2019 was the first year I participated in the Goodreads reading challenge, and I met my goal by reading 23 books (My goal was 20 books this year)! Below are the books I read with a few of my thoughts on each one. Comment below what you read this year and click the link at the bottom of this post to add me on Goodreads!

Night Circus by Eric Morgenstern

I found myself craving caramel corn the entire time I was reading this book, and I don’t even like caramel! I loved reading this story because it was so enchanting and played on the childlike wonder of the reader. There is something so dreamlike and marvelous about this story that goes far beyond magic and romance; it’s so much more than that. I love the use of the theme of breaking the cycle and moving on from family history in such a new and refreshing way. I highly recommend this read to anyone who likes to feel magically transported into a fantastic and magical romance.

5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins

I read this story because Amy Landino references it ALL THE TIME and now, I understand why.  Mel Robbins’ breakthrough in rewiring the human decision-making process is incredibly effective and has even helped me eliminate doubt and procrastination. The 5-Second Rule is brilliant, and the book is even more so. I enjoyed reading this novel because Mel is just so sociable and personal and connects with the reader on another level as she explains her thought process and how the rule helped her put her life back together.

Ghosted by Rosie Walsh

This story was so painfully thrilling, from the very first page to the last you’re wrapped up tight in a story of passionate love, unexplained disappearances, dark pasts and even more. It’s wild start to finish and is really telling of modern society and how it feels to be ghosted, excusable or otherwise. I really enjoyed this read and couldn’t put it down. The characters were easy to connect to and it genuinely hurt to understand why some things happened the way they did. The only thing I could think was: Oh yeah, I get it. 

Will it Fly? by Pat Flynn

Because I apparently couldn’t get enough entrepreneurial inspiration and self-motivation from the second and third books I read this year, I turned to Pat Flynn’s novel, Will It Fly, and was not disappointed. The story uses the comparison of paper planes to stat-up success and the metaphor continues throughout the story. This is a great read for anyone who needs to remember their Why.

Brother by Ania Ahlborn

Absolute chills. Enough said.

Okay, I’ll give my thoughts on this read, briefly because I have an entire review here. This story is insane, and that’s the only way to describe it, really. The dark themes, harrowing events, and deeply saddening realizations are horrifying and enthralling simultaneously. I couldn’t put this book down and sped-read it through the span of two days and it left me gaping in awe for a third day, afterwards. This story is not for the faint of heart, but those eager to brave their next horror story—you won’t regret it. But you might have to bleach your brain to get some of the grotesque imagery out.

Seed by Ania Ahlborn

After reading Brother, I knew I had to read more from Ahlborn, but I didn’t think she could blow me away again, and she did. Seed is truly terrifying and absolutely not the kind of reading you do just before bed. Think of the sleep paralysis demon on steroids—yeah…nope! While this story wasn’t quite as thrilling as Brother, it was definitely scary from cover to cover and once again, Ahlborn nailed the twist at the end.

A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

This was the first time I’d read any of Martin’s work and I’m definitely hooked. I watched the TV show, Game of Thrones before I read this and I don’t think that was a mistake since this 835-page, high-fantasy beast of a book took me a couple of weeks to get through. I’d recommend watching the show before reading the novels and since they’re still being written, you won’t completely spoil yourself. I read the first book this year, and I’d like to read more of the series in 2020!

Dangerous Lies by Becca Fitzpatrick

Because I couldn’t get enough of Fitzpatrick’s writing, I grabbed Dangerous Lies, which did not disappoint. The story reminded me of James Patterson’s Confessions of A Murder Suspect, but it was much better and even more thrilling. I read this book whenever I could and finished it in a few days. Also, I so did not see the twist at the end.

Black Ice by Becca Fitzpatrick

After I finished Dangerous Lies, I devoured Black Ice in two days and now, in January, I’m thinking of rereading it again, already! Black Ice a brilliant romantic thriller that truly kept me at the edge of my seat. Page-turner, indeed. It’s a story of unexpected love, survival, humans versus the elements, danger and dark pasts that swirls altogether in one big mess beneath a blizzard, bears and, badgers. This story is full of suspense and perfectly timed tension.

Stormrage by Richard A. Knaak

If you know me, you know I’ve been a player and big fan of the online MMORPG, World of Warcraft and its even greater Blizzard Universe with its extensive lore and backstories. I genuinely do love the characters and stories and Stormrage delivered. I’ve only read a few of the books from the WoW storyline—The War of The Ancients Archive (The Well of Eternity, The Sundering, The Dragon Soul) written by Richard A. Knaak and Before the Storm by Christie Golden. The stories surrounding Malfurion Stormrage, and his brother Illidan, Tyrande Whisperwind, Sylvannas Windrunner, and the dragons are all my favorites and Stormrage only deepens my love for this massive tale.

Kiss Me Deadly – A Collection of Supernatural Romance Short Stories

I read this collection just for the section from Becca Fitzpatrick that is set just before the Hush, Hush saga and found some new authors I’d like to read more from, particularly Diana Peterfrund after reading her short story, Errant (Killer Unicorns 0.5). I didn’t complete this novel because I found some of the other short stories a bit lackluster, but Fitzpatrick and Peterfrund delivered thrilling, expertly crafted stories and compelling characters.

 The Lord of the Rings

(Fellowship of The Ring, Two Towers, and Return of The King (not yet completed))

I started this series at the beginning of the summer with high hopes that I’d finish it by the end of august and while that held true for the first two novels, I didn’t quite meet that goal, and likely won’t finish it by the end of the year. I blew through the first two novels and then the third one threw me into a reading slump just because of the pacing of the story. Don’t get me wrong, I genuinely do love the Lord of The Rings, but you can’t deny the books are a tough read sometimes. This was my first time reading the series and I’d seen the movies plenty of times beforehand but reading them has been a special experience for me. This is one of, if not my favorite story of all time. I read the books along with the audiobook which only made the reading that much more immersive and special, especially with all of the songs!

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager

Imagine a horror at Hogwarts but with creepy, crawling wallpaper. Lock Every Door by Riley Sager is an enchanting, thrilling story about what people will do for money, the sacrifices one will make to keep their job and the consequences for looking too closely at the hotel Montgomery’s dark past. The story is jam-packed, suspenseful, and intense. I couldn’t put the book down and the twist at the end just made me think, whaaaaat?

Blossom In Winter by Melanie Martins

Blossom in Winter is a thrilling story of forbidden love, desire, dark pasts, and the lengths one will go to protect everything that matters most to them. This romantic thriller deals with the incredible satisfaction and happiness that comes with falling in love and the consequences of forbidden relationships. The story is fast-paced, engaging, and heart-wrenching from start to finish. The characters are all so unique and compelling and they really tug at the readers heart. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel -so much so that I devoured the entire 391 pages in less than two days. I honestly cannot wait for the sequel to come out so I can see what happens next to the character and where their choices take them.

Don’t forget to check out my interview with Melanie Martins.

Sins of the Son

This year I also read a book from one of my clients, Frank Lucianus, Sins of The Son and while I am not really at liberty to discuss the details of the project, I’d like to say that the story was  a brilliant wedding of 1990’s mafia madness, forbidden love, bad blood, and opulence. I couldn’t put the novel down and now I can’t wait to read the next book in his series.

Short Stories From Wattpad

I don’t want to go into too much detail about the books I read on Wattpad since you can read them for yourself, but I wanted to include them because they were pretty long-form and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Below are the short stories I read for 2019.

• Off Script by @ashleymariefiction on Wattpad.com - Click Here

• Jake the Panty-Ripper by @KanyeInterruptedMe on Wattpad.com - Click Here

• Cruel Temptations by @matemenot on Wattpad.com - Click Here

Cruel Temptations isn’t finished yet, so it’s safe to say that I’m still reading that one for a while, but of the three, my favorite was Jake the Panty-Ripper. It’s a steamy tale of two unlikely lovers—one a struggling, hardworking girl—and the other a motorcycle riding, panty-ripping, murderer. It’s thrilling start to finish and multiple parts moved me to tears. This digital short story rivals Hush, Hush for my number one read

And that’s it for my 2019 Book Wrap-up! What books did you read this year? Have you read any from my list? I’d love to hear about it so, comment below!

—Payton