December is usually the time people reflect on the last year: the ups, the downs, and, most importantly, the very good books we’ve read. Here are my top five books of the year. (Note: not all of these came out in 2019.)

Also, why do I seem to pick so many books featuring a woman’s back or silhouette?

5) Well Met by Jen DeLuca

Have you ever read a book that’s not usually within your genre and you’re like “Damn. I gotta read more [that genre]!” Well Met did that for me. Loved it. Want more of it.

4) Impossible Saints by Clarissa Harwood

I picked this book up and simply could not put it down. It included so many elements of my wheelhouse that I spent a single weekend with my eyes glued to my Kindle. Read my full review.

3) The Huntress by Kate Quinn

Someone, please just tap this book to my veins. Between this book, Flight Girls and Girl at the Edge of Sky, it was a big year for historical fiction novels about women flying planes, but this one soared above them all. Read my full review.

2) The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

I read a lot less non-fiction this year than usual but I devoured The Five. Incredibly heartbreaking, Rubenhold made these victims of history come alive in spectacular fashion. Read my full review over at The Lazy Historian.

1) The Veronica Speedwell Mystery Series by Deanna Raybourn

I picked up my first Veronica Speedwell book in June and had ripped through the entire series (there are currently four) by September. I tried to spread them out so I didn’t run out of them so fast. I laughed, I (literally) cried, I became obsessed. So much fun, so silly and delightful.

UPDATE: I read Daisy Jones & the Six after I made this list and it was excellent and definitely would have made this list. You can see my review here.

What was your favorite book of the year? Let me know in the comments!