by The next decade looms. But for now, it’s time for reflection. It’s been an exciting year full of amazing experiences. Plus, I did a ton of reading! So, as I do every year, I’ve compiled a list of the books I’ve read over the last three hundred and sixty-five days, and I’m here to share them with you all.
Overall, I’m thrilled with my reading for the year. It contained several firsts for me. I read a plethora of great books—my most in a single year. (Forty-seven!) I Did-Not-Finish’d my first book ever. (It’ll remain nameless.) I quit listening to the news/sports during my commute and have now switched over to audiobooks one hundred percent of the time. (Those are labeled with the 🎧 emoji.) I beta-read three upcoming novels—my most in a single year. And, on top of all of that, I managed to read a bunch of great short stories and got to spend more time reading graphic novels as well. So yeah—it’s been a great year of reading.
This list correlates with my Goodreads 2019 Reading Challenge but always includes a few extra since Goodreads doesn’t let me count beta reading and I don’t list comics or short stories over there. Remember, this is all strictly reading for pleasure—I typically forgo listing any research/history books. Since this list is always enormous, l skip reviews except for my top three in each category. However, I’d invite you to follow me on Goodreads, where I do occasionally leave other reviews.
As before, all links will go to Amazon through my affiliate account by default. If one of these books sounds interesting to you, I’d encourage you to skip Amazon and instead visit your local independent bookstore and purchase through them. It’s essential for your local economy to buy local whenever you’re able, and always good to build a relationship with your local indie bookshop.
Okay, to the list!
📚 Novels
- Tomorrow’s Shepherd (The Verdant Revival #2)
by Michael Ripplinger - Beta Reading (Fantasy)
by REDACTED - Promise of Blood (Powder Mage #1) …again 🎧
by Brian McClellan - Mapping the Interior
by Stephen Graham Jones - Authority: A Novel (The Southern Reach #2) 🎧
by Jeff VanderMeer - The Traitor Baru Cormorant (The Masquerade #1)
by Seth Dickinson - ‘Salem’s Lot 🎧
by Stephen King - When You Reach Me
by Rebecca Stead
- The Scorpio Races
by Maggie Stiefvater - Nine Princes in Amber (The Chronicles of Amber #1) 🎧
by Roger Zelazny - The Last Kingdom (The Saxon Chronicles Series #1)
by Bernard Cornwell - The Haunting of Tram Car 015
by P. Djèlí Clark - Beta Reading (Sci-Fi)
by REDACTED - The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville 🎧
by Shelby Foote - Butcher Bird …again.
by Richard Kadrey - House of Furies
by Madeleine Roux - A. Grimsbro, Warlord of Mars (Futhermucking Classics #2)
by Matt Youngmark - I Am Providence
by Nick Mamatas - The Compleat Crow
by Brian Lumley - Orconomics: A Satire (The Dark Profit Saga #1)
by J. Zachary Pike - Beta Reading (Fantasy)
by REDACTED - Four Roads Cross (The Craft Sequence #5)
by Max Gladstone - The Reality Dysfunction (Night’s Dawn #1) …again 🎧
by Peter F. Hamilton - The Grand Dark
by Richard Kadrey - The Forever War
by Joe Haldeman - Vermilion
by Molly Tanzer - The Terror 🎧
by Dan Simmons - The City of Brass: A Novel (The Daevabad Trilogy #1)
by S. A. Chakraborty - The Black God’s Drums
by P. Djèlí Clark - The Warehouse
by Rob Hart - It: A Novel 🎧
by Stephen King - City of Blades (Divine Cities #2)
by Robert Jackson Bennett - The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe
by Kij Johnson - Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire #1) …again 🎧
by George R. R. Martin - Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children #1)
by Seanan McGuire - Carry On (Simon Snow #1)
by Rainbow Rowell - Interview with the Vampire (The Vampire Chronicles #1) 🎧
by Anne Rice - Agents of Dreamland
by Caitlin R. Kiernan - Abaddon’s Gate (The Expanse #3)
by James S.A. Corey - Imago (Xenogenesis #3)
by Octavia E. Butler - Punktown (Punktown)
by Jeffrey Thomas - A Lush and Seething Hell
by John Hornor Jacobs - Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon #1) …again 🎧
by China Miéville - Uncanny Collateral (Valkyrie Collections #1)
by Brian McClellan - United States of Japan
by Peter Tieryas - A Clash of Kings (A Song of Ice and Fire #2) …again 🎧
by George R. R. Martin - Grass (Arbai #1)
by Sheri S. Tepper
🏆 Favorite Novel of 2019
A Lush and Seething Hell
by John Hornor Jacobs
The Sea Dreams It Is The Sky was one of my favorite books last year, and when paired with its counterpart, My Heart Struck Sorrow, the two quickly merged to become my favorite book of the year. Connected via theme (and set in the same world), both novellas tell intense stories within stories unsettling accounts of humanity and history, obsession and turmoil. This is the new weird at its most exquisite. As unsettling throughout as it is enthralling. Phenomenal.
🏅 Favorite Novel Runners-up of 2019
Mapping the Interior
by Stephen Graham Jones
Jones is a modern master of horror and always approaches the genre in unique ways; Mapping the Interior is no exception. Told from 12-year old Junior’s perspective, the story is one part family-struggle and one part ghost-story all woven with a heartfelt earnestness that’s easy to believe and hard to shake. It’s a book about childhood, family, heritage, legacy, and the cost and ramifications of all four. The ending devastated me.
The Terror
by Dan Simmons
At first glance, this would appear to be a fictionalized account of Captain Sir John Franklin’s lost 1845 expedition to find the Northwest Passage. But there is more to this than historical account—much of this book delves into the psyche of survival while interspersing elements of the thriller and horror genres to weave an extraordinary and sometimes supernatural tale—Darkly disturbing, severely bleak, and utterly unforgettable.
🎈 Honorable Mentions of 2019
As I did last year, I wanted to highlight a few other books. These honorable mentions are books that resonated with me long after I had finished them, and they deserve a callout. In no particular order…
- The Grand Dark by Richard Kadrey
A diesel-punk reflection on the ramifications of war. Kadrey’s best work. - Abaddon’s Gate by James S. A. Corey
The 3rd entry in the incredible Expanse series. - Tomorrow’s Shepherd by Michael Ripplinger
Giant machines and power armor continue the battle for Verge. - Punktown by Jeffrey Thomas
New weird sci-fi anthology about the citizens living in a city on the frontier. - It: A Novel by Stephen King
Um, it’s It. And It is so very, very good. Except for that one weird scene. - The Civil War: A Narrative: Volume 1: Fort Sumter to Perryville by Shelby Foote
Detailed history of military campaigns during the first third of the American Civil War.
📜 Short Stories
- Ours
by Randy Ribay - The Farm
by Charlie Jane Anders - A Catalog of Storms
by Fran Wilde - Bull Riding
by Richard Kadrey - 13 Ways of Destroying a Painting 🎧
by Amber Sparks - Hell is a Parade
by Nathan Crowder - Artificials Should Be Allowed to Worship
by Steven James - The Three Stigmata of Peter Thiel
by Brendan C. Byrne - Space Angel (Denim Superheroes)
by Lee French - Beta Reading (Horror)
by REDACTED - A Study in Emerald …again
by Neil Gaiman - Beneath Their Hooves
by Katharine Duckett
🏆 Favorite Short Stories of 2019
The Farm
by Charlie Jane Anders
A short yet striking tale of a terrifying future that cuts too close to home. A reporter named Roy struggles to maintain his journalistic integrity while trying to keep advertisers happy. Anders is a great writer, and her tight prose works wonders here. The best short stories can alter how one views the world and as I watched the news cycle play out throughout the year, The Farm was never far from my mind.
🏅 Favorite Short Story Runners-up
Hell is a Parade
by Nathan Crowder
A violent little story of a parade that quickly shifts into a scene of horror as one young woman allows obsession to send her down a dark path. The descriptions are wonderful, the emotions hot and raw, and the parade personified as a living beast whose glamor corrupts as much as it enthralls. A wickedly subversive warning on the dangers and ramifications inherent within vengeance.
Artificial Should Be Allowed to Worship
by Steven James
My favorite short stories dress modern struggles in fictional costume—Star Trek excelled at this—and this piece continues that tradition. Written as an op-ed, the piece pleads with the reader to understand and empathize with artificial individuals seeking a place to worship. The set dressing might be different, the plight fictional, but one can’t miss the echoes from the modern efforts towards equality.
💥 Graphic Novels
- Monstress Vol. 1
by Marjorie Liu (Author), Sana Takeda (Artist) - Saga Vol. 7
by Brian K. Vaughan (Author), Fiona Staples (Artist) - Paper Girls: Book One
by Brian K. Vaughan (Author), Cliff Chiang (Cover Art, Artist), Matthew Wilson (Artist) - The Promised Neverland, Vol. 1
by Kaiu Shirai (Author), Posuka Demizu (Illustrator) - Die, Vol 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker
by Kieron Gillen (Author), Stephanie Hans (Artist) - Blackbird Vol. 1
by Sam Humphries (Author), Jen Bartel (Artist) - Through the Woods
by Emily Carroll (Author & Artist) - Gideon Falls Vol. 1: The Black Barn
by - Gideon Falls Vol. 2: Original Sin
by - Uzumaki
by Junji Ito (Author & Artist) - Trees Vol 2.
by Warren Ellis (Author), Jason Howard (Artist) - Gideon Falls Vol. 3: Stations of the Cross
by Jeff Lemire (Author), Andrea Sorrentino (Artist), Dave Stewart (Artist) - Death or Glory Vol. 1: She’s Got You
by Rick Remender (Author), Bengal (Artist) - Skyward Vol. 1: My Low-G Life
by Joe Henderson (Author), Lee Garbett (Artist), Antonio Fabela (Artist)
🏆 Favorite Graphic Novel of 2019:
Uzumaki
by Junji Ito
Kurôzu-cho is a coastal town haunted by uzumaki—spiral patterns that infest everything, distorting the village and its inhabitants. Everything starts simple enough, but as the chapters breeze past the effects of the uzumaki becomes more and more profound. With engaging characters and an incredible premise, this is quite easily one of the great horror comics ever written.
🏅 Favorite Graphic Novel Runners-up of 2019:
Gideon Falls
by Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, Dave Stewart
This nearly took the top spot from me, and for a good reason; it’s an amazingly told tale. A young man becomes obsessed with a conspiracy theory found in a city’s trash, and elsewhere a priest becomes entwined in the rural legend of The Black Barn—a strange building that appears at random throughout history, leaving death in its wake. And then things get really weird…
Through the Woods
by Emily Carroll
This creepy anthology horror collection was one of my favorites. It’s not “scary” in the traditional sense we Westerners expect; instead, there’s a folklorish creepiness to the tales therein. More Poe than Barker. Plus, the visuals that accompanied those spooky accounts only enhanced each tale. I read it cover to cover on a foggy October morning, and it remains a memorable and unforgettable read.
So, there is my list! A lot of reading in a variety of places I didn’t make time for last year. It was good to get back into comics and to start reading short stories. I’m considering adding a poetry section next year as well, but we’ll see. If anything suffered from this, it was my television and game systems, they’ve been lonely, but I’ve felt a lot more fulfilled with the fiction I’ve devoured. Fiction is the perfect way to step into the shoes of someone else and discover new points of view. So thanks, 2019—it’s been a fantastic year in reading. Here’s to more in 2020!
Are you looking for a good book? Want to see my reading lists from previous years? Check any of the links below and see what I was reading in the bygone halcyon days of old.
• 2013 • 2014 • 2015 • 2016 • 2017 • 2018 •
Next year, why not join me? Goodreads does a reading challenge every year, and I am an active participant. First, follow me on Goodreads (leave me a review while you’re there), and once the New Year arrives, participate in the Goodreads Reading Challenge for 2020.
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K. M. Alexander 
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