One of my goals for 2019 was to Read More. Inspired by a friend who read 40 books in a year, I started off with a goal that was more achievable for me — read 10 books in year. I figured I would mostly be reading on the weekends and sometime weekday evenings if I could muster up energy after work.
Little did I know that my love for reading would be so strong that not only would I achieve my goal but I would exceed by 100%. That’s right I ended up reading 20 books in 2019. I was furiously reading my last book on the plane back to the Bay Area from NJ. Thankfully the 5.5 hour journey was long enough for me to finish my book just in time to ring in the new year.
Without further ado here are the 20 books I read in 2019 (in the order that I read the books). My favorites are bolded that I highly recommend reading.
- My Not So Perfect Life by Sophia Kinsella
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
- Wedding Night by Sophia Kinsella
- American Like Me, Reflections on Life Between Cultures by America Ferrera
- Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life by Gisele Bundchen
- Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes
- Educated by Tara Westover
- No is Not Enough by Naomi Klein
- The One and Only by Emily Giffin
- The Broken Ladder by Keith Payne
- Love Lies Beneath by Ellen Hopkins
- Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
- The Other Americans by Laila Lalami
- The Art of Not Giving a F*** by Mark Manson
- One Day in December by Josie Silver
- Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
- Boys will be Boys by Clementine Ford
- How Could She by Lauren Mechling
- Ghosted by Rosie Walsh
This list is a mix of both fiction and non-fiction books and spans multiple genres. While I love expanding my knowledge, I also love curling in bed with a romance novel with a hot guy and a strong woman in distress!
A few years ago I started keeping a book journal. What is book journal you may ask? I’ll answer. I would read books and then randomly have the urge to re read a book but for the life of me would not remember the title or the author. So I started keeping a journal and wrote down all the books I finished reading or got from the library. I’ve been maintaining this journal for a few years now so if you need a recommendation, I have a long list to share.
And not only did I set this goal of reading for myself, but word spread quickly and my mom, sister, and a few work colleagues were also inspired to take up this goal as well. If you’re not an avid reader a goal of 10 books might sound intimidating. Start small, say 5 books or even 3 and once you get in the habit of reading, you can re-assess and expand your goal.
Grab a book and start reading!