Hello, lovelies! Today, I’m going to share my top ten favorite books read in 2019. Last year, I managed to complete my goal of reading 100 books in a year (!!!). That made narrowing down this list a lot harder than the year before since I read so many great books! I originally had eighteen books on this list before cutting it down to fifteen. I had originally given up and decided to make it “Top 15 Books,” but I managed to narrow it down to ten.
When I think about it, these aren’t the best books I read this year in terms of caliber, but I was utterly obsessed with them at the time I read them. I was completely immersed in the worlds and the characters, which I think constitutes them as amazing books. There were plenty more great books that didn’t make it onto this list. With that said, I hope you enjoy.
Last Year’s Post – Top 10 Books I Read In 2018
10.// The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
After the 1st wave, only darkness remains. After the 2nd, only the lucky escape. And after the 3rd, only the unlucky survive. After the 4th wave, only one rule applies: trust no one.
Now, it’s the dawn of the 5th wave, and on a lonely stretch of highway, Cassie runs from Them. The beings who only look human, who roam the countryside killing anyone they see. Who has scattered Earth’s last survivors? To stay alone is to stay alive, Cassie believes until she meets Evan Walker. Beguiling and mysterious, Evan Walker may be Cassie’s only hope for rescuing her brother-or even saving herself. But Cassie must choose: between trust and despair, between defiance and surrender, between life and death. To give up or to get up.
My Thoughts
This is a case where I’m only talking about the first book, not the rest of the series (which was fine, just not great). I was surprised by how highly I ranked this book out of the hundred until I thought about how obsessed I was with it at the time I read it. Science fiction is my favorite genre and most dystopias are about political downfalls, but this one was about an alien invasion. The premise wasn’t super unique, but the world-building was phenomenal for a YA novel. It reminded me of War of the Worlds.
I loved the characters’ inner monologues (they were so witty and introspective) and Rick Yancey has the most beautiful writing style. I legit quoted this book for a social psychology response in a college class because it was so well-written. I was so immersed in the world and what the characters were going through. My only problem with the books is the romance. Thankfully, that’s not a central part of the book, but it could have been executed better or just erased altogether.
9.// Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
IN THE YEAR 2044, reality is an ugly place. The only time teenage Wade Watts really feels alive is when he’s jacked into the virtual utopia known as the OASIS. Wade’s devoted his life to studying the puzzles hidden within this world’s digital confines, puzzles that are based on their creator’s obsession with the pop culture of decades past and that promise massive power and fortune to whoever can unlock them.
But when Wade stumbles upon the first clue, he finds himself beset by players willing to kill to take this ultimate prize. The race is on, and if Wade’s going to survive, he’ll have to win—and confront the real world he’s always been so desperate to escape.
My Thoughts
Again, I was surprised by how highly this book ranked, though there is definitely a trend. This is another sci-fi book with phenomenal world-building. There were a lot of fun classic pop culture references that I’m sure went over my head, but I loved the ones I understood. The book explained how and why society had gotten to that point and the competition itself was really interesting. Because the book took place over the course of a year, I liked how the romance and friendships developed. This is a pretty popular book and I’m sure you’ve heard of it already, so I won’t ramble on too much.
8.// Carrie by Stephen King
A modern classic, Carrie introduced a distinctive new voice in American fiction — Stephen King. The story of misunderstood high school girl Carrie White, her extraordinary telekinetic powers, and her violent rampage of revenge, remains one of the most barrier-breaking and shocking novels of all time.
Make a date with terror and live the nightmare that is…Carrie
My Thoughts
This was my first time reading a Stephen King novel, and it also happened to be his first novel (my picking it up first was just a coincidence). The reason I haven’t picked up Stephen King before is that I don’t like horror novels (nor movies) because I don’t like being scared when I read. Truth be told, it took me longer to read this novel because I was scared it was going to become scary, not because it actually was (which seems counter-intuitive). In my personal opinion, Carrie is not a scary book.
I can understand why Stephen King is such a critically acclaimed author. From the first chapter of the book, I was so upset about Carrie and what she was going through. I just thought, “Kill them all! They deserve it!” Her family history was so intriguing and the way her mother interpreted things made the book far more compelling. I wasn’t into all of King’s sexual innuendos, but they were fine. From what I hear, a lot of his books have that. I definitely plan on checking out more of his books this year. (Probably in October, when I’m in a spooky mood. I almost read Misery in January but didn’t because I wanted to read something more happy at the time.)
7.//Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella
Audrey can’t leave the house. she can’t even take off her dark glasses inside the house.
Then her brother’s friend Linus stumbles into her life. With his friendly, orange-slice smile and his funny notes, he starts to entice Audrey out again – well, Starbucks is a start. And with Linus at her side, Audrey feels like she can do the things she’d thought were too scary. Suddenly, finding her way back to the real world seems achievable.
My Thoughts
I’m gonna be real with you. This book wasn’t all that good, but I couldn’t NOT include it on this list. I laughed my ass off reading this and can’t wait to read it again. I remember I checked out the audiobook on a whim at 1 AM while I was brushing my teeth and started listening. It was hilarious from the start. I walked around campus laughing out loud like a crazy person because I couldn’t hold it in. I finished that audiobook in a day and recommended it to all of my friends. Audrey’s older brother is so much like my brother Zidan, it’s not even funny. And her family just made the book SO much better. I also like that the book went into the fact that Audrey logically understood that she shouldn’t be afraid or have so much anxiety looking people in the eye, but that’s not how anxiety works.
The description makes the book sound like a romance, but that wasn’t really the main plot of the book. The book had a lot more to do with her family and her anxiety than her love interest (who was great and supportive). This book’s saving grace is that it was incredibly funny. I would’ve given it five stars based on my enjoyment.
6.//Champion and Rebel by Marie Lu
What was once the western United States is now home to the Republic, a nation perpetually at war with its neighbors. Born into an elite family in one of the Republic’s wealthiest districts, fifteen-year-old June is a prodigy being groomed for success in the Republic’s highest military circles. Born into the slums, fifteen-year-old Day is the country’s most wanted criminal. But his motives may not be as malicious as they seem.
From very different worlds, June and Day have no reason to cross paths—until the day June’s brother, Metias, is murdered and Day becomes the prime suspect. Caught in the ultimate game of cat and mouse, Day is in a race for his family’s survival, while June seeks to avenge Metias’s death. But in a shocking turn of events, the two uncover the truth of what has really brought them together, and the sinister lengths their country will go to keep its secrets.
My Thoughts
I only include new books I read on these lists, which is why I just put the third and fourth books in the series. I read the first two books in the Legend Trilogy in high school but didn’t read the third book when it came out. I read the entire trilogy in the first two weeks of 2019 and loved them more than I did the first time. It is very rare that I like the sequels just as much or even more than the first book and all three hit the mark. What I liked most about these books is that everything I predicted for the ending would happen in the middle of the book, which made the second half so much more surprising. Even the second book ended the way I thought the entire trilogy would end, which made the final book so much more interesting! It went into international politics, which you never see in dystopian books, and all the different countries mentioned had very unique types of governments. It was like a Black Mirror episode.
I was incredibly wary about Marie Lu adding a fourth book to the series because it ended in 2013, but I needn’t have worried. She did a great job with it and it added so much more to the first three books. I really enjoy this series. The world-building is great and the action sequences are incredible. The romance is actually really well-done considering the time this was written and the fourth book made me love them so much more.
(I’d also like to add that these were the first and last books I read in 2019, which is a fun coincidence.)
5.//The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
In love we find out who we want to be. In war we find out who we are.
France, 1939
In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says goodbye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When France is overrun, Vianne is forced to take an enemy into her house, and suddenly her every move is watched; her life and her child’s life is at constant risk. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates around her, she must make one terrible choice after another.
Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old girl, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians march into the unknown terrors of war, she meets the compelling and mysterious Gäetan, a partisan who believes the French can fight the Nazis from within France, and she falls in love as only the young can…completely. When he betrays her, Isabelle races headlong into danger and joins the Resistance, never looking back or giving a thought to the real–and deadly–consequences.
My Thoughts
I read this novel while I was in Europe and I felt more reading this than I did when I visited Auschwitz (and I cried there). This was such an environmental book. The entire time I was reading it, I felt like I was experiencing the war with them. Both sisters did brave things for the war through very different means. All the violence and sorrow they had to go through was depicted in the most real way. Most World War II books take place in Germany and are in men’s points of view, so it was interesting to read a historical fiction that took place in France and was from the point of view of women who weren’t directly involved in the war.
4.// Red, White, & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
What happens when America’s First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales?
When his mother became President, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius—his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has a beef with the actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex-Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.
Heads of family, state, and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: staging a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instragramable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations and begs the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through?
My Thoughts
This book makes me smile. It was the modern-day gay fairytale romance I didn’t know I needed. I’m so glad the main characters were adults and not teenagers, so I could take their relationship seriously. I expected the book to be incredibly cheesy, but the political aspects of their countries and the issues surrounding their relationship made the story so much more interesting. The parents weren’t inconsiderate nor inept, which almost never happens in books. This was just an all-around sweet and fun book to read. I can’t wait to reread it.
3.//The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
I didn’t read the first book this year, but here’s the Goodreads synopsis for it, since the ones for the rest of the series contain spoilers
CINDER, a gifted mechanic in New Beijing, is also a cyborg. She’s reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s sudden illness. But when her life becomes entwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she finds herself at the center of a violent struggle between the desires of an evil queen – and a dangerous temptation.
Cinder is caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal. Now she must uncover secrets about her mysterious past in order to protect Earth’s future.
This is not the fairytale you remember. But it’s one you won’t forget.
My Thoughts
Aaaah…the Lunar Chronicles. The books I slowly but surely become completely obsessed with at the beginning of the year. I liked the first two books well enough as I slowly became attached to the characters, but the plot got so much better in the last two books. This is an extremely popular fairytale retelling series that took me way to long to read. I think I just decided I wouldn’t like it after reading the first few pages in high school and never picked it up again. The first book is a Cinderella retelling that takes place in China, the second is inspired by Little Red Riding Hood and takes place in France, the third is inspired by Rapunzel and takes place partially in space, but mostly in the Sahara desert, and the final book is a inspired by Snow White and takes place on the moon (Or Luna, as they call it).
Anyway, this book takes place in a universe where humans colonized the moon, and after many generations of evolution, the Lunars (people from the moon) developed an interesting ability other humans don’t have. There’s a lot of political blackmail, running from the government, and a plague/pandemic. The best part about these books, though, is the characters. The first book only includes Cinder, but more character point of views are added as you go through the series. This is something I normally hate in sequels but enjoyed a lot in this series. I was surprised by how attached I was to everyone by the end of it. I finished the series and read all four companion novels at the beginning of last year. I was sad when it was over because I had become so attached to all the characters. I’ll probably write a blog post about it the next time I read it because it’s one of my new favorite series.
2.// Room by Emma Donoghue
To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world….
Told in the inventive, funny, and poignant voice of Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience—and a powerful story of a mother and son whose love lets them survive the impossible.
To five-year-old Jack, Room is the entire world. It is where he was born and grew up; it’s where he lives with his Ma as they learn and read and eat and sleep and play. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits.
Room is home to Jack, but to Ma, it is the prison where Old Nick has held her captive for seven years. Through determination, ingenuity, and fierce motherly love, Ma has created a life for Jack. But she knows it’s not enough … not for her or for him. She devises a bold escape plan, one that relies on her young son’s bravery and a lot of luck. What she does not realize is just how unprepared she is for the plan to actually work.
Told entirely in the language of the energetic, pragmatic five-year-old Jack, Room is a celebration of resilience and the limitless bond between parent and child, a brilliantly executed novel about what it means to journey from one world to another
My Thoughts
This was a very unique book. Because it was from the point of view of Jack, I was able to slowly interpret what happened to his mother between the parts he didn’t understand. As you can probably tell from the blurb, his mother was kidnapped, held captive, and raped for years inside what Jack calls Room. She didn’t want her son to feel like he was missing out on anything, so she raised Jack thinking that Room was the entire world. I watched the movie pretty soon after reading this and it’s a very good adaptation of the book. It’s no wonder Brie Larson won an Oscar for it. I highly recommend both the book and the film. It puts a hopeful twist on a very dark situation because it’s from the point of view of a 5-year-old discovering the world.
1.// The Seven Husbands Of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband has left her, and her professional life is going nowhere. Regardless of why Evelyn has selected her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career.
Summoned to Evelyn’s luxurious apartment, Monique listens in fascination as the actress tells her story. From making her way to Los Angeles in the 1950s to her decision to leave show business in the ’80s, and, of course, the seven husbands along the way, Evelyn unspools a tale of ruthless ambition, unexpected friendship, and a great forbidden love. Monique begins to feel a very real connection to the legendary star, but as Evelyn’s story near its conclusion, it becomes clear that her life intersects with Monique’s own in tragic and irreversible ways. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a mesmerizing journey through the splendor of old Hollywood into the harsh realities of the present day as two women struggle with what it means–and what it costs–to face the truth.
My Thoughts
We’re at our number one pick! I read this book in December, so it had a lot of competition at that point. The blurb makes it sound like the reporter, Monique, has a huge part in the book, but it’s mostly just Evelyn recounting her life in her own point of view. You wouldn’t recognize the significance of the reporter until the very end, which made the entire beginning of the book even better. I would consider this novel historical fiction. This book mainly recounts Evelyn’s life going from a child of immigrants in an abusive family to reinventing herself and becoming the classic Hollywood starlet she is renowned as.
Now that everyone in the stories are dead, she can tell the whole truth of her life to the world. Throughout the book, Evelyn felt like a real person. I wanted to look her up and watch her movies because everything she said felt so real. She frames her story in the interviews through her past seven husbands. The main question of the story was to find out who the true love of her life was, but the book was about a lot more than that (which I can’t tell without spoiling). I think I mostly kept reading to find out if she ever becomes happy.
At first, I thought I loved the book so much because the audiobook was so well made, but I got the physical book from the library in January to flip through my favorite parts then accidentally read 100 pages. It’s definitely just as amazing. I can understand why it’s so highly recommended.
So yeah, those were my top 10 books read in 2019. It was by far one of the best reading years of my life (I can’t call it the best since middle school was a very good time for me book-wise). I read so many amazing books in a variety of genres, which aren’t showcased as much in this post. I kind of want to write a post about my Goodreads stats, so possibly expect that post at some point this month.
Anyway, I guess I’ll see you next time. I would like to try to schedule a post for every Tuesday, but I end up being ambitious by posting multiple times per week then missing my Tuesday deadline. We’ll see how it goes.
Related – How I Read 100 Books In A Year (As A Busy College Student)
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What was your favorite book read in 2019? I really want to know.