Maybe it’s all this free time on my hands (definitely that) but I blew through 40 books this year. I’m also the sort of person who crams entertainment into every few minutes she can (reading for the 2 minutes it takes to brush my teeth, listening to podcasts while I get ready for the day, driving or cooking to Spotify playlists…) and I need at least an hour of unwind-reading-time before I fall asleep. I’ve made my stretch goal 65 books…let’s see what I can do to read 25 more books before New Year’s Eve!
To Recap:
- The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
- The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins
- Wildcard by Marie Lu
- Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne
- Seafire by Natalie C. Parker
- Spindle Fire by Lexa Hillyer
- The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donad Maass
- Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
- Grace and Fury by Tracy Banghart
- The Greatest Love Story Ever Told by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman
- Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody
- Courting Darkness by Robin LeFevers
- The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
- The Glass Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
- The Master Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
- The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
- “I Give You My Body…” by Diana Gabaldon
- Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman
- A Question of Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro
- Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusa
- The Firethorn Crown– Lea Doué
- Shatter Me – Tahereh Mafi
- The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein – Kiersten White
- King of Fools – Amanda Foody
- Girl, Stop Apologizing – Rachel Hollis
- Legacy of Kings – Eleanor Herman
- Girls of Glass – Brianna Labuskes
- Nine Perfect Strangers – Liane Moriarty
- The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe – Allie Condy
- Dance of Thieves – Mary E. Pearson
- Mirage – Somaiya Daud (A young woman is taken from her family to be the stand-in for an enemy princess–who just so happens to be her doppelgänger. Once at the palace, though, she learns things aren’t what they’d appeared)
- Queen of Ruin – Tracy Banghart (excellent sequel to Grace and Fury, all about girl power, sisterhood, and trust)
- Captivate: The Science of Succeeding With People – Vanessa Van Edwards (ever see the show Lie to Me? She discusses micro-expressions and how to read people quickly to overcome social anxiety and awkward interactions…I’m still pretty socially anxious, but I learned a lot of interesting things reading this!)
- Shadow and Bone – Leigh Bardugo (A girl discovers she has a great power that’s been repressed her entire life, but could be the key to saving her people from the monsters who lurk in the darkness)
- Yes, Please – Amy Poehler (as funny and heart-warming as she is, Amy Poehler’s memoir is full of interesting life advice, anecdotes about Parks and Rec, and features a stellar cast of voices if you listed to the audio book)
- The Ladies’ Guide to Petticoats and Piracy – Mackenzie Lee (sequel to The Gentlemen’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and just as charming and witty. Featuring an asexual leading lady who just wants to be a doctor and/or go on an adventure–and ends up getting much more than she bargained for)
- The Lost Girls – Heather Young (told from two POV, that of the sister to a young girl who went missing in 1930s Minnesota, and her great-niece trying to start a new life for her family. Family secrets are uncovered, long buried mysteries are solved, and a family finally finds peace)
- Wicked Saints – Emily A. Duncan (a girl is hunted for her ability to commune with the gods and combat the blood magic used by the heretics of an enemy country. She places her trust in one such enemy, with their joint goal of ending the war between their countries. But when she arrives at the enemy king’s court, she isn’t sure who she can trust)
- Mistress of the Ritz – Melanie Benjamin (told through competing POVs–that of Blanche and her husband Claude–we see the Nazi occupation of Paris during WWII and the lengths people go to in order to protect everything they love–including a glamorous hotel)
- Broken Things – Lauren Oliver (this was very much along the lines of Sharp Objects, Gone Girl, and Girl on the Train. Friends are accused of murdering their best friend when they were 13. Five years later, they’re thrown back together with a new clue to finding the actual murderer. Everyone’s a suspect, and everyone has something to hide. I’m usually good at figuring out these twists, but I didn’t realize who the murderer was until shortly before it was revealed, despite the well-laid clues.)
There you have it, 40 new books in 2019! My bookshelf is full in the Libby app, and I have four unread books in my den just waiting for me, so I’m looking forward to seeing how many books I can experience before the year is out!