This year has, in a word, sucked. Like, sucked A LOT. Not sorry to see 2019 go.
Despite its enormous suckassery, I still read my normal amount of books this year which is incredibly surprising. Granted, books I read in January feel like I read them 84 years ago but according to Goodreads, I read them this year.
So that’s fun news.
Before we get started with my favorites of 2019, I do want to take a moment to thank all of you who’ve participated. Doesn’t matter if it was once, twice, or the whole year. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And this linkup would not be possible every month without my co-host and friend of many, many years, Steph, who has picked up the slack when I just couldn’t do it. So a big thank you to Steph as well.
Now that we’re all a little teary-eyed (even me, with my almost-black heart), let’s look at some 2019 reading stats. In the spirit of full disclosure, I hand-counted all of this so the numbers might not be completely accurate but they’re close enough:
- Total books read: 81
- Total pages read: 25,334 (thanks to Goodreads for this one)
- Total DNF: 6 (a record for me)
- Fiction books: 68
- Nonfiction books: 13
- NetGalley ARCs: 11 (more than I thought)
- Modern classics: 2
- Audiobooks: 2
I’m sure I could break this down more into how many female authors I read or how many books took place outside of the US, but I have the flu and it’s Christmas Eve and I’m also very lazy. If you want to know all of that stuff, let me know and maybe I’ll do another post with all of those fun facts.
As for my favorites of the year, my fiction favorites, in no particular order (and sorry for no photos but as I mentioned, I have the flu and it’s Christmas Eve and I’m very lazy). Oh, and favorites aren’t necessarily my highest-rated. They’re the ones I liked the most, even if they had a lower star rating.
- There, There by Tommy Orange
- Lightning Men by Thomas Mullen
- Your House Will Pay by Steph Cha (review coming next month)
- Ask Again Yes by Mary Beth Keane
- On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
- Take Me With You by Catherine Ryan Hyde
- Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison
- Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman
- The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead
- The Reckless Oath We Made by Bryn Greenwood
Honorable Mention
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- The Good Father by Noah Hawley
- The Lost Man by Jane Harper
- Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
Now we move on to nonfiction, which I am actually shocked I didn’t read more of this year. There were only 13 by my count, which I know is one per month plus a bonus, but I feel like it should be higher. But it is what it is, I guess. Since there’s such a small sample, I’m only picking 5 favorites with no honorable mentions:
- Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
- Maid by Stephanie Land
- Good Kids, Bad City by Kyle Swenson
- God Land by Lyz Lenz
- Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer
Alright. Now it’s your turn to share your 2019 favorites. Link up below and don’t forget to visit some others sharing their favorites so we all know what to read next year! And don’t forget that our first regular SUYB linkup for 2020 is January 14.
OH! One more thing! Mark your calendars for the weekend of January 18-19 because there will be another Show Us Your Books readathon coming your way! More details to follow as Steph and I work them out.
I hope you feel better soon and 2020 is a much better year.
I haven’t read a single one of your favourites! I got Born a Crime for my birthday.
Confuzzled Bev recently posted…The book review of 2019
I’m reading Ask Again Yes right now.
Under the Banner of Heaven was so eye-opening – of course I’ve read all of your non-fictions. : ) Will need to get to work on your fiction recs.
Hope you’re better! I wrestled with Reckless Oath and There There but ended up not including them on my final unscientific list LOL. Take Me With You was on my list last year so yay.
Waiting for Your House Will Pay from the library since you texted about it.
I hope you feel better soon!
Many of these are on my tbr,. Crawdads ill be reading in January!
Ooh I love the recap by the numbers… that’s an impressive number of pages. And hooray that even in crappy life years, we can still have great reading years (the cliche about escaping through books is there for a reason!). Your list is reminding me that I just plain didn’t have room on my list to include all of my favorites – I agree that On the Come Up is definitely worth of it too, even if it didn’t quite make it onto mine.
Anne recently posted…top reads of 2019
What a fun way to break down and look at what you’ve read in a year; I have never thought to do that. Thanks so much for hosting! Hope you are feeling much better.
Joanne recently posted…Friday Favorites: The Week of Christmas
Any books I read in the first half of 2019 feels like a decade ago. I can’t even think back that far.
I hope you feel better! And thanks, as always, for hosting 🙂
Kristin recently posted…Best Books of 2019.
Oh! You make me want to know how many pages I read! LOL And I LOVE that we can read so many books and still not overlap with so many other readers. I think the only one I recognized from your lists was Crawdads. See you in 2020 🙂
Becki recently posted…Show Us Your Books: Favorites of 2019
I would like to cosign the “2019 sucked” statement. Unfortunately, my reading suffered (as did my sanity and house and self care and everything). Let’s hope for a brighter 2020. Thank you and Steph for hosting this wonderful monthly bright spot all year long! <3
Audrey recently posted…What I Read… 2019 Recap
yay another suyb readathon!
Take Me With You is SO GOOD. Born a Crime has been on my list for years – hopefully I’ll get to it in 2020.
also, goodbye and good riddance to 2019. BYE.
I can agree that 2019 really wasn’t the best year – I’m ready for 2020. I really enjoyed The Reckless Oath We Made and Evvie Drake Starts Over was pretty good as well. I need to read more non-fiction though! I feel like it has to be something really interesting in order for me to get into it.
Hope that you feel better soon! And I’m looking forward to another read a thon!
Megan recently posted…favorite books of 2019
Happy Belated Christmas – and that’s awful you have the flu. I hope you feel better soon.
I really want to read The Nickel Boys, so I’m glad to see you liked that one!
Have a great 2020!
-Lauren
ShootingStarsMag recently posted…My Favorite Books of 2019
So sorry 2019 has sucked so hard. Here’s to a MUCH better 2020! There, There was a good read. Loved some of the chapters and had a lot of trouble with others, so it wasn’t a fav, but a very worthwhile read. Born a Crime is SO DAMN GOOD. I will be recommending that book on my deathbed.
I hope you feel better. I haven’t read any of these books, but I want to read so many of them.
Haven’t read any of your favorites. Did read Crawdads and liked it. Hope you are feeling better soon!
Pam recently posted…Show Us Your Books: Best of 2019