The Reading Challenge goal that I set for this year was 40 books. Why 40? Why the fuck not.
Dreadfully, as the year-end was closing in, I picked two of my least favorite books of the year. Alas, I have a lot of fun reads queued up for 2020 (and I might even finish another book before the end of the year). I am “done” with grad school books right now, so I’m aiming for another 52 books goal in 2020, as I did for my 2015 Reading Challenge.
Fun stat, courtesy of Goodreads
Average book length 311 pages
Exciting new finds: I am newly in love with historical fiction – despite my disliking Taylor Reid Jenkins’ Daisy Jones & The Six which made me oh.so.sad considering how much I adored The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. That said, The Last Collection: A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel was my fave of the year. I have The Glittering Hour waiting for me on my nightstand and I can’t wait to get into in 2020.
Best of the best: I continue to love the habit of thrillers as my bedtime read. But the BEST books I read this year were not thrillers.
My Top 3 Favorite Books of 2019:
#1 American Dirt
#2 A Good Neighborhood
#3 Rosie-Colored Glasses
All of these Favorites moved me emotionally to tears. American Dirt was so, so good. I wanted to savor that book for the entirety of the year. A Good Neighborhood – just as worthy of a read (and the tears). Somewhere within the first half of Rosie-Colored Glasses, I started getting a sense of what was happening in the main story arc… and I read the rest of the book with a lump in my throat. It positively broke my heart. I cried multiple times reading it – and was tearful for the rest of the day.
Best Non-Fiction:
It’s such a weird thing to have to separate, but here we go. Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, Educated, and Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup were wholly engrossing books that warrant added mentions. I described Range to a friend as having justified my entire existence. (If you read it, and you know me, you would understand.) The world was obsessed with the Elizabeth Holmes/Theranos scandal and woo-boy did this 339-page text spill allllll the tea. Educated is a must-read for that person who takes their education (and access to it) for granted. Probably, you. (Definitely me).
Biggest Disappointments:
- Aforementioned Daisy Jones & The Six – at one point, after starting the book, I had to put it down… and came back to it a week later. Overall, the format was really distracting and the story disconnected. The author didn’t bring interest to any character. It was… boring. Although it did get better as I settled into the format (I ended giving it 3 stars), I was ultimately disappointed.
- Three Women – what in the actual fuck with this book?! This is NOT a story about women’s desires. FULL STOP. This is a grossly over “reported” book about sexual trauma and shitty men (and their unfortunate women victims). It is not “deep.” It is depressing as fuck.
- Yes, Please – so I waited too long to read this and I guess I wasn’t missing much. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Calypso – I love David Sedaris, and this book was just not as memorable as his others. There were funny and really heartwarming moments of storytelling included, but it was not his best. Yes, comparison is the thief of joy and I expect a lot from him, my one true favorite writer.
Worst of the worst:
Oh god, Present Over Perfect was some of the most god(emphasis on god)-awful pandering bullshit that I have ever laid my eyes on (at least since I read that You Are a Badass horseshit last year). Bonus award to a book-that-shall-not-be-named because I was already called out once in public by the author when I publicly rated it online as terrible to which I succumbed to embarrassing pressure and anxiety and subsequently removed all ratings so as to not evoke further drama. Yes, seriously.