Best of the Best list : 2019
31 December 2019
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Best of the Best, My top ten 2019 reads
As with previous years I’ve been through my list of books for the year and tried to narrow my favourites down to a top ten, I was leaving this until the last possible moment but I realise that I’m not going to squeen any last minute books into my queue at this stage. I must say that I’ve had an amazing year of reading and I can’t deny this was a difficult list to draw up and I have no doubt I’ve missed a number of books off here that I would also like to shout out about – but, there comes a point where you have to draw the line. Also, for info, these may not all be 2019 releases.
Here are my ten favourite reads of the year:
- The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky
- Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence
- A Time of Blood by John Gwynne
- A Boy and His dog at the End of the World by CA Fletcher
- A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay
- A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie
- The Bone Ships by RJ Barker
- The Black Hawks by David Wragg
- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow
- Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
And, because it was so difficult to choose only 10 I have a few other categories which means I can choose a few more books that I want to highlight (because I like to cheat):
Great beginning to series:
- (The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan
- The Ruin of Kings (A Chorus of Dragons #1) by Jenn Lyons
- Westside by WM Akers
- Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson (not entirely sure there will be more but I’m hopeful)
Great conclusion to series:
- The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
- House of Sacrifice by Anna Smith Spark
- The King of Assassins by RJ Barker – review to follow
Fantastic Urban Fantasy
- The Brotherhood of the Wheel by RS Belcher
- Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse
- Strange Practice by Vivien Shaw
- Dreadful Company by Vivian Shaw
- Grave Importance by Vivian Shaw
- The Hanged Man by KD Edwards
Great Sci Fi/futuristic
- One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence
- Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young
- Limited Wish by Mark Lawrence
- This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
- Ration by Cody T Luff
- Dispel Illusion by Mark Lawrence
- Lore of Prometheus by Graham Austin King
Great Gothic or dark reads
- Little Darlings by Melanie Golding
- The Corset by Laura Purcell
- The Truants by Kate Weinberg
- Mistletoe by Alison Littlewood
Great Magical Realism
- The World that we Knew by Alice Hoffman
- Ivory Apples by Lisa Goldstein
- The Strawberry Thief (Chocolat #4) by Joanne Harris
Great Standalone:
- Never Die by Rob J Hayes
- Deeplight by Frances Hardinge – review to follow
In total I have read 109 books this year. I have reviewed 103 with six outstanding reviews to follow in the New Year. Eight of my books have been audio. My reading focuses mainly on fantasy but there is also a light sprinkling of murder mystery, historic and horror books. My complete list of reading is below with links to reviews.
- The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
- Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield
- The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky
- The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan
- The Devil Aspect by Craig Russell
- Murder Theory by Andrew Mayne
- Out of Nowhere by Patrick LeClerc
- Fog Season by Patrice Sarath
- The Ruin of Kings (A Chorus of Dragons #1) by Jenn Lyons
- Thornbound (The Harwood Spellbook #2) by Stephanie Burgis
- The Taking of Annie Thorne C. J. Tudor
- White Stag by Kara Barbieri
- Never-Contented Things by Sarah Porter
- The Anointed by Keith Ward (one of the SPFBO finalists)
- Bound by Mark Lawrence
- Symphony of the Wind by Steven McKinnon
- The True Queen by Zen Cho
- The Kingdom of Copper by S. A. Chakraborty
-
Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik
- The Strawberry Thief (Chocolat #4) by Joanne Harris
- The Confessions of Frannie Langton by Sara Collins
- The Dollmaker by Nina Allan
- Holy Sister by Mark Lawrence
- Aching God (Iconoclasts #1) by Mike Shel
-
The Raven’s Tale by Cat Winters
- Sowing (The Purification Era #1) by Angie Grigaliunas
- The Binding by Bridget Collins
- A Time of Blood by John Gwynne
- One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence
- The Brotherhood of the Wheel by RS Belcher
- Emily Eternal by M G Wheaton
- A Boy and His dog at the End of the World by CA Fletcher
- Storm of Locusts by Rebecca Roanhorse
- Little Darlings by Melanie Golding
- Ruthless Magic by Megan Crewe
- Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young
- The Gods of Men by Barbara Kloss
- The Furies by Katie Lowe
- Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen
- Westside by WM Akers
- A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay
- King of the Road by RS Belcher
- The Poison Song by Jen Williams
- We Ride the Storm by Devin Madson
- Orconomics by J Zachary Pike
- Council by Snorri Kristjansson
- Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs
- The Red Stained Wings by Elizabeth Bear
- Queenslayer by Sebastien DeCastell
- Priest of Lies by Peter McLean
- The Fall by Tracy Townsend
- Limited Wish by Mark Lawrence
- Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs
- The Corset by Laura Purcell
- The Whisper Man by Alex North
- Nocturna by Maya Motayne
-
Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
- Soul of the Sword by Julie Kagawa
- The Toll by Cherie Priest
- This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
- Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Storm
- Good Girl, Bad Girl by Michael Robotham
- A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie
- Shadows of the Short Days by Alexander Dan Vilhjálmsson
- Cry Havoc by Mike Morris
- The Undoing of Arlo Knott by Heather Child
- Lord of Secrets by Breanna Teintze
- The Truants by Kate Weinberg
- Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs
- Turning Darkness Into Light by Marie Brennan
- House of Sacrifice by Anna Smith Spark
- Missing Person by Sarah Lotz
- The Witch Who Courted Death by Marie Lewis
- Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron
- Brightfall by Jamie Lee Moyer
- Healer’s Ruin by Chris O’Mara
- Lore of Prometheus by Graham Austin King
- Strange Practice by Vivien Shaw
- For Emily by Katharine Slee
- The Resurrectionist of Caligo by Wendy Trimboli and Alicia Zaloga
- A Shadow on the Lens by Sam Hurcom
- Ration by Cody T Luff
- Bone China by Laura Purcell
- The World that we Knew by Alice Hoffman
- Violetby Scott Thomas
- The Bone Ships by RJ Barker
- The Black Hawks by David Wragg
- The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow
- The Beautiful by Renée Ahdieh
- Mistletoe by Alison Littlewood
- Dreadful Company by Vivian Shaw
- From the Shadows of the Owl Queen’s Court by Benedict Patrick
- Grave Importance by Vivian Shaw
- Ivory Applesby Lisa Goldstein
- The Absinthe Earl by Sharon Lynn Fisher
- Songs From the Deepby Kelly Powell
- Dark Pattern by Andrew Mayne
- Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo
- Never Dieby Rob J Hayes
- The Blade Within by Jackson Lear
- Vortex Visionsby Elise Kova
- River of Thieves by Clayton Snyder
- Sir Thomas the Hesitant and the Table of the Less Valued Knights by Liam Perrin
- The Hanged Man by KD Edwards
- Dispel Illusion by Mark Lawrence
- The Land You Never Leave by Angus Watson
- Deeplight by Frances Hardinge
- The King of Assassins by RJ Barker
- Where Gods Fear to Go by Angus Watson
I loved both “The Wolf in the Whale” and “A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World”! Unfortunately, they just missed my Top 25 of 2019. If I had read as many books as you did (I have my reasons), then I would have been able to expand my list. But, great choices and well done on your reading for the year!
A very impressive breakdown of your year of reading, Lynn, and I see a lot of my favorites from 2019 on here as well (and also a lot of books I didn’t get to this year that I still need to read!) Considering you juggled your regular review books with SPFBO again this year, you did amazing!
I tend to read less these days than pre blogging but that isn’t a regret because I really enjoy the interaction and I get so many great recommendations – better to read slightly less but really good quality books 😀
Great list, Lynn! A lot of my favourites here 🙂 Happy 2020!
Happy 2020 to you too 😀
Haha, I love your cheating. 😛 These are great lists and you really did have a great year of reading!
Thanks – and yes, I love a bit of a cheat – particularly if it allows me to show more books 😀
Lynn
Great list!
(www.evelynreads.com)
Thanks Evelyn, 2019 was definitely a good year for books.
Lynn 😀
An impressive achievement, indeed! And one listing so many great books 😊
To even better reads for 2020! Happy New Year!
Happy New Year to you too 😀
Wow, it must have taken a long time to list all the books you read! Or hopefully that was a copy and paste chore, lol. Great list and I’m happy to see some of my favorites as well. I’m also seeing some books I missed that I still need to read. Happy New Years!😁
Yes, that was a cut and paste job thankfully.
Lynn 😀
I’m glad you had such a good reading year Lynn!
There certainly were some fantastic books this year.
fingers crossed for the same in 2020.
Lynn 😀
I think 2020 will be great. There are already so many books I’m excited for.
Yes, agreed, fingers crossed although I don’t think we need it.
Lynn 😀
Probably true! Happy reading!
Gosh what a reading year – a pleasure as always to follow your reading adventures 🙂
Thanks – there were such a lot of great books this year – and wonderful events to celebrate them. Can’t wait for more Wyrd and Wonder.
Lynn 😀
109 books, that’s fantastic! I really need to read The Wolf in the Whale at some point, I keep hearing such amazing things.
Yes – you really should read it. I think it would be something you would love.
Lynn 😀
Holy cow! This is an impressive list!! *wipes sweat from brow* I’m not jealous at all … no really!! 😀
So many of these still on my TBR too, but good to know they’re all books you rate highly. No dross on my pile at least. 🙂
Haha – I love seeing everyone’s end of year lists although they really don’t help with my book envy! I hope you get to some of these – I had so many good reads this year that I had to extend the list somehow.
Lynn 😀
[…] LYNN’S BOOK BLOG ranks Lisa Goldstein’s IVORY APPLES as one of the best. […]
Lovely to see that you also had an amazing reading year, Lynn:)). I am so impressed that you managed to achieve reading and reviewing so many books, when I am also aware just how much time and effort you also put into your duties as a judge for the SPFBO. I love your sub-categories – I simply can’t funnel my top reads down to a mere ten:). I think your list is really interesting – there are two there that keep cropping up and make me think I should add them to my TBR A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World and The Ten Thousand Doors of January. Here’s hoping that 2020 will be as successful a reading year for us all – because whatever else was going – I think 2019 was an amazing year for SFF with so many excellent books being produced…
Yes, 2019 was a fantastic year for books, 2020 has its work cut out to compete I think but I’m hopeful. A Boy and His Dog is a great book – I think you would like it very much, I know you probably don’t like the sound of certain aspects but it’s actually quite a hopeful book. Ten Thousand Doors is like a love letter to readers. At first, I thought it might be a bit much for me but before I’d completed that thought I was hooked.
Lynn 😀
Those two books are definitely going onto my TBR – too many people whose opinions I respect absolutely love them – yours included!
😀