The Books I Most Enjoyed Reading in 2019

As always, I did a lot of reading over this past year, both for myself and with my children.  And as I've done over the past many years now, I've compiled a list of the books (or series of books) I most enjoyed over the course of the year (in this case, A.D. 2019). Most of these books were not published in 2019, but they are among the many that I've read in the Year of Our Lord 2019.

Two points of special significance to note: First, having begun the Realm of the Elderlings series in the final couple of months of 2018, I read through the remainder of the series in 2019. All told, those sixteen books took me from November 2018 until August 2019. They had been on my "to-read" list for well over a decade, and I'm sorry I didn't get to them sooner, but they were worth the wait and well worth the investment of time and energy in reading them.

Second, I set out to read the books of Lloyd Alexander with a couple of my youngest children, not even knowing that, before the year was over, my son and daughter-in-law would name their second daughter in part after one of Lloyd Alexander's most famous heroines. That inspired me to look more closely at the author, only to discover quite a few books that I had not previously been aware of. By the time it was all said and done, I managed to read pretty much all of Lloyd Alexander's books in 2019 (there's one that I read in 2018, and there are a couple of children's biographies I did not read).

All that being said, I've taken a slightly different approach in this case than I have in past years.  In addition to my regular list, I've also included a list of my favorite Lloyd Alexander books, and then a short third list with the non-fiction books I most enjoyed in 2019.


The Books I Most Enjoyed Reading in 2019

1. The Realm of the Elderlings (series) - Robin Hobb

2. The Green Ember (series) - S.D. Smith

3. The Extraordinary Adventures of Ordinary Boy (series) - William Boniface

4. The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep - H.G. Parry

5. The Mad Scientists' Club (series) - Bertrand Brinley

6. The Reckoners (series) - Brandon Sanderson

7. Last Things - Jacqueline West

8. The Cat of Bubastes - G.A. Henty

9. The Wingfeather Saga (series) - Andrew Peterson

10. The Lost Girl - Anne Ursu

11. The Rithmatist - Brandon Sanderson

12. The Alchemist’s Apprentice, and The Family Pride (Zero Enigma V, VI) - Christopher Nuttall

13. Second Hand Curses - Drew Hayes

14. Good Dog - Dan Gemeinhart

15. Siege Tactics (Spells, Swords, & Stealth #4) - Drew Hayes

16. Cursed, and Mirror Image (Schooled in Magic #17–18) - Christopher Nuttall

17. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - Kate DiCamillo

18. The Inquisitor’s Apprentice (series) - Chris Moriarty

19. The Mortality Doctrine (series) - James Dashner

20. The Poe Estate - Polly Shulman


The Lloyd Alexander Books I Most Enjoyed in 2019

1. The Chronicles of Prydain (series) - Lloyd Alexander

2. My Love Affair with Music - Lloyd Alexander

3. Westmark (series) - Lloyd Alexander

4. The Marvelous Misadventures of Sebastian - Lloyd Alexander (read in 2018)

5. Vesper Holly (series) - Lloyd Alexander

6. Janine Is French - Lloyd Alexander

7. Gawgon and the Boy - Lloyd Alexander

8. The Gypsy Rizka - Lloyd Alexander

9. The King’s Fountain (children's picture book) - Lloyd Alexander

10. The Town Cats and other Tales - Lloyd Alexander

11. The First Two Lives of Lukas-Kasha - Lloyd Alexander

12. And Let the Credit Go - Lloyd Alexander

13. The Fortune Tellers (children's picture book) - Lloyd Alexander

14. The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio - Lloyd Alexander

15. The Iron Ring - Lloyd Alexander


The Non-Fiction Books I Most Enjoyed in 2019

Thank, Praise, Serve, and Obey - William Weedon

Defending Boyhood - Anthony Esolen

Liturgy of the Ordinary - Tish Harrison Warren

The Quotidian Mysteries, and Acedia & Me - Kathleen Norris

You Are What You Love - James K.A. Smith

The Fiction I Most Enjoyed Reading in 2018

I do a lot of reading, not only for work, but for my personal enjoyment and relaxation. All you gotta do is put a book in my hand, and I'm on "vacation," even if only for an hour or two. It is also one of my greatest joys in life to read aloud to my children; that remains my primary recreational activity, as well as a personal priority for most of my days throughout the year.

With all of that in mind, for a number of years now I've tallied up my favorite books at the end of each year. That is to say, not a list of my favorite books published over the course of the year, but the books I've most enjoyed reading during the year, whether to myself or to my children. I focus on the works of fiction, rather than confusing things with the many books of non-fiction that I use for work and for my own personal "continuing education."

Thanks to Amazon and my local library for helping me to discover many things I would otherwise never come across. And thanks to Goodreads for helping me track my reading, and for keeping me in touch with my literary friends all over the place. Above all, thanks to my children for sharing so many great books and stories with me over the years. So many grand adventures we have had together, and the shared experience is no small part of what I treasure in the books I read.

Kudos to my son Nicholai for encouraging me to read (finally!) the Farseer Trilogy this past year, after roughly twenty years of owning those books. As you'll note, it is at the top of this year's list! A shout out to my brother-in-law, Rob Polk, for calling my attention to author Dan Gemeinhart, whose books we have since enjoyed very much. He was one of several new discoveries in 2018, along with Lisa Graff and Polly Horvath, who have been added to our gallery of "favorite authors." You'll note a number of books by those three on this list.

I could easily comment on each of these books and series, but you can see my "reviews" on Goodreads if you're interested in seeing more of my thoughts on any of them. I do want to call special attention to The Messengers series, by Lisa M. Clark. Not only did my family and I enjoy these books very much (the conclusion is #3 on this year's list, and the first two books were on my list from 2017), but they are a profound expression of the Christian faith and life, masterfully crafted into a fine fictional story in a most natural and compelling fashion. I recommend The Messengers highly.

And on that note, without any further ado, I here present the fictional books (and series of books) that I most enjoyed reading in 2018:


1. Farseer Trilogy (series) - Robin Hobb

2. Lockwood & Co. (series) - Jonathan Stroud

3. The Messengers: Revealed (The Messengers, #3) - Lisa M. Clark

4. Lost in the Sun & Umbrella Summer - Lisa Graff

5. Super Powereds (series) - Drew Hayes

6. Forging Hephaestus - Drew Hayes

7. Lethal White (Cormoran Strike, #4) - “Robert Galbraith” (J.K. Rowling)

8. A Tangle of Knots & A Clatter of Jars - Lisa Graff

9. The Broken Lands & The Boneshaker - Kate Milford

10. The Brotherband Chronicles (series) - John Flanagan

11. The Night Garden - Polly Horvath

12. The Zero Equation & The Family Shame (The Zero Enigma, #3 & #4) - Christopher Nuttall

13. The Candymakers and the Great Chocolate Chase - Wendy Mass

14. The Royal Sorceress (series) - Christopher Nuttall

15. Some Kind of Courage - Dan Gemeinhart

16. Wereworld (series) - Curtis Jobling

17. Absolutely Almost - Lisa Graff

18. Very Rich - Polly Horvath

19. Justin Case (series) - Rachel Vail

20. Everything on a Waffle & One Year in Coal Harbor - Polly Horvath

21. The Promised Lie (The Unwritten Words, #1) - Christopher Nuttall

22. Time Jumpers (Five Kingdoms, #5) - Brandon Mull

23. Flashback (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #7) - Shannon Messenger

24. The Flaxfield Quartet (series) - Toby Forward

25. Run Program - Scott Meyer

26. Scar Island - Dan Gemeinhart

27. The Trolls - Polly Horvath

28. The Empress (The Diabolic, #2) - S.J. Kincaid

29. The Bunny’s (series) - Polly Horvath

30. The Forbidden Library (series) - Django Wexler

My Favorite Fantasy Fiction Books from 2017

Here are the fantasy fiction books (or series of books) I most enjoyed reading aloud to my children, or else reading quietly to myself (mostly while riding my exercise bike), in the Year of Our Lord 2017. Obviously, many if not most of these books were published prior to 2017. A few of them are books that I have read before, but I had the joy of rediscovering them with my children this year.


The Secret Keepers - Trenton Lee Stewart

Chronicles of Narnia (series) - C.S. Lewis

Five Kingdoms (series - partial) - Brandon Mull

Auggie & Me - R.J. Palacio

The Messengers (series - partial) - Lisa M. Clark

Lockwood & Co. (series) - Jonathan Stroud

The Secret Series - Pseudonymous Bosch

Partials Sequence (trilogy) - Dan Wells

The Gordian Knot / Graduation Day (Schooled in Magic series) - Christopher G. Nuttall

Cornelia and the Audacious Escapades of the Somerset Sisters - Lesley M.M. Blume

Oracles of Delphi Keep (series) - Victoria Laurie

The Vengekeep Prophecies (series) - Brian Farrey

The Rising Star of Rusty Nail - Lesley M.M. Blume

The Zero Blessing - Christopher G. Nuttall

Tales of Magic (series) - Edward Eager

Full-Ride - Margaret Peterson Haddix

Tennyson - Lesley M.M. Blume

Jinx (series) - Sage Blackwood

The Books of Elsewhere (series) - Jacqueline West

The Paladin Prophecy (series) - Mark Frost

Julia and the Art of Practical Travel - Lesley M.M. Blume

The Menagerie (trilogy) - Tui T. Sutherland & Kari Sutherland

Guardian Glass - Christopher G. Nuttall

Before the Devil Breaks You (Diviners series) - Libba Bray

The Night Gardener - Jonathan Auxier

The Real Boy - Anne Ursu

In Over Their Heads (sequel to Under Their Skin) - Margaret Peterson Haddix

Heroes of Olympus (series) - Rick Riordan

Keeper of the Lost Cities (series - partial) - Shannon Messenger

Tuesdays at the Castle (series) - Jessica Day George


fyi - Here is my "Year in Books" for 2017 on Goodreads

The Books I Most Enjoyed in 2016

For the past number of years, my children and I have voted on our favorite read-aloud books of the year (that is, of those we enjoyed together in the course of the calendar year).  I'm not sure we'll be able to do that anymore, since I've been reading to several different groupings of the children in addition to the reading that I do for myself.  So, for this year, at any rate, I'm simply offering the following list of the (fictional) books that I most enjoyed in 2016.  Some of these I read to myself, others I read to my children.  For the most part, I've not included isolated books from ongoing series that we've read (and listed) in the past, since it's difficult to evaluate those individual installments.  In some cases, though, where a book or a couple of books from a series have stood alone and stood out, I've identified those where pertinent.

With that preamble, here are the fifteen (fictional) books (or series of books) that I most enjoyed in 2016, listed here in proximate order, beginning with my most favorite:

Infinite Regress & Past Tense (Schooled in Magic, #9 & 10)
by Christopher Nuttall

Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike, #3)
by Robert Galbraith

The Kronos Chronicles (trilogy)
by Marie Rutkoski

The Diabolic
by S.J. Kincaid

The Heir Chronicles (five books)
by Cinda Williams Chima

The Nethergrim series (two books so far)
by Matthew Jobin

The Books of Beginning (trilogy)
by John Stephens

Ramona series (eight books)
by Beverly Cleary

Split the Party & Going Rogue (Spells, Swords, & Stealth, #2 & 3)
by Drew Hayes

Dodger
by Terry Pratchett

Bookworm series (four books)
by Christopher Nuttall

The Twistrose Key & Thornghost
by Tone Almhjell

Switch (Savvy, #3)
by Ingrid Law

Henry Reed series (five books)
by Keith Robertson

The Toymaker’s Apprentice
by Sherri L. Smith

Our Read-Aloud Favorites of 2015

Our reading together suffered somewhat over this past year, as it has become more and more difficult to find blocks of time when both I and my listeners are available.  Given our barista's work schedule and our ballerina's dancing regimen, in addition to the usual church and school routines, we weren't able to read as many books as in previous years.  Nevertheless, we still made it through three dozen books together, and, as our custom has been, we recently voted on our favorite books (or series of books) of those that we read and heard in 2015.  So, here follows the top dozen in order of preference (note that there were ties for third and ninth place):

Top Twelve Read-Aloud Favorites of 2015

1. Mister Max (trilogy), by Cynthia Voigt

2. The Unwanteds (series of 6 books so far), by Lisa McMann

3. Chronicles of Egg (trilogy), by Geoff Rodkey

3. Storm of Lightning (book 5 in the Michael Vey series),
by Richard Paul Evans

5. Revealed, and Redeemed (books 6 & 7 in the Missing series),
by Margaret Peterson Haddix

6. 100 Cupboards (trilogy), by N. D. Wilson

7. The Clockwork Three, by Matthew J. Kirby

8. Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library, by Chris Grabenstein

9. The Grimm Legacy, and The Wells Bequest, by Polly Shulman

9. Books of Umber (trilogy), by P. W. Catanese

11. The Year of Shadow, by Claire Legrand

12. The 13th Reality (series of 4 books), by James Dashner

Our Read-Aloud Favorites of 2014

The time has come, the walrus said, to talk of many things: of shoes, of ships, of sealing wax, of cabbages and kings.  Or something like that.  My young listeners and I have read through 56 books together over this Year of Our Lord 2014, including a number of multi-book series, and now we have voted on our favorites, tallied the results, and compiled a list for the edification of the masses.

My esteemed listeners are Monica, Ariksander, Oly'anna, Justinian, Frederick, and, as of this year, Gerhardt.  They range in age from 18 to 8 years old.  Their personalities, interests, and activities vary, as anyone should expect, but the books that we share together over the course of the year are one of the things that we hold in common and hold dear.  For many, many years now, reading aloud to my children has been one of my favorite pastimes and a daily priority.

In considering our favorites each year, we count each series as a single entry.  But new installments in a series we began in a previous year are taken on their own merits in the current tally.  This year, each of my listeners, and I as the reader, voted for our twelve favorites in order of our preference.  So each book or series could potentially receive seven votes.  First position received 12 points, second position received 11 points, and so on and so forth, down to 1 point for twelfth position.  Therefore, the maximum number of points possible for any one book or series would have been 84 points.  The number one entry, when all was tallied, said, and done, received 78 points; so it was a strong favorite.

Noteworthy among the books that we read this year were entries by my brother-in-law, Robert Polk, and by a fellow pastor here in the Indiana District, the Reverend Thomas Sabel.  Both of them did well in our year-end tally, as the results below will demonstrate.

We enjoy the experience of reading and listening together.  The books enable to go on grand adventures from the comfort and safety of our living room, where we are normally gathered for this shared activity.  We often become quite attached to the characters in the stories, and emotionally involved in their hopes and hurts, their trials and tribulations, their relationships and developments.  Aside from building vocabulary and exercising imagination, the books we discover together invite a thoughtful consideration of life "in the real world," which also gives us worthwhile topics to discuss.  Even the books that didn't wind up as "favorites" have been our "friends" for a little while, and for that we give thanks to our Lord, the Giver of all good gifts.

And for all our other friends, we offer the following list of favorites with our recommendation that you and yours might also find enjoyment, perhaps even edification, in some of them:

Top Fifteen Read-Aloud Favorites of 2014

1. Rangers Apprentice (series of 12 books) - John A. Flanagan

2. The Great Brain (series of 8 books) - John Fitzgerald

3. Operation Tree Roper - Robert A. Polk

4. Adventurers Wanted (series of 4 books so far) - M. L. Forman

5. Michael Vey 4: Hunt for Jade Dragon - Richard Paul Evans

6. Legends of Luternia - Thomas Sabel

7. Iron Hearted Violet - Kelly Barnhill

8. Twice Upon a Time (series of 3 books) - Wendy Mass

9. The Mysterious Benedict Society (series of 4 books) - Trenton Lee Stewart

10. Grey Griffins // Clockwork Chronicles (two trilogies) - Derek Benz & J. S. Lewis

11. The Key to Rondo; and The Wizard of Rondo - Emily Rodda

12. The Hamlet Chronicles (series of 7 books) - Gregory Maguire

13. The Limit - Kristen Landon

14. Risked - Margaret Paterson Haddix (Book Six in the Missing Series)

15. The Expeditioners and the Secret of King Triton’s Lair - S. S. Taylor

Our Favorite Read-Aloud Books of 2013

This Year of Our Lord 2013 has been another marvelous literary adventure for me and my five middle children listeners: Monica, Ariksander, Oly'anna, Justinian, and Frederick.  In January, we voted on what I should read aloud over the course of the year, and we’ve managed to make it through most of that list: 47 books in all.  Soon we’ll be voting on books to read aloud and listen to in the New Year, although we’ll begin with the books remaining on our current list, including one of my long-time favorites, the Great Brain series, by John D. Fitzgerald.  Meanwhile, we’ve voted on our favorites of the year now drawing to a close.

Although there weren’t quite the standout series such as we enjoyed from Suzanne Collins and Brandon Mull in 2012, there were some unique gems and fun discoveries among this year’s crop.  It is interesting to me, to see which books rise to the top of the pile across the range of ages and personalities among my listeners.  I’m often surprised, and therefore instructed, by the choices that my children make: It helps me to know and understand them better, both individually and collectively, and it gives me a new perspective on the books, as well.  Anyway, there’s a lot of variety in the literature we share together, and reading aloud to my children remains one of my greatest joys in life.  I’m happy to say that I’ve also had opportunity to read to my grandchildren in 2013, but I haven’t asked them to vote on their favorites at this stage.  All in due season!

Well, then, on behalf of my listeners, I happily publish the following list of our Top Eighteen Read-Aloud Favorites of 2013.  We've grouped sequels and series into single entries, rather than trying to segregate the individual titles.  In at least a few cases, we are eagerly awaiting further installments yet to come.  Meanwhile, there are plenty of books in the world to occupy us.  It should be noted that most of the following books were not published in 2013, but were among those that I was privileged to read aloud in these past twelve months.  Each of the following entries received at least two votes (out of six possible); the top choice received five votes.

Top Eighteen Read-Aloud Favorites of 2013

1 - What the Dickens, by Gregory Maguire

2 - the My Side of the Mountain trilogy, by Jean Craighead George

3 - Chasing the Prophecy (final book in the Beyonders trilogy), by Brandon Mull

4 - Candymakers, by Wendy Mass

5 - The Chronicles of Prydain (five books), by Lloyd Alexander

6 - Reckless; and its sequel, Fearless, by Cornelia Funke

7 - The Secret Life of Ms. Finkelman; and its sequel,
     The Mystery of the Missing Everything, by Ben H. Winters

8 - the Missing series (five books so far), by Margaret Peterson Haddix

9 - the Jack Blank trilogy, by Matt Myklusch

10 - Cosmic, by Frank Cottrell Boyce

11 - Icefall, by Matthew J. Kirby

12 - The Mostly True Story of Jack, by Kelly Barnhill

13. Liesl & Po, by Lauren Oliver

14. Michael Vey 3: Battle of the Ampere, by Richard Paul Evans

15. Summer and Bird, by Katherine Catmull

16. Escape from Zobadak, by Brad Gallagher

17. Dragon Rider, by Cornelia Funke

18. Jimmy Coates: Blackout (book 7), by Joe Craig

Our Top Twelve Read-Aloud Favorites of 2012

For many years now, from when my Zach & Bean were small fries, one of my favorite pastimes has been reading aloud to my children.  Over the years, I've plowed through numerous books, with lots of highlights along the way.  My doctoral work slowed down the pace considerably, especially in the final years of dissertation writing. But Harry Potter came to the rescue even then, while also serving as something of a transition within our family: It was really the last series that I read aloud to DoRena and Zachary, and the first significant set of books that I read to Nicholai and Monica.  After that, it was a bit hit-and-miss for awhile, because it was frankly difficult to find anything worthy to follow the magic of Ms. Rowling.  Last year shook us out of our slump, and this Year of Our Lord 2012 has been a marvelous literary adventure for me and my five middle children listeners: Monica, Ariksander, Oly'anna, Justinian, and Frederick.

Especially as various other projects and pursuits have gone by the wayside for me, whether being finished up or given up, I've been able to read aloud to my children with regular consistency this year.  Unless I'm out of town for something or other, which happens on occasion, I generally read at least half an hour each day; and, sometimes, when we're closing in on the end of a good book or series, it might be as much as several hours. Many a family day has been spent largely in the pages of a story, in the company of beloved characters.  In my life on earth, there is hardly anything that I treasure more fondly than this time spent with my children.

So far this year, we've shared a total of forty-four books together, my middlings and me.  We'll probably devour another couple or three before the year is finally finished; although the observances of Christmas Tide will slow us down, naturally.  But the next thing on our list are the Chronicles of Prydain, by Lloyd Alexander  — one of my own childhood favorites, among the many that I enjoyed listening to my own Dad read aloud to me — and I'm quite certain that we won't be able to finish that whole series (five books in all) before the New Year.

Anyway, in typical Stuckwisch fashion, the six of us who read and listen together voted on our favorite reads of 2012, and tabulated the results this afternoon.  Because we like to share such things, and because others might discover worthy treasures to enjoy within their own family enclaves, I happily publish the following list of our Top Twelve Read-Aloud Favorites.  We've grouped sequels and series into single entries, rather than trying to segregate the individual titles; and in some cases, we are breathlessly awaiting subsequent volumes, yet to be published. Meanwhile, there are plenty of books in the world to occupy us.  It should be noted that most of the following books were not published in 2012, but were among those that I was privileged to read aloud in the course of the year.  I've exercised paternal privilege in unilaterally resolving the numerous ties that occurred, but each of the following received at least two votes (out of six possible).

Top Twelve Read-Aloud Favorites of 2012

1 - the Jimmy Coates series (six books and counting), by Joe Craig

2 - the Michael Vey series (two books so far), by Richard Paul Evans

3 - The Candy Shop War; and, Arcade Catastrophe, by Brandon Mull

4 - the Gregor series (five books), by Suzanne Collins

5 - the Percy Jackson series (five books), by Rick Riordan

6 - the Beyonders trilogy (two books so far), by Brandon Mull

7 - Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes, by Jonathan Auxier

8 - the Fablehaven series (five books), by Brandon Mull

9 - The King in the Window; and its sequel of sorts, The Steps Across the Water, by Adam Gopnik

10 - Savvy; and its sequel, Scumble, by Ingrid Law

11 - the Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins

12 - the Ghosthunters series (four books), by Cornelia Funke

Astute readers will notice that our favorite authors of the year were Brandon Mull (nine books, three series) and Suzanne Collins (eight books, two series).  Bring 'em on, Brandon and Suzanne; we're hungry for more.