Every January, I make a list of the books I read the past year. I usually read a 100+ and 2019 was the same. I read 104 books in 2019. Some were very short; some were very long. A few seemed longer than they were.
I'm trying to be less stingy about giving five stars. I've always reserved five for classics or a very few all-time favorites. I'm going start giving five stars for books I really enjoyed and would recommend generally; four for books I liked and would recommend to people who enjoy that type of book; three if I was lukewarm on it or if liked it personally, but wouldn't think of recommending it; two if I didn't like it; and one if I really didn't like it.
MY LIST OF 2019 BOOKS, IN THE ORDER I READ THEM
Educated by Tara Westover ⭐⭐⭐
The Jewel in the Crown (The Raj Quartet, Book I) by Paul Scott ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Year of the French by Thomas Flanagan ⭐⭐⭐
The Day of the Scorpion (The Raj Quartet, Book II) by Paul Scott ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Year of Living Kindly: Choices That Will Change Your Life and the World Around You by Donna Cameron (my interview with Donna Cameron is here) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books by Karen Swallow Prior ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Towers of Silence (The Raj Quartet, Book III) by Paul Scott ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Henri, le Chat Noir: The Existential Musings of an Angst-Filled Cat by William Bradon ⭐⭐⭐
Slam by Nick Hornby ⭐⭐⭐ ½
The Girl from Oto by Amy Maroney (my interview with Amy Maroney is here) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Shame of Losing by Sarah Cannon (my interview with Sarah Cannon is here) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
An Affair with a House by Bunny Williams ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Tenth Man by Graham Greene ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Friend of My Springtime by Willa Cather ⭐⭐
Licking Flames: Tales of a Half-Assed Hussy by Diana Kirk (my interview with Diana Kirk is here) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Division of Spoils (The Raj Quartet, Book IV) by Paul Scott ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mark Hampton on Decorating by Mark Hampton ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
In the Woods by Tana French ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Staying On by Paul Scott (Booker Prize winner) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Blood, Salt, Water by Denise Mina ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tatiana by Martin Cruz Smith ⭐⭐⭐
Queen of Spades by Michael Shou-Yung Shum ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Headlong by Michael Frayn ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Zuckerman Unbound by Philip Roth ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Last Thing He Wanted by Joan Didion ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Vengeance by Benjamin Black ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Robineau Look by Kathleen Moore Knight ⭐⭐⭐½
I'd Rather Be Reading: A Library of Art for Book Lovers by Guinevere De La Mare⭐⭐⭐⭐
Agents and Patients by Anthony Powell ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson ⭐⭐⭐
Collected Poems: 1944-1979 (NYRB Poets) by Kingley Amis (including A Case of Samples, Poems 1946-1956 and A Look Round the Estate, Poems 1957-67) ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Woman of Means by Peter Taylor ⭐⭐⭐½
Someone by Alice McDermott ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Poorhouse Fair by John Updike ⭐⭐⭐½
A Man of Property (The Forsyte Saga, Book I) by John Galsworthy ⭐⭐⭐⭐
In Chancery (The Forsyte Saga, Book II) by John Galsworthy ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Girl, 20 by Kingsley Amis ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante ⭐⭐
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Vanishing American Adult: Our Coming-of-Age Crisis--and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance by Ben Sasse ⭐⭐⭐⭐½
To Let (The Forsyte Saga, Book III) by John Galsworthy ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Imitation Game by Ian McEwan ⭐⭐⭐
Wise Virgin by A. N. Wilson ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Best of Friends by Joanna Trollope ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Sight for Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Uneasy Money by P. G. Wodehouse ⭐⭐⭐½
The Quiller Memorandum by Adam Hall ⭐⭐⭐½
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Trick of the Light by Louise Penny ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lila by Marilynne Robinson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold John le Carre ⭐⭐⭐
Set in Darkness by Ian Rankin ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Backwards in High Heels: The Impossible Art of Being Female by Tania Kindersley ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
There There by Tommy Orange ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Lady Into Fox by David Garnett (James Tait Black Memorial Prize Winner) ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats by T. S. Eliot ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery by Kyril Bonfiglioli ⭐⭐⭐
Conquests and Cultures: An International History by Thomas Sowell ⭐⭐⭐
Trove: A Woman's Search for Truth and Buried Treasure by Sandra A. Miller ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Power by Naomi Alderman ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Something Special by Iris Murdoch ⭐⭐⭐
Dirty Friends by Morris Lurie ⭐⭐⭐
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Gift of a Letter: Giving the Gift of Ourselves -- Add Richness and Grace to Your Life Through the Art of Letter-writing by Alexandra Stoddard ⭐⭐⭐½
Braving the Wilderness: The Quest for True Belonging and the Courage to Stand Alone by Brene Brown ⭐⭐⭐⭐
And When She Was Good by Laura Lippman ⭐⭐⭐½
Do the Windows Open? by Julie Hecht ⭐⭐⭐
The Dying Animal by Philip Roth ⭐⭐⭐½
Big Sky by Kate Atkinson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life by Anne Bogel ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Little Book of Lykke: Secrets of the World’s Happiest People by Meik Wiking ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke ⭐⭐⭐
Before the Fall by Noah Hawley ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Small Room by May Sarton ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Heart-Keeper by Françoise Sagan ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Abbess of Crewe by Muriel Spark ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Levels of Life by Julian Barnes ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Gourmands' Way: Six Americans in Paris and the Birth of a New Gastronomy by Justin Spring ⭐⭐⭐⭐
It's Hard to Be Hip Over Thirty and Other Tragedies of Married Life by Judith Viorst ⭐⭐⭐
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
First Love by Joyce Carol Oates ⭐⭐⭐
The Man in the Queue by Josephine Tey ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Mira's Way by Amy Maroney ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Birds of Wonder by Cynthia Robinson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Cat Abroad by Peter Gethers ⭐⭐⭐½
Rash by Lisa Kusel ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Suitable Vengeance by Elizabeth George ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World by A. J. Jacobs ⭐⭐⭐½
Milkman by Anna Burns ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Professor's House by Willa Cather ⭐⭐⭐½
Shattered by Dick Francis ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Hunter by John Lescroart ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Before Lunch by Angella Thirkell ⭐⭐⭐½
Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Final Verdict by Sheldon Siegel ⭐⭐⭐½
The Secret of Clouds by Alyson Richman
The Adults by Caroline Hulse ⭐⭐⭐⭐
NOTE
I usually link to amazon because I know I like to have a link to a book when I want more information about it and amazon is a clearinghouse of information. But I know some people dislike amazon. Please don't take offence. Feel free to find books and information wherever you chose.
I loved The Dutch House, too.
ReplyDeleteI’ve only read 3 of these: Educated, Sing Unburied Sing, and The Husband’s Secret.
ReplyDeleteI’ll have to count my number for 2019. I’m sure it’s not 104.
Good for you!
I haven't read Educated yet but so many have raved about it. I'd be interested to know why you gave it only three stars.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoyed Tey's Man in the Queue. I thought the characterization really well done, but I called foul at the last-minuted confession from an unintroduced character.