My Best-Loved Books of 2019!

Can we talk about books – 2019 edition?

T’was a rich, deep, and fun year of reading. I read 44 books and enjoyed most of them, so it was tough to scale my list down to 13 for this one.

This is year number 5 of doing the books blog. I always appreciate the feedback and it is a joy to write. Enjoy!

*Please note that I rate my books in part on their clean-read value.

So here we go:

Hard to put down. An unfathomable life and extraordinary success story. Brilliant writer. Brilliant woman! 4 and a half stars because of violence and language.

Loss, abandonment, and God’s healing redemption. A beautiful narrative of God’s power in our lives. God can make a life His masterpiece. Four and a half stars. Fabulous writer and storyteller. I’ve loved her books for many years. Clean-read with inferences and adult subjects

I love Bob Goff! His books are inspiration and motivation to just go out and love! I had the pleasure of hearing him speak in September and he is beyond wonderful. My favorite section is the end (witch doctors, oh my!).

I’ve read quite a few books about the Holy Spirit and this one is my favorite. 5 stars! Francis Chan is intense and oh so sold out for God. Powerful personal stories.

Loved. Loved. Loved. For such a time as this. This book spoke to me right where I was, just when I needed it. Sheila Walsh is authentic and so stinking funny. She blankets this book with grace. My favorite story is at the end. Five stars.

A book club book. Impossible to put down. The ending… wow! I give this a four-plus instead of 5 because of sex and violence. It is powerful! Beautifully written by a daughter of Palestinian immigrants. Etaf Rum takes the reader to a world of women who are second class (or last class) in their culture. We read a second book along this same vein for book club called Inside the Kingdom by Carmen Bin Ladin.

I’ve read all three of Jamie Ford’s books. He writes beautifully and tells a soulful story. Each melancholy book features a teen or tween as the protagonist and hero. He writes a clean story even with adult-themed topics. Almost 5 stars for this one.

I like Allison Pataki for historical fiction (I’m a huge fan of H.F.). A sluggish start but I ended up loving it as it progressed. I learned quite a bit of “real” history about Benedict Arnold, his wife, and details of his treason. Sexual inferences and no language. 4 plus stars.

I am obsessed with the Enneagram! What is the Enneagram you ask? Well, read this book and drink the Kool-Aid and you’ll find out. I read this one about five times. Five stars.

Not quite a five because of sexual content and some language. But I adored this one about an emancipated Foster child. Engaging writing and storytelling. Important subject.

Another book club page-turner, a mystery of sorts. I so enjoyed the Chinese and Dutch idioms. This is not a clean-read as the second half of the book is laced with language, some violence, and sexual content. Because of that, I give it a 4.

My favorite novel of the year. 5 stars. Historical fiction with double timelines. No sex (inference) or language with modern-day and historical timelines. Heart-wrenching and beautifully written.

This is not a clean read. It contains explicit and extremely difficult and disturbing content. But I can not blog about my 2019 books without mentioning it. I listened to it on Audible (amazing!). Scandals. Outside the box, as usual. Vintage Gladwell.