I Heart Books

Each year I have been challenging myself to read more books. A few years ago it was 50. Last year it was 100. I beat last year’s goal by 3 books! I read a combination of the PopSugar list, Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine book club, and the books for my neighborhood library book club. This year I will likely do the same but have added the free reading list from Modern Mrs. Darcy. I think often of writing my own book but with so many on the market to read I get overwhelmed wondering if anyone would take a second glance at a book by me. I know, stop with the excuses already! What is on your list to read this year? I would love to hear your recommendations! Without further ado, here is my list from 2019. May you find some inspiration for your reading goals.

January

1. Faith, Hope, Light: Art of the Stained Glass Window Running Press
2. Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (And Other Lies) by Scarlett Curtis
3. Crazy, Rich, Asians by Kevin Kwan *
4. Backpacking with the Saints: Wilderness Hiking as a Spiritual Practice by Belden C. Lane
5. Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown *
6. Bone Black by bell hooks
7. A Long Walk to Water: based on a true story by Linda Sue Park
8. The Book of the KellsAn Illustrated Introduction to the Manuscript in Trinity College, Dublin by Bernard Meehan
9. City of the Lost by Kelly Armstrong
10. My Squirrel Days by Ellie Kemper
11. Passenger by Alexandra Bracken
12. Night Shift by Stephen King

February

1. Wayfarer by Alexandra Bracken
2. Adequate Yearly Progress by Roxanna Elden *
3. Anxious for Nothing by Max Lucado
4. On the Come Up by Angie Thomas
5. Cat Out of Hell by Lynne Truss
6. Watching You by Lisa Jewell
7. All the Missing Girls by Megan Miranda
8. If the Creek Don’t Rise by Leah Weiss *
9. The Great Outdoors: A Users Guide by Brendan Leonard
10. Bad Call by Mike Scardino *
11. Night Shift by Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Lisa Shearin, Milla Vane

March

1. The Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
2. Reckless: My Life as a Pretender by Chrissie Hynde
3. The Lying Game by Ruth Ware
4. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah *
5. Homeschooling 101: A Guide to Getting Started by Erica Arndt
6. The Mad Feast by Matthew Gavin Frank
7. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
8. Flat Stanley: His Original Adventure
9. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
10. Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys *
11. The Nature Fix byFlorence Williams
12. The Library Book by Susan Orleans

April

1. The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton
2. Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
3. Backyards and Boulevards: Words from the Neighborhoods of Nashville *
4. Gmorning, Gnight little pep talks for me and you by Lin-Manuel Miranda *
5. The Brave Learner by Julie Bogart*
6. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion *
7. Rethinking School: How to Take Charge of your Child’s Education by Susan Wise Bauer
8. Selected Poems by Walt Whitman
9. The White Darkness by David Grann

May

1. The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness
2. The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness
3. Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
4. The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler *
5. My Lovely Wife by Samantha Downing
6. The Night Tiger by Yangszu Choo*
7. From Scratch: A memoir by Tembi Locke *
8. You’re Not Lost if You Can Still See the Truck by Bill Heavey

June

1. lord of the flies by william golding *
2. Dumplin by Julie Murphy
3. Freefall by Jessica Barry
4. The Hate List by Jennifer Brown
5. The Au Pair by Emma Rous
6. The Woman’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss *

July

1. Still Lives by Maria Hummel
2. The Cactus by Sarah Haywood
3. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
4. Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen by Susan Gregg Gilmore
5. Homeschooling for Dummies by Jennifer Kaufeld
6. Homeschooling: A Patchwork of Days by Nancy Lande
7. Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter
8. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal
9. A Little Salty to Cut the Sweet by Sophie Hudson*
10. Gray by Pete Wentz

August

1. The Girl in Red by Christina Henry*
2. What Would Dolly Do? by Lauren Marino
3. They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera
4. American Pop by Snowden Wright
5. Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by Austin Kleon
6. The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken
7. The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
8. Cole and Sav: Our Surprising Love Story by Cole and Savanah LaBrant

September

1. The Whisper Network by Chandler Baker
2. A Murder in Music City by Michael Bishop*
3. You’re on an Airplane by Parker Posey
4. Into the Wilderness by Sara Donati*

October

1. The Last House Guest by Megan Miranda
2. Nashville Scenes from the New American South by Ann Patchett
3. The Old Willis Place by Mary Downing Hahn
4. Southern Lady Code by Helen Willis
5. Letters to the Church by Francis Chan*
6. The Leveller by Julia Durango
7. The Secrets We Kept by Lara Prescott

November

1. Fair Play by Eve Rodsky*
2. Surviving Nashville by Stacy Barton
3. Ask Again, Yes by Mary Beth Keane
4. Jesus Feminist by Sarah Bessey*
5. The Decline and Fall of Practically Everybody by William Cuppy
6. Love Does by Bob Goff*

December

1. Gullah Images by Johnathan Green
2. Gullah Home Cooking by Sallie Ann Robinson
3. Giraffes Can’t Dance by Giles Andreae
4. Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard
5. Gullah Folktales from the Georgia Coast by Charles Colcock Jones Jr
6. Cooking the Gullah Way by Sallie Ann Robinson
7. The Scottish Food Bible by Claire Macdonald
8. Dreamers by Yuli Morales
9. Looking for Alaska by John Green
10. The Second Worst Restaurant in France by Alexander McCall Smith