Last year I wrote about how pleased I was to have fallen in love with reading again, and I was proud of myself for reading 16. Well, this year I upped my goal to 25 books – and beat it! – so it’s safe to say that love has continued. I would like to thank the kindle app for helping me to always have a book with me, and allowing me to read discreetly in social situations!
Looking back on what I have read this year, I seem to have given a lot of books 4 stars. To me, I think 4 stars is a general sense of I loved the book, but felt like it was missing something. Not that I could tell you what that something is! Here are 5 books that either got 5 stars, or jumped out at me whilst looking back through what I’ve read.
- The Psychology of Time Travel by Kate Mascarenhas
The ultimate girl power/time travel/psychological/murder mystery novel. I originally gave this book 4 stars, but then after writing my review of it a month or so later (see here!) I upped it to 5 because I realised just how much I had loved it and wanted to read it again. - Spellbook of the Lost and Found by Moira Fowley-Doyle
This was actually a 5 star winner for me! The book was whimsical and haunting, and I loved the writing style – though the amount of characters was confusing to begin with! The whole concept and story really matched my mood at the time of reading. - The Vine Witch by Luanne G. Smith
I seem to have been very into books with strong female leads and a natural, witchy vibe this year! Full review here. I want to be a witch who uses magic to help nurture vines to create beautiful wine. - This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor by Adam Kay
Adam Kay was a junior doctor between 2004 and 2010, until a devastating experience at work made him reconsider his future. This book is full of real-life stories of his time as a junior doctor. Funny, gross, and heartbreaking all at the same time. It really makes you respect the NHS and everyone who works there. - Wonder by R. J. Palacio
I really enjoyed the film, and was amazed to see how well the film sticks to the book. It’s an incredibly sweet, heartwarming story, and not the kind of book I’m usually into, but I loved it.
I also read 2 Stephen King books this year: The Green Mile and Cujo. The Green Mile is incredible – as I’m sure most people would agree – and is probably the only book that completely blew me away this year. Cujo was a little disappointing however. I also tried to read The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, but just couldn’t get into it. I will probably try and re-read it at some point. So overall, King has hit both extremes for me this year – great and meh!
Special shout out to Mistress of All Evil by Serena Valentino for being my least favourite book of the year. More detail here.
I also feel the need to mention The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, which I finally got around to reading this year, and enjoyed just as much as I hoped I would. If I can’t be a witch like the Vine Witch then can I please be a hobbit instead? The Shire seems like such a great place to live. I loved hearing about Bilbo’s adventures properly. I also love how Tolkien goes into great detail about some things, but then can be quite blunt and use just a sentence for quite important storylines. He doesn’t hang about!
Other books I read this year and have written about include Etta and Otto and Russell and James, Eve of Man, Three Things About Elsie, Bird Box, and The Tattooist of Auschwitz.
I’m looking forward to 2020!
lauragetslost 