Top Ten Tuesday: Top 10 Books of 2019!
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
This week’s topic is Top 10 books of 2019! Here are some notable reads of books I read in 2019 that I enjoyed and/or left a lasting impression on me It was hard to narrow down this list, but I did it!
The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren – This book follows and enemies to lovers trope. The fake honeymoon actually becomes fun when they realize they don’t hate each other after all. I like how their personalities are different, but that they mesh well with one another. Their witty dialogues and comedic situations they get in kept me laughing out loud.
Shadow of The Fox by Julie Kagawa – What drew me to this novel is the folklore aspect. I enjoy reading tales of faraway lands and magic. This story has so many good fantasy aspects: a cursed sword, demon slayers, monsters, mystic shrines, and more. I was never bored and the story is constantly shifting.
Black Enough by Various Authors – This is fantastic collection of stories about the “black experience” from a teenager’s point of view. It was incredibly diverse and I love the variety of stories and viewpoints presents. This is one of my all-time favorite anthologies!
Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck & Fortune by Roselle Lim – One of my most favorite things about this novel is the theme of food. It brings people together, cheers people up, mends relationships, makes people nostalgic for memories. Food is a simple thing, but it can be so powerful and Natalie’s recipes are evidence of that in the story.
Color Me In by Natasha Diaz – Diaz’s writing has lyrical quality and she has this ability to bring her readers into the story by making it real and emotional. She tackles a lot in one novel,but Diaz executes these topics well into the story as it is based off her own experiences about having a biracial and multiracial identity.
A Killing Fire by Faye Snowden – What I enjoyed the most about this book is though it follows some classic mystery genre tropes it stands out among many other mystery books I’ve read. Snowden lures her readers into a tangled web of lies inviting them to solve the mystery. The novel was gripping, intense, and suspenseful-everything I want in a crime fiction novel.
Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron – What I love most about this book is that it is such an immersive reading experience. From the beginning to the end the reader is just pulled into the story. While the book is fast paced, the plot is slow-moving in the way where the secrets, magic, truths are slowly unraveled. It adds to the suspense factor giving the plot constant twists and turns.
Mom & Me & Mom by Maya Angelou – This is a wonderful book in which Angelou reflects on the realtionship with her mother from her childhood to adulthood. It’s touching, raw, and emotional read. It stresses the importance of the relationships between mothers and daughters while also sharing the trials of growing up.
Menagerie by Rachel Vincent – What a fantastic fantasy book! It’s such interesting concept of traveling circuses and mythical creatures. It’s dark and full of suspense, which keeps the reader entertained throughout the novel. Not knowing what comes next kept me hooked into the story.
Don’t Date Rose Santos by Nina Moreno – This is a magical and beautifully written story about a multi-generational family, the diaspora, love, and identity. Rosa feels disconnected from her Cuban culture because she’s never been to the homeland, but eventually realizes that’s it’s something that runs deep within.
What books made the the top 10 list for 2019? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Honestly, all of these books look good! Great list.
My TTT.
Thank you! 🙂
Hallo, Hallo,…
Visiting the lovely links via today’s topic linky for Top Ten Tuesday! I shared my own list featuring all the lovely #newtomeauthors for 2019 who occupy spaces within beloved niches of genre I love reading each year. I was quite surprised by how long the list became and how interesting the journey was for me as a reader and blogger to take this time capsule look-see back at 2019! You can come visit me and see if we share any genres/stories/authors in common?
I love how you’ve arranged your own list – some of the titles I’ve spied on it are ones I’ve seen blogged / talked about online – others are ones I’ve contemplating picking up myself to read via my local libraries or saw in a bookshoppe.
More than simple lists, I really love gathering a sense about why each of us are enjoying the books we’ve listed — thanks for giving such a nice glimpse into what moved you as you read these stories! It makes it more personal.
After the holiday I want to come back and visit with you properly — see if you have more thoughts written about the stories and sort out which of the ones you’ve highlighted today need to be greenlit to be read in 2020!!
Starting to follow you tonight on New Year’s Eve! Have a lovely beginning to the New Year and may it afford us both to be bookishly happy in our literary adventures as the year moves forward!
Hi Jorie, thank you for your kinds words and for visiting the blog. It was so hard to narrow down the list since I read so many good books in 2020. Have a Happy New Year and happy reading in 2020!
The Unhoneymooners was a surprise hit for me. I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. 🙂
My TTT
Same for me too! 🙂