2019 Goodreads Year in Review

Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog. And a Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates! (And of course happy holidays to everyone as a whole.)

Well everyone, I did it. I finished my Goodreads goal. I even surpassed it by ten books!

*insert obligatory celebration gif here*

But really, I'm always so excited when I finish out the year and look back on my Goodreads year in review, and see all the books I read and reviewed. I get to remember how much I loved a favorite, or be reminded of a book that I may have forgotten about in the hustle and bustle of the year's events. 

So I thought I'd go through my year with you guys and talk about some of the books!

Obviously I'm not going to go through every single book here, but I will list them at the end in case y'all want a comprehensive list. 

I was so close to 50,000 pages! I'm not going to lie, I'm actually pretty bummed that I didn't get to that number. But I mean, 130 books is still 130 books. 

I knew as soon as I bought it that The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon was going to be the longest book that I would read this year. She is thicc. But also one of my favorites, so I'm definitely not complaining. In all honesty, I actually wish that it was longer, because there were so many things in it that I could see Shannon expanding on. 

I also knew that The Alchemist would be my most popular book read, because it has been for the past few years. I always liked to start out the new year by reading it, and continued that tradition on in 2019. However I'm not sure I'll read it for 2020, mostly because I'm actually gifting my one and only copy to my boyfriend for Christmas (it's a whole story; I started reading a chapter to him every night in the summer, and managed to get him to fall in love with reading, and now we use this book as kind of a symbol between us, etc. etc.) which I actually annotated and tabbed so he'll know all of my favorite passages and everything like that. Obviously I'm hoping to get another copy in the future, but I actually want a box-set of most (I think ten) of Coelho's works that includes The Alchemist, as it is his most popular novel. 

What I'm really surprised at is the least popular book I read. I didn't know that Shaun Horton was so unknown. I first heard of him through Merphy Napier on YouTube: she's an audiobook narrator and had narrated his short story Cenote. Napier's description of it sounded so cool so I decided to read it for myself, and I loved it, so I also got his other works (one of which I haven't read yet). But only eight people have read and documented Paths on Goodreads?? That has to be some sort of record for least-read book on this damn site. If I have any pull on your reading tastes, I beg of you to check out his writing. Just keep in mind he is a horror novelist, so if that's not your thing maybe be aware of that. But, he was also the author that actually got me into horror novels this year, so if that tells you anything do with that what you will.

I always tend to rate high on Goodreads, something I intend to remedy in the new year. It's really because I just threw out five-star ratings willy nilly. If a book managed to instill any sort of emotion in me, it got full stars. Now, however, I plan on reading more critically. Obviously emotion is something that should be taken into account when reading, but I never like to overlook errors or problematic content in books that make me feel something, which is what I had tended to do this year. 

I'm not surprised that Fullmetal Alchemist is so highly rated. It's a fantastic series. And also what brought me back into anime and manga in the first place, so I feel it's a deserving credit. 

Okay, now for the list of every single book I read in 2019. I'm only going to be listing the title and author, because I don't feel like searching for my star rating of every single book. They're all in my past monthly wrap-ups, along with my thoughts on each book, so if you're curious about a specific title, you can find those in my archives. 

I'll try to go as chronological as possible, but some may be turned around. 

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How to Win an Election by Cicero

Achilles by Elizabeth Cook

Roman Lives by Plutarch

Soul Eater vol. 1-3 by Atsushi Ohkubo

Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls by Lauren Graham

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

The Raven King by Maggie Stiefvater

War of the Wives by Tamar Cohen

The Count of Monte Christo by Alexandre Dumas

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

Avatar: The Last Airbender (all comics) by Gene Luen Yang

Three Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake

In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire 

Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson

The Vanishing Stair by Maureen Johnson

Mythology by Edith Hamilton

The Last of August by Brittany Cavallaro

The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon

The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood

The Case for Jamie by Brittany Cavallaro

A Question of Holmes by Brittany Cavallaro

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares

Radio Silence by Alice Oseman (x2)

Once a Witch by Carolyn MacCullough

Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blake

Ghostland: An American History of Haunted Places by Colin Dickey

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman

Once and Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynn Jones

The Waking Forest by Alyssa Wees

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

Fullmetal Alchemist vol. 1-7 by Hiromu Arakawa

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston (x2)

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead

A Conjuring of Light by V.E. Schwab

Haikyuu vol. 1-11 by Haruichi Furudate

Geekerella by Ashley Poston

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake

Don't Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno

White Stag by Kara Barbieri

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

Love and Gelato by Jenna Evans Welch

Summer of Salt by Katrina Leno

Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel

Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore

The Chaos of Stars by Kiersten White

Skyward by Brandon Sanderson

Anya's Ghost by Vera Brosgol

The Girl From the Well by Rin Chupeco

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Complete Collection by C.S. Lewis

Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins

The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater

Crown of Feathers by Nicki PauPreto

The Dark Vault by Victoria Schwab

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Blue Lily, Lily Blue by Maggie Stiefvater

The Princess Saves Herself in This One by Amanda Lovelace

The Witch Doesn't Burn in This One by Amanda Lovelace

The Mermaid's Voice Returns in This One by Amanda Lovelace

The Dreadful Tale of Prosper Redding by Alexandra Bracken

Persephone by Loic Locatelli-Kournwsky

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me by Mariko Tamaki

The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O'Neill

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig

Eragon by Christopher Paolini

Reign of the Fallen by Sarah Glenn Marsh

The Storm Crow by Kalyn Josephson

Deltora Quest: The Forests of Silence by Emily Rodda

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit by Jaye Robin Brown

Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton

Girl of Nightmares by Kendare Blake

Lovely War by Julie Berry

Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer

Cenote by Shaun Morton

Paths: Three Short Horror Stories by Shaun Morton

Sheets by Emma Thummler

Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell

Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

These Witches Don't Burn by Isabel Sterling

The Trials of Apollo: The Tyrant's Tomb by Rick Riordan

Queens of Fennbirn by Kendare Blake

Song of the Dead by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Tokyo Ghoul vol. 1 by Sui Ishida

Aphrodite Made Me Do It by Trista Mateer

Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater

Tunnel of Bones by Victoria Schwab

Death Note vol. 1 by Tsugumi Ohba

Flying Witch by Chihiro Ishizuka

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

Honeybee by Trista Mateer

The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba vol. 1-3 by Koyoharu Gotouge

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz-Zafron

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Wow, what a year, eh?

Of course, if I finish any other books in the last few days of December, they'll be included in my wrap-up at the end along with all the other books I read this month. 

Here's to 2020!