My Official Top 5 Novels Read in 2019
Hello, Fellow Book Worms and Book Dragons!
2019 was an incredible reading year for me filled with many five star novels. I have recommended (and raved) about many authors and their works. This definitely dictates that I should end 2019 with a top 5 best list.
Join me as I count down my favorite novels that I read in 2019 (for my full review, please click on the book titles in the brief descriptions):
5) The Bitter Season by Tami Hoag invited the reader to explore the small intricacies of life and how they all are connected. Part cold-case file, part serial killer hunt, this latest installment of the Kovac and Liska detective series delve deep into the repercussions that are left over after one man's actions lead to murder and decades of secrets. This novel was one of my last five-star reads of 2019. After months of devouring novels with the same rating, I realized that there was something about this novel that stuck with me long after I closed the book. It was a retrospective thought process on consequence that left me in awe that a crime novel could make me pause and think that much about everyday life. An excellent novel with a twist so shocking that I had to stop reading and shake my head in disbelief.
3) The Night Window was the best finale to a series that I have read in a long time. The snowball-effect is what I call Dean Koontz's Jane Hawk series. If you read one, you will be compelled to read another. Starting in January and ending in April, I read all five novels and the short story. When FBI Agent Jane Hawk is framed for conspiracy against the government, she is hunted by a shadow cabal determined to re-write the course of America as we know it. Losing her husband and sending her five-year-old son into hiding, Hawk is hunted at every turn. There is nowhere to hide as the Techno Arcadians harness every camera surveillance in the country to find her. Disguising herself and going off the grid, Jane Hawk becomes whoever she needs to be to stop their plan. But Jane must face the truth that even her closest allies may already be under the Arcadians' control. Suspenseful, often terrifying, and filled with incredible action sequences, the Jane Hawk series is a must for thriller readers. The finale was a huge pay-off that left me very satisfied with the outcome. Koontz delivered a crazy ending to his series with an epic final showdown.
2) Daisy Jones and the Six reads like a VH1 Behind the Music documentary. Taylor Jenkins Reid brings us back to the 1970s era of sex, drugs, and rock and roll. We are introduced to Daisy Jones, a young woman living on the edge. Drugs, alcohol, and wild parties are Daisy's things. And she has a quality that no one around her has, a singing voice so beautiful that she silences a room. When she is united with the band the Six, she is catapulted to fame. And the band is set to make it to great heights. Then the band breaks up without an explanation, leaving fans devastated. Decades later an author sets out to get the story as to why Daisy Jones and the Six parted company. Told in Rock Documentary-style, this novel is told through interviews and newspaper articles. I highly recommend reading this novel with the full-cast audiobook presentation. Jennifer Beals and Judy Greer head up an all-star cast of actors that share their unique storytelling abilities to make this one of the best audiobooks I have listened to in a long time.
1) NOS4A2 is a an epic novel introducing us to a new twist to the vampire legend. We are introduced to Vic McQueen, a young woman with extraordinary abilities. With the help of a seemingly magical bridge and her fast-as-lightning bike, she can travel great distances in mere seconds. Along the way she is made known of a dark entity, named Charlie Manx. The grisly old man rides the streets of towns looking for children to abduct. After he has them, he takes them to Christmasland, where they live an eternity as vampiric monsters with a lust for blood. Vic encounters Manx and luckily escapes. But decades later he returns to abduct her son, Wayne. It's a race against time as Vic travels to Christmasland to bring back her child. The audiobook is read by Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek: Voyager, Orange is the New Black), who does an incredible performance bringing this terrifying novel to life. This novel will be with me for a long time. And Hill also throws in the True Knot from Doctor Sleep, connecting he and his father, Stephen King's worlds.
Happy New Year! Here is to an amazing reading year in 2020!
Also please follow me on my social media platforms, and enjoy shopping with me at eBay and the Book Depository.
2020 Reading Challenge (blank version coming 12/27)
2019 Reading Challenge (my challenge)
Because there is always time to read,
Xepherus3
At Book Depository: http://www.bookdepository.com/?a_aid=Xepherus3
At eBay: http://stores.ebay.com/xepherusstudios
At Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/11975160-xepherus3
At Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xepherusstudios/
At RedBubble: http://www.redbubble.com/people/xepherus3
At Twitter: https://twitter.com/XepherusStudios
My Amazon Wish List: https://amzn.com/w/3J58FXCH0Y44F
All written content and top logo (c) Copyright 2019 by Thomas Bahr II
Book covers are (c) Copyright by the publisher
Comments
Post a Comment