Critics' Top Books of 2019

Last year I wrote a post looking at various critics' top 5 or 10 books of 2019.  It was interesting and definitely gave me a few more books to add to my never ending to-read list.  So I thought I'd do it again this year.  So, while you await my picks for my favorite books of 2019 (which I don't create until January though believe me I'm thinking about it all year long), here's a look at what some of the critics have to say about the best books published in 2019.

Top 20 Books of 20 Years - The Best of the Best!

Since I started the blog, I've been periodically looking back at my ten favorite books which I read in each year since I started making top 10 lists.  I finally caught up to the present - and it just so happens that those lists cover 20 years of my reading - my top 10 lists so far stretch from 1999-2018!  So, I thought it would be fun to try to figure out my 20 favorite books of those 20 years of lists!  And yes, it's been a little while since I've posted anything - but part of the reason is that it has taken me a long time to narrow down the selections and then write this long post!

Gothic fiction

With Halloween coming up soon, thought it would be as good a time as any to look at some of my favorite modern Gothic fiction.  To me, Gothic in large part refers to the atmosphere of a book - it's often set at some kind of crumbling mansion, there's generally a hint of the supernatural (anything from implied but not real to actual creepy haunting), and there's often some kind of mystery involving a dead person in the present or past too.

I actually didn't know what the official definition of the genre was so I looked it up - here's what Goodreads had to say:  "Making its debut in the late 18th century, Gothic fiction was a branch of the larger Romantic movement that sought to stimulate strong emotions in the reader - fear and apprehension in this case. Gothic fiction places heavy emphasis on atmosphere, using setting and diction to build suspense and a sense of unease in the reader. Common subject matter includes the supernatural, family curses, mystery, and madness."

From the Top 10 Archives - Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2016

Ever since I began this blog, I have been periodically looking back at one of my old top 10 favorite book lists.  As a reminder, these are lists I made contemporaneously at the end of the respective years, made up of books I read in that particular year, not necessarily books published that year.  And with today's post looking back at my favorite books of 2016, I've now got all my top 10 lists on this blog in some form, since one of my very first posts on this blog was my ten favorite books of 2017.  Stay tuned for a future post with a special look back at 20 years of my lists!

Here's my list from 2016, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

Black Rabbit Hall - Eve Chase
The City of Mirrors - Justin Cronin
The Trespasser - Tana French
Monsters - Liz Kay
The Expatriates - Janice Y.K. Lee
The Last One - Alexandra Oliva
Harmony - Carolyn Parkhurst
Missing, Presumed - Susie Steiner
Kitchens of the Great Midwest - J. Ryan Stradal
Modern Lovers - Emma Straub


For more random details about these books, keep reading!

Anticipated books of fall

Even though I have a to-read list that could keep me busy for years, for some reason I also absolutely love looking ahead to new books coming out that I want to read!  Thank goodness there are less books announced so far for fall that I am dying to read than there were for summer - when there were so many books I had to break them into two posts, one for May and June and one for July and August.  Though I did a pretty amazing job getting through those lists - of the 24 books I listed between those two posts which I hadn't read yet, I've read all but 2!  Go me!  And most of them were very good.

Anyway, here are some of the books announced as coming out this fall which I'm most excited about.

5 Star Review - Things You Save in a Fire by Katherine Center

I'm excited to share with you the latest 5 star book I read - "Things You Save in a Fire" by Katherine Center.  It's the best contemporary women's novel I've read in quite a while, hitting that sweet spot I love so much of a book that is written in a relatively light fashion but with deep emotions.

From the Top 10 Archives - Jen's 10 Favorite Books of 2015

Since I started this blog, I've been periodically looking back at my old top 10 favorite book lists, starting with 1999 when I first started compiling a list each year and working my way up towards the present.   If you don't remember the details, these are lists I made contemporaneously at the end of the respective years, made up of books I read in that particular year, not necessarily books published that year.  I started out sharing these lists with just a small group of people, and over the years started sharing with more and more people, and through more and more different means, including this blog!  One of my first posts on the blog was my top 10 books of 2017, so after today's post that means I have just one more to go!  (Unless I keep this blog going for so many more years that enough time goes by that I want to look back on 2017 and after, ha ha.)

Here's my list from 2015, in alphabetical order by author's last name:

The Visitors - Sally Beauman
The One That Got Away - Bethany Chase
The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah
The Last Camellia - Sarah Jio
Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel
The Lake House - Kate Morton
The Children's Crusade - Ann Packer
The Midnight Rose - Lucinda Riley
Who Do You Love? - Jennifer Weiner
Walking on Trampolines - Frances Whiting

For more random details about these books, keep reading!