Happy 2020! It's a new year, new decade, I always love this fresh start feeling at the beginning of another year (I will be mentioning that in every year-end reflection/planning for the new year post I write for always and ever). I know I am still the same me but, I always see the New Year as a good time to start new habits, routines, a year with no mistakes in it yet. I have more planning posts coming but for now, I'm talking about my favorite books of the past year, which is really fun and also hard to pick!
These types of posts start to pop up about Thanksgiving but I always hold off until I've actually finished all my books for the year because what if I read something really good in late December?? Which did happen this year! This list included a book I finished December 29th and it would be sorely missing if I had written this post any earlier!
I know reading isn't a competitive sport but I do feel like the number of books I've finished is a reasonable gauge for how well I did on time management, staying off my phone, and making time for me. For the first year since I've been counting, I finished the same number of books as the year before - 175. By my best count, 25 of those were rereads and are excluded from consideration (I obviously like them if I am choosing to reread them!). And a solid 25%, 44 books, were non-fiction which feels about right for how I plan my reading!
With no more rambling, my 10 favorite (new to me, non-rereads), {Grown-Up}, books I read this year! (In no particular order)
What Happens in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand
I really enjoy almost everything Elin Hilderbrand writes and while I don't love her new fall/winter trilogy like I do my favorite Winter Street series, I still really enjoyed this book. This is the second in a series about a woman who is shocked to discover her husband was leading a second life on a Caribbean Island, a life she knows nothing about until she finds out he died there. Like many of her books, this one is told from multiple perspectives and while, as my sister-in-law pointed out after I passed on my library copy, nothing really happens in this book, it was still a really fun read and I really enjoyed being back with these characters. (Previously mentioned in Quick Lit)
The Grace of Enough: Pursuing Less and Living More in a Throwaway Culture by Haley Stewart
I read a decent amount of minimalism/living with less books but what I found refreshing about this one is that it came at it from a faith-based perspective, specifically Catholic perspective (which I am). Minimalism is something I am continually fascinated by and my faith is very important to me but I don't often read anything that mixes the too. I really liked how it pointed out that being good to the Earth is important for everyone but is Biblically based, something I am constantly harping on (and wondering why our church/school isn't emphasizing it more). Definitely one I'll be revisiting. (Previously mentioned in Quick Lit)
Meet Me in Monaco by Hazel Gaynor
This is historical fiction based around the real wedding of Grace Kelly and Prince Ranier of Monaco. It follows a perfume maker who happens to befriend Grace Kelly as she meets Prince Ranier and they keep up correspondence while that royal wedding is being planned. It was really enjoyable to read a historical fiction book NOT set around World War II (of which I also read quite a few) and be taken away to Monaco for a spell. (Previously mentioned in Quick Lit)
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert
This is the book I finished on December 29th and maybe part of the reason I was 5 minutes late to our sister lunch (sorry, sisters). I put off reading it for a long time but then kept hearing so many people talk about it that I got on that library hold list. It's one woman telling her life story, via the longest letter in history, to another woman she has only met a couple times. The woman has a fascinating story involving moving to NYC at 18/19, living in and helping with a falling down theater, making her way around town, and discovering who she is. It's long, almost 500 pages, but read so fast, one of the rare books this year that I just couldn't wait to pick back up. It was so fun.
Beyond the Point by Claire Gibson
Another book that I kept hearing mentioned before I finally picked up. AND another long one that read pretty fast. The Point in the title is West Point, a place I didn't realize I knew nothing about other than it was military related. The story follows three female friends as they all enroll as student-athletes at West Point shortly before 9/11, making them just one school year ahead of me. These woman navigate West Point together and then the story follows their lives afterwards as they all complete their military service and all that entails. I loved their friendship and how fully formed they all were. (On Instagram)
Introverted Mom: Your Guide to More Calm, Less Guilt, and Quiet Joy by Jamie Martin
This may have been the best book I read this year, or most highly influential on me. I am a strong introvert which can be tough with kids. It's challenging to make time in each day for myself to recharge when I spend so much of my time tending to their needs. This made me feel not crazy for needing quiet time each day and how that really does help me be a better Mom. It was the super rare book that I bought before I read it because I knew how much I needed to read it. I need to reread it every year to empower me to take care of myself and not just my kids. (Previously mentioned in Quick Lit)
How to be a Happier Parent: Raising a Family, Having a Life, and Loving (Almost) Every Minute by K.J. Dell'Antonia
Did not mean to write about two "how to survive parenting" books back to back but here we are! I read this year in the year and quite a few points stuck with me and changed how we parent. I want to be happy, in the midst of parenting battles in all. We made some immediate changes to routines and household chores and there were more ideas we can implement as our kids grow. Another one I need to read every other year or so, I definitely recommend to all parents. (Book Love post)
The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms
Apparently I am writing about 3 vaguely parenting related books in a row! This one is a novel about Amy Byler, who is given a surprise couple weeks off from parenting when her long disappeared ex-husband shows up to take care of their kids. She takes some solo time in New York City and discovers things about herself that had long been buried in the parenting grind. I have no intentions of leaving my husband and kids for weeks at a time (or even just a night, to be honest) but it was fun reading about her adventures and the importance of not losing yourself to your parenting self. (Previously mentioned in Quick Lit)
Atlas of Happiness: The Global Secrets to How to be Happy by Helen Russell
I appreciate a way to learn about new cultures, especially in reasonably sized bites, which is exactly what this book does. It went through about 2 dozen different countries (and Hawaii which is different enough from the rest of the US, apparently) and gave a word or phrase for each that embodies how that country sees happiness. Now, we all know one single word can't apply to an entire country BUT this was still a nice glance at how a country as a whole can embody the word. I've never going to visit most of these places but it was fun to learn a little more about them and it was an easy book to pick up and read a country at a time. (Book Love post)
The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
This might be the year I finally admitted that I have an interest in outer space and the moon projects (Grown-Up Book List, Picture Book List). I read this science-fiction book that takes place in an alternate timeline where the space race has to be accelerated after a meteor crashes into the United States and is going to make the world unlivable rather soon. This happens in the 1950s, before we've (generous we, considering I wasn't born yet) landed on the moon. In this world (and the real world at the time), women were mostly calculators - they did the complex math but were in no way considered for moon missions. Until one woman becomes a spokesperson of sorts and then NASA (the alt-world version) has to make her a real astronaut. It's not real but I really enjoyed reading about women making huge contributions to the space race. I read the second in the series and am awaiting the third later this year! (Previously mentioned in Quick Lit)
Did you have a good reading year? I'd love to know some of your favorite reads!
Favorite {Grown-Up} Reads of 2018
Favorite {Grown-Up} Reads of 2017
Favorite {Grown-Up} Reads of 2016
Favorite {Grown-Up} Reads of 2015
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