Monday, December 30, 2019

My Year in Reading + My 2019 Favourite Books


2019 was overall a good year for reading, but a bit of a strange one too. I had more DNFs than ever before, and I'd go through stretches where every book I read was just meh. My Goodreads goal for the year was 80 and I hit that a month or so ago. I realized today I would have read more if not for two things: I ended up in the hospital in the spring for a week and a half, and although I did some reading, I was exhausted all the time and found it hard to concentrate and also to hold a book with an IV in my hand. I honestly can't remember if I read much during my recovery because the brain fog and exhaustion were no joke and much of that time is a blur. Then I spent six weeks with my best friend and didn't get much reading done because we were so busy doing other things. No regrets there!

Now, on to my favourite books of the year! I was going to do a Top Ten post, but I couldn't narrow it down to ten, so I'm breaking down my favourites by genre and in no particular order.

Favourite Contemporary Romances and RomComs:
Happy New You by Brenda St John Brown & 10 other romance authors
Hold Me Today by Maria Luis
The Little Vintage Carousel by the Sea by Jaimie Admans
My Life in Shambles by Karina Halle
Irresistible by Melanie Harlow
Roomies by Christina Lauren
Our Stop by Laura Jane Williams
Meet Cute by Helena Hunting
Twice in a Blue Moon by Christina Lauren
Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman
Get a Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
The Forbidden Man by Karina Halle


Favourite Historical Fiction:
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
At the Mountain's Edge by Genevieve Graham


Favourite Young Adult (a mix of genres, as you can see):
The Upside of Falling Down by Rebekah Crane
The Summer of Jordi Perez by Amy Spalding
Now a Major Motion Picture by Cori McCarthy
The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett
An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson
Capturing the Devil by Kerri Maniscalco
Winterwood by Shea Ernshaw


Favourite Christmas Romances:
Snowflakes at the Little Christmas Tree Farm by Jaimie Admans
One Week Til Christmas by Belinda Missen
Faking Under the Mistletoe by Ashley Shepherd


To see a complete list of the books I read in 2019, visit my Goodreads challenge page. Please note I do count DNFs because I always give them a fair shot, and I also count my own books, which I have to read multiple times before publishing so it only seems fair that I get to count them toward my overall goal!

As you can see, adult contemporary romance was my most-read genre of the year. I did manage to mix in a bit of historical fiction and paranormal, and I rekindled my love of YA, which made me really happy. I discovered a ton of new authors, found a few new favourites, and returned to some favourite tried-and-true authors. I'm excited to see what the next year of reading holds! Speaking of which...

My 2020 Reading Goals:
I'll be participating in KimberlyFaye Reads' 2020 Tackle My TBR Challenge, as well as attempting to do Romanceopoly.
Goodreads goal: 85 books.
Read more diversely - more books by marginalized voices, and definitely more LGBTQ books.
Diversify a bit in my genres. I adore contemporary romance and romcoms, but I'd like to read more historical fiction and some mystery. I've decided 2020 is my year to finally read Agatha Christie, and I bought Murder on the Orient Express and The Murder of Roger Ackroyd during pre-Christmas sales.
Read more books by indie authors. When I went through my list of books I read in 2019 I was pleasantly surprised by the number of fellow indies I read, but I want to read even more next year.
Read more backlist books and books I already own.


What were some of your favourite books of 2019? Do we have any in common? Did you meet your reading goals for this year? Will you set any reading goals for 2020?




*Please note I'm an Amazon affiliate, and some of the links in this review are affiliate links. All income made through affiliate sales goes directly back into maintaining Ramblings of a Daydreamer. Thank you for your support!  

1 comment:

  1. Hi Marie! I'm so honoured that "At the Mountain's Edge" was on your list! Thank you so much and Happy New Year!
    - Genevieve

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for visiting Ramblings of a Daydreamer! I love hearing what you have to say, and I appreciate every single comment. I hope to see you here again soon! ♥
~Marie

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