This is my book list for 2019. Might add one more but here they are. I've boldfaced my favorite five but this was a year of great books.

My number one was "The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa"

1. Secret Asset (Liz Carlyle #2) - Stella Rimington
2. A Delicate Touch (Stone Barrington 48) - Stuart Woods
3. The Alice Network - Kate Quinn
4. Into the Water - Paula Hawkins
5. Illegal Action (Liz Carlyle #3) - Stella Rimington
6. Birth of the Loud - Ian S. Port
7. The Lost Girls of Paris - Pam Jenoff
8. Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty
9. The Huntress - Kate Quinn
10. Ordinary Grace - William Kent Krueger
11. Dead Line - Stella Rimington ( Liz Carlyle #4)
12. Wild Card (Stone Barrington, #49) - Stuart Woods
13. Among the Mad (Maisie Dobbs #6) - Jacqueline Winspear
14. The Mapping of Love and Death (Maisie Dobbs #7) - Jacqueline Winspear
15. China Dolls - LIsa See
16. A Lesson in Secrets (Maisie Dobbs #8) - Jacqueline Winspear
17. Elegy for Eddie (Maisie Dobbs #9) - Jacqueline Winspear
18. Leaving Everything Most Loved  (Maisie Dobbs #10) - Jacqueline Winspear
19. Winter Garden - Kristin Hannah
20.  A Dangerous Place (Maisie Dobbs #11)  - Jacqueline Winspear
21. The Latte Factor - David Bach
22. Journey to Munich (Maisie Dobbs #12)  - Jacqueline Winspear
23. In This Grave Hour (Maisie Dobbs #13)  - Jacqueline Winspear
24. To Die But Once (Maisie Dobbs #14)  - Jacqueline Winspear
25. The American Agent (Maisie Dobbs #15)  - Jacqueline Winspear
26. The Hearing Heartbeats - Jan-Philipp Sendker
27. Neon Prey - John Sandford
28.  Not Our Kind - Kitty Zeldis
29. Something in the Water - Catherine Steadman
30. Skin Game - (Teddy Faye #3) Stuart Woods
31. Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi
32. The New Girl (Gabriel Allon #19) - Daniel Silva
33. Contraband - (Stone Barrington #50) - Stuart Woods
34. The Memory Police - Yōko Ogawa
35. The Testaments (The Handmaid's Tale #2) - Margaret Atwood
36. American War - Omar El Akkad
37. The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane - Lisa See
38. Stealth - (Stone Barrington #51) - Stuart Woods
39. Blue Moon - (Jack Reacher #24) - Lee Child
40. The Accomplice -  Joseph Kanon
41. The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding - Jennifer Robson
42. Kindred - Octavia E. Butler
43. Nine Perfect Strangers - liane Moriarity

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A quick read but just not my cup of tea. Maybe glad I read it, but its for book club. Without loyalty to my fellow members, I might have put it down after the first few chapters. To neat and wildly predictable. Even the ending was trite to me.

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Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is a brillant book. Illuminating and filled with emotion. Forget the wonderful plot, and the interesting characters. This is a book about slavery. We have a decreasing number of first hand accounts of this period in out history and this book is an example of what a brilliant writer can do. Bravo. I can't wait to read more of her books.

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The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding by Jennifer Robson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A magnificent book. Illuminating on so many levels. It brought a small period in history into sharp focus and gave additional insight into the people of Great Britain. The relationship between the crown, gown and the people who made the gown is one that is hard to pin down but Robson has done it in spades and made a fan out of me.
One must speak of Roson's style. Its perfect for me. I could see the places and people and the story moved quickly. Not sure many authors could keep me interested in embroidery but she might be able to write about paint drying and make it interesting.

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The Accomplice by Joseph Kanon
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A good, uncomfortable book. The story is unpleasant.What did I expect in a story of Nazi hunters in the years after the war. Kanon pulls no punches and tells the story the way it might really happen.
I spent a week in Buenos Aires a few years ago and his descriptions of the city and its flavor are spot on. I hope he got a vacation out of the book.
It is obvious that Nazis ended up in South America. We don't know much of how they got there and how they were sustained as members of the upper classes in these countries. This book gives us some of that.

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Blue Moon by Lee Child
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I like all Lee Child books. I'm love the heroic and positive nature of Jack Reacher. He is gentle, caring and ruthless as hell. When people interact with him they see the side that is appropriate. Jack seems more authentic in this story, his friendships made in the context of the story are quite appropriate for him, maybe not so for others. For a few brief pages I thought he might have an amorous sidekick but alas, romance is not his forte.

Great book, great story bravo Lee. Write me another please.

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The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A great author but a too predictable story. I can't say I didn't like it, I did. I just felt I knew the outline of the story as it happened. Is this story based on some reality? That is the question that I kept asking.

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American War by Omar El Akkad
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A remarkable book describing a dystopian world that is a lot like our world. Hard to describe the plot without giving it all away. So read it. Its beautifully written and hangs together beautifully.

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The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A continuation of the masterpiece, The Handmaid's Tale this book brings the story to a somewhat more satisfying conclusion. It is delightfully readable and shows great polish and restraint leaving the reader to imagine much of what the world would look like.

I loved it.

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The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A remarkable book. This book is fascinating. It is a glimpse of a different, exotic world that is just a little like ours. How do people react to the slight loss of.... freedom, health, etc. Its so much more. Reading it puts you into this world and you get the feeling of hopelessness and dis pare.
Might well be described as a cozy dystopian novel.
Written in 1994, this is the first English translation.


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Contraband by Stuart Woods
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A great month for me. Silva and Woods, both with new books.
Stone Barrington is maturing nicely. In this 50th episode he is up to his usual tricks, solving mysteries and loving beautiful, and not particularly young, women. His taste seems to have matured but he is still the glamorus detective type from the movies of the thirties and forties, dressed in a dinner jacket and riding in his armored car or flying his own jet.

Keep 'em coming Stuart, I love every minute of this book, and all the others.

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The New Girl by Daniel Silva
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As usual I loved it. Without a doubt my favorite season of the year is when Daniel Sliva publishes a new book. I love the buzz among my friends and reading companions and then the joy of reading is his book. The story is timely, the prose is clever, the characters are interesting, fully dimentional and the story is complex enough to keep my interest.
I felt as though some characters might be being groomed to be the spotlight characters in futher novels. A spinoff series might be nice. Sarah is a character who might be able to stand alone.

Suffice it to say, the rest of the year is waiting for Daniel to write another book.

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