Another end of year, another book reading goal met. Yes! I set the amount of books I wanted to read to 75 and I made it just in the nick of time. I will only dedicate one post to my reading this year. Therefore, I will only mention all my favourite books.

This is a travel blog website, so I don’t want to flood you with information about books, books, books. If you’d like more information about the books I’ve read and my opinion about them, you can check out my Goodreads page. There are fifteen books I have rated five stars this year and these are all of them.

Riley Sager – Last Time I Lied (2018)

Mystery/Thriller/Horror

I absolutely loved Riley Sager’s debut novel Final Girls last year. I didn’t rate it five stars because I wasn’t inclined to continue reading incessantly.
Sager’s second novel was a little bit different. I had difficulty with the start, but once I passed the halfway point I couldn’t put the book down.

The story is about Emma who’s friends disappeared 15 years ago during camp. She is now asked to return to this camp, which she does because she’s still curious to find out what happened 15 years ago.

This book has so many fabulous twists and turns. It has a bit of romance, but it isn’t thriller “tropey” in the slightest. Sager’s third book Lock Every Door which was released this year is a great read, but it didn’t make it onto my favourites list.

Lee Child – Worth Dying For (2010)

Mystery/Thriller/Horror

I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of reading Lee Child’s books featuring Jack Reacher. I don’t love all of them equally, but they all pull me into the story like no other author consistently can.

This novel is about a small town in the middle of nowhere. Reacher overhears a doctor in a bar denying to see a woman who has been beaten up by her husband. Reacher presses the doctor to go visit her, and he finds out that all is not what it seems in the town.

This book is so much fun! It actually has a comedy-noir tone to it, which I love in a thriller. At some point there are henchmen of different criminals in a chain in the same town and the conjecture and conclusions they reach are often hilarious. I really liked this book and I hope the next one will continue in the same vein!

I can’t believe this book hasn’t been made into a movie by the way. I think it would be absolutely perfect – especially considering the high body count and comedic moments.

Emily Henry – A Million Junes (2017)

Magical Realism

I’ve heard people mention that they could become so enthralled by the characters of a book, that they are unable to put it down. Until I binge-read A Million Junes in one day, I had no idea what people were talking about.

I thought I didn’t like magical realism. I read and disliked books like The Enchanted and The Bear and the Nightingale and I thought the whole genre just wasn’t for me.

I was wrong. I adore Emily Henry’s writing. I love what she has done to the magical elements of this novel.

This novel is about a long-lasting family feud. The O’Donnells are not to talk or be near the Angerts. If they do, bad things happen to them. Jack IV O’Donnell (aka. Junior aka June) abides by this rule until she meets Saul Angert.

It’s very hard for her to stay away from him. It’s a romantic book, but it’s also about grief. It made weep and it made me want to carry on reading.

I will certainly pick up more of Emily Henry’s books. Someone who can make me like a young-adult romantic magical-realistic book has skills!

Robert Dugoni – The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell (2018)

Historical Fiction

There’s something about this book I absolutely head-over-heels fell in love with. I’m starting to realise I like slow-burning novels. Books like The Heart’s Invisible Furies and A Little Life are my favourites in this genre. They’re a bit more hard-hitting than this one, but it pulled at my heart strings nevertheless.

Robert Dugoni’s narration of the audiobook might also have something to do with it. He narrates the novel flawlessly and it’s like he’s telling his life story. The narrative of the book itself is fast-paced and well set up.

The story is about Samuel Hill. A boy born with red eyes. He tells us about his youth; his friends & his enemies. We’re taken to his life “today” and the past. Everything ties in perfectly and it’s impossible not to feel for him.

This book might make it sound like his life is more extraordinary than other people’s lives, but you have to read the book to find out if that’s really the case.

Walter Isaacson – Steve Jobs (2011)

Non-Fiction

I really enjoyed reading this authorised biography by Steve Jobs. There are many elements to it which made it so enjoyable for me.

The first is the fact that for the first time in probably ever, Jobs gave the reins to someone else. He gave full control to Walter Isaacson to compile his life story. He didn’t even read it to check it. For people who know Apple’s products, they know this is quite unique. It goes to show that Isaacson was fully entrusted by Jobs to do a good job.

Which he really did. The biography doesn’t show an all too favourable side of Jobs, because as his wife states: there are two sides to every story. Jobs was a great product developer, but he lacked some soft skills. This books makes this apparent.

The writing is compelling and it shows both sides of the personality well, without breaking down Jobs’ character.

If you’d like to learn more about this revolutionary man (or his products), this is a great book to check out.

Brandon Sanderson – The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3) (2008)

Fantasy

This whole trilogy was absolutely fantastic! I can’t say too much about the novel itself as it carries on from the first and second book, so telling you anything would give you all the spoilers.

There were times when I was slightly bored, but should I really deduct half a star for that reason? I don’t think so. Put simply: Brandon Sanderson’s writing is fantastic.

He can weave multiple plot lines into a story, and most importantly he can end a story. Not many writers can.

Taylor Adams – No Exit (2017)

Mystery/Thriller/Horror

Some books give me a real movie script feel. No Exit is an example of a movie script feeling which really works well in my opinion. I finished this book in two days, because it kept me on the edge of my seat.

The premise is incredibly simple. Darby Thorne is stuck in a blizzard at a rest stop in the middle of nowhere with a few strangers. In one of the vans she finds a little girl in a cage. The story isn’t really a whodunnit, it’s more like a survival tale. It has plenty of twists and turns that had me flipping pages.

The humour in the book is perfect and so is the overall vibe. If Taylor Adams’ books are all like this I’m here for it!

Shaun David Hutchinson – We Are the Ants (2016)

Science-Fiction

Yes, this book was absolutely fantastic just like all the Booktubers I follow said it would be. I was hesitant to pick it up. It’s YA, it’s about aliens, and it’s a love story, but it’s actually so much more than that.

Henry Denton is abducted by aliens often. One day they give him an ultimatum. He has to decide whether he will stop the world from ending in 144 days. He doesn’t know if he wants to stop it though.

Henry is going through a tough time. His brother is horrible to him, his grandmother has Alzheimers, his dad left, his boyfriend committed suicide, he lost his best friend and he’s bullied at school.

Shaun David Hutchinson manages to bring hope and despair into the pages of this book without making it cheesy. I wouldn’t mind picking up more of his YA books, if I feel the need for a hard-hitting novel.

V.E. Schwab – Vicious (2013)

Fantasy

This book!

To be really honest, I didn’t think Vicious would live up to the hype. I have heard people raving about this book for six year and all the while I delayed reading it. I even decided to start with the A Darker Shade of Magic trilogy first. Don’t ask me why as I’ve had Vicious on my shelves all these years.

That having been said, this book is a rollercoaster ride. It’s only 340 pages long, and it contains fantastical elements which are well-explained, it has well-developed character narratives, it builds and destroys relationships and it has the perfect pace.

I can’t believe no one else has thought of this kind of story. It’s about two boys in college (Victor and Eli) who decide to conduct an experiment. They have heard that near-death experience could make them EO (ExtraOrdinary) humans. They conduct these experiments on themselves, and things go horribly wrong.

Cut to ten years later when Victor is looking for his best friend (now foe) Eli. The question as to what makes a hero a hero and a villain a villain is the main subject matter of this book, but really it’s just a wild ride. I’m happy to know this will now be a trilogy. I can’t wait to dive head first into Vengeful

Colleen Hoover – It Ends With Us (2016)

Romance

Confession time: I had no clue what this book was about. I picked it up because I read Verity earlier this year and I liked it. Verity was a mystery/thriller with a bit of romance, so I did not expect this one to be a full-blown romance novel. Throbbing members were not specifically mentioned, but I can’t be sure since I was rolling my eyes throughout the first third of this book.

Then the 100-page mark passed, the book turned dark and I understood everything Hoover tried to do at the beginning. I was glued to the pages, and I felt deeply for all the main characters. This is not an easy book to read, but I’m happy with the fact that it turned out to be a story with a real substance. It tries to tell us all something and the message is one that I kind of think has to be heard.

It’s about love, it’s about abuse, it’s light but it’s also very dark. Lily, Atlas, and Ryle are well-rounded characters. It’s impossible to agree with everyone’s decisions, but it’s easy to understand them nevertheless.

Excuse me while I go order another one of Hoover’s books.

“Cycles exist because they are excruciating to break. It takes an astronomical amount of pain and courage to disrupt a familiar pattern. Sometimes it seems easier to just keep running in the same familiar circles, rather than facing the fear of jumping and possibly not landing on your feet.”

Phil Knight – Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE (2016)

Non-Fiction

This is hands-down one of my favourite memoirs I’ve read this year. Phil Knight, the creator of Nike, is not a very public figure. At least, I had never heard his name before I came across this book. He’s not like Steve Jobs or Bill Gates who are clearly the faces of their companies.

Knight has started Nike with a group of “shoe dogs”, sports geeks. who start the company out of love for the game. Importing shoes from Japan to the US is a graduation idea by Knight, which becomes real life after his round the world trip in his mid-twenties.

The way Knight has written the book, it feels honest, disarming and candid. Did I mention it’s funny? He names his board of directors “butt faces” and a bureaucrat who’s looking into his company is referred to as the “bureau kraken”.

The last chapter is the best one. He gives his motivation for writing the book and he provides some honest tips for future enterepeneurs.

If you like memoirs based around successful entrepeneurs, you might like this one.

Jane Harper – The Lost Man (2018)

Mystery/Thriller/Horror

This book is why I started reading Jane Harper’s books last year. The Dry was good, but not completely there yet. Force of Nature was a completely different story altogether, but the Lost Man is everything I wanted from her books.

Harper stages her books in Australia. In the vast, and unwelcoming Outback to be specific.

This is the first time I feel that she truly gives us a taste of what life in the Outback is like. It feels like the surroundings are part of the mystery elements in this book and I’m there for it!

This book is about a man who dies horribly in the middle of nowhere near a head stone. His two brothers Nathan and Bub, go to his house to stay with his family. Nathan hasn’t visited the house for a while even though he lives close by (close by is approximately 3 hours away) for reasons that become known during the course of the book.

The story is incredibly well told. It’s not just about the death of Cameron. It’s also about Nathan’s past. It’s a fully rounded family story with the stunning and isolating backdrop of the Outback.

I didn’t guess anything of this book, I was just completely enthralled by it the whole time.

Stephen King – 11.22.63 (2011)

Historical Fiction

I have read around 20 books by Stephen King and this one is by far my favourite of the bunch. I can’t believe I haven’t picked it up before.

It might not surprise you looking at the date, but the story is about the assassination of JFK. This isn’t a subject you would expect King to write, but he does it masterfully.

He does it with a science-fiction twist. Jake Epping a disillusioned school teacher who has just gone through a divorce discovers a rabbit hole. If he goes through this hole het ends up in October of 1958. When he returns back through the hole only two minutes have past in “current time” 2011.

Jake and his friend who introduced him to the hole decide to change the biggest thing that has happened in history, which they feel had the worst butterfly effect. The assassination of JFK.

After a few test runs, Jake is ready for the real-deal and he sits the years out in the 60’s where he’s again a school teacher in a small town in Texas. Here he falls in love with Sadie, but he keeps an eye on the goal.

I could write so many things I love about this book. I love the fact it doesn’t rush the subject. King is not known for his rushing, but the pacing in this book is exquisite. The trial-runs are clever. I love the fact that the rabbit hole takes him to the same time and place in 1958. It’s far enough removed from 1963 to make it exciting. I love the fact that this is a disguised romance novel, a genre I don’t think King has written before. I love the fact that Jake is writing in first person. I love the research that has gone into it. King is one of my favourite authors and books like these proof to me why.

N.K. Jemisin – Emergency Skin (2019)

Science-Fiction

I loved this short story by N.K. Jemisin.

I thought it would be very similar to The Last Conversation (a book in the same Forward series) but it’s a completely different concept. It only contains the same “voices in the head”.

This time around it’s all about the survival of Earth. It’s a fun read which packs an important message.

Ronan Farrow – Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators (2019)

Non-Fiction

I’m giving this book five stars because of the story it tells. I can’t give it anything less than that.

This is Farrow’s account of his findings when he tried to report on the predatorial behaviour of one of the most famous Hollywood producers.

What he found was a web of lies, spies and conspiracies.

Even though you think you know the full story from the news, you really don’t. Ronan Farrow uncovers a lot more than what you read in the snippets. It’s worth a read to gain more understanding on the subject.

If you read the audiobook on Audible, you’ll find the author narrating the book.

Conclusion

That’s all! My goal for 2020 is to read another 75 books. Let’s see what my favourites are then. What was your favourite read of 2019? Please let me know in the comments below. It’s always good to have a bit more inspiration for the upcoming reading year!

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