Best of 2019 Reads

Choosing the best book of the seventy-five read during 2019 is a daunting task.  Around mid-December I reflected back and the top nine were the ones I established as the 'best of 2019' for me.  I was enamored with each of these stories for different reasons.  There was plot-driven, there was character-driven, there was memoir and slow burns.  There was something in each of them that cracked me open in a way I didn't expect.  And then I finished reading for the month of December.

During December I finished both This Tender Land and Olive, Again.  They were wonderful.  And as I thought through the ones I'd previously selected I realized there was so much more to my reading life than the original nine.

There was heartache and espionage, there was seeing into the future, there was fantasy and miracles.  How could I leave these nine out of my summary.  I just couldn't.  So my top nine because top 18.

And so it was.  The reads for this year filled me with new experiences and opportunities to connect with other readers on difficult topics.  I won't easily forget the pain and frustration of A Woman is No Man where I learned cultural differences of how women can expect to be treated.  Historical fiction gained assess into my reading world this year as well.  The story of We Were the Lucky Ones based on true events and how people other different ethnicity are treated during wartime.  In The Secrets We Kept I grew to appreciate the story of how Doctor Zhivago was written and what it based on.

Other stories took me beyond my previous comfort zone to the world of fantasy and knowing into the future.  The four siblings in The Immortalists tore at my heart as their stories unfolded and Where the Forest Meets the Stars of a little girl who presents herself as an align was sensitive and illuminating.

City of Girls had me laughing until I cried.  Save Me the Plums introduced me to Ruth Reichl, whom I'll now never forget and made me a forever fan of everything she does!  The Dearly Beloved reminded me the inportance of faith - even when we don't talk about it.  While Miracle Creek had me on the edge of my seat as the trail unfolded, This Tender Land was Tom Sawyer-esqe and connected me to the land - its beauty and its danger.  The Other's Gold and The Most Fun We Ever Had dealt with the intricate dynamics of family drama.  Each clearly reminded me that I am not alone in my curiosity of how this all works, how family matters and how family is often a game of chance.

I wouldn't have traded Holding On To Nothing even though it saddened me to the core.  I felt wrung out and frustrated when it was over.  While The Dutch House and The Guest Books taught me to truly appreciate a slower burn, plot-driven tale to sink into and enjoy.

What a fantastic reading year.  I laughed and cried.  I learned and released.  I truly love the experience of not only reading them, but savoring the experience with more book friends than ever before.

Here's to an even better reading year in 2020!