I ended 2019 logging 168 books on Goodreads. 88 were physical books; 80 were audiobooks. The split between fiction and non-fiction was roughly the same, leaning a little more heavily towards fiction throughout the year.
In this last quarter, I noticeably slowed down a little, only completing 27 books to wrap the year. December was not a high reading month for me as I let myself get swooped up in holidays and a busy work season. The good habit took a break. Plus I got a little stuck on a fiction book but have picked it back up at last and found it much more engaging than I remembered.
Of the 27 books in Q4:
- 15 Fiction / 12 Non-Fiction
- 14 Paper Books / 13 Audiobooks
Here are my notable reads:
Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo. This book was extraordinary, certainly one of the best I’ve read this year. Adult fiction, it reimagines the secret societies of Yale University as cults of magic.
Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski. This is the same author as Burnout (that feminist self-care book I won’t shut up about). In her first book, she explores the why and how of women’s sexuality. I learned a lot for someone in their late 20s who should’ve been taught this during middle school sex-ed.
The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen. A football player empath and a nerdy boy with a lot of feelings fall in love. It’s quite beautiful.
Call Down The Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater. The first book in the sequel series to The Raven Cycle series. It feels like a bit of a miracle to get a series focused on Ronan Lynch (and some new dreamers), but here we are.
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou. The inside story of the Theranos’s rise and collapse was so astounding and bizarre — misleading investors, the FDA, and even employees by “inventing” a blood-testing technology (that didn’t work) that people were using to make medical decisions . . .
Someone asked me this week what my favorite book was of 2019 and I was overwhelmed thinking about how many truly great books I have read this year. Sure there’s been a number of duds or just so-so books, but there was Red, White, & Royal Blue, and The Music of What Happens, and The Artemis Fowl Series, and Wayward Son, and The Heroes of Olympus and Burnout and Big Magic and Hunger and Real Queer America and How (Not) To Ask A Boy To Prom and The F*ck It Diet.
I could go on. I had an inkling at the start of the year if I diverted my fanfiction reading to books I would get a lot read. It’s proven true. And you know what? I still read a lot of great fanfiction too.
With Love,
Natalie