Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

I'm excited with the new format for discussions and I'm really hoping it helps increase the talk about the books we are all reading.

So to kick off the new year, I'd love to share and hear about the best books people read last year; Books they think people should definitely add to their list this year or books they want people to read so they can talk about them with someone else who has read the book. Share one or share 5 (or any other number of books), whatever you think we should all find a copy of and read next.

I've got three recommendations. Two are series and one is a standalone book.

1. The Red Rising Saga Pierce Brown- Fast paced sci-fi with tons of emotional depth. Focuses much more on the impact of decisions and the relationship between characters and factions. It becomes more nuanced as the series progresses. One of the best series I've ever read.

2. The Books of Babel by Josiah Bancroft - A quirky, somewhat steam-punkish series full of twists and turns and incredibly interesting characters. Self published by the author because he wouldn't agree to the original publisher's (not sure which one) terms of altering his characters and toning them down to make them less quirky and nuanced.

3. City of Thieves - Surprise favourite from the year. Historical fiction set in WW2, but doesn't have a focus on the obvious conflict with the war. Instead it focuses on a scavenger trying to survive in Leningrad during the siege. He is charged with looting and arrested, but then given a chance to survive by a Soviet military colonel - locate a dozen eggs for his daughter's wedding cake in a city of ever decreasing resources and deprivation. Absolutely loved this book.

Happy New Year everyone!

My favorites of 2019, not necessarily in order:
The Secret History is about a small group of students in a New England college studying the classics. One of them ends up dead.

The House of the Spirits historical fiction and magical realism set during turbulent times in Chile.

I'll include The Obelisk Gate and The Stone Sky together. I just loved this series so much. It deserved all the awards that it got.

For non-fiction I loved:
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
Educated

Surprise of the year:
Little I am not even sure how I put this book on my library hold list. I don't remember ever hearing about it. But I loved it. It's about the early life of Madame Tussaud.

Thanks for the discussion, Peter. I really want to read City of Thieves. I love historical fiction, you can probably tell from my favorites. And I've just always been super curious about a book written by David Benioff.

Peter, I don’t remember if I added Senlin Ascends to my tbr following your recommendation, but after reading your first post I want to bump it up my list!

I’ll make time to share my best reads later, but I needed to comment on that (and also say that the Red Rising series is one of the best series I’ve ever read!!!)

Eight of my 102 reads last year were five-star reads for me. That feels low compared to most years - it was a pretty average & disappointing year overall. Almost 40% of my reads were two-star.

So my best of 2019 (in the order that I read them) were:

Educated
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
The Rape of Nanking
A Man Called Ove
On the Beach
Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams
Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men
Hunger

Five non-fiction, two classics, a play and a contemporary. Not much of a mix, I guess!

Jody wrote: "Eight of my 102 reads last year were five-star reads for me. That feels low compared to most years - it was a pretty average & disappointing year overall. Almost 40% of my reads were two-star.

So So my best of 2019 (in the order that I read them) were:

Educated ..."

Jody, my hold on Educated has just come in, so it's good to see that you rate it so highly. I tend to read much more fiction that non-fiction, so hopefully I'll enjoy this, although I've heard that it can be a tough read at times.

Milena wrote: "Thanks for the discussion, Peter. I really want to read City of Thieves. I love historical fiction, you can probably tell from my favorites. And I've just always been super curious about a book wri..."

I also have City of Thieves on my TBR. I can't remember why I added it, but it's been on there a couple of years, and although I've thought about picking it u a few times, it just never seems to make it right to the top of my TBR. Maybe 2020 will be the year I read it. I'll have a look to see if I can find some space for it in my challenges, otherwise I might read it as a side read.

Thanks for the recommendation!

Out of all of my books last year I had 6 that I gave 5 stars. And they are all different (thank you to doing challenges!)

Long Way Down A book written in verse covering less than 10 seconds of a boys life.

Educated A non-fiction memoir

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle a mystery where the same 24 hours is repeated over and over

A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story a children's book that I listened to about a young boy who is displaced by war.

The Book Thief a young adult historical book about WWII narrated by Death.

Strange the Dreamer a young adult fantasy with some of the best world building I've read.

Hannah wrote: "Jody, my hold on Educated has just come in, so it's good to see that you rate it so highly. I tend to read much more fiction that non-fiction, so hopefully I'll enjoy this, although I've heard that it can be a tough read at times. "

It's tough in terms of subject matter, but it's an excellently written and such a smooth read. I would definitely consider it a nonfiction book for fiction readers. I hope you enjoy it! I'd definitely say it was my #1 favourite book for 2019.

@Milena and Hannah - City of Thieves really surprised me. I read it on the recommendation of a co-worker and didn't expect a lot from it after reading the synopsis, but it ended up being incredible. The story was so captivating and it was such a simple premise. I think that's one of the reasons it ended up being so good - it doesn't attempt to be a story about the war with some grand scope or the scale of most WW2 stories; it's intimate and focused but still manages to convey the devastation war causes without large scale battles and the like.

@Sophie - We've definitely talked about Senlin Ascends. It's a great book, but when I found out the author had postponed publishing it and ended up self publishing it the way he wanted it to be years after a mainstream publisher refused to if he didn't make changes to his characters and writing, I ended up liking it even more. The whole series is great and I can't wait for book 4!

@Jody - I have a lot of 5 star reads this year (11 out of 40). It's combination of things though. Some of my books were rereads to refresh myself on a series with a new book that came out, so I already knew I'd have a bunch of 5 stars from the beginning. I also gave myself permission to drop a book I wasn't enjoying this year. Normally I have a hard time doing that, but I decided I wanted to focus on books I was enjoying rather than slogging through something I'd lost interest in. Educated is on my list for this year!

Count me in as another fan of City of Thieves! I read it a few years ago and gave it 5 stars. I liked that it focused on the human impact of WWII rather than the actual fighting.

Peter, I’m aiming for the same this year - it’s part of why I’m avoiding the big year long challenges this year, so as not to read things just to fill a prompt. I’m also giving myself permission to abandon books, something I’ve only done maybe three or four times ever.

I didn't participate in this challenge last year, so let me know if I need to delete this. I will be reading for the challenge this year.

I also loved City of Thieves! My (random) favorites for this year were:

Nonfiction -- Humans of New York: Stories

Nonfiction: The Feather Thief

Fiction:

The Shape of Water

Lola

The Crooked Street

Gods of Howl Mountain

Recursion

The Heart's Invisible Furies

Waiting for Eden Waiting for Eden was a spur of the moment choice and it had not been rated particularly high by other readers, but I felt it was masterful!

I think the two that stand out to me most right now are Sadie and The Astonishing Colour of After

Educated was also on my top favorites for last year. I did it as an audio in the car and I remember yelling at the narrator just because it got a little intense.

So my favorites from 2019 were:

Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man's First Journey to the Moon
Educated
Victoria The Queen: An Intimate Biography of the Woman Who Ruled an Empire
Becoming
The Woman in the Window
What Alice Forgot
Grist Mill Road
Verity

Those were my five star reads last year. Move non-fiction in my top reads than usual.

Loving this thread!

My Top 10 Best Reads:

The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - I loved this so much, and it was one of the first books I read last year. Surprisingly, my mom decided we should do a family book club this year and gave us all copies of it this Christmas - and I think I might read it again now!

Becoming
The Death of Mrs. Westaway - I adored this book, but I didn't enjoy The Turn of the Key. I think in the future I'm going to listen to my gut on her books - if I'm not interested in the premise, just let it be.

Daisy Jones & The Six
The White Darkness - recommend for fans of jon krakauer

I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
Homegoing
Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places - more people need to read this, seriously

Smaller and Smaller Circles - my only disappointment with this is that it's been almost 20 years and the author hasn't written another one.

On a Sunbeam - I don't necessarily want a sequel (I mean that would be great) but I would love more books set in this world

Looking back at my 5 star reads from these year, there are a few I don't remember at all, but I rated 21/148 as 5 star books. Here are a few in scattered genres:
Becoming
Britt-Marie Was Here
The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories
The Dew Breaker
Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto
Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
The Island of Sea Women

Peter wrote: "I'm excited with the new format for discussions and I'm really hoping it helps increase the talk about the books we are all reading.

So to kick off the new year, I'd love to share and hear about t..."

I read City of Thieves a while back and agree, it's a fantastic book!

2019 was the year I started getting back into reading, after taking a long break. Looking back through the year I'd have to say my favorite book was It. I normally avoid bigger books but did a Stephen King challenge in another group and chose this book, without realizing how big it was. When I picked up my hold from the library I about died, LOL. It was a pretty quick read though and King's writing style is impressive! I now want to read another one of his bigger books this year, Under the Dome.

And then I also worked my way through Simon Green's Nightside series (first book is Something from the Nightside ). Individually I rated the books 3 and 4 stars, but as series as a whole it's a solid 4 stars. If you like urban fantasy this series is a must read!

Here's my top 10 (in chronological order because choosing my fave is like choosing a favorite child)

1. Eliza and Her Monsters - really excellent exploration of mental health and anxiety, depicted fan culture in a way that didn't make me want to hurl

2. Six of Crows - AMAZING YA fantasy. found family group of criminals goes on a heist. more character than plot heavy

3. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing - really good adult contemporary with a sci-fi twist. The ending left me shook

4. Daisy Jones & The Six - if you can do the audiobook! its full cast and amazing. The rise and fall of a fictional 70s rock band told as a present day interview

5. Scythe - a YA dystopian that doesn't suck! What if we cured all ways of natural death, but people still need to die to avoid overpopulation? enter the scythedom - select individuals who are tasked to kill others. excellent discussions of morality, what it means to be human and alive.

6. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - at this point you probably know what this one's about. It deserves the hype, trust me

7. Darius the Great Is Not Okay - an Iranian American teenage boy who feels out of touch with his culture goes to Iran with his family for the first time.

8. Red, White & Royal Blue - okay wait maybe this one is my fave. The son of the US president and the prince of England are "enemies" until.....

9. The Raven Boys - well really the whole series but this is the first one. I'm not going to attempt to explain it you just gotta trust me

10. Like a Love Story - set in 1980s NYC, it follows 3 characters: Reza - a closeted Iranian American boy; Art - the only out and proud kid in his school during the AIDS crisis; Judy - Art's best friend, a fashion loving plus sized girl who adores her uncle Stephen, a gay man with AIDS at a time when that meant a death sentence.

My top 12 (I couldn't narrow it down any further, these were just so good) are listed here. The first two head up the list, the rest were pretty great, too, and in no particular order:

1 - Sounds Like Titanic
2 - Theory of Bastards

- Three Floors Up
- Becoming
- Homegoing
- Narcopolis
- The Autobiography of My Mother
- Far Afield
- The Friend
- Fingersmith
- The House of Special Purpose

- My Night With Federico Garcia Lorca - a lovely poetry collection in Spanish and English

Stacey wrote: "My top 12 (I couldn't narrow it down any further, these were just so good) are listed here. The first two head up the list, the rest were pretty great, too, and in no particular order:

1 - S..."</i>

Ooh, I have [book:Three Floors Up planned for this year, glad to see it made your top 12!

I pick a favorite each month so here's mine
Jan The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row
Feb: Prodigal Summer
March: An American Marriage
April: The Heart's Invisible Furies
May: A Prayer for Owen Meany
June: The Lost Man * Fav thriller
July: We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
August: Homegoing
Sept: The Book of Strange New Things
Oct. : Far from the Tree
Nov: The Shadow of the Wind
Dec: There's an Elephant in my Kitchen

I had quite a few 5 star books last year, but here are a few that I’d recommend to most everyone:
The Murmur of Bees
The Starless Sea
The Poet X
Medicine Walk
An Unkindness of Ghosts
How Long 'til Black Future Month?
Once Upon a River
Speak Easy, Speak Love

Nonfiction:
Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist
Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine
Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

I love this question and I have now added a million new books to my TBR so thanks everyone! Here's mine!

Audiobook
Becoming
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
Yes Please
Inside Out

I've apparently fallen in deep love with memoirs narrated by their author. I found myself giving all of them 5 stars, even if I didn't like the book as much because I was so captivated by the author's emotion when narrating.

Tea Girl was a book I picked up on a whim, but I really loved it so much, and I think it's because of the narrators. It was just really so good.

Nonfiction
Becoming
Educated
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption

Becoming was my favorite of the year, but Educated also really stuck with me. Unbroken was a surprise read because I don't generally like war books, but this one humanized it and also showed me a side of WWII that I don't know much about.

Adult Fiction
The Great Alone
The Great Believers
This is How It Always Is
The Huntress

All. The. Feels. for these books. Aside from The Huntress, I'm pretty sure I sobbed through most of the other three. All of these authors just presented new, different plot structures and settings that I had no idea about, and made me really connect with the characters.

YA Fiction
Sadie
What If It's Us
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue (and the sequel)

I didn't read as much YA fiction as I normally do, which surprised me, but I really enjoyed all of these books. Sadie was dark and serious and felt like a non-YA murder mystery but had some of the coming-of-age stuff you see in YA. What If It's Us was a great LGBTQ+ book... honestly Adam Silvera can do no wrong in my eyes. And Gentleman's Guide was one that surprised me a lot but I was laughing out loud the entire time. The characters of that one stuck with me the most out of any book I read in the year.

Emily wrote: "I love this question and I have now added a million new books to my TBR so thanks everyone! Here's mine!

Audiobook
Becoming
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane
[book:Y..."

LOVED The Great Alone. It was probably my best read of the year.

My favorites from 2019 were:
The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
The Round House - Louise Erdrich
Independent People - Halldor Laxness
Wives and Daughters - Elizabeth Gaskell
Stoner - John Williams
The Overstory - Richard Powers
The Keepers of the House - Shirley Ann Grau
All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr

4 classics and 4 literary fiction - That's what I usually like, I guess.

Stoner is one of my absolute favourites! I think I’m going to re-read it this year.

Milena wrote: "Happy New Year everyone!

My favorites of 2019, not necessarily in order:
The Secret History is about a small group of students in a New England college studying the classics. One of t..."

We share several favorites from 2019, and I also loved The House of the Spirits when I read it several years ago. I'm definitely going to have a poke around your 2020 thread to see if anything intrigues me...

It's so hard to narrow it down, and along the way I had to wrestle with several thorny questions--do I count re-reads? Is it weird to call something so bleak a "favorite"? Am I favorite-ing too many things (I only read 46 books total)? Ultimately I just decided to go with my initial impressions:

The Beautiful Thing That Awaits Us All, Laird Barron
A Dance with Dragons, George R.R. Martin
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Stephen King
A Thousand Acres, Jane Smiley
Beloved, Toni Morrison
The Secret History, Donna Tartt
Illuminations, Mary Sharratt
The Book of Night Women, Marlon James
The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin
The Obelisk Gate, N.K. Jemisin
Blackwater: The Complete Caskey Family Saga, Michael McDowell
The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, Stuart Turton

The quality of my reading tapered off noticeably as the year went on: the first three books I read in 2019 turned out to be favorites, while August-December produced only one favorite. Hmm... something to keep an eye on this year, maybe.

Kelly wrote: "It's so hard to narrow it down, and along the way I had to wrestle with several thorny questions--do I count re-reads? Is it weird to call something so bleak a "favorite"? Am I favorite-ing too man..."

I want to read more Stephen King but am feeling overwhelmed by all his books, have added The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon to my TBR list :)

ZeeJane wrote: "Kelly wrote: "It's so hard to narrow it down, and along the way I had to wrestle with several thorny questions--do I count re-reads? Is it weird to call something so bleak a "favorite"? Am I favori..."

He is a pretty prolific writer. I'd say 11/22/63 and The Green Mile are two of his more recent must reads

These were my top 5 last year in order!

Chelsey wrote: "These were my top 5 last year in order!



[bookcover:The Silent Companions|3545873..."

How I LOVED the Art of Racing in the Rain

I think the standout for my year was The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, it was just such a unique way to tell a story, it really stuck with me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I discovered The Kingkiller Chronicle last year as well and am completely hooked, having read The Name of the Wind for a prompt and finishing out the year with The Wise Man's Fear. I was dismayed to find out how long this series had been out and that the next one is not set to be released for a while yet. Other series that I either started or continued that I'm looking forward to reading more from are:

Honor Bound
Zenith Part 1
Six of Crows
Labyrinth Lost

Yes, I really love YA as a whole and the YA sci-fi sub-genre.

I also discovered several authors that I want to read everything they've written.
Seanan McGuire
Lisa Jewell
Karin Slaughter

Perri wrote: "ZeeJane wrote: "Kelly wrote: "It's so hard to narrow it down, and along the way I had to wrestle with several thorny questions--do I count re-reads? Is it weird to call something so bleak a "favori..."

11/22/63 is one of my favourite books ever. It's just such an enthralling story.

Amber wrote: "I think the standout for my year was The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, it was just such a unique way to tell a story, it really stuck with me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I discov..."

Kingkiller Chronicles is another of my favourites. If you liked them, The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a novella that follows Auri. It's written in a very different style from the other two novels, but offers some hints and insight into a mysterious character and some allusions to where Kvothe's story may be heading. I am desperately, I mean, eagerly waiting for book 3.

@Kelly, absolutely you can call a bleak book a favourite! My favourites list would be pretty slim otherwise, those kind of books tend to be my favourites. 😂

Peter wrote: "Kingkiller Chronicles is another of my favourites. If you liked them, The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a novella that follows Auri. It's written in a very different style from the other two novels, but offers some hints and insight into a mysterious character and some allusions to where Kvothe's story may be heading. I am desperately, I mean, eagerly waiting for book 3."


Peter, I have The Slow Regard of Silent Things on my TBR for this year. And I'm really hoping that book 3 is indeed published in August as projected.

Amber wrote: "Peter wrote: "Kingkiller Chronicles is another of my favourites. If you liked them, The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a novella that follows Auri. It's written in a very different style from the ..."

Where are you hearing it's supposed to be published in August? Last I heard there was no pending publication date and Rothfuss stopped giving updates years ago because some of his fans are a little overzealous and aggressive in their demands for the next book. I think a lot of places (Amazon, Chapters etc.) just fill in random publication dates because it's information their web format requires but isn't really a valid date.

Kelly wrote: "It's so hard to narrow it down, and along the way I had to wrestle with several thorny questions--do I count re-reads? Is it weird to call something so bleak a "favorite"? Am I favorite-ing too man..."

I see what you mean, Kelly. Beloved and The House of Mirth are on my plan for this year, so it makes me very happy to see that you liked them.

I enjoyed reading City of Thieves also. I'm probably a more critical reviewer than most here with an average rating of 3.35 for 5745 books read. Don Winslow's The Border made it to my "Favorites" bookshelf this year thankfully so since it was a 1395 page read. It is an absolute stunning conclusion to his Cartel trilogy.

Ted wrote: "I enjoyed reading City of Thieves also. I'm probably a more critical reviewer than most here with an average rating of 3.35 for 5745 books read. Don Winslow's The Border made it to my "Favorites" b..."

Wow, 5,745 read!! That's really impressive! I'm at 430 read, not including a few older ones that I've forgotten to record. How many books do you average per week?

My Top Five



1. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
2. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
3. The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
4. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood
5. The Gods of Tango by Carolina De Robertis

Traci wrote: "Stacey wrote: "My top 12 (I couldn't narrow it down any further, these were just so good) are listed here. The first two head up the list, the rest were pretty great, too, and in no particular orde..."

Hope you enjoy it, Traci.

Some of my top choices:

Educated - I read this on New Years Day and it was my favorite read of the entire year.

Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries - As a word nerd, I really enjoyed this look at the behind the scenes of dictionaries and word usage.

Holes - I'd never read this as a child or in my college children's lit classes; I can't believe I'd missed it!

I finally finish A Song of Ice and Fire with the (currently) final three books... A Storm of Swords was great; A Feast for Crows a letdown, and A Dance With Dragons a bit of redemption.

The Descendants - I'd seen the movie years ago, but decided to read this on my plane ride to my Hawaii honeymoon. It was perfect.

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch - An awesome satire and a fun read.

Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City - One of the best sociological non-fiction books I've read in awhile, and that's one of my favorite genres so that's saying something.

The Great Alone - The ending was rushed, but overall a fascinating read.

My top two choices:
Where the Crawdads Sing was by far my favorite new book of 2019.

Coming Home was a reread and I remember why I love it so much!

Other top picks for the year include:
Red, White & Royal Blue
A Little Something Different
The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

Favorite book of 2019 was Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

Others I enjoyed are
A Piece of the World
The Weight of Ink
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell
Trail of Broken Wings
Britt-Marie Was Here

Amber wrote: "I think the standout for my year was The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, it was just such a unique way to tell a story, it really stuck with me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I discov..."

I'm reading Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter now and it's incredible!! It makes me want to try more thrillers, as I've only read maybe 3, but I also don't because will they be as good as pretty girls?!?! probably not

Steve, I read Holes a while ago (I’d never heard of it before, I just found it for one franc a f a book sale) and loved it! It was such a nice surprise.

A little late to the party, but here are my top ten reads from 2019 in no order;

- Rebecca - so so suspenseful and atmospheric!!
- Song of Solomon - best one I've read by Morrison, the characters snook up on me
- The Neopolitan series by Elena Ferrante (impossible to only pick one of them) Loved it, all four of them!!
- A Man Called Ove (Yes, I cried and I laughed)
- Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood (see above)
- The Housekeeper and the Professor (warmed my [math] heart)
- A Visit from the Goon Squad (quirky, loved it)
- They Came Like Swallows (just lovely, sad though)
- This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen (as dark as it gets)
- 1Q84(What was this? Fun ride indeed, especially book 1 and 2, number 3 wasn't really necessary unfortunately)

I only had two five star reads last year, I re-read Hogfather and loved it just as much as the first time, and I listened to the audio book of What If It's Us. I normally hate romances and I'm not a big audio book fan so this was a massive surprise for me - I adored it. The two guys who read it were amazing, and the story was so good - it had me laughing and crying (in public, because I can only listen to audio books properly while I'm walking).

I had 20 four star reads, the ones that probably made the longest lasting impact are Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, The God of Animals and The Universe Versus Alex Woods, I'm in the Red Rising fan club, and I really enjoyed The Ruin of Kings, though it was one of my last reads of last year so that might be why it's still in my head.