2019 Books - I started. Then I stopped. Then I started again.

2019 Books
1. 1/2/19 Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer.  This is the third in the series that I've read.  I wasn't even worried at the end of it when they wiped everyone's minds.  I was all 'whatever, there's like five more of these things'
2. 1/7/19 Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins. The more I read, the more I thought "this dude is nuts".  I liked the book and how he talked about his life.
3. 1/8/19 Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception.  I finished this one today on super long car rides. Almost ready for the next one on a super long drive tomorrow.
4. 1/11/19 Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony.  I loved this one because of all the foils for Artemis.
5. 1/15/19 Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox.  This one was not my jam.  In the beginning Artemis was all "if it happens that means it already happened" so I spent the whole book not being worried and therefore not engaged.
6. and 7. 1/23/19 Artemis Fowl and the Atlantis Complex.  I finished this one sometime before today, while I was recovering from the plague.  I loved crazy Artemis. Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian also by Eoin Colfer.  I finished this one today.  I'm kind of meh on the whole series.  I loved the first book, and Lost Colony.  Some of the other ones were like "ok, let's just get through this".  The series was compared to Harry Potter, which is how I think a lot of people found it.  Potter I think is one longer story, where as this is a bunch of separate pieces.  Potter also had a better 'pay off' at the end, if you will.  This ending was the most Meh part of the whole thing.
8. 2/2/19 Emma by Jane Austen.  I was so meh about this book that it took me forever to get through.  It felt like 'stuff happens' then 'a whole bunch of nothing happens except people we don't like come to town' and then 'everything happens and we all live happily ever after'  Emma's Dad reminds me of someone in my own family who also suffers what would be called 'a nervous complaint'. 
9. 2/6/19 This is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel.  I absolutely fell into this book when I started it.  As I was wrapping it up, I was running on the track at the gym.  I felt ridiculous with tears glistening in my eyes, running in circles, listening to how things tied themselves up.  Totally worth my time.
10. 2/13/19 the Best of all Possible Worlds
11. 3/5/19 The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Mom would want you to know this book is 40 CDs long.  I started 'reading' during this long run on February 18.  And I drive a ton for my job.  And I 'read' it again during this long run as well as some easier workouts.  So, I feel like I read about 10 different books.  William Howard Taft is from Cincinnati, and the early parts of the book just made my city come alive for me. I also have Team of Rivals in my cue.  I have more long runs coming up, so there's still time.
12. 4/6/19 Becoming by Michelle Obama.  I listened to this one primarily on several long runs.  I started one long run as she was telling the story with the Cheetah and the tranquilizer dart and I was all what the actual eff am I listening to?  It was an odd way to start a run. I loved the story of how she met President Obama.  I also adored the story of her learning to play piano and finding middle c. I recommend this one as an audio book in particular because she reads it.  Totally worth your time.
13, 14 4/27/19 Mansfield Park and Northanger Abbey, obviously both by Jane Austen.  I'd read Mansfield Park before and liked it better the second time.  Northanger Abbey felt, somehow, incomplete to me.  Like she talks to the readers about her heroine a little too much.  Just, less polished. I only have a couple Austen works left before I've read them all.
15. 5/12/19 Persausion by Jane Austen.  I am now done with her main novels.  I may have to listen to this one again.  It's hard to imagine liking anything more than Pride and Prejudice, but this one would be totally worth my time.  I listened to this one mostly while packing to move.  Wild...
16. 5/19/19 Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple. I think I had a recommendation for this one from one of the blogs I read.  I listened to the book while packing.  And packing.  And panicking.  And packing.  It was a quick easy read and I enjoyed it.  I'm interested to see the movie when it comes out later this sumer.
17. 7/2/19 Team of Rivals by Dorris Kearns Goodwin.  That 50 book goal is not looking so good this year.  Seriously, this book was great.  I learned a ton about Lincoln and the Civil War, but also a lot about the supporting characters, and how Lincoln could get everyone to work together.
18. 7/4/19 Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.  I loved this book as much as everyone said I would.  In an odd way, it reminds me of Prince of Tides, because the environment is almost like a character in the book.
19. 7/13/19 The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish. This book was both good and hard to read because some of the experiences are really sad.  I love the portrayal of the social worker smoking pot with the foster mom. I recommend the audio book on this one because the author reads it herself.
20. Not sure the date? Binti by Nnedi Okorafor.  And now I found out this is a series so I have to find the next two novellas.
21. 7/28/19 What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty.  I absolutely fell into this one. I liked it much better than I remember liking Big Little Lies. Also for this one, I listened to some of this while running on the track, and I'd really missed running and listening to audio books.
22. 8/5/19 The Magicians by Lev Grossman (Book 1).  I finished this on the treadmill this morning. Books 2 and 3 await.  So far, I can say the parallels to Chronicles of Narnia are obvious and I am loving them.
23. 8/9/19 the Magician King by Lev Grossman.  This is book 2 of 3.  I'm happy to see some old characters from book 1, and curious about a couple characters that were introduced but not fully explained in this book.  On to book 3.
24. 8/12/19 The Magicians Land by Lev Grossman.  This is book 3 of 3.  In the midst of this, I sorted out how to connect my Alexa Echo to my phone to listen to this book on that speaker at home. Game changer!  There were parts of this series I adored and parts that were perhaps more gory or violent than I enjoyed, though I think the writer was ultimately genuine and not sensational in the choices made.
25, 26, and 27 8/30/19 the Xenogenesis Triology by Octavia E Butler.  The last book of the trilogy was my favorite.  This to me is what the Left Hand of Darkness was to my Pooky Bear.  It's such a great look at what it means to be human, and to be male and female, and to be part of a family.  Science Fiction sometimes can examine those relationships in ways no other genre can.
28. 9/3/19 Kindred By Octavia Butler.  This was my favorite of her books that I've read.  I could not put this down, even took it with me on my run yesterday.
29. 9/7/19 Educated by Tara Westover.  This is read by the same person who read 'the Great Alone' and a couple others so that was confusing.  For serious, I could not put this down and stayed up way too late a couple of nights listening to it. I'm all "literally she's getting a PhD from Cambridge; why is she going back to these crazy people?" Frustrating, but honest and relatable as well.  Totally worth your time.
30. 9/13/19 The Fishermen by Chigoze Obioma.  Parts of this book were hard but I generally liked it.  I've never been to Nigeria, but recalled my time in Malawi, and how people there would in my American mind "give in to foolish superstition".  So, it was frustratingly real to the culture as I perceive it.
31. 9/19/19 The Storied Life of AJ Fickry was a recommendation from a friend. It was short and I really liked it.
32. 9/20/19 Let Your Mind Run by Deena Kastor is one of the few physical books I've read this year.  I started it a while ago and I've been picking my way through it ever since.  It really helped turn a switch in my mind about running hard and feeling good.  We'll see how that helps me in the 10K.
33. 9/21/19 Wonder by RJ Palacio.  This was a recommendation from my 11 year old nephew (whose mom pointed out the book is better than the movie).  It was a quick read and totally worth my time.  The book lacks the big "oomph" moment that the movie has, but it feels more true to life, and equally satisfying.  Also, truth, I'm trying to read some shorter ones here.  I took a big break after the marathon.  (Hello gap from May to July)  We'll see if I make it to 50 books this year.  If not, a couple of the ones earlier this yeah should really count as several books anyways because they were so long!
34. 9/22/19 Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth.  This book was not at all what I expected.  I sunk right into it and finished it in a day. It wasn't the touchy-feely "Nazis are bad" experience I thought.  It was "this is how the police investigation started, these are the psychological profiles..." etc.  In that way, it was much more approachable than the misery that would've been a touchy-feely-nazis-are-bad sob fest.
35. 9/24/19 The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs.  This one was mildly entertaining but I won't read it again.  It's apparently got a cult following from D&D fans, but I guess I don't get the hype.
36. 9/25/19 37. Scum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time by Jeff Johnson.  Apparently Captain Smiley actually works in this format and I think he likes it.  Personally, the book reminded me of Extreme Ownership though I don't think a ton of people would've made that connection. Not sure if the author would like that connection or not.
38. 9/29/19 Something Deeply Hidden by Sean M Carroll.  I legit have no idea what this book was about.  I think I understood the introducing and when they talked about the slit/wave/particle/double slit experiment and almost nothing else.  But I held on.
39. 11/29/19 Brief Answers to Big Questions by Stephen Hawking.  I listened to this one on a road trip with Mom and Dad.  I actually loved it.  Also, wow, it's been a while since I read a book, right?
40. 12/5/19 The Giver of Stars by Jojo Moyes.  This is my favorite book I've read all year.  And maybe since the "Liz keeps reading" project began. This made me feel all of the feelings.  And I love how Appalachia and Hill People are portrayed.  I love it all.
41. 12/12/19 The Shadow Land by Elizabeth Kostova.  I did not understand this was a thriller until it was pretty far into the book.  And obviously I devoured the book trying to figure out what the heck was going on.
42. 12/15/19 The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor.  Ok, this book is the stuff of nightmares.  Most thrillers are like "plot twist" but not just plain creepy.
43. 12/29/19 Lab Girl by Hope Jaren.  I loved so many things about this book.  I'm freaked out by a few things in this book too.  (Hello, bipolar disorder, you are a cruel beast.)  The description of showing affection in Minnesota really hits the nail on the head.  Not sure if this'll be my last book this ear, or if I'll get one more in.
44. 12/31/19 The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.  This one is read by the author.  It wouldn't have been as good if it were read by anyone else.  Part of what made this come alive was the accent and hearing the 'local' pronunciations or words like "Afghan" (which I've been saying wrong in my head forever apparently).  It's almost 9pm, so I'm really getting this book in at the wire.