My favourite books I read in 2019 (Top Ten Tuesday)

The time has come to wrap up 2019 and look forward to the fast approaching 2020! And what better way to do this other than sharing my favourite books of 2019? 📚

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in 2018. It was born out of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

Even though the post is supposed to present 10 books, I decided to consider only the most favourite books I read in 2019 and thus shorten my list to 4 books, books I would recommend without any hesitation. Here we go!

§ Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Self-education, mystery, and celebration of nature

The book tells the story of Kya, a girl who grows up isolated in a marsh in North Carolina, in the USA. Her life follows an interesting path, as “the Marsh Girl” becomes a self-educated biologist and has to fight for her freedom against all odds. It is a book about biases & community, love & abandonment, passion & perseverance.

§ Educated by Tara Westover

A powerful story about will and family tangles

“Educated” is the memoir of Tara Westover, who was born in a radical Mormon family in Idaho. Westover recounts her childhood and youth, sharing deeply personal stories and feelings about her journey from preparing for the End of Days to studying at Cambridge and Harvard.

 

§ The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

The story of a teenager who survived a terrorist attack

“The Goldfinch” tells the story of Theo, a teenager who survived a terrorist bombing at an art museum. The story follows Theo as he grows up, with his destiny closely linked to “The Goldfinch” painting. The book encompasses themes such as post traumatic stress disorder, fate versus free will, drugs, and art crime.

 

§ When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi

Life isn’t about avoiding suffering

“When Breath Becomes Air” tells the story of Paul, a neurosurgeon who was close to becoming professor and had a lovely family. Everything changed when Paul became a patient himself after being diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He started writing his memoir after being diagnosed. and the book was published after he passed away.

 

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I find it very interesting that 2 out 4 favourites were memoirs (“Educated” and “When the Breath Becomes Air”), taking into consideration that I memoirs represent maybe 10% of the books I read in 2019.

Looking forward to reading about your favourites of 2019!

‘Till next time … happy reading and Happy New Year!

Georgiana

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Cover photo by Dmitrij Paskevic on Unsplash