Off The TBR’s Best Reads of 2019

It’s the last day of the year which means it’s time for my Best Reads of 2019 post! I’d hoped to write one more review before the end of the year but that isn’t gonna happen. That’s fine though because I have what I need for this list already. And while I didn’t read as many books as I’d hoped this year I did read some really good ones!

2019 was another great year for speculative fiction. I’ve heard it said by many readers that we are in a new golden age of spec fic. I think that’s true. Much of that has to do with some great new authors being published by traditional publishing houses, but a lot of that has to do with the rise of really great books coming out of the self-published/indie publishing realm.

What follows below are those books I read this year (regardless of publication date) that I rated a 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars. There were a total of eight books to make the list. Of this group there was one self-published title, and two formerly self-published titles that were picked up by a major publisher, one of which hasn’t actually been published yet but I read the ARC. I’ll start with the 4.5 group, move to the 5.0 group, and finish with my favorite book of the year. Apart from the final book there is no particular order to this list other than the two main groupings.

Month In Review: March 2019

March has come and gone here at Off The TBR! Spring has come (sort of) and with it the year is kicking into gear. This is the point where I start to get a sense for how busy things are gonna get from now through summer now that baseball season and spring ballet season has arrived (my kids extra-curricular activities). All in all March was a good month here on the blog. I did pretty good with my reading and I can’t complain about the number of reviews I posted. I did have one off weekend but that couldn’t be helped. I also managed to read some really good books. So without further ado here’s what happened…

The Winter Road Review

Author: Adrian Selby
Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date:  November 13, 2018
Format: Paperback
Pages: 496
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars

The Circle – a thousand miles of perilous forests and warring clans. No one has ever tamed such treacherous territory before, but ex-soldier Teyr Amondsen, veteran of a hundred battles, is determined to try.

With a merchant caravan protected by a crew of skilled mercenaries, Amondsen embarks on a dangerous mission to forge a road across the untamed wilderness that was once her home. But a warlord rises in the wilds of the Circle, uniting its clans and terrorizing its people. Teyr’s battles are far from over . . .”

I finished The Winter Road last night, set the book down, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. I had to collect myself a moment – had to pause and digest it. The Winter Road is a story of the pain and heartbreak that underlies human achievement. It’s the kind of book I haven’t read in a while, like you’re drawing back the curtain on some grand event in history where everyone knows the glorious result, only to discover the grim truth about how it came to be. One where the reader is pulled through the wringer along with the characters…you may be new on the other side, but the pain and disfigurement of the experience lingers, some parts of you are left in the bucket, and you’ll never go back to the way things were before.

Monthly Reading Goals: March 2019

Nicole over at Thoughts Stained With Ink talked me into trying out this post topic back in January and after running with it a couple of months I’ve decided to keep it going. For now at least.

This isn’t something I usually do because I hate locking myself into a specific reading list. It just never works out for me. As my previous Month In Review posts reveal, I rarely stick to what I set out to read. I might read more, less, or switch books out for others. Rarely to I finish the month as I intended.

So my ongoing rule for this topic will be…

Month In Review: February 2019

Well February is pretty much in the books, time for another month in review post. If I’m being honest with myself I’m a little disappointed in my output this month. I’d hoped to have at least one more if not two more reviews posted but that just didn’t happen. For some reason my reading pace slowed down this month so I didn’t read everything I’d planned, and I kinda blew off one whole weekend when I’d normally have finished a review. I think in part I was just tired, and in part I wanted to do some family stuff. There was also that week where 3 of the 5 staff in my department at work had the flu which meant I was really worn out that week. I did however do some maintenance on the blog which wasn’t something I’d planned…so maybe I’ll call it a draw. Anyway, here’s what happened this month on Off The TBR.

Monthly Reading Goals: February 2019

Nicole over at Thoughts Stained With Ink talked me into trying out this post topic last month and I’m giving it another go. This isn’t something I usually do because I hate locking myself into a specific reading list. It just never works out for me. And as my Month In Review for January revealed, though I read more books than I’d set out to read, only half of them were from my original list.

So my ongoing rule for this topic will be…

So yeah…I’m gonna look at them as more what you’d call guidelines and post my monthly reading goals. These are goals, or guidelines for what I would like to read during the month. I reserve the right at any time to chase the next shiny object that comes by and read something else. I also add the disclaimer that life can get in the way at any time. With those things being said, here’s my list of reads for February 2019…