Here we are at the end of the year and I’ve barely begun to explore where this blog is going. I’m making it my New Year’s Resolution to work harder on the blog. To start off on the right foot, I’m letting you all in on my Best of lists. This is part one. The Best Books I Read in 2019.
- Well, there’s a tie of first place:
Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston.
A longer review of this book is surely going to pop up here. Hopefully, sooner rather than later because – seriously – This. Was. The. Best. Book. Of. The. Year. Until…
The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
The final installation in The Folk of the Air series (The Cruel Prince and The Wicked King), this book completely devastated me. I always seem to have problems with the end of many series’ that I invest in, but this one – whew – it was amazing. Perfect ending.
- Prudence by Gail Carriger
I listened to this one first and the narrator, Moira Quirk, was so amazing that I was inspired to pick up the print copy as well. Set in Victorian England, Prudence Akeldama – natural daughter of a werewolf and adopted daughter of a vampire – puts together a crack team of quirky individuals including her best friend Prim, Prim’s twin brother Percy, and inventor extraordinaire Quesnel, to travel in her personal dirigible all over the world. What a delightful romp!
- Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
I have loved Leigh Bardugo’s other YA series, but this one. This one. Was very different. Set at Yale where black magic is performed by the Secret Societies, it is up to Alex Stern to uncover the mysteries and secrets that everyone is keeping. I have to say, I did not expect the final twist at the end and I cannot believe we have to wait for the sequel!
- A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer
So Brigid Kemmerer should get a specific honorable mention this year. I loved this retelling of Beauty and the Beast, featuring a girl living with cerebral palsy. However, in addition to this amazing book, I was able to read the sequel A Heart So Fierce and Broken which is also amazing which lead me to pick up another Kemmerer book Call It What You Want which was also fabulous. I plan to read more of her books into the new year.
- The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Another one that I listened to that inspired me to pick up the print book. I loved the retelling of the Iliad but this is so much more. Follow the doomed love story between Patroclus and Achilles. It was just so achingly beautiful!
- Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller
What a delightful YA pirate story! I enjoyed the strong female character.
- The Lovely War by Julie Berry
A trial for Aphrodite by Hephaestus leads to the telling of a beautiful love story set in WWI. This book has everything – a great historical backdrop, a beautiful love story, Greek gods battling it out. I mean, if there was a book with everything I love, this would be it.
- The Diviners by Libba Bray
Another listen to read! January LaVoy does an amazing job with the large cast of characters. In the 1920s, there’s a lot of spirits around doing not-so-great things. The teens band together to combat these supernatural spirits while embracing the tropes of the era and doing typical teen stuff. But, such an amazing read.
- What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
This adult novel wasn’t really a great read. It was a little depressing, really. But, it stuck with me. It stuck with me that I am still thinking about it even though I read it over the summer. Alice wakes up at 39 with no memory of the last ten years of her life. While at 29, she was eagerly anticipating the birth of her first child with adoring husband, at 39 she is apparently getting an acrimonious divorce. I felt a lot of empathy for Alice, in that looking back at our lives, we sometimes get lost in the details and forget what is really important.
Since I reviewed this as my first post on this blog, you can be sure it was one of my favorite reads of the year!
If you read any of these, let me know! I’d love to hear your thoughts about any or all of these books. Happy reading!
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