2019 Top Book Picks

Sorry for the crooked picture—it's scanned! That picture is not from 2019 or even the 2010s, but it still visually captures my life pretty well. :D Especially that sweatshirt and leggings combo—oh yeah! (Though actually, come to think of it, I have come back to that mode of dress in the last year so maybe the mode of dress works well too . . .)

Anyway! This year was an on and off year for reading. I read some books I absolutely loved and several I felt pretty meh about. But that's the way of the avid reader—you get a mixed bag. But as promised on Facebook, here’s a little more insight into the seven books I liked best!

His Needs, Her Needs by Willard F. Harley.

This relationship book goes over ten basic relationship needs and assigns five as most commonly rated at the top for men and five as most commonly rated at the top for women based on research by the author. I liked this book because some of the needs were ones that I hadn’t even thought of but immediately recognized when the author pointed them out. (Financial support was one listed as common for women; domestic support was one listed as common for men. The book took this assignment past traditional gender roles to describe why these are usually needs that men and women have.) Another thing I liked was that the author repeatedly stressed that his assignment of needs was based on averages and that each individual will have their own set of needs (for example, a working woman might have domestic support as one of her top five needs). The author gives adequate examples of what the needs could look like from the opposite gender’s position so the book doesn't feel sexist, just informative.

The One and Only Ivan by K. A. Applegate

This is the story of an old gorilla who lives at a mall as part of a tired circus act and how he commits to save Ruby, the baby elephant who gets brought in to revive the mall’s dying economy, from the same life in captivity.

This story is told from Ivan’s perspective. I’d say it’s middle-grade level. I loved this story because Ivan had such profound commentary on life and humans, captivity and freedom. The power in this story is Ivan finding purpose in his life and power to effect change. Also, it's funny.

Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller

This story is about Rasmira, daughter of the village chief, who fails her warrior’s coming-of-age trial through a dirty trick, is banished, and will only be allowed to return if she completes an impossible task: kill the god that demands a yearly sacrifice from her village and the surrounding ones.

The book is plotting perfection. When I read it, I couldn’t help but notice how on-point the pacing was, how it walked me through the story and character development in a way that unfolded in my hands like one of those flowers that only blooms at night. Or maybe the way a perfect banana is supposed to unpeel. Not that I like bananas . . . anyway, it was great. Loved the characters, loved the reveals as the story went along. I was reading this book at Gunlock Falls, with redrock and waterfalls all around me. It was a the perfect kind of place to read a perfect kind of book.

Aurora Rising by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

A girl found floating in space? The perfect space cadet who, by heroically saving this girl, misses the space draft and gets stuck with a crew of misfits? And then said girl and misfits go on an adventure to save the universe from—well, I won't ruin the surprise.

I love this book. I wrote about this already in another blog post, so check that out here if you want to read more of my thoughts about it. The next book in the series, Aurora Burning, comes out May 5th, 2020. Aaah!

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton

This is Groundhog Day meets Clue. The main character rotates through eight different bodies over the course of eight days, trying to solve the mystery of Evelyn Hardcastle’s impending death (and save her along the way, if he can) so he can escape the time trap and get back to his own body.

This book started out WEIRD. The main character doesn’t know who he is or that he’s in someone else’s body. It’s only over the course of the next few days, with help from some other people, that he figures out how to play this time game and connect the clues. Don’t let the amnesia-induced weirdness start of the book throw you off. It’s got lots of intrigue and twists, including a surprisingly poignant one at the end.

Leia: Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray

Hail, Star Wars fans! This is the story of teenaged Leia as she transitions from her sheltered adolescence to an adulthood characterized by the grim realities of war. The book follows her as she makes friends with fellow apprentice legislator Amilyn Holdo, makes an enemy of Moff Tarkin, and falls for a young Alderaanian labeled by the author as the “Anti-Han” in personality and suitableness. And it ends with her having to make a defining choice about who she is and what she will stand for.

I thought this was a fun take on what Leia could have been like. No, it doesn’t follow old established information (Han was supposed to be pretty much the first guy Leia had ever interacted with romantically), but I was able to put that aside and enjoy it for what it was. (This isn't the place to get into a discussion about Legends vs. Canon. I see positives of both.) I listened to this as an audiobook, and it had music and Star Wars sound effects! Off-putting at first, but I grew to enjoy it. The book also gave me the chance to think about the real costs of the rebellion against the Empire. The movies primarily focus on the experiences of a few people in that rebellion, but this book gives insight into the tough choices that a lot of people had to make—to work within the system if it will help a planet even though the system itself is evil? Or to resist, knowing it will cause some people to suffer? Will you risk your family (Breha and Bail are very opposed to Leia knowing anything about the rebellion in the hopes that ignorance will protect her)? What about your entire world (all of Alderaan eventually pays the price for Leia’s rebellion involvement)? Interesting moral questions to think about.

Supernova by Marissa Meyer

This is the conclusion to the Renegades series. In case you haven’t read Renegades or Archenemies, I won’t go into detail. However, I’ll say that this book ties up the trilogy in a very satisfying way, which many trilogies with epic premises that I've read don't. (Trilogies that had at least somewhat disappointing final books include Hunger Games, Matched, Divergent, Defy the Worlds, and even to some extent the Lunar Chronicles, Marissa Meyer’s other series. That one has four books and the last one just gets too confusing. These opinions are my own; you can of course disagree.) Anyway. This conclusion book was lovely, and I tore through it, and my only complaint is that it ends with a freaking cliffhanger and the author is already committed to other books for the next four years!! What the crap??