Great Books from 2019

The Big Book Post-- Books I Read in 2019 That I Gave 5-Stars on GoodReads.

I read 53 books this year, & 10 made the 5-star list. Lots of them are on sale at Amazon right now, too, so I've linked them in purple if you're looking for a new book!


​The Banker's Wife- Christina Alger
Reminded me of The Firm, but I felt more sympathy for these characters.
My Lovely Wife- Samantha Downing
I grabbed this at the library & devoured it. You know part of their secret from the get-go, but they way it all plays out is crazy.
The Wife Between Us- Greer Henricks
Like My Lovely Wife, you get into this knowing something will surprise you, but the twist here was trickier. I like it when popular fiction is little challenging, & creepy :)
An American Marriage- Tayari Jones
Oprah & Barack Obama both recommended this, & they're smart. I did it as an audio book, & I'm not sure I'd recommend that because I'm not sure I fully appreciated the prose. That said, the "How would I handle this?" questions that came up with this book really got me thinking on my commute.
The Good House- Ann Leary
I've been meaning to read this forever. The protagonist is a realtor on the North Shore of Massachusetts, & her struggles are the focus of the book. When she drinks, she's unreliable, & I think that's what made the book so interesting to me. I was always a little unsure of what was going on.
Becoming- Michelle Obama
So neat to hear behind-the-scenes stories, especially of his presidency. You might want to try this one on audio book because she reads it. I love autobiographies that are read by the authors. (Side note-- listen to Bossypants by Tina Fey, too~)
Where the Crawdads Sing- Delia Owen
Everyone has already raved about this book, so I'm not sure what to add. I guess I will say that I normally HATE books that spend a lot of time describing nature, but I liked this book anyway. That must mean it's awesome.
A Student of History- Nina Revoyr
This book combines both references to classic movies & very timely references to people with money manipulating the system at USC (Hi Aunt Becky :) ). 
Turn of the Key- Ruth Ware
Ruth Ware gets better with every book (you've probably heard of her from The Woman in Cabin 10 or The Death of Mrs Westaway). This book is ssssooo wonderfully creepy. Loved it!
Educated- Tara Westover
Non-fiction about a girl who grew up way off the grid. There are scenes from her childhood you will remember forever, & it's so thought-provoking, too. 

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