Favorite reads of 2019

Happy New Year, everyone! As we get ready to welcome 2020, here were my favorite reads of 2019.

1. The Wife Between Us - Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Many books have claimed to be the next Gone Girl, but of all the psychological thrillers I've read since Gillian Flynn's, The Wife Between Us is the most worthy successor. The book is full of twists, some of which I was able to guess but some that I was happily surprised by. It's also written in a way that kept me turning the pages, wanting to find out what happens next. I literally couldn't put it down and finished the book in two days.

2. Recursion - Blake Crouch

This was the most gripping and mind-blowing book I read all year, so it's no surprise that it landed near the top of my list of favorite reads. Unfortunately, I can't say more without spoiling what actually happens in the book, but I highly recommend it! The only reason it wasn't #1? It took more than the usual amount of suspension of disbelief to buy into the premise, but once I did, I was sucked in.

3. Broken Lands - Jonathan Maberry 

The Rot & Ruin series is one of my favorite YA series of all time, so imagine my delight to discover that there's a new series set in the same universe. Many of the beloved characters from Rot & Ruin play a part in Broken Lands, and if this book is any indication, I'm going to love the new series too.

4. An Anonymous Girl - Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen 

After reading The Wife Between Us, I had to read the next book by this author duo. An Anonymous Girl shares a lot of the same elements that made their first book such a great read, but it's not another Gone Girl, in case you were expecting a similar story line. However, it's still a great book, and I highly recommend it. I can't wait for the next book by Hendricks and Pekkanen.

5. Aurora Rising - Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff 

Speaking of author duos who I want to see write more books together, Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff have done it again. The books in their Illuminae Files trilogy were the top reads the last three years. Their latest collaboration, the first in the new Aurora Cycle series, is also great. This book isn't written in an unusual format like the Illuminae Files were, but it's still a must read for fans of YA speculative fiction.

6. Stepsister - Jennifer Donnelly 

Stepsister is one of the best fairy tale retellings I've read. I liked how we heard the Cinderella story from the point of view of one of her stepsisters, and in a way that made us sympathize with her without turning Cinderella into a villain. But more important than the quality of the story were the messages in it, including (as quoted from one of the characters), "We all make mistakes. What matters is that we don't let our mistakes make us." This book was not only entertaining but inspirational.

7. Redshirts - John Scalzi 

I'm not sure how much my love of Star Trek played a role in my enjoyment of this book, but I sure liked it! I've wondered what it was like to live the life of a redshirt on the show, and now I know. Unexpectedly, this book got me thinking about its thematic message more so than most of the books I read this year. Whether you're a Star Trek fan or not, I encourage you to give this book a try.

8. Saint Anything - Sarah Dessen 

Based on the description, I wasn't sure if I was going to like this book, but I chose it to satisfy my Authors A to Z challenge. I'm sure glad I did. This was the best contemporary book I read in 2019. I immediately liked the main character and her best friend, and as a result, I was easily invested in the story line. I'll be reading more books by Sarah Dessen now.

9. Circe - Madeleine Miller 

After all the buzz I heard about this book, I gave it a try and liked it as much as I expected to. It helps that I'm already a fan of Greek mythology. I really enjoyed the way the story is told in Circe's point of view, shedding more light on some myths that I only knew superficially or only heard one side of. The novel really brought Greek myths to life in a way where I felt like the characters involved were more real.

10. Scrappy Little Nobody - Anna Kendrick 

I don't normally read non-fiction, especially autobiographies, so the fact that Scrappy Little Nobody ended up on my list of favorite reads of the year was a surprise. I selected this book to fulfill the Authors A to Z challenge and because I liked the Anna Kendrick movies I've seen. She is hilarious in writing, and if anything, reading this book makes me want to watch more of her movies.

What I read in 2019

As another year comes to an end, it's time to review the books that I read in the last twelve months. In 2019, I read 84 books, one less than in 2018.

The average rating for the books I read was 4.01 stars per book, broken down as follows:

• 5 stars - 24 books
• 4 stars - 37 books 
• 3 stars - 23 books 

The 4.01 stars average was a slight decrease from the 4.07 stars per book in 2018.

Of the 84 books read, 26 were part of the Authors A to Z Challenge that I embarked on in January. One of the goals of the reading challenge was to read books by authors whom I haven't been exposed to before, and in that regard, I considered my efforts successful, as 16 of the 26 books were from authors new to me.

The ratings for the books in the Authors A to Z challenge were distributed as follows:

• 5 stars - 6 books 
• 4 stars - 10 books 
• 3 stars - 10 books 

The average rating for the books in the challenge was 3.85, lower than my overall rating for books read in 2019. This shouldn't have come as a surprise since I read several books outside of my comfort zone. However, the experience was well worth it, and I'll have to repeat the reading challenge again in the future.

In my next post, I’ll list my top ten favorite books of 2019. Stay tuned!