Running With Lions - 5 Stars
This was my first book of the year and am I ever grateful for it. Its about a group of boys at a soccer summer camp. I think its incredibly endearing, emotional and fun. I'm definitely biased as it relates a lot to my early life but I think most can get a lot of good from it.
Red, White and Royal Blue - 5 Stars
I probably wont have to say much about this book as I think most read it and loved it. Also another LGBT book, this was incredibly fun and beautiful. A book where the American boy get the British Prince. It was refreshing and a hell of a ride.
Carry On - 5 Stars
Oh look, ANOTHER LGBT book. This was actually the only reread I had for the year. Which is saying a lot because I almost never reread. I did it in preparation of its sequel which came out this year. (Unfortunately that one dissapointed, but I still love this one). A story similar to Harry Potter but vastly different. We see this Chosen One wizard in his final year trying to defeat the big bad and literally falling in love along the way.
Black Wings Beating - 5 Stars
This gorgeous cover of a book stood out to me randomly one day in a book store. Prepare yourself for bird puns and compelling main characters! I really enjoyed this one. It's about two siblings who go on a journey to capture a notoriously infamous bird of prey.
It seems like a fairly small story but sets up for something bigger by the end.
Trials of Apollo, Book 2: The Dark Prophecy - 5 Stars
I was PLEASANTLY surprised by this book. In hindsight I was biasedly blinded by book one and probably thought better of it than I should have. This one, however, showed me why I love Riordan and his books. I felt like the development of Apollo and the cast was amazing and compelling. It had a lot of heart and it made me start to realize that maybe Riordan was raising the maturity of his books to match the fans that grew up on Percy Jackson.
It had the perfect balance of typical Riordan-esque humor with deeper emotional moments.
(I wish I had as high of praise for book 3 but it didnt do it quite as well as this. Im still looking forward to getting to book 4 in 2020)
Sanderson :
I finally started reading Sanderson this year. (I say finally but its actually the first time I've even heard of him.) But without fail so far I loved everything he has done. All of his books were basically 5 stars or my favorite.
I think what I like about him most is the way he reveals plot elements. Sometimes you just think "Ok where is this going, how is this relevant?" And I feel like Sanderson always nails it. He's one of the only authors that I feel like I could confidently say, I trust.
I feel like this is an even bigger deal for me since I dont really 'follow' authors at all. So the fact that his work captured me so much I actually pay attention to what does and want to read all of his books, its just really exciting.
I'm looking forward to completing his collection in 2020.
Here's the ones Ive read of 2019:
Mistborn Trilogy:
Thank you to a certain Booktuber Elliot Brooks who was starting a read a long in 2019 that encouraged me to start this series. Funnily enough I had only bought Warbreaker by this point and planned on starting that one first. (Still havent started Warbreaker but I will get to it in 2020)
I really loved this series for the reaon I explained in my Sanderson overview above. The way he crossed plot points and foreshadows by the end was masterful! It was so exciting and just flat out interesting.
For those of you who dont know. This series basically starts as a Star Wars-esque rag tag group of rebels trying to fight back against the big bad Lord Ruler. The power set is based on ingesting different metals that give them powers, like empathy, pushing and pulling metals, etc. It was really interesting and unique. The way he deals with power spikes is really well done too.
Lastly of course is the characters. Its hard not to like or at least feel something for all the characters he has created!
Sanderson eventually made a second Era of Msitborn books, set in the same world but a couple hundred years after the end of the first trilogy.
I'm in the minority when I say I actually liked these better than first era. I wouldn't say they ARE better than first era, just that I liked them more. They were shorter, a little lighter on the theme and over all plot. I think they are perfect to pick up and bring with you if you are ever on a road trip or a flight.
The way Sanderson builds on his world and develops its technology is well done. And like Era one, I loved the characters. I have full dedicated reviews for all my Sanderson reads so check them out for more details.
Skyward:
This was a fun read! One of his few Scifi books and I loved these characters. The build up for the plot and its development was, in typical Sanderson fashion, done VERY well!
If you dont know, this story is about a young girl shunned for the cowardice of her pilot father. Their underground civilization is constantly under threat from an enemy beyond their sky in space. Our main character joins the air force regardless of their prejudice against her and amazingness ensues!
I'm looking forward to reading the sequel (which I got as a gift for Christmas!) in 2020.
Words of Radiance/ Oathbringer:
Whoo..were these some CHUNKERS. You'll notice the first one, The Way of Kings, is not on here just because it was my only 4 star book. I felt like the first one dragged a little slowly and not enough happened for my taste. AGAIN, though, in typical Sanderson fashion, by the end it was still WELL worth it. But it still got 4 stars. The 2nd and 3rd book though I thought were amazing!
Its hard to give a brief summary of these, but for those who dont know; The Stormlight Archives is a massive epic fantasy where we see the multiple point of view of many well written characters on the land of Roshar. We see them slowly finding their way together as they battle a strange enemy.
I almost didnt even pick up this series. I figured, I liked his other books, but Id sit this one out due to its massive size. Luckily this year I also discovered audio books, and I did a combination of physical and listening to get through them. Its definitely well worth it. They're hella intense and the characters are incredibly diverse and compelling. Oathbringer was actually the last book I read of 2019, finished just on Friday the 27th. Perfect way to end my year of reading!
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