The decade ends tomorrow (which is still super weird to say and think about) and a lot of my fellow bookstagrammers and book reviewers are talking about their favorite books of the year.
I’ve only been doing the whole bookstagram thing since November, that’s also when I started my blog, so I don’t really have a whole year to go off of, but the #FOMO was becoming so real, I had to do a little something. Now, this isn’t to say I wasn’t reading at all before November, I just wasn’t in the habit of documenting it and tracking everything through GoodReads so it’s hard for my impatient Millennial brain to recall what I read before then. I’m like 99.99% positive, though, that if I had been keeping track of the whole year, this list wouldn’t be any different. So, without further ado, here are my top three books of 2019!
1) The Starless Sea
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern
This book took me through the ringer emotionally. I know I never shut up about it and it’s really purely because it IS that good. Not only is it about an LGBTQ+ couple, it’s a book about books, so what’s not to like. The more I reflect on this story the more I realize I loved it so much because it felt like it was written specifically for me. Another reason I loved this book so much is because there’s not a single character I didn’t like. Not a single one. Even Allegra was a highly enjoyable character to read and a badass to boot. Mirabel was amazingly complex but still relatable. I feel like Morgernstern writes characters that subvert all the gendered tropes I hate about most other stories in such a subtle way. Her women are capable and strong but aren’t so “tough” they refuse to ask others for help. Her men are emotionally mature and know how to express what they’re feeling. It makes her stories an absolute joy to read.
Amazon| Barnes & Noble | GoodReads
2) Gideon the Ninth
Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
I honestly believe that Gideon the Ninth is going to take off in 2020. It came out in late 2019 but from what I’ve seen it’s fanbase is rapidly gaining speed and size and I hear more and more people talking about it. Good, because it honestly deserves all of that and more. If you’re a fan of sci-fi you should read this book because the plot and setting will be your cup of tea, but you may be introduced to some types of characters you don’t traditionally meet in sci-fi books. If you’re not a fan of sci-fi but you like the young adult “pining” troupe or you enjoy fun narrators who make a book even more exciting to read, you should still consider checking out Gideon the Ninth. The second books comes out in June and I couldn’t be more excited!
Amazon| Barnes & Noble | GoodReads
3) Call Down the Hawk
Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater
Maggie Stiefvater and The Raven Cycle were so good to me throughout the years that Call Down the Hawk ended up becoming one of my most anticipated new releases of the year and, let me tell you, it did not disappoint. First of all, the Declan Lynch character development has cleared my skin and helped my crops thrive, and second of all, Maggie Stiefvater writes badass women. I seriously can’t wait for the rest of the trilogy. If I have one wish for the series it’s that I’ll get to see just a LITTLE bit more of the original Raven Cycle peeps outside of Ronan and Adam, but the Lynch brothers more than make up for any holes I may have felt in their absence.
Citronella Seance Reads 