2019: My year in books

2019 was my first year of jumping into the indie publishing world. This also meant doing A LOT of market research.

I've learned SO MUCH about the indie book world, it's amazing. It seriously feels like an entirely separate universe for books. The readers are different, their tastes and speeds and priorities are entirely different than traditional readers (Maybe I need to do a post on this topic because it's really fascinating.)

But this also meant I had a lot of catching up to do, just from a reading stand point. The big authors in the indie world aren't even known by most in the "traditional" world. I started out struggling to find my foothold and get "into" the books I was picking up. I found a few gems early on and was obsessed with those (in part, I've realized because they're the first books I got INTO in years. I'd been in a reading rut for a while now). But they were still pretty slow going. Then I did a summer reading challenge in one of my reader Facebook groups (Indie Fantasy Addicts. I owe a lot of my 2019 reads to recs from here) and read some more.

Then, in the fall, I like... couldn't stop reading. I got into a legitimate habit of picking up my phone (kindle APP!)  during off *minutes* and reading more of my current read. Yes, sometimes that meant reading a paragraph at a time. I read during every break at work. In the hours after I woke up, went to sleep, before getting out of my car to go into work. After getting off work and being too tired to drive yet (swing shift life).  I may have also read a page or two during work potty breaks. While hubby drove us to restaurants or the gym (also, at the gym) or the grocery store. Like, all the time (yes, he got annoyed with me but I COULDN'T STOP). There is a particular author that I blame for much of this book obsession because 13 of the 16 books I read in those 6 weeks were by her. But we'll get there.

I ended up reading over 60 books (of varying lengths. A few were definitely short) and I read so many good books, I want to do a full post on the amazing books I read in 2019 because they deserve a little recognition! So here goes! All the books I read in 2019, with mini reviews of each.


To start off the year I read a FANTASTIC book




https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25820414-rhapsodic

This book was impressively well written (she did a non-linear timeline which is very hard to pull off. I only read one other indie book that tried this and they didn't do it nearly as well as Laura.) Plus I loved the romance. Just the right amount of angsty-ness, danger, sweetness and surprise. I still suggest this book OFTEN. Although I have to admit that I haven't read the sequels.

Next, I read another book I LOVED and obsessed over and still suggest to readers:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23127048-air-awakens

This book was a bit Avatar the Last Airbender and a bit typical YA fantasy romance (dark prince, girl finding out she has powers etc etc) but I loved it. Again, another one I didn't finish the series of, though. This one I was into for 4 of 5 books. I have reasons for not liking book 5, again mostly to do with the focus shifting to conflicts I just don't care about and away from the things that kept me interested to start with.

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Another series I really liked (and YAY! Completed!). I suggest this one a good amount too because it has one of my favorite tropes: tortured soul love interest *swoons* (laughing at myself, but not joking!)

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Next I read a couple books I didn't love but enjoyed well enough:

I also started several books that I never finished. I didn't include any of those in my count.

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I read a few books by friends: Two beta read books, one which is included in the count because it's a third book in a series in which 2 books are already published, one which is not under contract to be published so it's not on Goodreads. The other two, were already published when I read them :)

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Then, I began the summer reading challenge with Indie Fantasy Addicts Facebook group in which books read = points for your team. My team WON!!! (no really thanks to me. We had a few ringers in our group that read LITERALLY 10x the number I did)

I read several books and novellas during the summer challenge, though not as many as I was hoping for! Easily my favorite of the bunch was God's of Men by Barbara Kloss, whom I sent a pleading email to asking 1) WHERE IS BOOK TWO and also 2) Be my friend? So now we're besties (aka Facebook friends ;) ) and I'm pretty sure she's going to let me beta read book 2 so SCORE.




This book was creepy (in the best way) and beautiful with an elaborate word and fantastic characters and I cannot wait for book 2! EEEEEPP

A fantasy book I read for the challenge without realize it *wasn't* indie. Oops. This one has a huge following but I wasn't a huge fan. It read much like a category romance novel with some vampire aspects thrown in, and that just isn't my forte.

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Next, I read this series.

Actually, I started reading book 1 of this series, because a couple enthusiastic fans recommended it in Indie Fantasy Addicts and I was pretty into it right from the start, which actually turned out to be a problem because at the 25% mark something big and unexpected happened that I DID NOT like. Like, I was mad at the author for this twist and for a while refused to keep reading. Several months later I was convinced to push past that twist, and *liked* book 1. Didn't love. But again, fans told me "keep reading!" (This is why fandoms are awesome) so I did and it only took a few chapters into book 2 to be hooked and I LOVED it by the end.

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A few contemporary romance books I read for kicks. Not my go-to genre but I'll do them on occasion. They're usually pretty easy reads that catch your attention right away.

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Some fae market research! I didn't count A Court of Thorns and Roses, even though I did also (kinda) read it this year because I read 3/4 of it two years ago. I kinda hated it. But the fandom is SO BIG, and I knew book 2 was most of what people loved so I picked it up where I left off which is why books 2 and 3 are here but not 1. And yes, I jump aboard the fandom love train and am totally team Rhys (he's my favorite type of Love Interest). I also read two books of Trial by Fae series. It was cute, enjoyable and I could have continued reading but I wasn't IN LOVE (and if there is one trend you can catch on to it's that I don't feel the need to finish series--or books for that matter-- if I don't LOVE them. Sometimes, I'm wrong and they get better as they go, but I'll wait for someone to smack some sense into my before I force my way through it to find out. haha)

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Then... I came across a Facebook ad for a book about a girl who starts a relationship (friendship-mostly) with a demon summoned by her uncle and I was super psyched about the potential.

I read the book (and the next one,) loved the book, then proceeded to read nearly everything by this author. I could write a whole post about just these two series and how they intertwine so fascinatingly. I honestly never would have picked up the Guild Codex books on their own. I've seen Three Mages and a Margarita around all over the place but it's clearly branded as quirky and fluffy paranormal, not really my thing.

 But because the characters of those books were in these, and she left they perfect little easter eggs that piqued my curiosity, I picked the other series up. It was exactly what I expected, which was quirky and light-hearted--obviously not a BAD thing, just not what I'm usually into. I kept reading because it was interesting and the characters and world were fun. It was one I could have easily been content to stop after one book but I kept going to find out more (you don't really get into any Demonized parallels until book 4 so those clues were still unanswered until then) and when I got to a part where the characters from Taming Demons get involved I'm super hooked, PLUS a previously sidelined romance that I am HERE FOR comes into focus--I'm hooked. Neither of these series are complete, and I'm dying to read more of both of them now!

I read both of these series because of how they connect. I am not, however, the kind of reader that usually reads books just because I know and like the author (unless I literally *know* them.) But then I found another book series by Annette that had that *demon slow burn romance* angle by her and had to try it (this is my new favorite trope by the way. I love almost-villain, almost inhuman (but not totally), definitely dangerous and definitely powerful, love interests.)

And this series is possibly my favorite of all my 2019 reads. Ash, I've decided, is my favorite Book Boyfriend of all time, he's a bit Rhys like (Although I say he's a bit more like Azriel, if you've read ACOTAR you'll know who I mean). Dangerous and tortured. Yes, please.

I sill have a few Annette Marie series on my TBR list, but I'm obviously a fan. I definitely trust her as an author and she uses some of my favorite tropes--so yes, I'll be back for more soon. (The next Guild Codex book comes out Jan 3rd!!)


I did miss a few books on this list, but this is the gist of my 2019 reading journey. I only read a couple traditionally published books ( 6, I think?). A large majority of what I read was what I am now writing--indie fantasy with romance. So I feel like I did a good job on my year of market research! I read some authors with solid followings (some of the series are years old but still selling well) as well as a few that were on the Amazon top 100 at the time I read them. We'll see if I can manage to do this well next year (60 isn't impressive for everyone, but for me--it's definitely a record). I will definitely keep reading a lot, but it'll probably depend on what I get hooked on if I can keep this pace up (Annette Marie helped a lot!)

I can't wait to find my new book loves in 2020!

What did you read in 2019? Do you have any reading goals for 2020??