THE ALLONSY 2019 BOOK AWARDS // The Best & Worst of Last Year!

Stats:

How Many Books I Read in 2019: 115
Most Popular Reading Format: Audiobook (69/115)
Number of Books I Read From the Library: 44/115
Number of Review Copies I Read: 3

Categories:

       

• The best Contemporary you read in 2019 – The Kiss Quotient

Long story short, I loved this book so much I read it twice in the span of a couple of months. This is totally new to for me, but this had me laughing and crying at the same time- weird but good. This was such an amazing and fast read, I can’t wait to read more by Helen Hoang in the hopefully near future!

• The best Sci-fi/Fantasy you read in 2019 – The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet

This book is awesome. This is more character-based than plot-heavy and also has super long chapters (upwards of 30 pages) and it’s so so worth it. It’s easy to confuse characters but they’re all so interesting that it didn’t really bother me all that much. I have never been much of a Sci-Fi reader but this really pushed me to try more of it in the future!

• The best 2019 release you read in 2019 – In An Absent Dream

I think it’s still a tie between books 2 & 3 for which main characters I love in this series, but I think The Goblet Market is one of my favourite and most complex worlds that we’ve been too! I enjoyed seeing how Lundy became the teacher we met in book 1 and I LOVED visiting The Goblet Market, I can’t wait to re-read this again in the future!

• The best series finale you read in 2019 – Winter

I’m so glad I re-read this series, it was so much fun! I will hopefully also do this again a few years down the line just to revisit my faves since I had some pretty interesting and different reactions reading this series 4 years later. This was such a joy, and I really enjoyed the political side behind the war in this book, honestly, it was just so cool to see the BTS of all the characters and all sides of the war, even if it did make the book a bit longer. Honestly, though it was long, this was a fantastic finale and while I was reading it really didn’t feel long!

• The best “Out of My Comfort Zone” book you read in 2019 – Hunger

This was so powerful and so heartbreaking. I definitely recommend this to all people, but do read the trigger warnings and know that this book isn’t perfect, I did have some issues with it. I generally don’t reach for non-fiction but I am definitely glad I did with this one. It’s completely different from what I normally read but I feel like it really gives you a different perspective on this discussion.

       

• The best “Why Didn’t I Read This Earlier” book – Practical Magic

This was amazing. I said this a few years ago when I read The Rules of Magic but, I think I’ve fallen in love with Alice Hoffman’s writing as well as her characters. I really think that if you loved Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore you would love this duology. Everything about her books is amazing and I can’t believe I didn’t read this earlier!

• The book I wish more people would read – The Red Pyramid

I’m honestly kicking myself right now. I never intended to read this but decided to pick it up for a future blog post and HOLY HELL YOU GUYS THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN! I will definitely be reading this entire trilogy this year!

• The best book I read in a different format – You

I listened to this on audio after watching season 1 of the show and it was CREEPY.

This book was kind of boring BUT it was an amazing motivator for me finally putting a passcode on my phone. I did really enjoy this and I loved how no characters were 100% good (except maybe Curtis), especially Joe & Beck, but overall, the story felt a bit rushed (a lot happened and I can’t really tell how long the characters knew each other) and while the writing style really worked at some points, it really annoyed me at others.

I think it also really worked as an audiobook because it really feels like Joe is talking to you which just ups the creep-factor to an 11!

• The book that took you the longest to read – Heart of Darkness

I am unhappy to report that I read this twice in 2019 and both times it took me at least a month to read. That is 2 months (probably more) dedicated to this horrible book that I will never get back! I still couldn’t tell you what happened in this book but I can tell you that it was tedious and very very racist.

• The most meaningful book you read in 2019 – Let’s Talk About Love

This book broke me. It hit so close to home it had me crying on the bus and cry-laughing every couple of pages. I have never related so much to a character in my entire life and honestly, just thinking about how valid this book makes me feel makes me want to start crying all over again. I absolutely need everyone to read this book.

       

• The book I am most likely to re-read in the future – The Gilded Wolves

This was such a cool mix of Three Dark Crowns + National Treasure and the fact that there are people out there who haven’t read this is a tragedy!

• The book you NEED other people to read! – Let’s Talk About Love

Let’s Talk About Love is probably the number 1 book I read last year that I now want people to read! I think it’s pretty clear how little most people know or understand about being on the Ace spectrum so I would like to direct everyone to this book because it is such an honest depiction of being on the spectrum and I cried many many times! (That being said, if you’re not Ace you probably won’t cry, but it’s still a really good read!)

• The biggest surprise (good or bad) you read this year – Jane Eyre OH BOY

Yep. This was definitely the biggest surprise of the year. I hated this book! I couldn’t stand Rochester and I thought Jane herself was completely boring! I usually love the classics I read but this was NOT the story for me!

• The best book-to-Movie/TV adaptation you read in 2019 – The Perks of Being A Wallflower

I just want to say that the time it took me to read this book is not an indication of whether or not it’s good because this book is amazing, phenomenal, fantastic, heartbreaking, revolutionary and a whole bunch of other words I can’t think of right now because I need to go to sleep. Basically, I felt this deep in my soul, I can’t believe this was under 250 pages and I absolutely need to re-read this already so I can highlight every goddamn line.

• A book you read because someone you trust LOVED it! – The Risk

Okay, so this was completely addicting but, it also had a really really underwhelming ending. I really enjoyed reading this but I don’t *need* to read any more of Elle Kennedy’s books but I wouldn’t be averse to it either. Basically, if you need to know anything about this book, this pretty much sums it up:

“If wishes were horses we’d all be equestrians.”

       

• A favourite “New-To-Me” author you discovered in 2019 – Christina Lauren

Christina Lauren! I discovered their books this year and omg, I had such a fun time reading The Unhoneymooners! I buddy read The Unhoneymooners with Malka and I am SO glad I did because we had a blast chatting about this book together! I had so much fun reading it that I ended up buying my own copy! I’ll definitely be reading more of their books in the future!

• A book in a different age group or genre to your usual preferences, that you read this year and LOVED – The Magician’s Nephew

I read this a few years ago and was less than impressed but I honestly forgot that I’d ever read this and I recently felt the need to watch the movies (which I still haven’t done) so I decided to try reading this until I watch the movies. I won’t lie, I know absolutely nothing about this world but, I did enjoy this. I won’t say it was amazing, but I’m certainly interested in contiuing this series. Honestly, this book might have just pulled me out of my reading slump.

• Your favourite Book cover of 2019 – Red, White & Royal Blue

Holy fuck, that was intense.  I found this book incredibly hard to read and loved it very very much. I loved all the characters and the easy to read nature of the book made it one of the best reads of the year, and I totally understand the hype! Also, that cover is amazing, I love having it on my shelves because it has such a fun spine!

• THE WORST BOOK OF 2019 – Jane Eyre which is really saying something because I read After last year

Thank God, it’s over. I enjoyed the writing but everything about this was awful. Seriously, having to read about Jane Eyre and Rochester having a discussion was the blandest and stupid thing I’ve read in a long time. It was like two brick walls trying to converse with each other – ridiculous. I had to read this for class and also watch the movie and honest to God, this was AWFUL I know so many people love Jane Eyre (the book and the character) but I couldn’t stand it.

• THE BEST BOOK OF 2019 – The Kiss Quotient

“It’s economics”. Y’all I was emo after reading this book. I know I talked about it before but this was by far the best book I read last year, and I liked it so much I had to read it twice.

WHAT WERE YOUR FAVOURITE READS OF 2019?
WHAT WAS YOUR MOST POPULAR READING FORMAT LAST YEAR?
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