I read a total of 54 books in 2019 – a record for me, and two over my goal of 52. It was SUCH a good year for reading… In fact, I had forgotten about some of these that I read at the beginning of the year and couldn’t believe they were all from the same year. I read so many books that I LOVED, learned so much from stories, and had a blast tracking my reading on Goodreads for the first full year. (Come follow me there if you’re not already!)
Here’s a quick recap of my reading year (because what good is Goodreads if you don’t share your cute “My Year in Books” graphic?!?):
Now, on to my favorites… Completely coincidentally, I had almost one five-star read each month; and they run the gamut — memoir, historical fiction, (slightly) science fiction, literary fiction, rom-com, YA, oral history, and non-fiction. At least I’m well rounded. 😉
Here are my thirteen 5-star books from 2019:
January: Becoming by Michelle Obama ***TOP FIVE
February: The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai ***TOP FIVE
March: The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker
April: Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
May: The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis-Graves
July: Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
August: The Dearly Beloved by Cara Wall ***TOP THREE (probably my most recommended/gifted of the year!)
September: Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane ***TOP THREE
September: The Gift of Failure by Jessica Lahey
October: The Grace Year by Kim Liggett
November: The Only Plane in the Sky by Garrett Graff ***TOP THREE
December: American Royals by Katherine McGee
December: Text Me When You Get Home by Kayleen Schaefer
And there you go… Many of these are now available in paperback, so if you missed them, add them to your TBR list NOW!
Check out full reviews of all 53 books I read this year HERE. And, follow me on Instagram (#samandscoutreads) for real-time reading updates all year long.
Though January started a little slow, I’ve read five good books so far in 2020. Stay tuned!
E
P.S. In case you missed it, I was a guest on one of my favorite bookish podcasts – Sarah’s Book Shelves Live – back in November. It was SO fun to chat with Sarah about 2 old books I love, 2 new books I love (both mentioned above), 1 book I didn’t like, and 1 upcoming release I’m excited about (I read it in December!). It was SO hard to choose. *No surprise to anyone that knows me, I talked too much and turned a “mini-episode” into a NOT-mini episode. No such thing as too much book talk, right? 😉
