When I looked back on my 2019 reading, I was a bit surprised to see how many mystery series I keep up with.

For me, the best of them demonstrate interesting character development over time and have vivid settings. These were my favorites.

I’ve sung the praises of the Maisie Dobbs series before, especially with Winspear’s willingness to throw lots of changes at Maisie and make them all work out.

Confession: I haven’t read all the Harry Potter books. But I’ve never missed an installment of “Robert Galbraith”‘s Cormoran Strike series.

Another confession. I can take or leave Jack Reacher (who has been compared to Petrie’s main character, though I’ll read one of Lee Child’s books if I happen across it at the library and usually enjoy it), but I always make sure to pick up Petrie’s latest about Iraq war veteran Peter Ash.

Oh, how I will miss Bernie Gunther. The late Philip Kerr created a truly memorable character.

Next, I’ll wrap up with a look at nonfiction.

In addition to the six favorites from yesterday’s post, there were six novels I liked. All were written by women, though not all were necessarily published in 2019.

I admired the interweaving of women’s rights history and Hollywood history.

On the evils of slavery.

A compelling tale of how the bonds of friendship stretch during trying times.

What happens to children when their mother goes away?

Sharp rather than laugh-out-loud funny, this is a clever portrayal of modern marriage.

So many people love this book, and I found it intriguing.

Coming tomorrow, novels from my favorite mystery series.

Welcome to 2020!

This is the time of year when I think about my reading of the past year. In 2019, I read about 64 books. These are the ones, both fiction and nonfiction, I recorded on Goodreads and don’t include books I read for my reviewing gig or for research.

It felt like another odd reading year, mostly because it seemed like I was writing all the time. (My book on Dr. Mary Walker comes out in June, and I’m already headlong into the next one, a biography of Dale Evans.) It’s also probably because, once again, I don’t have the traditional “top ten” list. I’ve got six. (Next up will be a list of novels I liked, rather than loved, and that’s longer.)

Some observations and reminders. These are my favorites of 2019 but it doesn’t mean they were published in 2019. Female authors still outnumber male authors, and I haven’t done so well with diverse voices this time around.

So, in no particular order, my 2019 favorites:

Beautifully written, this will take most readers into a totally unfamiliar world.

A stunning portrait of Nazi-occupied France, this is based on the activities of Varian Fry’s rescue network.

Also based on real events, Whitehead delivers an absorbing account of the wide ranging destructiveness of racism.

A poignant tale of four orphans struggling through the Great Depression.

A modern classic western. With camels.

A sweeping, multi-generational family saga–I passed it by several times on the library’s new book shelf and am so glad I finally gave it a chance.