68 Books in 2019

In 2019, I exceeded my goal to read 52 books (roughly one book a week.) I read 68 books while commuting, winding down before bed, traveling on airplanes, or enjoying cozy weekends at home, all but one on my Kindle e-reader. There were days where I'd do nothing but read, devouring page after page.

Along the way, I also consumed longform articles, podcasts, and other media. Pocket (an app for saving interesting articles to a reading list to be revisited) and Pocket Casts (a podcast app where I listen to my favorites like Forever35, Call Your Girlfriend, Crime Junkie, and Casefile) are two of the most used apps on my phone.

As author Roald Dahl writes about his precocious protagonist Matilda, "The books transported her into new worlds and introduced her to amazing people who lived exciting lives." While reading, I was transported to Ancient Greece, Nigeria, Cold War Russia, Washington DC, small town Virginia, the desolate wilderness of Alaska, and I spent hours and hours in fictional Grant County, Georgia with Will Trent and the other GBI agents of Karin Slaughter's world.

Series, like Karin Slaughter's Will Trent novels, were easy to add to my TBR (to be read) list. I enjoyed the comfort of revisiting characters and plots I’d become so familiar with. The series and books written by the same author on my list this year were Spindle Cove (Tessa Dare), Loyal League (Alyssa Cole), Will Trent (Karin Slaughter), as well as books written by Jasmine Guillory and Elin Hilderbrand. I really enjoyed The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle) by Patrick Rothfuss (recommended to me by my husband Jay.) I've been on the waiting list at the library for months for the next book in the series, anxious to continue following along with the hero Kvothe.

Each book (with the exception of Becoming by Michelle Obama, gifted to me by my mom) was checked out from the Denver Public Library via Overdrive. I didn't spend any money on books this year, but had to postpone a few reads due to availability - I'm number #357 in line for Ann Patchett's The Dutch House (recommended to me by my Grandma Joyce.) The best texts I received this year were from my grandma recommending books. In more than one instance, she had read and recommend the hottest new release before I'd even heard about it!

It was a big year - Jay and I bought a house, and we were both promoted at work, but reading remained a constant. I'm so happy my parents instilled in me a love of reading from a young age (pictured below).

Here's to another year of great reads in 2020!

If you’re interested, the full list can be found below. My favorites from this year are indicated with an asterisk.

1. Circe - Madeline Miller*
2. A Night to Surrender (Spindle Cove book 1) - Tessa Dare
3. My Sister, the Serial Killer - Oyinkan Braithwaite
4. Sharp Objects - Gillian Flynn
5. A Week to be Wicked (Spindle Cove book 2) - Tessa Dare
6. Helter Skelter - Vincent Bugliosi
7. A Simple Favor - Darcey Bell
8. All You Can Ever Know - Nicole Chung 
9. Sons of Cain - Peter Vronsky
10. White Houses - Amy Bloom
11. The President is Missing - Bill Clinton and James Patterson
12. Becoming - Michelle Obama
13. Pretty Girls - Karin Slaughter 
14. The Immortalists - Chloe Benjamin 
15. A Lady by Midnight (Spindle Cove book 3) - Tessa Dare
16. Beauty and the Blacksmith (A Spindle Cove novella) - Tessa Dare
17. Any Duchess Will Do (Spindle Cove book 4) - Tessa Dare
18. Lord Dashwood Missed Out (A Spindle Cove novella) - Tessa Dare
19. The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing - Melissa Banks*
20. Do You Want to Start a Scandal (Spindle Cove book 5) - Tessa Dare
21. A Spark of Light - Jodi Picoult 
22. Ghost Story - Peter Straub
23. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
24. An Extraordinary Union (Loyal League book 1) - Alyssa Cole
25. Daisy Jones & The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid
26. When the Lights Go Out - Mary Kubica
27. A Hope Divided (Loyal League book 2) - Alyssa Cole
28. Stay Sexy and Don’t Get Murdered - Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
29. Jurassic Park - Michael Crichton*
30. Red, White & Royal Blue - Casey McQuiston*
31. Song of Achilles - Madeline Miller*
32. The Bride Test - Helen Hoang
33. No Happy Endings - Nora McInerny
34. Small Fry - Lisa Brennan-Jobs
35. Barefoot - Elin Hilderbrand 
36. The Matchmaker - Elin Hilderbrand
37. Dopesick - Beth Macy*
38. The Rumor - Elin Hilderbrand 
39. The Collected Schitzophrenias - Emsé Weijun Wang
40. The Unhoneymooners - Christina Lauren
41. The Wedding Party - Jasmine Guillory
42. The Farm - Joann Ramos
43. Meet Cute - Helena Hunting
44. The Great Alone - Kristin Hannah*
45. Baby Teeth - Zoje Stage
46. City of Girls - Elizabeth Gilbert
47. The Secrets We Kept - Laura Prescott 
48. Very Nice - Marcy Dermansky
49. American Spy - Lauren Wilkinson*
50. Triptych - Karin Slaughter (Will Trent series)
51. Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret - Craig Brown
52. Daughter of Moloka’i - Alan Brennert 
53. The Night Tiger - Yangsze Choo
54. The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle) - Patrick Rothfuss*
55. Fractured - Karin Slaughter (Will Trent series)
56. The Silent Patient - Alex Michaelides
57. Three Women - Lisa Taddeo
58. The Lager Queen of Minnesota - J. Ryan Stradal
59. Royal Holiday - Jasmine Guillory
60. The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah
61. Undone - Karin Slaughter (Will Trent series)
62. Broken - Karin Slaughter (Will Trent series)
63. I Miss You When I Blink - Mary Laura Philpott
64. Fallen - Karin Slaughter (Will Trent series)
65. Criminal - Karin Slaughter (Will Trent series)
66. Know My Name - Chanel Miller*
67. Unseen - Karin Slaughter (Will Trent series)
68. The Right Swipe - Alisha Rai8