I know I say this every year, but this really is one of my favorite posts of the year. What book blogger doesn’t love talking about their favorite books??? I was afraid I might not find as many great books as usual this year since I wasn’t able to read as many, but it turns out I went for quality over quantity because I still found so many amazing ones. So here are my top ten top eleven favorites from my 2019 reading!
The Kingdom of Copper by S.A. Chakraborty
This sequel (in a fantastic historical fantasy series about djinn) was so complex and so well-written, and it completely sucked me in. It’s over 600 pages long, but not for a single moment was I bored or wanting it to end because the whole thing was amazing.
Salt Magic, Skin Magic by Lee Welch (Audiobook)
I just loved everything about this standalone historical fantasy romance. The writing was wonderful, the narration was fantastic, there was humor, the characters were lovable, their romance was sexy with great chemistry, and the “reveal” at the end was perfect and made it all make sense in the best way.
Arcadia Trust Series by Christian Baines
I enjoyed all three books in this dark-ish m/m vampire series so far (the first two of which were rereads), but each book was better than the last, and the third one especially gripped me with its interesting characters, unique relationship dynamics, and complex plot.
Static by L.A. Witt (Audiobook)
I loved all the exploration of gender and sexuality in this book, and it was also a great story with great characters and a super sweet, healthy relationship.
Thieves Series by Lexi Blake
This year marks the fifth time I’ve read this paranormal romance/urban fantasy series. I’ve never read any other series or book that many times. I just love these characters so much, and this has definitely become a comfort read for me.
Captives by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
The Hell Divers series has been consistently great, and this addition to the post-apocalyptic series had me gripped and feeling all sorts of emotion for the characters.
Loom Saga by Elise Kova
If I had to describe these books with two words, they would be interesting and unique. The world, the dragons, the magic, the characters—they all fit that description, and the author did a great job with the whole story.
Strays by A.J. Thomas (Audiobook)
This m/m paranormal romance was just so darn sweet while also seeming so grounded and believable. It gave me all the good feels and left me with a smile on my face.
The Last Hope by Krista & Becca Ritchie
Although I had some issues with this YA sci-fi book, it makes the cut on this list for how much it affected me emotionally and how much I cared for these characters and all their complex romantic, platonic, and family relationships.
Simon Snow Series by Rainbow Rowell
I don’t read YA that much anymore, and I’m not always a fan of popular, hyped books, so I wasn’t expecting to love these the way that I did! But I just adored Simon and Baz and their imperfect relationship. Both books had lovable characters, a cool magic system, and great stories that made me want to keep reading.
Baal’s Heart Series by Bey Deckard (Audiobook)
And now for my #1 favorite of the year! Once or twice a year I’ll come across a book or series that just blows me away. This m/m/m high fantasy was that series this year. These pirates were not always the best people, but they wormed their way into my heart (oh, who am I kidding, I loved Tom from the start), and I adored their angst-filled polyamorous relationship. I was sad to say goodbye to them when the books were finished. Also, the narration was phenomenal.
Favorite Show:
Lucifer
I didn’t watch any movies that I really LOVED this year, but I did find a series! I loved all four seasons of Lucifer that are currently out, and each season (except maybe the fourth) had one episode that nearly or did make me cry. This is a show that has literally everything I love in TV series: humor, emotion, and fantastic characters I really care about. If you have Netflix, I highly recommend trying it. (And if I haven’t convinced you yet, maybe that picture of Tom Ellis will.)
Favorite Game:
Oxenfree
I only got to play one full new game this year, but I did really like it! It was eerie and had a cool sorta gameplay I’ve never seen before with the dialogue choices.
Favorite Podcast:
Mission to ZYXX
I started listening to podcasts this year, and I’m enjoying almost all of them, but Mission to ZYXX is the one that makes me laugh the most, and I always look forward to listening to the next episode.
Awesome list!! I hope you have a great reading year in 2020 as well!
Thank you, same to you!
I love Carry On and got a gift card for Christmas that I’m going to use for Wayward Son. I’m happy that it’s on so many “best of” lists.
Yay! I hope you love it just as much!
Looks like you had a pretty good year! Again, Hell Divers is taunting me! I was trying to start the series this year but I just didn’t have time. Maybe next year??
Lol gotta try it already!
Sounds like you had a great reading year. I have Carry On and need to read that, because I loved those parts in Fangirl. I haven’t started Lucifer yet, but hopefully soon. I’m currently trying to finish iZombie!
-Lauren
You really do since I think you’d love it! Lucifer is soooo good, I hope you like that too!
I haven’t read any of those books but I love Lucifer.
It’s so great!
I know we watched the first season of Lucifer but kind of fell off after that – but you’re right, that photo is making me reconsider that…
Oh no! But yes, I knew it! I knew that photo would get someone, haha.
Yaay happy The Kingdom of Copper made your list, i was just thinking about how long of a wait we have until book 3!
Is it still a long wait?? It’ll be worth it though!
The Kingdom of Copper sounds fab! And the Thieves Series looks pretty good too. I definitely want to get back into more urban fantasy in 2020, especially a few series I started but have stalled on…
The Chakraborty books are amazing!
Happy New Year!!
Happy New Year to you too!
Great picks! I’ve heard a lot of great things about the Simon Snow series from friends who read YA; I’ve never really been able to get into YA books. The Thieves Series has been on my TBR pile for ages, I need read them soon.
I’ve not watched Lucifer yet but I’m such a Tom Ellis fan; I think I fist found him on the BBC comedy Miranda.
I don’t read too much YA anymore because I know that it often tends to not really work for me all the time, so I get it. I really hope you love the Thieves series! Oh you should definitely give Lucifer a try. I didn’t know who Tom Ellis was before I watched, but I’m a fan now 😉
Must read Hell Divers in 2020. Must read Hell Divers in 2020. If I say it enough I’ll remember right?? lol
I’m glad you found so many books to love last year despite not being able to read as much. I read way less less year but had a lot of 5 star reads so I’m happy about the quality or quantity too.
Karen @ For What It’s worth
Here I’ll help: YOU MUST READ HELL DIVERS IN 2020. Lol. I have a feeling it’ll be one of those books that, when you finally read it, you’ll wonder why you put it off for so long. (At least I hope.) Glad you had a great quality-over-quantity year too!
Ahh I so need to read City of Brass as soon as I possibly can! I love that you enjoyed the Loom saga so much and it reminds me that I really need to get to the finale. A lot of people say Lucifer is seriously good too, so I should try watching it! I just haven’t been in the mood to watch things lately :/ One of my favourites this year was Dracul by JD Barker and Dacre Stoker.
You really do need to get to that final book already, haha. I seriously rec City of Brass! (I mean, obvi lol.) Lucifer is so good, but I get not being in the mood to watch things sometimes. I’m a mood reader/watcher/everything, so I say go with your moods 🙂 I’ll have to check that out!
I totally agree the best of the year posts are always some of my favorites to write and I like reading them on other people’s blogs as well. I have Salt Magic, Skin Magic on my to-read list. I think the audio site I use has this one so I plan to listen to it eventually. I remember seeing those Lexi Blake books on your blog before and how you often re-read those. Glad to hear you enjoyed your re-read again this year.
That Elisa Kova series sounds good. Not sure if I plan to continue that series, but I am glad to hear The Last Hope was such a good sequel. That series by Bey Deckard sounds good, I’ll have to see if I can find those in audio.
You should definitely try Salt Magic, Skin Magic, I think you might like that one!At least I hope you will lol. I do read the Lexi Blake series a lot. Yeah idk if you’d like The Last Hope if you felt so-so about the first one, but I was definitely glad I continued 🙂
Salt Magic, Skin Magic was on my top 10, too! And Strays (which I found here on your blog) almost made it. I loved that one. I guess I gotta pick up more of your favorite books 🙂
I read your other post and hope 2020 will turn out to be a great year for you with serious improvements in your health <3
I definitely won’t stop you if you want to try more of my faves 😉 I’m glad to hear those were some of your faves too! Thank you <3
I loved Lucifer until the third season, fourth season was disappointing to me. Of course that didn’t put me off from watching the entire season, because Tom Ellis! Happy New Year
I agree the fourth season was the weakest, but I still enjoyed it, and I definitely enjoyed Tom Ellis lol. Happy New Year to you too!