What did you read this year? Did you keep a list? Do you remember the good ones?
It’s almost Christmas Eve, and I have a few books on my shelf I may finish before the end of the year, but I decided to stop to look back on the books I read in 2019, I found a few with stories still resonating with me, and others with plots I could not remember.
When this Sunday’s New York Times ran an article on the front page on Where the Crawdads Sing, i was reminded how much I liked that book. Although I read the book in 2018, it is still at the top of the best seller list, and worth mentioning this year. Alexandra Alter in her New York Times article details the book’s unlikely success, selling more print copies “than any other adult title this year – fiction or nonfiction…blowing away the combined print sales of new novels by John Grisham, Margaret Atwood, and Stephen King.”
The book has it all – a murder mystery, a survival story, romance, a little useful information, and a recommendation from a famous movie star – but it also has a page-turning compelling narrative mixed with beautiful explanations of nature. The author, after all, spent years in the wild herself studying lions and tigers and elephants. Like many writers, Delia Owens is a loner and an observer. She wrote this – her first work of fiction – approaching seventy years old and after divorcing her husband of forty years. It’s never too late.
I reviewed the book when it was first published and immediately starting recommending it. Here is my review:
If you haven’t read the book, it’s never too late.
Favorite books from 2019 I remember:
January: The Overstory by Richard Power – I read this twice to not embarrass myself in a new book club, but I could probably read it again and find more I missed. I hesitated to recommend the book because it was dense and difficult, but if you want a challenge on a cold winter night, give it a try. My review: https://nochargebookbunch.com/2019/01/12/the-overstory/
February: The Dakota Winters by Tom Barbash – If you are a fan of John Lennon, you will enjoy this and possibly find it a good book club pick. Here is my review: https://nochargebookbunch.com/2019/02/28/the-dakota-winters/
March: The Friend by Sigrid Nunez – A Story for dog lovers. My review: https://nochargebookbunch.com/2019/03/09/early-spring-fever/
April: Late in the Day by Tessa Hadley – It’s complicated, but the characters are finely drawn with unexpected consequences in the Tessa Hadley style. My review:https://nochargebookbunch.com/2019/04/18/late-in-the-day/
In May and June, life got in the way, and I did not feel like reading or writing, but finally books lured me back.
July: The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware – a friend gave me a preview copy of this thriller and it was just what I needed to get me back into reading. My review: https://nochargebookbunch.com/2019/07/28/the-turn-of-the-key-by-ruth-ware/
August: Lady in the Lake by Laura Lipman – a thriller with a surprise ending. My review: https://nochargebookbunch.com/2019/08/22/lady-in-the-lake-by-laura-lippman/
September: The Dutch House by Ann Patchett – Patchett says she writes the same story each time she writes a book, but this one resonated with me because I grew up in her setting. My review: https://nochargebookbunch.com/2019/09/25/the-dutch-girl/
October: This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger – I agree with my friend about Krueger’s style being close to Kent Haruf. An easy book and a promising book club pick. My review: https://nochargebookbunch.com/2019/10/15/this-tender-land/
November: The Country of the Pointed Firs by Sarah Orne Jewett – An old peaceful treasure set in Maine. My review: https://nochargebookbunch.com/2019/11/08/historical-diversions-chevalier-and-orne/
December: The Shortest Day by Susan Cooper and Carlson Ellis – A picture book with a perennial message. My review: https://nochargebookbunch.com/2019/12/21/the-shortest-day/
Please share your favorite books. I am always looking for another good book to read.
Happy Holidays – here’s hoping Santa brings lots of good books under your tree.
William Kent Krueger’s This Tender Land channels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and The Odyssey in an endearing coming of age saga with Dickensian characters who are just as memorable as the heroes from David Copperfield or Oliver Twist. Although the author adds an epilogue explaining how the four main characters finished their lives in old age, I was sorry to see them grow up, and will probably always remember them as the four young “Vagabonds” who escaped the clutches of evil and followed the river on a life-changing adventure during the Depression.
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