Book List: Books Read in 2019

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.

Book Beginning: Off Island by Lara Tupper

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS
THANKS FOR JOINING ME ON FRIDAYS FOR BOOK BEGINNING FUN!

MY BOOK BEGINNING

The northern island looked best in morning light: slices of sheer cold rays on rugged pines and cliffs, the gray-blue sea below.

Off Island by Lara Tupper.

Tupper's new novel blends an imagined historical tale of artist Paul Gauguin living on an island off the the coast of Maine with a contemporary story of another painter who finds the art and letters Gauguin left behind.

Off Island launches January 6, 2020 and is available for pre-order from Encircle Publications.

From the publisher's description:

With wry humor and clear-eyed precision, Tupper captures the lure of the unknown, the pull of the familiar and the strangers our loved ones turn out to be. A novel of love and disappointment, duty and wanderlust, Off Island questions what it means to be loyal to one’s art, one’s family and one’s home.

Please join me every Friday to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you are reading, along with your initial thoughts about the sentence, impressions of the book, or anything else the opener inspires. Please remember to include the title of the book and the author’s name.

EARLY BIRDS & SLOWPOKES: This weekly post goes up Thursday evening for those who like to get their posts up and linked early on. But feel free to add a link all week.

SOCIAL MEDIA: If you are on Twitter, Instagram, or other social media, please post using the hash tag #BookBeginnings. I try to follow all Book Beginnings participants on whatever interweb sites you are on, so please let me know if I have missed any and I will catch up. Please find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING




TIE IN: The Friday 56 hosted by Freda's Voice is a natural tie in with this event and there is a lot of cross over, so many people combine the two. The idea is to post a teaser from page 56 of the book you are reading and share a link to your post. Find details and the Linky for your Friday 56 post on Freda’s Voice.

MY FRIDAY 56

The dirt road is lined with stocky pines, weak sun slanting in. In winter the dirt freezes in random stretches, making tricky planes Pete likes to crack with steel-toed boots.

2020 European Reading Challenge: WRAP UP POST PAGE

The 2020 European Reading Challenge

WRAP UP POST PAGE

January 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021

THIS IS THE PAGE FOR WRAP UP POSTS

TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS, GO TO THIS PAGE

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE,

OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE

When you complete the 2020 European Reading Challenge whatever level you signed up for, please do a wrap up post and enter a link to your post here. A wrap up post can be as simple as an update of your original sign up post. Please link to your wrap up post, NOT the main page of your blog.

LINK YOUR WRAP UP POST HERE:



You can complete the challenge simply by reading one to five books (or more), each set in a different European country or written by an author from a different European country.

You do not have to review books to complete the challenge. But only books reviewed count towards the Jet Setter Prize. So if you are going for the prize, link your reviews on the review page here. Only one book per country counts towards the prize.

When I announce the prize winner, Honorable Mention will go to the participants who visited the most countries, with links to their wrap up posts. If you don't link a wrap up post, I won't be able to find you.

NO BLOG? NO PROBLEM!

You do not need a blog to participate! If you don't have a blog, be flexible about how you alert us to your wrap up. If you post on a platform that allows you to post a link here, post the link. If you post your wrap up on Instagram, Goodreads, LibraryThing, Facebook, or some other place that doesn't generate a link, just leave a comment here with a list of your books and the countries. Please name the countries as well as the book titles so I don't have to guess.

NOTE ABOUT DATES

There is overlap in January 2020 between the last month of the 2019 challenge and the first month of the 2020 challenge. If you participated both years, only count books read in January in one of the years, not both.

2020 European Reading Challenge: REVIEW PAGE

The 2020 European Reading Challenge

REVIEW PAGE

January 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021

THIS IS THE PAGE TO LIST YOUR REVIEWS.

IF YOU HAVE FINISHED, WRAP UP POSTS GO ON THIS PAGE.

TO SIGN UP, GO TO THE MAIN CHALLENGE PAGE, HERE,

OR CLICK THE BUTTON ABOVE.

LINK YOUR REVIEWS HERE

Please put your name or the name of your blog, the name of the book you reviewed, and the country of the book or author. For example: "Rose City Reader, A Gentleman in Moscow, Russia."




When you review a book for the 2020 European Reading Challenge, please add it to this list using the Linky widget above. Please link to your review post, NOT the main page of your blog.

You do not have to review books to complete the challenge. You can complete the challenge simply by reading one to five books (or more), each set in a different European country or written by an author from a different European country. If you complete the challenge, please link some kind of wrap up post (even an updated version of you original sign up post) on the wrap up page. That way, I know who finished the challenge.

But only books reviewed count towards the Jet Setter Prize. So if you are going for the prize, link your reviews here. Only one book per country counts towards the prize.

NO BLOG? NO PROBLEM!

You do not need a blog to participate! If you don't have a blog, be flexible about how you alert us to your reviews. If you post them on a platform that allows you to post a link here, post the link. If you post your reviews on Instagram, Goodreads, LibraryThing, Facebook, or some other place that doesn't generate a link, just copy your review into a comment here. That way, I can find the reviews and count them towards the Jet Setter Prize.

NOTE ABOUT DATES

There is overlap in January 2020 between the last month of the 2019 challenge and the first month of the 2020 challenge. If you participated both years, only count books read in January in one of the years, not both.

Review: A Place in the World by Amy Maroney

A Place in the World by Amy Maroney (2019)

A Place in the World wraps up Amy Maroney's historical fiction series about a female Renaissance artist and the modern-day art historian on her trail. The story throughout the series moves between Mira, the Renaissance artist, to her modern-day counterpart, art historian Zari Durrell. Most of the action of Mira’s story takes place in the Pyrenees, along the pilgrim’s route of Camino de Santiago.

Mira was born into dangerous circumstances and her mother named her Miramonde, "one who sees the world." Growing up, she became known as Mira and set out to fulfill the promise of her name. She makes an admirable heroine, overcoming obstacles, dangers, and heartbreak that would challenge the most formidable spirit. Zari shares the same impulsive, curious nature and strong moral compass. The dual story line works well.

The series was inspired by a 500-year-old portrait of a mysterious woman at Oxford University attributed to female artist Caterina van Hemessen. Maroney wove historical research about women artists during the Renaissance with an adventure story to shine a light on these lost artists of the 16th Century. The books also explore the technical world of art conservation, which has evolved to the point where we can see beneath layers of paint and discover truths that have been buried for centuries.

In this last book, Maroney brings Mira and Zari’s adventure to a satisfying close. Like the first two books, A Girl from Oto and Mira’s Way, A Place in the World is fast-paced and the writing seems effortless. Maroney’s Miramonde series is storytelling at its best.


NOTES

Read my Rose City Reader interview with Amy Maroney here. Amy talks about her books, female artists, and what drew her to historical fiction. She also gives a list of her favorite authors and recent favorite books.

From the Publisher's Description:

1505: Pregnant and reunited with the love of her life, artist Mira survives a harrowing journey to the city of her dreams. But Bayonne is nothing like she imagined. Navigating a dangerous world ruled by merchants and bishops, she struggles to reignite her painting career. When an old enemy rises from the shadows, Mira’s life is thrown into chaos all over again—and she is faced with a shattering decision.

2016: Scholar Zari seizes the chance to return to Europe as a consultant for an art dealer. Overwhelmed by her job, she has little time to hunt for clues about Mira. But when art experts embrace a theory that Mira’s paintings are the work of a famous man, Zari must act. Racing against time, she travels to a windswept corner of Spain. What she discovers there solves the puzzle of Mira forever—and unlocks the secrets of Zari’s own past.

A thrilling tale of obsession, mystery, and intrigue, this mesmerizing saga will stay with you long after you read the last page.

Hope for the New Year!

Over on Instagram, bookstagrammers are collecting #2020hopetitles, “book titles that reflect your hopes for 2020, whether they be personal or global.”

Mine are gathered here with my favorite cuddly throw blanket and Christmas tea mug from Dallmayr’s in Munich because one of my hopes for the new year is to spend more time curled up with a good book. But that’s always my hope for the new year and I don’t know that this coming year will be any different than years past.

Of course, with the 2020 US elections looming, the new year is gearing up to be even more acrimonious than ever. Two of my choices reflect my hopes for civility in public discourse and personal relationships. I have friends all along the political spectrum, from one end to the other, and my hope is we are all still talking by the end of the year.

The first book is Culture Counts by Roger Scruton, a series of essays defending what T. S. Eliot called “the common pursuit of true judgment.” I’m reading this now to remind me of fundamentals.

The next is Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle. My hope is we could all talk more, tweet less.

Closer to home, my personal hope is that I spend more time with IRL friends in 2020, so I included Among Friends by M. F. K. Fisher.

I added these Los Angeles and San Francisco books to reflect my hopes for my job in 2020. On January 1, California opens a three-year “window” in its statute of limitations for child sexual assault that allows victims who were abused at any time in the past to bring claims against abusers or organizations. My law partner and I are filing at least 14 new sex abuse cases against the Boy Scout next week. There will be more. Many of our clients have waited many years for this law to change. My hope is that they finally get justice and accountability for the wrongs done to them as children.

And finally, I included Walk There! because I need surgery on my foot to fix a pinched nerve. Right now, walking feels like stepping on ground glass. So my hope is to get it over soon, successfully, and with a quick recovery.

How about you? What hopes do you have for the new year? Can you find book titles that reflect your hopes? Feel free to list your own titles, in a comment here, or on your own blog, Instagram, or other social media.