Happy new year and new DECADE! That’s so crazy to say, but it’s true! The 2010’s are behind us and the 2020’s are coming in hot.
2019 was a BIG year in so many ways, with much of it crammed into the last half of the year. I travelled a lot – to New York, Nashville, the beach twice, and of course Birmingham many times – Evan moved home from Birmingham and started a new job here in NWA, I started the process of building my first house, my brother got engaged to his high school sweetheart, we got the sweetest puppy on earth, Millie Mae, we got ENGAGED, Christmas came, and then I moved into that house that will soon be our very first married home. Whew. I am so incredibly thankful for how the Lord has provided and made Himself so very present in everything this year. 2020 is going to be oh so sweet.
It’s been so crazy that I feel like I’ve barely had any time to reflect on this past year, much less the decade, and think about goals, intentions, or things I want to start/do differently in 2020 and beyond. Honestly I’m just trying to keep my head above water while working, wedding planning, and unpacking. I think my goals can come a little later than January 1st and it’ll be okay. Lara Casey from Cultivate What Matters always says that there’s nothing magical about January 1st, and this year, I have to agree!
This is my very favorite post of the year because not only do I get to recap all the exciting things that happened throughout the year in real life, but I get to recap my year in BOOKS. 62 books. 19,890 pages. I guess when you take off the pressure of a “reading goal” for the year, it really motivates you to read more? I made lots of trips to Birmingham this year and traveled more in general, so I was able to do more audiobook “reading” than normal. But I just chose books that I was interested in and I naturally wanted to keep reading! You’ll see that the genres are all over the board, and I like it that way! I want to read and learn about as much as I can, and I feel like I did a pretty good job of that in 2019. Let me know if you’ve read and loved any of these on my 2019 list and what your favorites were for the year!
Everybody Always – Bob Goff
Hillbilly Elegy – J.D. Vance
The Library Book – Susan Orlean
Lessons from Madame Chic – Jennifer L. Scott
Redemption – Karen Kingsbury
Remember – Karen Kingsbury
The 5 Love Languages – Gary Chapman
Girl, Wash Your Face – Rachel Hollis
What She Knew – Gilly MacMillan
The Proposal – Jasmine Guillory
The Dreamers – Karen Thompson Walker
The Women in the Castle – Jessica Shattuck
The Jesus Dare – Jay Payleitner
Daisy Jones & The Six – Taylor Jenkins Reid
Columbine – Dave Cullen
The Wife Between Us – Greer Hendricks
The Miracle Morning – Hal Elrod
Decluttering at the Speed of Life – Dana K. White
Educated – Tara Westover
You Vs. You – Todd Cahill
Bad Blood – John Carreyrou
Fates and Furies – Lauren Groff
My Life in France – Julia Child
A Fatal Grace – Louise Penny
Julie & Julia – Julie Powell
Steal Away Home – Matt Carter & Aaron Ivey
The Perfect Son – Lauren North
The Woman in the Window – A.J. Finn
The Matchmaker – Elin Hilderbrand
Afraid of All The Things – Scarlet Hiltibidal
The Castaways – Elin Hilderbrand
Nantucket Nights – Elin Hilderbrand
What Alice Forgot – Liane Moriarty
Own Your Everyday – Jordan Lee Dooley
Whisper Network – Chandler Baker
How Could She – Lauren Mechling
The House Swap – Rebecca Fleet
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark – Michelle McNamara
Bachelor Nation – Amy Kaufman
Where the Crawdads Sing – Delia Owens
Unbroken – Laura Hillenbrand
The Beach Club – Elin Hilderbrand
Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel
Go Set a Watchman – Harper Lee
The Silent Patient – Alex Michaelides
I Am Malala – Malala Yousafzai
Return – Karen Kingsbury
Rejoice – Karen Kingsbury
Girl, Stop Apologizing – Rachel Hollis
The Testaments – Margaret Atwood
Uninvited – Lysa TerKeurst
The Secrets We Kept – Lara Prescott
Uncommon Type – Tom Hanks
Atomic Habits – James Clear
Revenge Wears Prada – Lauren Weisberger
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up – Marie Kondo
Freakishly Effective Social Media for Network Marketing – Ray and Jessica Higdon
Becoming – Michelle Obama
Listen, Sister – Debbi Coder & Wendi Green
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine – Gail Honeyman
Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets – J.K. Rowling
Loving Your Husband Before You Even Have One – Kim Vollendorf
And you can see my 2017 and 2018 years in review below if you want more inspiration for backlist titles to add to your list!
Turning the Page on 2018
Turning the Page on 2017
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