2019 Favorite Reads & Hopes for 2020

It's been a minute since I've posted any reviews. Looks like my last review was in April of 2019. 😱 Life just got busy (good busy!) and as reading & blogging are hobbies, I don't force myself to do keep up when I'm not able to. And I like it that way. Books are my safe place to land. My escape from certain kinds of everyday cares. Recording & sharing my thoughts about them is something I enjoy doing, and not something to feel guilty about not reaching a goal or a deadline. At the same time, reading also provide avenues for growth & learning, for expanding perspective and reaching out to new possibilities, so I'm excited to get back to it again!

As we wrap up this year, and get ready to head into the next, I'm looking back over my favorite reads, setting some new reading goals for 2020, looking ahead to some exciting new releases coming this year, and taking the opportunity to re-establish some of my beloved routines (like book reviews) that fell to the wayside for the last half of this year.

My reading goal for 2019 was 45 books, and final tally has me at 42. For 2020, I'm setting my goal at 48. There are several new releases coming out, and I'm hoping to be better about actually finishing the audio books I start this year. Here's to hoping.

Favorite reads of 2019, in no particular order [fanfare here]:

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire - so many good things! Math & language, bad scientists and world-breaking siblings, just so, so good.

The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett - first foray into the Discworld, and I LOVED it. We also finally watched the Hogfather over Christmastime this year, and it's safe to say I'm hooked on Discworld. Definitely more to come on this in the future.

Burnout by Emily Nagasaki - a terrifically researched, intelligent, funny & at times snarky look at the unique stressors our society puts on women, with some great tips for things we can do to break the stress cycle. Will be recommending this to basically every woman I know.

Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - Nobody writes a slow slip into insanity like Shirley Jackson. Perfect Halloween-time read.

Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman - I think novellas are where Gaiman really shines, this was a terrific late summer read.

Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab - the start of a trilogy I had a lot of fun starting & finishing this year. The way the parallel worlds work in this universe really intrigued me, and the main characters in particular are very engaging.

Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett - finally jumped on the bandwagon for this one, and then went down the looonnngg fan fiction rabbit hole. Worth it.

Deerskin by Robin McKinley - that throne room scene. oof. so good.

And for the books I'm looking forward to reading as we start 2020:

Come Tumbling Down by Seanan McGuire - Next in the Wayward Children series, coming out January 7th!

Educated by Tara Westover - this was published in 2018, but the waiting list at my library has FINALLY gone down enough that it looks like I will be able to check it out soon.

Meat Cute: The Hedgehog Incident by Gail Carriger - a short story/novelette prequel to the Parasol Protectorate series. 

Royal Assassin (The Illustrated Edition) by Robin Hobb - coming June 16th!

Reader & cat in their natural habitat

Connect with me on Instagram @waywardbookshelf, and until next time, Happy Reading!