19 Books of 2019
Shadow and Bone Trilogy by Leigh Bardugo
The series follows the incredible journey of Alina Starkov, a teenage orphan who is doing the only thing she can to survive: serve in the First Army and dedicate at least a few years of her life to her home country of Ravka with her best friend Mal at her side. After a near-death experience, Alina is revealed to be the coveted saviour Ravka and the Grisha have waited for – the Sun Summoner. This series is full of snappy dialogue, painful realizations, surprise revelations, and tough choices. If you’re looking to get lost in a fantastically dark world full of rich storytelling and spellbinding characters, this is your series.
Six of Crows Duology by Leigh Bardugo
Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows duology picks up not long after the ending of her Grishaverse trilogy. We’re immediately plunged into the merchant kingdom of Ketterdam, a hub of international trade where anything can be bought for the right price. No one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. When offered the chance to complete a heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams, he can’t say no, but he can’t do it alone. Through these two books, six criminals become closer than kin and steal my heart in the span of several hundred pages. You won’t regret adding this to your to-read pile, especially if you enjoy YA Fantasy!
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White
White’s retelling follows the struggles of Elizabeth Lavenza, Victor Frankenstein’s wife. Elizabeth is brought from a life of pain and poverty into the Frankenstein household to be Victor’s friend. At a young age, she learns how to manage the strange boy and becomes dependent on him to secure her future. As they grow up, their dependency on each other grows into obsession, especially on Victor’s part. The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein is a story I didn’t know I needed about a woman I wish I read about sooner. For any Mary Shelley lover, I highly recommend you sit down with this short, juicy story.
The English Wife by Laura Willig
On the surface, Annabelle and Bayard Van Duyvil live a charmed life. He’s the heir to a wealthy New York family and she’s a (supposed) heiress to a well-off London Lord. During a ball at their country home, Bayard is found murdered and Annabelle is missing, presumed drowned. The locals are in an uproar and everyone has one question: who killed Bayard? This is the perfect book for anyone looking to sink their teeth into a book full of family secrets, affairs, murder, love and the search for the truth.
Uprooted and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
With more fairy tales on bookstore shelves, Novik’s books stand out. Uprooted is Novik’s Beauty and the Beast retelling. In it, the Beast is a powerful wizard named the Dragon who takes one girl from a quiet village and returns her every ten years. Agnieszka and her fellow villagers rely on the Dragon to keep the powerful magic of the Woods at bay, but when the corrupted Woods and its deadly creatures threaten her home, it is Agnieszka who must do what it takes to save it – and the Dragon.
In Spinning Silver, Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of a moneylender, and when she takes up the family trade herself, she finds she’s rather good at it. Hardening her heart to her villagers’ pleas, she sets out to collect what she is owed. But her heart leads her into trouble when the king of the cold creatures who live near her village wants to exploit her talent of “turning silver into gold” for his own purposes.
You never grow out of fairy tales, so why should your reading list?
Broken Throne by Victoria Aveyard
Aveyard’s ground-breaking series, Red Queen, caught many YA lovers’ attention when the first book came out in 2015. Four years later, the last book concludes the journey of Mare, Cal, and the many others who sparked a revolution that changed their world forever. This is a short story collection with bonus material, including a genealogical history of Cal’s family and the history of how Norta (possibly) came to be. Fire Light was my favourite short story, but you’ll have to pick this up and tell me yours!
King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
Released just this year, readers are reunited with King Nikolai, legendary Grisha Squaller Zoya, and Grisha soldier Nina as they work to rebuild Ravka and protect it from dangerous forces. This book blew me away. It had everything I wanted – action, drama, hard choices, friendship, blossoming romance(s), magic – and so much more. If you craved more Grishaverse after Crooked Kingdom, this book will fill your need!
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Baker
Briseis was queen of one of Troy’s neighbouring kingdoms. When the Greeks captured her, their greatest warrior Achilles claims her as his prize. Now his concubine, Briseis is forced to adjust to her new life as she watches her fellow women suffer. This book gives a voice to the girls history has erased. If you’ve always been interested in Greek history and mythology like me, and crave books on historical women erased by male historians, definitely pick this up!
There is no Dog by Meg Rosoff
God, as it turns out, is a 19-year-old boy living in the present-day and sharing an apartment with his long-suffering fifty-something personal assistant, Mr. B. This wouldn’t be so terrible if God wasn’t incredibly lazy, and how whenever he fell in love, natural disasters occurred. Although a strange concept at first, this is an insightful book about faith. Laced with humour, I recommend it for religious and non-religious readers alike. You may be surprised by the questions this book makes you ask yourself.
Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
On the island of Sawkill Rock, kids whisper the legend of a monster at parties and around campfires. It’s where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight - until Marion arrives on the island and the Rock chooses her as one of the three girls destined to save the island from the monster. This book is creepy as hell and has great LGBTQ representation. This is a good book for readers who love horror, fantasy, and thrillers.
Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
A centuries-long war forces a girl who can speak to the gods, a prince in constant danger, and a boy with monstrous secrets to cross paths in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light. Duncan exceptionally executes the enemies-to-lovers-to-possibly-enemies-again romance in her dark, bloody, romantic fairy tale. Fantasy lovers as well as romance readers will fall in love with this debut.
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
It’s 1936 in the Appalachian hills of Troublesome Creek and Bluet is the last of the Kentucky Blues. As an unmarried woman who is part of the Pack Horse Library Project, she faces many uphill battles. The prejudice against her kind means she can’t even enjoy a simple country dance without the sheriff ordering her home. Richardson illustrates the challenges many people of colour faced during the 1930s and still do today. If you love historical fiction and stories of hardship and triumph, add this to your reading list!
The Vagina Bible by Dr. Jen Gunter
As a practicing OB/GYN for over 25 years, Gunter is an expert at separating myths from medicine when it comes to the vagina and vulva. As her title implies, The Vagina Bible is all about answering the questions that have plagued vagina owners for decades. Gunter’s “vagenda” is one the rest of society needs to adopt. In order to make informed decisions about our health, we need the facts. Everyone needs to read this book!
Swing Low: A Life by Miriam Toews
Toews recounts her father Mel's life as she imagines he would have told it, right up to the day he took his final walk years ago. Toews writes a moving tribute to a man who lived with bipolar disorder for most of his life, fighting back his demons as best he could. Remembered as an exceptional teacher, a faithful Mennonite man, and a loving husband and father, Mel’s determination and courage shines through in Toews’ work. If you can’t get enough of Toews’ novels, you definitely need to read this.
Daughter of Family G by Ami McKay
In 1895, Ami McKay’s great-great aunt Pauline Gross set into motion events that would one day answer the question that plagued her family for generations. Weaving together her family history, genetic discovery, and moments from her own life, McKay tells the compelling story of her family’s journey with Lynch syndrome in the memoir Daughter of Family G. If you love McKay’s writing as much as I do, this needs to join The Birth House and her other works on your shelf!
The series follows the incredible journey of Alina Starkov, a teenage orphan who is doing the only thing she can to survive: serve in the First Army and dedicate at least a few years of her life to her home country of Ravka with her best friend Mal at her side. After a near-death experience, Alina is revealed to be the coveted saviour Ravka and the Grisha have waited for – the Sun Summoner. This series is full of snappy dialogue, painful realizations, surprise revelations, and tough choices. If you’re looking to get lost in a fantastically dark world full of rich storytelling and spellbinding characters, this is your series.
Six of Crows Duology by Leigh Bardugo
Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows duology picks up not long after the ending of her Grishaverse trilogy. We’re immediately plunged into the merchant kingdom of Ketterdam, a hub of international trade where anything can be bought for the right price. No one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. When offered the chance to complete a heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams, he can’t say no, but he can’t do it alone. Through these two books, six criminals become closer than kin and steal my heart in the span of several hundred pages. You won’t regret adding this to your to-read pile, especially if you enjoy YA Fantasy!
The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White
White’s retelling follows the struggles of Elizabeth Lavenza, Victor Frankenstein’s wife. Elizabeth is brought from a life of pain and poverty into the Frankenstein household to be Victor’s friend. At a young age, she learns how to manage the strange boy and becomes dependent on him to secure her future. As they grow up, their dependency on each other grows into obsession, especially on Victor’s part. The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein is a story I didn’t know I needed about a woman I wish I read about sooner. For any Mary Shelley lover, I highly recommend you sit down with this short, juicy story.
The English Wife by Laura Willig
On the surface, Annabelle and Bayard Van Duyvil live a charmed life. He’s the heir to a wealthy New York family and she’s a (supposed) heiress to a well-off London Lord. During a ball at their country home, Bayard is found murdered and Annabelle is missing, presumed drowned. The locals are in an uproar and everyone has one question: who killed Bayard? This is the perfect book for anyone looking to sink their teeth into a book full of family secrets, affairs, murder, love and the search for the truth.
Uprooted and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
With more fairy tales on bookstore shelves, Novik’s books stand out. Uprooted is Novik’s Beauty and the Beast retelling. In it, the Beast is a powerful wizard named the Dragon who takes one girl from a quiet village and returns her every ten years. Agnieszka and her fellow villagers rely on the Dragon to keep the powerful magic of the Woods at bay, but when the corrupted Woods and its deadly creatures threaten her home, it is Agnieszka who must do what it takes to save it – and the Dragon.
In Spinning Silver, Miryem is the daughter and granddaughter of a moneylender, and when she takes up the family trade herself, she finds she’s rather good at it. Hardening her heart to her villagers’ pleas, she sets out to collect what she is owed. But her heart leads her into trouble when the king of the cold creatures who live near her village wants to exploit her talent of “turning silver into gold” for his own purposes.
You never grow out of fairy tales, so why should your reading list?
Broken Throne by Victoria Aveyard
Aveyard’s ground-breaking series, Red Queen, caught many YA lovers’ attention when the first book came out in 2015. Four years later, the last book concludes the journey of Mare, Cal, and the many others who sparked a revolution that changed their world forever. This is a short story collection with bonus material, including a genealogical history of Cal’s family and the history of how Norta (possibly) came to be. Fire Light was my favourite short story, but you’ll have to pick this up and tell me yours!
King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo
Released just this year, readers are reunited with King Nikolai, legendary Grisha Squaller Zoya, and Grisha soldier Nina as they work to rebuild Ravka and protect it from dangerous forces. This book blew me away. It had everything I wanted – action, drama, hard choices, friendship, blossoming romance(s), magic – and so much more. If you craved more Grishaverse after Crooked Kingdom, this book will fill your need!
The Silence of the Girls by Pat Baker
Briseis was queen of one of Troy’s neighbouring kingdoms. When the Greeks captured her, their greatest warrior Achilles claims her as his prize. Now his concubine, Briseis is forced to adjust to her new life as she watches her fellow women suffer. This book gives a voice to the girls history has erased. If you’ve always been interested in Greek history and mythology like me, and crave books on historical women erased by male historians, definitely pick this up!
There is no Dog by Meg Rosoff
God, as it turns out, is a 19-year-old boy living in the present-day and sharing an apartment with his long-suffering fifty-something personal assistant, Mr. B. This wouldn’t be so terrible if God wasn’t incredibly lazy, and how whenever he fell in love, natural disasters occurred. Although a strange concept at first, this is an insightful book about faith. Laced with humour, I recommend it for religious and non-religious readers alike. You may be surprised by the questions this book makes you ask yourself.
Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand
On the island of Sawkill Rock, kids whisper the legend of a monster at parties and around campfires. It’s where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight - until Marion arrives on the island and the Rock chooses her as one of the three girls destined to save the island from the monster. This book is creepy as hell and has great LGBTQ representation. This is a good book for readers who love horror, fantasy, and thrillers.
Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
A centuries-long war forces a girl who can speak to the gods, a prince in constant danger, and a boy with monstrous secrets to cross paths in a shadowy world of spilled blood and mysterious saints, where a forbidden romance threatens to tip the scales between dark and light. Duncan exceptionally executes the enemies-to-lovers-to-possibly-enemies-again romance in her dark, bloody, romantic fairy tale. Fantasy lovers as well as romance readers will fall in love with this debut.
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
It’s 1936 in the Appalachian hills of Troublesome Creek and Bluet is the last of the Kentucky Blues. As an unmarried woman who is part of the Pack Horse Library Project, she faces many uphill battles. The prejudice against her kind means she can’t even enjoy a simple country dance without the sheriff ordering her home. Richardson illustrates the challenges many people of colour faced during the 1930s and still do today. If you love historical fiction and stories of hardship and triumph, add this to your reading list!
The Vagina Bible by Dr. Jen Gunter
As a practicing OB/GYN for over 25 years, Gunter is an expert at separating myths from medicine when it comes to the vagina and vulva. As her title implies, The Vagina Bible is all about answering the questions that have plagued vagina owners for decades. Gunter’s “vagenda” is one the rest of society needs to adopt. In order to make informed decisions about our health, we need the facts. Everyone needs to read this book!
Swing Low: A Life by Miriam Toews
Toews recounts her father Mel's life as she imagines he would have told it, right up to the day he took his final walk years ago. Toews writes a moving tribute to a man who lived with bipolar disorder for most of his life, fighting back his demons as best he could. Remembered as an exceptional teacher, a faithful Mennonite man, and a loving husband and father, Mel’s determination and courage shines through in Toews’ work. If you can’t get enough of Toews’ novels, you definitely need to read this.
Daughter of Family G by Ami McKay
In 1895, Ami McKay’s great-great aunt Pauline Gross set into motion events that would one day answer the question that plagued her family for generations. Weaving together her family history, genetic discovery, and moments from her own life, McKay tells the compelling story of her family’s journey with Lynch syndrome in the memoir Daughter of Family G. If you love McKay’s writing as much as I do, this needs to join The Birth House and her other works on your shelf!