Must-Reads from 2019
Picks for the Best Books from Last Year
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As an avid reader, I am always looking for recommendations. That’s why I put together this list of my 5-star books from 2019. If you haven’t read these, you are missing out on some great novels! Towards the end, I’ve also listed two fabulous non-fiction titles. Enjoy!
Fiction
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens tells the story of a young girl left as an orphan at age 8 in the N. Carolina coastal woods. Alienated from the townspeople as white trash and nicknamed “Marsh Girl,” she manages to find love, fame, and fulfillment. The writing is a little strange, but don’t let that put you off. This is a great story that culminates in a murder trial with a shocking twist. Don’t miss it!
The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman. This is a prequel to the 1990 novel Practical Magic, about the Owens sisters, who are from a long lineage of cursed women, beginning when Maria Owens was charged with witchcraft in Salem in 1620. While the earlier novel tells the story of the two beautiful women who still abide in that seaside town, The Rules of Magic is that of their three young relatives, two nieces and a nephew, and how each learns to deal-or not with their strange heritage. Set to become an HBO-series, this is a well-told, quirky, exciting tale, and I enjoyed it better than the earlier book.
The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams is a great story about the have’s and have-nots sharing an island off the coast of New England during the 1930s through the ’60s. A young woman, reeling from the death of her father during WW II, joins her mother, new step-father, and his free-wheeling daughter on the island and is thrust into an unfamiliar world of the high-class living that the wealthy enjoy during their summers in this idyllic setting. In stark contrast are the lives of the locals, mostly fishermen and their families, who are dependent on these summer people all the while disdainful of them. Murder, love, betrayal, and coming of age are all part of this fascinating look at the gamut of human emotions.
City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love) features superior writing about a young woman who at nineteen finds herself in NYC. It’s 1940, and living with her eccentric Aunt Peg after being kicked out of Vassar and nearly disowned by her wealthy parents is a daily adventure for Vivian. She explores the city and learns much about herself and how to live her life to the fullest. As Viv puts it, “Life is both fleeting and dangerous, and there is no point in denying yourself pleasure, or being anything other than what you are.”
Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid allows the reader to re-live the 60’s and 70’s through the eyes of Daisy, a reckless and free-spirited teen with the voice of an angel. She eventually joins a band and embraces the life of a fearless rocker, along with the highs and lows that accompany that lifestyle. The band eventually breaks up, and this book “reveals the secret” of why the break-up happened. Although the story is fictitious, one can’t help Googling to see if this band really existed!
The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes is set against the harsh Kentucky landscape during the 1940’s. Eleanor Roosevelt is credited with the idea of the Packhorse Libraries, which employed women to travel on horseback around the backwoods, delivering and retrieving books during this time of rebuilding America during the Great Depression. The story revolves around a young English-woman, Alice, who has just married the son of the local mine-owner and is having trouble adjusting to her stifling new life as well as bewildered at the turn her marriage has taken. She joins four other women, each one different from the rest yet all seeking some form of solace and refuge in their new adventure of sharing their love for reading with the town’s rural residents. The story is gripping and powerful, and you’ll be counting your lucky stars that Moyes wrote this novel.
Non-Fiction
The First Conspiracy—The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer and John Mensch is a fascinating look at how our first president nearly didn’t survive the end of the Revolutionary War. This intriguing story is better than any novel, revealing to the reader the plot twists that prove, “truth is stranger than fiction.” We learn about the counter-intelligence community that Washington founded and is credited with becoming today’s CIA, as well as a great deal about our founding father’s character. After reading this wonderful saga about a previously untold series of events in our history, it is a foregone conclusion that America would not have had a chance at its freedom if not for George Washington. A fabulous read about our first American hero.
In Pieces is Sally Field’s memoir. It becomes clear that one theme from her childhood influenced Fields throughout her life until she finally managed to free herself from its terrible grips. Although we often think of her as Gidget and The Flying Nun, this personal look at her life and career is a reminder of the many roles she played and the outstanding actress she was and still is. There is much more to Ms. Fields than an adorable smile and a fling with Burt Reynolds, and this book is worth reading to learn more about her admirable character, her strength, and her resilience.
