Discovery of Witches: All Souls Trilogy #1 – If you enjoyed the Twilight series, you’ll love this book. It revolves around the love story between a witch and a vampire and all the issues they face trying to be together. Although cheesy at times, it felt less cheesy to me than Twilight. I started this series because it was set to come out as a tv series in 2019 so I wanted to get a jump on the story line before watching. The show is decent, but I’d highly recommend reading the books first. I got so much more out of the story when reading it than I did watching the show, but it’s still worth a watch too. I liked it enough to pick up the next book.
A Discovery of Witches: All Souls Trilogy #2 – After reading the first book in this series (see above), I wanted to know what was going to happen to the characters after the ending of the first novel. It’s very similar to the first book, just a continuation of their story. Worth a read and I’m still planning on reading the third and final book of the series at some point. I decided to switch it up after this book just to diversify my reading and not get stuck into one series for the whole year. Maybe I’ll revisit this one in 2020?
God Wants You to Roll: The $21 Million Miracle Car Scam – Technically, I didn’t finish this book in 2019. I started it right in the middle of my big move and didn’t get around to finishing it until the beginning of this year. The genre is definitely outside of my typical realm. It’s a true crime story about a car scam that took place in 1994. Definitely an interesting read and an easy one. It’s a little slow, but kept my interest enough to continue reading. Cars, gambling, millions of dollars, Larry Flint, and a couple of 19 year old kids that managed to pull off a legendary scam against churchgoers across America. If you’re looking for a true crime story that isn’t violent, this is a good one to read.
So there you have it….the books I read in 2019! Not many, but still something to be proud of considering how busy and crazy the last year was for me.
In 2020, I realllllly want to try to get 24 books crossed off of my list. Not sure what the year has in store for me, but Josh leaves to go back to work in a month so I should have a lot of down time soon!
What are your reading goals this year and what books are a must read?!
