Following the pattern I established a couple years ago,
I’m sharing my favorite books of 2019.
Though I’ve listed 10+ books in the past, this year I found only six that stood out. I believe I read just as many over the course of the year, but in going back and reviewing the titles, I felt only the following six were worth recommending.
Keep in mind: I’m no book reviewer, so you won’t find reviews here. Instead, I give a few comments on what I liked about each one, along with the book description and link in case you’re interested in finding more information.
If you’d like to see more book recommendations, you’ll find them at the following links:
Happy reading, and if you have some favorites you’d like to share, please add them to the comments. I’m always looking for my next great read!
4 Stand-Out Novels
1. The Madonnas of Leningrad, by Debra Dean
I finished the Madonnas of Leningrad and sat there stunned. I was awed by the ending and this author’s ability to weave a story with such depth and beauty, all while illuminating so many details of a difficult time in history.
The story connects the tragic beauty contained in so many pieces of artwork from the Hermitage Museum to the personal difficulties of the people who cared for the museum even while the city suffered under the effects of World War II.
Interspersed with the story of a young woman who chose to stay at her post at the museum is the story of her much older self at a time in her life when she’s suffering from Alzheimer’s and starting to mentally separate from her family.
I turned the pages to read more about the author, and was left even more amazed when I discovered this was Debra Dean’s first novel.
Synopsis:
Bit by bit, the ravages of age are eroding Marina’s grip on the everyday. An elderly Russian woman now living in America, she cannot hold on to fresh memories; the details of her grown children’s lives, the approaching wedding of her grandchild; yet her distant past is miraculously preserved in her mind’s eye.
Vivid images of her youth in war-torn Leningrad arise unbidden, carrying her back to the terrible fall of 1941, when she was a tour guide at the Hermitage Museum and the German army’s approach signaled the beginning of what would be a long, torturous siege on the city.
As the people braved starvation, bitter cold, and a relentless German onslaught, Marina joined other staff members in removing the museum’s priceless masterpieces for safekeeping, leaving the frames hanging empty on the walls to symbolize the artworks’ eventual return. As the Luftwaffe’s bombs pounded the proud, stricken city, Marina built a personal Hermitage in her mind; a refuge that would stay buried deep within her, until she needed it once more. . . .
2. The Alice Network, by Kate Quinn
I borrowed The Alice Network from my mom after she finished reading it. She asked if I might be interested in it, and the minute she said something about “female spies,” I had to check it out. Plus, just look at that cover. How can you resist?
The author grabbed me right away with her story of the plucky young girl stuck in an “inconvenient” situation and the old grizzled woman with the long-ago broken fingers. But the deeper I got into the story the harder it was to put down, and I raced through the last third.
This one stays with me, too. Not only was it a great story in and of itself, but it educated me on the dangerous and fascinating role many women played in WWII.
Synopsis:
1947. In the chaotic aftermath of World War II, American college girl Charlie St. Clair is pregnant, unmarried, and on the verge of being thrown out of her very proper family. She’s also nursing a desperate hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France during the war, might still be alive. So when Charlie’s parents banish her to Europe to have her “little problem” taken care of, Charlie breaks free and heads to London, determined to find out what happened to the cousin she loves like a sister.
1915. A year into the Great War, Eve Gardiner burns to join the fight against the Germans and unexpectedly gets her chance when she’s recruited to work as a spy. Sent into enemy-occupied France, she’s trained by the mesmerizing Lili, the “Queen of Spies”, who manages a vast network of secret agents right under the enemy’s nose.
Thirty years later, haunted by the betrayal that ultimately tore apart the Alice Network, Eve spends her days drunk and secluded in her crumbling London house. Until a young American barges in uttering a name Eve hasn’t heard in decades, and launches them both on a mission to find the truth…no matter where it leads.
3. Lilac Girls, by Martha Hall Kelly
Lilac Girls was another that I borrowed from my mom, but this one I wasn’t so sure about at first. It took a little longer to get into it as the author jumps from one character’s story to another, but she does a beautiful job of bringing them all together, and again, I came away from the story knowing more about the real heroes of our past.
What these women—called the “rabbits”—had to endure during the war while in concentration camps is beyond imagining, but the author does a beautiful job of relaying the horror without making the book unreadable. Beautifully done and left me feeling so grateful for the lives we enjoy today.
Synopsis:
New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.
An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbors, one false move can have dire consequences.
For the ambitious young German doctor, Herta Oberheuser, an ad for a government medical position seems her ticket out of a desolate life. Once hired, though, she finds herself trapped in a male-dominated realm of Nazi secrets and power.
The lives of these three women are set on a collision course when the unthinkable happens and Kasia is sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious Nazi concentration camp for women. Their stories cross continents—from New York to Paris, Germany, and Poland—as Caroline and Kasia strive to bring justice to those whom history has forgotten.
4. Once Upon a River, by Diane Setterfield
I chose Once Upon a River when it came my turn to pick for our local book club. I had read about it somewhere online and was intrigued, and I wasn’t disappointed.
I remember reading this book and having a feeling of pure joy. This is one of those perfect stories, told with such mastery that it’s a delight to read. I found myself smiling many times not necessarily because the scene struck a funny bone or sentimental feeling, but more because…hmm.
Perhaps the best way to describe it is to imagine what it must be like to dance with a master waltzer, someone who can whisk you around the floor with such ease that you feel as if your feet know exactly what they’re doing, even though you’ve never danced the waltz before.
Beyond that, the story keeps you guessing and turning pages the whole time.
Synopsis:
On a dark midwinter’s night in an ancient inn on the river Thames, an extraordinary event takes place. The regulars are telling stories to while away the dark hours, when the door bursts open on a grievously wounded stranger. In his arms is the lifeless body of a small child. Hours later, the girl stirs, takes a breath and returns to life. Is it a miracle? Is it magic? Or can science provide an explanation? These questions have many answers, some of them quite dark indeed.
Those who dwell on the river bank apply all their ingenuity to solving the puzzle of the girl who died and lived again, yet as the days pass the mystery only deepens. The child herself is mute and unable to answer the essential questions: Who is she? Where did she come from? And to whom does she belong? But answers proliferate nonetheless.
Three families are keen to claim her. A wealthy young mother knows the girl is her kidnapped daughter, missing for two years. A farming family reeling from the discovery of their son’s secret liaison stand ready to welcome their granddaughter. The parson’s housekeeper, humble and isolated, sees in the child the image of her younger sister. But the return of a lost child is not without complications and no matter how heartbreaking the past losses, no matter how precious the child herself, this girl cannot be everyone’s. Each family has mysteries of its own, and many secrets must be revealed before the girl’s identity can be known.
2 Outstanding Non-Fiction Books
5. Brain on Fire, by Susannah Cahalan
My brother gave me this book last Christmas, and at first I wondered why. I hadn’t heard of it or the author, and I couldn’t find anything from looking at the description that might explain why he thought I’d like it, but turns out I did. A lot.
This is the autobiography of a journalist who went through a terrifying experience that robbed her of the one thing she had always relied on—her mind. I’m sure all of us writers can imagine how horrible it would be to wind up in a mental hospital and realize on some level that we were losing our ability to think and reason.
Cahalan organizes her recollections of her experiences in such a way that you can follow it was a story much as she must have exeprienced it, sharing her fear, her disorientation, and above it all, the utter confusion about what was happening to her.
Synopsis:
When twenty-four-year-old Susannah Cahalan woke up alone in a hospital room, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak, she had no memory of how she’d gotten there. Days earlier, she had been on the threshold of a new, adult life: at the beginning of her first serious relationship and a promising career at a major New York newspaper. Now she was labeled violent, psychotic, a flight risk. What happened?
In a swift and breathtaking narrative, Susannah tells the astonishing true story of her descent into madness, her family’s inspiring faith in her, and the lifesaving diagnosis that nearly didn’t happen. “A fascinating look at the disease that…could have cost this vibrant, vital young woman her life” (People), Brain on Fire is an unforgettable exploration of memory and identity, faith and love, and a profoundly compelling tale of survival and perseverance that is destined to become a classic.
6. The Millionnaire Fastlane, by M. J. DeMarco
I purchased The Millionnaire Fastlane after listening to a podcast. Unfortunately, I can’t remember exactly what the podcast was, only that it was a podcast for entrepreneurs. The speaker recommended this book highly, so I grabbed it.
Though the author may simplify a bit the difficulty of making it as an entrepreneur, I admired the logical and no-nonsense way he addressed the various ways we all have of making a living these days, and the pros and cons of each.
Most of all I appreciated the kick in the pants that he delivers, warning that we simply cannot rely on the pension plan or the social security to get us through our golden years in today’s world.
Creating products that people can use and enjoy is the key to an independent, sustainable living, which we all know, but this book helps clarify the myths that we’re all exposed to in today’s work world that can sometimes fog up the truth.
I may not agree with all of his conclusions, and I do think the author hyped up the entrepreneurial lifestyle a bit too much—which could put some people in danger if they go off and make rash decisions—but I much enjoyed the eye-opening candor and I found the book very motivating when it comes to my writing business.
Synopsis:
Has the “settle-for-less” financial plan become your plan for wealth? That plan sounds a little something like this:
“Graduate from college, get a good job, save 10% of your paycheck, buy a used car, cancel the movie channels, quit drinking expensive Starbucks mocha lattes, save and penny-pinch your life away, trust your life-savings to the stock market, and one day, when you are oh, say, 65 years old, you can retire rich.”
Since you were old enough to hold a job, you’ve been hoodwinked to believe that wealth can be created by blindly trusting in the uncontrollable and unpredictable markets: the housing market, the stock market, and the job market. I call this soul-sucking, dream-stealing dogma “The Slowlane” – an impotent financial gamble that dubiously promises wealth in a wheelchair.
Accept the Slowlane as your financial roadmap and your financial future will blow carelessly asunder on a sailboat of hope: hope you can get a job and keep it, hope the stock market doesn’t tank, hope the economy rebounds, hope, hope, and hope. Do you really want hope to be the centerpiece of your family’s financial plan?
Drive the Slowlane road and you will find your life deteriorate into a miserable exhibition about what you cannot do, versus what you can. For those who don’t want a lifetime subscription to “settle-for-less”, there is an alternative; an expressway to extraordinary wealth capable of burning a trail to financial independence faster than any road out there. And shockingly, this road has nothing to do with jobs, 401(k), mutual funds, or a lifestyle of mediocrity.
Demand more. Change lanes and find your explosive wealth accelerator. Hit the Fastlane, crack the code to wealth, and find out how to live rich for a lifetime.
What books stood out for you this year?
Thank you! I’m making a note, for the next time I need to suggest book club titles. Once Upon a River looks especially intriguing!
It was such a neat story to read, Pauline. She unfolds it so perfectly! :O)
These look great! I have The Alice Network on hold at the library, and I will have to check out Brain on Fire, sounds fascinating!
You’ll love The Alice Network, Elizabeth. I sure did. Happy reading and happy holidays! :O)
Thanks. I’ll check them out. I did have to laugh at the blurb for the Millionaire Fast Lane, though, because the “settle-for-less” financial plan is exactly how my husband and I retired early and live well.
Hope you find something you like, Beth! Yes, as mentioned, he’s a little too dismissive of other options, but he doesn’t say it’s impossible by any means. Just gives you some good things to think about, particularly in today’s world as many things have changed. So glad it worked out for you!
My TBR list is now as long as a city block. But that’s a good thing! Thanks for the great reviews.
Ha ha. Yes, I think we all have those big stacks! Thanks, Amy. :O)
Thanks for the recommendations, Colleen. I’ve marked all these books “Want to Read.” I think my favorite of the year is One More River to Cross by Jane Kirkpatrick. It’s a historical novel about a group of pioneers headed west, including very brave and strong women.
Thanks, Pat. I’ll check that one out. Another you might like (if you haven’t read it already) is by Paulette Jiles and is a National Book Award finalist–“News of the World.” About a retired military captain taking a young girl who was kidnapped by the native tribes back to her relatives, crossing Texas territory back when it was the wild west.