2019 Book Review

As we wait out this pandemic and practice social distancing, I finally found the time to reflect back on the books I read last year. Thanks to Bookstack, I don’t have to remember which ones I read - its all tracked for me in the app. In 2019 I read 25 books! Maybe not a lot to some people, but I consider that a nice accomplishment. I usually aim for about 25-30 per year.

Here’s the list in chronological order:

books-2019.png

  1. Mudbound, by Hillary Jordan

  2. Fortunate Son, by DJ Rhoades

  3. Manhattan Beach, by Jennifer Egan

  4. Proteinaholic, by Garth Davis, M.D.

  5. The Fighter, by Michael Farris Smith

  6. Conspiracy, by S.J. Parris

  7. The Kitchen House, by Kathleen Grissom

  8. Glory Over Everything, by Kathleen Grissom

  9. The Nest, by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

  10. This Year is Different, by Bob Sturm

  11. Not a Sound, by Heather Gudenkauf

  12. Missing Pieces, by Heather Gudenkauf

  13. These Things Hidden, by Heather Gudentkauf

  14. Git for Humans, by David Demaree

  15. Make Time, by Jake Knapp & John Zertatsky

  16. Educated, by Tara Westover

  17. Little Mercies, by Heather Gudenkauf

  18. The Man They Wanted Me to Be, by Jaren Yates Sexton

  19. Unlearning God, by Phillip Gulley

  20. Soil, by Jamie Kornegay

  21. Cave of Bones, by Anne Hillerman

  22. The Ploughmen, by Kim Zupan

  23. Lovability, by Brian de Haaff

  24. Washington Black, by Esi Edugyan

  25. Things That Make White People Uncomfortable, by Michael Bennett

 

The Top 3

conspiracy.png

Consipiracy, by S.J. Parris

Definitely the best book I read last year. This book is the last of a 5-book series based on the historical figure Giordano Bruno, a 16th Century monk turned philosopher, professor and solver of murder mysteries. A little bit of history, a bit of religion and philosophy mixed with murder and intrigue - what’s not to like. Bruno will forever be one of my all time book characters.

 
kitchen-house.png

The Kitchen House, by Kathleen Grissom

Young Lavinia is an immigrant servant who finds herself indentured to a wealthy plantation owner in Virginia in the middle of the 1800s after her parents died on the journey from Ireland across the Atlantic. While she is notched a wrung above the slaves that are knit into the fabric of the plantation, she identifies with them, befriends them and grows to love them as her new family. This book is a unique look at pre-Civil War slavery, immigration racism, class struggles, and familial bonds.

 
educated.png

Educated, by Tara Westover

This book is crazy. Actually, Tara Westover’s upbringing was crazy. In her amazing autobiography, she details the incredible odds she overcame to leave her family and earn a Ph.D. from Cambridge University. She was raised by extremely fundamentalist “survivalist” parents who allowed her very little interaction with the outside world and no formal education. She scratched and clawed her way out of the ignorant, backwards thinking of most of her family, her father in particular.