Best Books I Read in 2019

Looking back at the 45 books I read in 2019, I loved quite a few of them. A lot ended up being in the friendzone (I liked 'em, but didn't love 'em), and a few were so rotten they filled me with rage. But who cares about them? Let's focus on the best of the bunch.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't typically read romance novels, but the buzz around this one lured me in. The setup is a brilliant idea: the handsome young son of the U.S. president falls for a handsome young British prince. It uses the tried, true, and (usually) tired theme of having two future lovers hate each other at first sight before falling madly in love. But it does it with a real twist, that twist being that it actually does it well.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Reading this book about a privileged, beautiful young woman made me feel I was in a bit of daze myself, but without the gargantuan amounts of drugs the main character takes to keep herself in a similar state. She was trying to sleep for a year, but even when she was awake she wasn't truly conscious.

The unnamed narrator just wants a reboot, and for her that means a year of sleep. "Life was fragile and fleeting and one had to be cautious, sure, but I would risk death if it meant I could sleep all day and become a whole new person," she tells us.

What to Watch January 2020

New year, new shows! I've listed my shows to watch for as well as complete listings for what's new on various streaming services. It can be hard to keep track of it all, but with a little list in your life it's all doable.

And away we go!

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

You're going to grow to care about this character and the life-changing journey she's on. It's a little rough around the edges at the start, but stick with it.

Queenie has a lot of issues, with men, with family, and with how she's willing to let herself be treated. I didn't have the exact issues or have them to the degree Queenie did when I was young and single, but man oh man did I make some bad dating choices, and it was often down to not knowing my own self worth or to immediately walk away from obvious BS. She has the additional challenge of dealing with racist attitudes, even from men who are trying to win her over. Her story really resonated for me, as I'm sure it will for a lot of women.

The 10 Best TV Shows of 2019

TV seems to just keep getting better and better, and 2019 was a doozy of a year for viewers. Several great new programs arrived on the scene, but it was also a killer year for new seasons of some existing shows. We even got two new streaming services that both offered must-see programs out of the gate from Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus.

I've compiled a list of my 10 top shows of the year. In a sign of the times, the overwhelming majority of them came from a premium service like HBO or a streaming service.