Top 5 Books I Didn’t Get to in 2019!

Top 5 Tuesday is hosted by Shanah of Bionic Book Worm.2019 was an amazing year for books. I read more than ever before and I think I have more 4- and 5-star reads than I’ve ever had! Because of this, I just wasn’t able to get to all of the books on my list (will I ever?!). I’m a total mood reader so I read what strikes me at the time; sadly, this leaves a lot of books that I want to read stuck on my TBR.

Here are the Top 5 books I just didn’t get to in 2019 (but still hope to get to soon!):

Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption by: Bryan Stevenson (Spiegel & Grau) – Pub Date: October 21, 2014

Years ago I was watching tv when 48 Hours played a teaser for their upcoming episode. It caught my attention because it was a kid I went to high school with! I immediately went to his social media account to see what the heck was going on. Turns out, his father had been wrongfully convicted of a murder twenty-seven years prior and had just been exonerated. (Here’s some more information about his specific case, if you’re interested: Frank O’Connell, YouTube.)

Since then, I have been curious about our justice system. I read and highly recommend The Sun Does Shine (my review here). I feel like Just Mercy is the next logical step in this process of trying to learn more about our prison system.

Other similar books: A Grip of Time (nonfiction); The Mars Room (fiction); and An American Marriage (fiction); The Graybar Hotel (stories)

The Unwinding of the Miracle: A Memoir of Life, Death, and Everything That Comes After by: Julie Yip-Williams (Random House) – Pub Date: January 8, 2019

If you’ve been here long, you know I’m all about books about grief and dying (in fact, I wrote a post about it!). I think this will be my next read under that category, and though I think it may be hard to read (a mother dying of cancer hits real close to home), I always gain such insight into books with this topic. Ultimately, they make me feel closer to my mom and help me understand some of what she may have been thinking and going through during her illness.

Some similar books: The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying; Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of Loss; Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End; Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy

This Tender Land by: William Kent Krueger (Atria) – Pub Date: September 3, 2019

I absolutely loved reading Where the Crawdads Sing, so when This Tender Land was compared to that novel, I knew I had to pick it up. So many of my trusted book recommendation sources have sang its praises, but for some reason, it’s continued to fall through the cracks for me. I hope to remedy that soon!

Some similar books: Before We Were Yours; Where the Crawdads Sing

Recursion by: Blake Crouch (Crown) – Pub Date: June 11, 2019

I was completely captured by Crouch’s first novel, Dark Matter, so its surprising to me that I haven’t picked this one up despite the fact that it’s been sitting on my shelf since it was published in June! I think I’m a little nervous that it will be over my head and I won’t understand it – but there’s no way to know without giving it a try…so here’s hoping it makes it into my hands soon!

Some similar books: Dark Matter; Exhaltation; Artemis; Ready Player One

Dominicana by: Angie Cruz (Flatiron) – Pub Date: September 3, 2019

I think I originally shied away from this one because I kept seeing mixed reviews. Also, I had just finished reading Patsy for a buddy read and I felt like they might be similar. That’s been a few months ago now, so I think I’m ready to read this one soon!

Some similar books: Patsy; Behold the Dreamers

 

Which book should I read next? Are there any other must read books from 2019 I have to get to soon?