A Fiction Feast: The 5 Best Books I Read in 2019

Imagine that you’re attending a New Year’s celebration at some ritzy hotel; the party is so fancy that you’re seriously starting to wonder if you should’ve worn elbow-length silk gloves and a diamond-studded tiara (not that you actually own either of those, but still). They’re just about to start serving dinner, and you’re expecting it to taste as good as Edmund’s Turkish Delight from The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (AKA: so dang good that you’d willingly sell out your siblings to a she-devil). But when the tuxedoed waiter finally carts out the first course, instead of a soul-corruptingly delicious soup or salad, a novel sits on your plate. In a shocking turn of events, the evening’s meal isn’t going to be food at all, but a feast consisting of the best books of 2019! What books would you insist be part of your five courses? Continue scrolling down to see mine!

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The Best Books of 2019

The Soup Course: Sorcery of Thorns

Any list of the best books of 2019 must, in my humble opinion, start with Sorcery of Thorns. To be honest, nobody was more surprised by my adoration of this book than I was. I picked up the author’s debut last year and was about as impressed as Princess Jasmine was with Prince Ali’s over-the-top entrance to her city (AKA: not impressed at all).

But once again, Charlie Bowater’s eye-meltingly beautiful cover art swayed me. (I think I must’ve been a magpie in another life, because I’m ABSOLUTELY WEAK for pretty, shiny things.) But I’m so glad that it did, because Sorcery of Thorns is more than just a pretty face. It’s got sword-stabbing librarians, law-breakingly dapper demons, a magical deal with the devil, and a slow burn romance that moves about as quickly as Gary the Snail (which is just the way I like ’em because apparently I love to torture myself). It’s basically everything my book-loving heart could’ve asked for.

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The Fish Course: The Bird and the Blade

As anybody who has ever played Super Smash Bros. will tell you, the character you choose to play as makes a big difference. For example, back in my high school days, I was pretty okay if I used Zelda. But if I was forced to play as Bowser or Mr. Game and Watch, then I inevitably spent the duration of the game being blasted off the screen.

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It’s the same with books (and I’m not talking about the blasting-off-the-screen part). What I mean is this: characters can make a story, or they can break it. And holy characters, Batman! The Bird and the Blade has a highly memorable cast that makes it shine as bright as the ever-coveted Smash Ball (I apologize to any of my non-gaming friends out there who have no idea what I’m talking about).

The Main Course: I Love You So Mochi

Have you ever devoured something so sinfully delicious that if you were stranded on a desert island and could only bring one thing, you would choose a lifetime supply of it over an actually useful item, such as a boat? I have. And it just so happens to be this book.

I Love You So Mochi holds a piece of my heart within its marshmallow-soft pages, and is without a doubt the best book I read in 2019. It’s the sweetest, most soul-filling novel I’ve had the pleasure of picking up in a long time, and I will probably most definitely spend the rest of eternity screaming into the endless void about its unadulterated fluffy cuteness.

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The Dessert Course: A Curse So Dark and Lonely

Hello, my name is Kat and I’m addicted to Beauty and the Beast retellings. They’re like…my jam. They butter my waffles and set my rye bread a’toasting (which is probably not even a real word, but whatever).

I’ve read about as many different versions of this one fairy tale as there are Dalmatians stolen by the evil Cruella de Vil. But despite that, A Curse So Dark and Lonely managed to present this intensely familiar story in a refreshingly bright light. Basically, it’s like the Lysol of BatB retellings; it made the dusty, old plot sparkle and shine like it was a brand-spanking new concept.

The Cheese Course: The Winternight Trilogy

These books are like oversized sweaters, cinnamon-scented candles, pumpkin patches, and ambient rainy days all rolled into one. In other words, they’re probably the most beautifully atmospheric things in literary existence. It took me a couple of tries to get past the first three or four chapters of The Girl in the Tower, but once I did, I was completely enthralled by the author’s flawlessly elegant writing style and the magical way she brought medieval Russia to life.