[Saturday Reads] My 2019 in Books: Favourite Reads Across Quarterly Reading Themes

Myra here.

Every Saturday we hope to share with you our thoughts on reading and books. We thought that it would be good practice to reflect on our reading lives and our thoughts about reading in general. While on occasion, we would feature a few books in keeping with this, there would be a few posts where we will just write about our thoughts on read-alouds, libraries, reading journals, upcoming literary conferences, books that we are excited about, and just book love miscellany in general.

#WomenReadWomen2019 – Favourite Reads Across Quarterly Reading Themes

A week ago, I shared my reflections on my year of reading women. Now, I am excited to be sharing with you all my favourite reads across our quarterly reading themes.

January – March 2019: Warrior Women: The Woman Leads the Struggle – Female Voices and Social Justice In Literature

Click on the titles below to be taken to my review of the books.

1. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Amazon | Book Depository)
2. Sin: Selected Poems of Forugh Farrokhzad edited and translated by Sholeh Wolpe (Amazon | Book Depository)
3. Girl Rising: Changing The World One Girl At A Time by Tanya Lee Stone (Amazon | Book Depository)
4. Our Stories, Our Voices: 21 YA Authors Get Real About Injustice, Empowerment, and Growing Up Female In America edited by Amy Reed (Amazon | Book Depository)
5. Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked The World by Penelope Bagieu (Amazon | Book Depository)
6. Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed The World by Ann Shen (Amazon | Book Depository)
7. Alma And How She Got Her Name by Juana Martinez-Neal (Amazon | Book Depository)
8. Shadow Warrior: Based On The True Story Of A Fearless Ninja And Her Network Of Female Spies by Tanya Lloyd Kyi and illustrated by Celia Krampien (Amazon | Book Depository)
9. Turning Pages: My Life Story by Sonia Sotomayor and illustrated by Lulu Delacre (Amazon | Book Depository) 
10. Women In Science: 50 Fearless Pioneers Who Changed The World by Rachel Ignotofsky (Amazon | Book Depository)

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April – June 2019: Sisterhood And Female Bonds In Literature

1. The Silence Of The Girls by Pat Barker (Amazon | Book Depository)
2. The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Amazon | Book Depository)
3. Women Talking by Miriam Toews (Amazon | Book Depository)
4. Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (Amazon | Book Depository)
5. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (Amazon | Book Depository)
6. Down Among The Sticks And Bones by Seanan McGuire (Amazon | Book Depository)
7. Real Friends by Shannon Hale and Illustrated by LeUyen Pham (Amazon | Book Depository)
8. Ten Cents A Pound by Nhung N. Tran-Davies and Josee Bisaillon (Amazon | Book Depository)
9. Planting Stories: The Life Of Librarian And Storyteller Pura Belpre by Anika Aldamuy Denise and Paola Escobar (Amazon | Book Depository)
10. The Stuff Of Stars by Marion Dane Bauer and Illustrated by Ekua Holmes (Amazon | Book Depository)

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July – September 2019: Reinventing Womanity, Redefining Womanhood

1. A Manual For Cleaning Women by Lucia Berlin (Amazon | Book Depository)
2. Lost Children Archive by Valeria Luiselli (Amazon | Book Depository)
3. Normal People by Sally Rooney (Amazon | Book Depository)
4. Strike Your Heart by Amelie Nothomb (Amazon | Book Depository)
5. The Naked Woman by Armonia Somers (Amazon | Book Depository)
6. Transcription by Kate Atkinson (Amazon | Book Depository)
7. Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale: The Graphic Novel adapted by Renee Nault (Amazon | Book Depository)
8. Soaring Earth by Margarita Engle (Amazon | Book Depository)
9. The World Is Not A Rectangle: A Portrait Of Architect Zaha Hadid by Jeanette Winter (Amazon | Book Depository)
10. Maya Lin: Artist-Architect Of Light And Lines by Jeanne Walker Harvey and Dow Phumiruk (Amazon | Book Depository)

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October – December 2019: I Put A Spell On You – Witches and Goddesses, Dryads and Priestesses In Literature

1. Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi (Amazon | Book Depository)
2. Milkman by Anna Burns (Amazon | Book Depository)
3. The Houseguest And Other Stories by Amparo Davila (Amazon | Book Depository)
4. Our Women On The Ground: Essays By Women Reporting From The Arab World edited by Zahra Hankir (Amazon | Book Depository)
5. Flights by Olga Tokarczuk (Amazon | Book Depository)
6. Poso Wells by Gabriela Aleman (Amazon | Book Depository)
7. Crazy Brave: A Memoir by Joy Harjo (Amazon | Book Depository)
8. Our World by Mary Oliver with photographs by Molly Malone Cook (Amazon | Book Depository)
9. Owls And Other Fantasies by Mary Oliver (Amazon | Book Depository)
10. Swan: Poems And Prose Poems by Mary Oliver (Amazon | Book Depository)

Have you read any of these books? What are some of your favourite reads this year?