Your best reads from last year

[Hannah]

19 out of 292 were 5-star reads for me.

Stand-out 5:

The Fair Fight by Anna Freeman - I didn't know much about this book before I read it. It was set in Edwardian England and we follow a host of different characters in their different, but interwoven, lives. Each character is very different, and they all come from both different backgrounds and different social classes. One of the best historical fiction books I've read, and it's a genre I really enjoy. Lot's of people who have read this book have said it is similar to the books Sarah Waters writes, so I'm hoping to read some of her books this year.

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza - Following the lives of an American-Indian Muslim family, this book focuses on three siblings trying to reconcile their culture in America with their parent's faith, and their identity as both American and Muslim.

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie - I loved this book so much that I added all books by this author to my TBR, and I've got at least three planned in for prompts for PS and ATY challenges this year.

Saints for All Occasions by J. Courtney Sullivan - I probably wouldn't have picked this book up if I hadn't needed to find a book for a prompt I was dreading, but it turned out to be one of my best reads. This is set in the 1950s, and tells the story of two sisters who moved from Ireland to America. One of the sisters ends up pregnant, and the other is forced to come up with a plan. The sisters are then estranged until they are forced to face up to the choices they made 50 years before.

Faithful by Alice Hoffman - I bought this book from my local Oxfam bookshop. I'm not sure why I picked it up, as it is not the type of book / plot I would normally choose, but I ended up loving it! Two teenagers are involved in a car accident late at night, and the one who wasn't driving ends up in a permanent coma. The book follows the story of the teenager who was driving, and how she finds her way in the world and comes to terms with the accident.

[Kelly]

I had 12 x 5-star reads last year out of a total 57 books read. There is a caveat however as 6 of those books are continuation of series that I absolutely love and can not imagine a day that I would ever rate them lower than 4-stars.

The Flavia de Luce series by Canadian author Alan Bradley generated 5 x 5-star books for me last year as I caught up on some of the back titles. This is an adult mystery series although the main character is a 12-year old girl but certainly like no 12-year old that I can remember. Here's a quote from Flavia just to give you some flavour for her character: "I am often thought of as being remarkably bright, and yet my brains, more often than not, are busily devising new and interesting ways of bringing my enemies to sudden, gagging, writhing, agonizing death." Precocious does not begin to describe her.

The other series that generated a 5-star read for me is also written by a Canadian author, Louise Penny and is a mystery series whose latest book is A Better Man.

Here are the other 6 books that were 5-stars for me in 2019:

The Library Book by Susan Orlean
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh
The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld
Why My Cat Is More Impressive Than Your Baby by Matthew Inman
The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

The Nightingale was the most surprising for me - while I will venture into historical fiction as a sub-genre to mystery or thriller, it is not usually a primary genre read for me. I welcome exceptions though!

[[deleted user]]

Kelly wrote: "I had 12 x 5-star reads last year out of a total 57 books read. There is a caveat however as 6 of those books are continuation of series that I absolutely love and can not imagine a day that I woul..."

Love the Flavia de Luce series, such a fun protagonist!

[Katelyn]

I read many books last year and my standouts are (in no particular order):

Circe - I really enjoyed the telling of this book and it stood out as one of my favorites.
There There - this was another one that really stood out for me. It really gives insight to the traditions and cultures of Indigenous peoples. Great read.
The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row - this was one of the few books that I have read that as soon as I turned the last page I immediately wanted to start it over again. The power behind this book resonated with me and stayed with me throughout the year.
Becoming - I was so excited when Michelle Obama finally wrote a book. I enjoyed reading about how she handled the entire world watching her and her husband fight for a better America.