Books read in 2019

[sophia_sol]

Here comes my annual list of all the books I read in the past year! Italics means a reread. Stars are out of 5.

January

*** The Consuming Fire, by John Scalzi
**** Unmasked by the Marquess, by Cat Sebastian
*** A Princess in Theory, by Alyssa Cole
**** The Fated Sky, by Mary Robinette Kowal
**** Record of a Spaceborn Few, by Becky Chambers
**** The Wild Robot, by Peter Brown
***** Pride & Prejudice, by Jane Austen
**** The Wild Robot Escapes, by Peter Brown
**** Moose Madness, by Mar Delaney
*** A Glimpse of India, by Clara Swain - nf
*** Kit's Wilderness, by James Almond
***** Persuasion, by Jane Austen
*** An English Girl's First Impressions of Burmah, by Beth Ellis - nf


February

**** An Enchantment of Ravens, by Margaret Rogerson
*** A Hope Divided, by Alyssa Cole
***** The Raven Tower, by Ann Leckie


March

***** Educated, by Tara Westover - nf
**** Unraveled, by Courtney Milan
**** Mrs Martin's Incomparable Adventure, by Courtney Milan
*** Delilah Dirk and the King's Shilling, by Tony Cliff
*** Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules, by Tony Cliff
***** Daughter of Mystery, by Heather Rose Jones
**** Stand on the Sky, by Erin Bow


April

**** The Countess Conspiracy, by Courtney Milan
****A Visit to the Holy Land, Egypt, and Italy, by Ida Pfeiffer - nf
**** Hate to Want You, by Alisha Rai
**** Wrong to Need You, by Alisha Rai
**** Hurts to Love You, by Alisha Rai
** Someone to Wed, by Mary Balogh
***** The True Queen, by Zen Cho
**** The Duchess War, by Courtney Milan
**** All You Can Ever Know, by Nicole Chung - nf
*** Once Ghosted, Twice Shy, by Alyssa Cole


May

***** A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine
***** True Pretenses, by Rose Lerner
**** All or Nothing, by Rose Lerner
*** A Lily Among Thorns, by Rose Lerner
***** Skinful of Shadows, by Frances Hardinge
**** Enchantress From the Stars, by Sylvia Engdahl
***** The Girls at the Kingfisher Club, by Genevieve Valentine
*** Peter Darling, by Austin Chant
*** The Widows of Malabar Hill, by Sujata Massey


June

**** Good Omens, by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
*** Venetia, by Georgette Heyer
** Friday's Child, by Georgette Heyer
** April Lady, by Georgette Heyer
**** Silver in the Wood, by Emily Tesh


July

*** Charity Girl, by Georgette Heyer
**** Red, White & Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston
***** The Goblin Emperor, by Katherine Addison


August

*** David Starr, Space Ranger, by Isaac Asimov
*** Lucky Starr and the Pirates of the Asteroids, by Isaac Asimov
*** The Ultimate Pi Day Party, by Jackie Lau


September

***** Digger, by Ursula Vernon
***** After the Wedding, by Courtney Milan
*** Roller Girl, by Victoria Jamieson
*** The October Man, by Ben Aaronovitch
*** Binti, by Nnedi Okorafor


October

**** Binti: Home, by Nnedi Okorafor
**** All Systems Red, by Martha Wells
***** Artificial Conditions, by Martha Wells
***** Rogue Protocol, by Martha Wells
***** Exit Strategy, by Martha Wells
**** The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, by NK Jemisin
***** Master and Commander, by Patrick O'Brian
**** Sabriel, by Garth Nix
**** Lirael, by Garth Nix
**** Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer, by Kelly Jones, illustrations by Katie Kath


November

**** Are You Ready to Hatch an Unusual Chicken?, By Kelly Jones, illustrations by Katie Kath
***** A Conspiracy of Truths, by Alexandra Rowland
*** Evvie Drake Starts Over, by Linda Holmes
*** A Seditious Affair, by KJ Charles
**** Briarley, by Aster Glenn Gray
*** How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse, by K. Eason
*** Abhorsen, by Garth Nix
***** A Choir of Lies, by Alexandra Rowland
**** Catfishing on CatNet, by Naomi Kritzer


December

**** Komarr, by Lois McMaster Bujold
*** Sorted: Growing Up, Coming Out, and Finding My Place, by Jackson Bird - nf
**** A Civil Campaign, by Lois McMaster Bujold
**** Swordheart, by T. Kingfisher
***** Sing for the Coming of the Longest Night, by Iona Datt Sharma and Katherine Fabian
**** Rebent Sinner, by Ivan Coyote - nf
***** The Raven and the Reindeer, by T. Kingfisher
***** The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 11: Call Your Squirrelfriend, by Ryan North
*** Let it Shine, by Alyssa Cole
***** The Right Swipe, by Alisha Rai
***** The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl Vol. 10: Life is Too Short, Squirrel, by Ryan North



I read 88 books this year, which is within the same neighbourhood as what I've been managing for the past few years. One of these days I will make it up to 100 again! (which, okay, on checking I've done exactly ONCE in the last decade, in 2013, so it's not like I have a lot of precedent. But. Someday!)

Rereads: 18

Genre breakdown:
History: 22
Romance: 22
Fantasy: 21
Science Fiction: 19
Kidlit: 8
Nonfiction: 6
YA: 6
Comics: 5
Memoir: 3
Old books: 3
Famous/Classic: 2
Mystery: 2
Literary Fiction: 1

Books with male authors: 18
Books with female authors: 67
Books with nonbinary authors: 4

Books with authors of colour: 20

(as always, stats are to be taken with a grain of salt, as I may have made mistakes in my counting or misunderstood an author's identity or straight-up forgotten what genre a book was)

I'm doing relatively well on reading authors who aren't white - just a few years ago I was only reading maybe a couple a year, which was really bad, and I've definitely bumped it up in the last few years. This year is the one with the most so far, but I want to keep working on this. I haven't even made it to one in four yet so I obviously have lots of room for improvement!

Despite how many truly excellent books I read this year, including some which would have been winners in any other year, my fave new-to-me fiction book of the year is obvious: A Memory Called Empire, which absolutely blew me away. It's just SO GOOD YOU GUYS!!!! (I just reread my review of it in the course of constructing this post and I am once again overcome by feelings. I need to reread that book.)

I didn't read much nonfiction this year, so it's a slim market for fave new-to-me nf. I think it's gotta be Educated.

There's some tough competition this year for which book is my fave reread of the year. I think I have to go with Pride & Prejudice, which is a classic for a reason, but a bunch of others are worthy contenders.

Least favourite book of the year is either April Lady or Someone to Wed. Both are bad romance novels, but for different reasons: April Lady is stressful and unromantic, Someone to Wed is boring. And then both also manage to be sexist and racist to varying degrees.

Comments

[michelel72]

So many books! I am in awe.

[sophia_sol]

Thanks! I do love having my nose buried in a book.

[chestnut_pod]

You introduced me to several great reads last year, and I always enjoy your reviews, even if I don't plan on reading the book. I hope you have an equally or even more enjoyable reading year in 2020!

[sophia_sol]

Thank you for letting me know, that's so lovely to hear!