My Favorite Books from 2019

Favorite Reads from 2019

The Witchlands series by Susan Dennard – Really enjoyed this series much more than I thought I would #thehypeisreal. Can’t wait for the next installment!
Reviews: Truthwitch, Windwitch, Bloodwitch

The Library Book by Susan Orlean – This was an amazing read! A must for every book lover.
Review

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill – A middle grade I read for book club and LOVED. It’s definitely middle grade, but I feel like I never would have understood its depths as a kid.
Review

Kid Gloves: Nine Months of Careful Chaos by Lucy Knisley – Sometimes graphic, but a REAL portrayal of conception, pregnancy, labor, and what it’s like to face impending parenthood.

Shades of Magic trilogy by V.E. Schwab – Blown away by this series and can’t believe I didn’t start it sooner.
Reviews: ADSoM, AGoS, ACoL

Vicious/Vengeful by V.E. Schwab – I’m very impressed by V.E. Schwab at this point. This is the best depiction of an antihero that I’ve ever read.
Reviews: Vicious, Vengeful

The Big Year by Mark Obmascik – I read this after rewatching the movie. Just as delightful.
Review

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – I’d been meaning to read this book forever and I finally did it. Amazing. I understand why it has the reputation it does. Zusak is a masterful author.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (reread) – For some reason I started doubting whether this book was as good as I remembered it being. After an audio book reread, I can confirm that it is for sure.

You’d Be Mine by Erin Hahn – I didn’t expect much from this book, but was hit hard with unexpected emotion and characters with a surprising amount of depth.
Review

Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno – THIS IS WHAT HISPANIC CULTURE IS. The timing of when I read this book could not have been more perfect.
Review

First & Then by Emma Mills – I love the relationship between the main character and her cousin and that it doesn’t take a backseat to the romance.
Review

17 Best Book Deals for 1/6/20: All Souls Trilogy, One of Us Is Lying, An Anonymous Girls, and more

Book Deals

As of this posting, all of these deals are active, but I don’t know for how long!

Less than $1

Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie

Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Less than $2

Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron

All Souls Trilogy by Deborah Harkness (incl. A Discovery of Witches, Shadow of Night, and The Book of Life)

Sherwood by Meagan Spooner

Circle of Shadows by Evelyn Skye

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe

Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie

Less than $3

An Anonymous Girl by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

First & Then by Emma Mills

Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson

Less than $4

The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right by Atul Gawande

Recommended from this post:

Welcome to the auto-read club| Emma Mills Mini-Reviews

I’ve been meaning to read some of Emma Mills’ books for a while now and I’ve finally taken the leap. I’m happy to report that I love them! Her characters are always so likable and her books so easy to read. Here’s my quick take on her first three books.

First & Then

This book actually was a surprise to me. I wasn’t loving it or Devon (the main character) at first, but both grew on me. I thought Devon’s progression as a character was great and not too extreme and I like how in the end, she had resolved to do better in a specific area. I ended up really loving Devon’s relationship with Foster. It felt real to me and like it progressed at a genuine pace. As Devon started to care more and more about Foster, so did I. Another thing I was surprised by was the depth that I felt the characters had. I just didn’t really expect that for some reason and I thought the secondary characters were all lovely as well. I thought the dialogue between characters was great and felt authentic–sass levels were v high. Lastly, I liked that this book was a sports book, without REALLY being a sports book. 4.5/5

Purchase: Hardcover | Paperback | eBook

This Adventure Ends

First, I’m just going to say that I’m not going to pretend that the characters were realistic because they’re just…not. They were all just a little too shiny, but I still thought they were fantastic with great chemistry and sharp dialogue. I thought Sloane was immediately likable and funny. It made me literally LOL a few times in the first 100 pages. I thought her dynamic with her dad was especially fun. Something I especially liked about Sloan was that I didn’t feel like she was timid. I thought she could hold her own with her new friends. I’ve gotten a tad tired of the “extreme introvert being absorbed into a magnetic friend group” trope (sorry Sarah Dessen). Another character I loved was Laney! She was an absolute gem and reminded me a lot of Kitty from To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before in some ways. The one thing I will say is that we got hardly any scenes of Sloane at work with Gabe and it just seems like that should have played into things a bit more? But overall, a great read. 4/5

Purchase: Hardcover | Paperback | eBook

Foolish Hearts

This book was so compulsively readable! Seriously, before I knew it I had blown through 200 pages and it felt like nothing. I thought all of the characters were all likable and I liked that Claudia was a gamer, but was also normal. I think a lot of times authors rely on stereotypes for their characters because it’s easier, but I appreciate when an author can “break the mold”. I liked all of Claudia’s interactions with Iris, but I found it a tad unbelievable that Claudia wouldn’t have ANY friends at school until senior year? But perhaps it’s because everyone else at her school is so rich… I don’t know, it just didn’t really ring true to me. While I enjoyed this book and Claudia’s story, I found myself wondering more and more about her older sister, Julia. I almost would like a story about her starting with the beginning of her pregnancy. She just seemed like a really interesting character and I wanted to know more about her–I found myself hardcore relating to her. Perhaps that’s just showing my age… Another great book from Mills and I’m excited to read more from her! 4/5

Purchase: Hardcover | Paperback | eBook (currently on sale for $3!)

Welcome to a California Summer | June Wrap-Up & TBR Update

You guys. Where we’re at in California is SO HOT. We’ve been told that if you can survive July and August then you’ll make it, but I’m all like JUNE HAS BEEN UPPER 90s/LOW 100s EVERY DAY SO HOW COULD JULY AND AUGUST BE WORSE. Guess we’ll see.

monthly tbr

The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen – Read and reviewed
The Chosen by Taran Matharu [ARC] – DNF 38%
Five Midnights by Ann Dávila Cardinal [ARC] – DNF 13%
Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer [ARC] – Currently Reading
Wilder Girls by Rory Power [ARC]
The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley – Read (Audio)
First & Then by Emma Mills – Read and reviewed

Overall TBR:

TBR at the beginning of the year = 383
TBR at the beginning of June = 460
Books added to TBR = 18
Books read/deleted from TBR = 6
Total on TBR now = 472

How did your reading go this month?

May flowers bring June power (reading) | June TBR

This is the month of the big move! We’ll be moving within the next few days and after that we’ll be settling into our new place, our new lives. I’m so hoping to have time to read. If I do, here’s what I’m planning to get to this month.