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If you are a regular visitor to my blog you may have worked out that I love to read. I frequently post book reviews here. When I review books, I give them a rating out of 5 stars, on the following scale:
5 = It was absolutely amazing, I loved it!
4 = It was good and I would definitely read more by the same author.
3 = It was quite good but I wouldn’t especially seek out more of the same.
2 = I didn’t enjoy it much, it wasn’t for me.
1 = It was terrible!
As you can see, this scale is quite personal and refers to how well the books suit my tastes, rather than how well written I think they are. Because of this, you may well enjoy a book that I have only rated 1 or 2 stars, or dislike a book that I rated 5 stars. But as a general recommendation, I want to share with you a list of all the books I rated 4 or 5 stars in 2019. These include a mixture of fiction and non-fiction, so hopefully, there will be something to suit every book lover. So without further ado, on to the books!
My Highest Rated Reads of 2019
Fiction
Jenny Colgan – The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris
4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a really lovely story about a young woman called Anna who travels abroad to work in a Parisian chocolate shop. There is a mixture of light-hearted, poignant and romantic themes, and it really paints an atmospheric picture of Paris. It made me want to visit Paris, and eat lots of chocolate!
Read my full review of The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris
Buy it on Amazon UK
Sophie Kinsella – Twenties Girl
4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sophie Kinsella is one of my favourite authors, and this is a hilarious book. It follows the story of Lara, who attends her 105-year-old great-aunt Sadie‘s funeral. She starts to hear voices, and soon finds herself talking to the ghost of her great-aunt! It turns out Lara is the only person who can see or hear Sadie, so you can imagine the strange situations this gets her into! It is not the most realistic story but I recommend it for a good laugh.
Read my full review of Twenties Girl
Buy it on Amazon UK
Jenny Colgan – Do You Remember the First Time
4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This book is about 32-year-old Flora who is unsatisfied with her life but wakes up one morning to find that she is 16 again. This gives her the opportunity to do some things differently the second time around – but she also wants to return to her 32-year-old self. It is a really fun book to read and keeps you wondering what will happen. I recommend this for a quick, light-hearted read!
Read my full review of Do You Remember the First Time
Buy it on Amazon UK
Laura Marshall – Friend Request
4 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a fascinating thriller about a woman named Louise who receives a Facebook friend request from a girl who supposedly died years ago. It is full of twists and turns as details are gradually uncovered about what happened in the lead-up to the girl’s death, as well as the strange present-day events. It got me hooked, and although it is thrilling it is not terrifying so I would recommend it even to those who don’t usually like thrillers.
Read my full review of Friend Request
Buy it on Amazon UK
Non-Fiction
Rhena Branch and Rob Willson – Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Dummies
5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I read this book when I was learning about Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. The theory side of this book is very interesting and easy to understand. It also contains a lot of practical exercises, as well as worksheets to fill in. It goes into detail on how to apply CBT to deal with specific problems, including depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem. The book is visually appealing and easy to navigate. I got a lot out of this book and would recommend it to anyone wanting to learn more about CBT and/or apply it in their lives.
Read my full review of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Dummies
Buy it on Amazon UK
Kelly-Marie Pollock – Forever Blue
5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Forever Blue is a poetry book containing a mixture of long and short poems. The poems are inspired by the author’s personal experiences and many of them are dark and deeply evocative. Although the poems are clearly deeply personal to the author, they are also very relatable. I think these poems are beautiful and I would recommend this book to any poetry lover, as well as anyone who has experienced mental illness or suffering of any kind because you are likely to relate to many of the poems.
Read my full review of Forever Blue
Buy it on Amazon UK
What were your highest rated reads of 2019?
What were your favourite books that you read in 2019? Have you read any of the books featured in this post? What did you think of them? Let me know in the comments.
I hope this post inspires you to check out some of the books I’ve mentioned, if you haven’t already read them. Happy reading!
Definitely going to check out “friend request”. It seems like a good read!
It’s a great read – I hope you enjoy it!
i absolutely need to read friend request. i love thrillers! i meant to read this ages ago but eventually forgot about it, so i’ll ask it to my tbr now xx
https://girlvsworldblog.com/
It’s one of my top favourite books I’ve read – if you love thrillers then you will definitely enjoy it too! xx
Friend Request sounds great! I need to add that to my TBR, I’m a huge fan of thrillers x
Sophie
It’s a really great book, I highly recommend it! x
Thanks for these recommendations! I didn’t really enjoy Friend Request that much from what I can remember of it! But I’ve heard so many good things from other people so maybe I was a bit “off” when I read that haha! xxx
I’m sure your opinion of Friend Request is perfectly valid too – we all enjoy different books! It is funny how all my commenters mention Friend Request as the one they want to read – the plot outline obviously sells itself well! xxx
I re-read all of the Harry Potter books last year too! 🥰 But I listened to them on audiobook. Jim Dale did an excellent job bringing each character to life!
Yay! 😍 I’ve never listened to audiobooks before but I’d like to try it sometime!