Books Read in 2019 That We Both Loved and Highly Recommend

It's that time of year to review what we read last year and give you our top recommendations.  All year I keep a Word document of the books we read with our reviews printed so at the end of the year, we can just go through the list and circle our favorites.  I also have a photo album of the pictures of our favorite reads for each year which helps a lot when doing this blog post!  We use the library.  I read 81 books in 2019 and Gerard beat me again with 91.  Below is the list of nine books that we both loved including the links to our reviews of them for your convenience.

A Curse so Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer (Fantasy)

Queen of Sorrow by Sarah Beth Durst (Third book in Queens of Renthia Series)  (Fantasy)

The Deepest Blue by Sarah Beth Durst (Fantasy/romance)

The Chain by Adrian McKinty (Thriller/Mystery)

  

The Escape Room by Megan Goldin (Thriller/Mystery)

No Exit by Taylor Adams (Thriller)

We, the Jury by Robert Rotstein  (Mystery)

The Institute by Stephen King (Horror)

The Pale-Faced Lie by David Crow (Autobiography--child abuse)

The way we review books is totally subjective.  We strictly go by how much it draws us in and makes us want to get back to it.  As you can see, we read different genres.  The fact that we have only 9 books that we both loved out of 172 proves we have fairly different tastes when it comes to books.  We don't always read the same books though, so be sure to see our other posts we do coming soon that gives you each of our individual top 10 reads besides these.  

Happy Reading in the New Year!

"If You Tell" by Gregg Olsen

If You Tell by Gregg Olsen is a true story!   This book centers on Shelly, the mom, and her daughters:  Nikki, Sami and Tori.  Even as I read this, I found it hard to believe, especially that it went on for so long!  The story has good flow to it and I never knew what Shelly was going to do next!
(Gerard's review, 5 stars)

Teaser from page 13:  Years later, Lara took a deep breath, recalling, "She used to chop up bits of glass and put them in the bottom of [the kids'] boots and shoes," she said.  "What kind of person does something like that?"

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Unbreakable Brain--Shield Your Brain From Cognitive Decline. . . For Life!" by Will Mitchell

One of my greatest fears is Alzheimers or Dementia so when I saw a video by Will Mitchell about how it can be avoided and even reversed, I requested his book for Christmas--Unbreakable Brain by Will Mitchell.  I was disappointed in it because most of the helpful things to do and avoid I saw in the video.  The first half of the book was very boring to me because it was all about how the brain works.  There were only two chapters I found to be somewhat helpful at all which are Chapters 5 and 7.  This is a short book of only 7 chapters, but in my opinion, it could have been less than 20 pages to cover the helpful information.  Even at that, most of the helpful information was stuff I heard before, such as exercise, do strength training, keep learning new things, avoid stress, socialize often and eat healthy.
(Karen's review, 2 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"Deck the Hounds" by David Rosenfelt

In Deck the Hounds by David Rosenfelt, Andy Carpenter is a lawyer who can pick and choose which case he wants to take.   Andy befriends a homeless man and when he finds out this man is being accused of murder, Andy decides to defend him.  This book is okay but to be honest, I could never really get into any of the characters.  The story line was okay so I did finish it.  There were cute dogs on the cover which I liked; unfortunately, they had very little to do with the story.  The cover is very deceiving which I did not appreciate!
(Gerard's review, 3.5 stars)

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!

"A Noise Downstairs" by Linwood Barclay Much Better Than "Elevator Pitch"

A Noise Downstairs is the second book I read by Linwood Barclay and is way better than the first--Elevator Pitch.  This has lots of story lines.  The main one concerns a man called Paul almost got killed and is now dealing with something strange in his life.  However, there is a lot more to this novel than just that!

I did not know what was going to happen next.  A twist near the end that I did not see coming and the ending was wild to say the least.  I enjoyed this book and recommend it.
(Gerard's review, 5+ stars)

Teaser from page 8:  Paul suspected Kenneth would hop in and make a run for it.  With the tailgate open, if he floored it, the bodies might slide right out onto the shoulder.

Have you read this one? What did you think of it? If you reviewed this too, feel free to share your link to your review in the comments. To find books on a specific topic, scroll to the bottom and click on the topic you want. Happy Reading!