My Favorite Reads of 2019

When 2019 began I knew that my reading time would be limited, so I set a modest reading goal of 25 books for the year. I’m happy to say that just this morning I finished book number 30, exceeding my goal by five. I’m also happy that I was able to complete the three other reading challenges I set for the year, the Charity Reading Challenge, the European Reading Challenge, and the Deal Me In Short Story Challenge. For the Charity challenge, since I read 30 books I donated $30 to Catholic Relief Services earlier today. I also kept pace with the Classics Club 50 books in 5 Years reading challenge, reading ten classics in 2019. With a little less than two years left in the challenge, I have 19 books to go.

Here a few other reflections on my year in reading (statistics from Goodreads):

• Even though I read about ten fewer books than last year, I actually read slightly more pages. That’s because several of the books I read were very long: Don Quixote, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Old Curiosity Shop, as well the last several books of the D’Artagnan series.
• The shortest book I read was Gaudete et Exsultate by Pope Francis, and the longest book I read was The Count of Monte Cristo.
• 

  Alexandre Dumas

  My biggest feat of the year was finishing the D’Artagnan series. Prior to this year I had read The Three Musketeers and its sequel Twenty Years After. The final book, The Vicomte de Bragelonne is a massive work that is usually divided into three volumes: The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Vallière and The Man in the Iron Mask. I had only planned on reading the first volume this year, but I loved it so much I just kept going until I had finished them all. After reading these in the same year as The Count of Monte Cristo, I can truly say that this year was the year of Alexandre Dumas for me. And I loved every bit of it. I have to admit to choking back a few tears at the end of The Man in the Iron Mask. These are characters I have spent years with. I will certainly be visiting them again in the future. Perhaps the entire series would make a future chapter-a-day read-along! Hmmm…definitely worth considering.

• After facilitating a chapter-a-day read-along of Les Misérables in 2018, the 2019 Chapter-a-Day Read-along was a bit different. In order to have 365 chapters, I chose four different books, and not every book appealed to all the participants. If I had it to do over again, I would have replaced George MacDonald’s Lilith with something else. But everyone seemed to love The Count of Monte Cristo, and that turned out to be the hit of the year.

And now it’s time to count down my ten favorite reads of the year:

1. Bernini by Howard Hibbard – As we visited Florence and Rome last February, this book helped me appreciate the art I saw there.
2. The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole – A surprisingly readable novel that moved much more quickly than I expected, given its 1764 publication date. The original gothic novel.
3. As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of the Princess Bride by Cary Elwes – As someone who has loved The Princess Bride since seeing it in the theater, I devoured this book and loved every minute of it.
4. One Shot by Lee Child – This title represents the seven Jack Reacher books I read this year. A fantastic series that I look forward to returning to this year.
5. The Rosie Result by Graeme Simsion – I have loved every book in this series about Don Tillman not only for their humor, but also for challenging me to look at the world in a different, wonderful way.
6. Wrestling with God by Ronald Rolheiser – Another spiritual masterpiece by a great writer.
7. Gaudete et Exsultate by Pope Francis – This short volume on holiness is something I have continued to go back to over and over this past year.
8. The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Valliere, and The Man in the Iron Mask by Alexandre Dumas – As I mentioned above, I could not put down this finale to the D’Artagnan series.
9. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas – I have long loved the plot, but reading the unabridged novel in a chapter a day gave me a greater appreciation for the characters and their stories.
10. Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes – Still my favorite book of all time, though reading it a chapter a day may not be the best way to experience it.

And now 2020 is just around the corner, with the War and Peace Chapter-a-Day Read-along taking center stage. I can’t wait to see what literary gems the new year has in store.

Happy New Reading Year! Many blessings on you and your family.