My Best-Loved Books of 2019!

Jan 07 2020 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.

And some books are so wonderful that you pull them out again and again. Here are two I reread:

There are dozens in my 2020 reading cue, too many to share! This is a rich time for readers.

What do you plan to read in 2020?

Happy reading, friends!