Best of 2019 - Book Edition

As the year comes to a close it is once again time to reflect back on the books I read and highlight a few that I particularly enjoyed reading this year.

My reading suffered this year. I did not read nearly as many books as I hoped to. I am resolving to fix this in 2020. I did manage to read some pretty awesome books this year though.

Here are my top ten reads of this year (in no particular order). They each link to my review (where one has been written and posted) if you want to see exactly why I loved them.


1 Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

2 Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

3 Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

4 Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

5 The Beautiful by Renee Ahdieh

6 Transcend/Epoch by Jewel E Ann

7 Chase Darkness With Me by Billy Jensen

8 The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams

9 American Royals by Katharine McGee

10 A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer


This list, obviously, includes books released this year and some that were not. My only criteria was that they had to be books I read this past year.

Do you agree with any of the books on list? Feel there is a book I missed this year that I should make a priority to read in 2019? Let me know in the comments.

Chase Darkness With Me by Billy Jensen

Chase Darkness With Me by Billy Jensen
Release Date - August 13, 2019
Publisher Website - Sourcebooks / Raincoast Books

Publisher Social Media - Twitter
Pages -  336 pages
My Rating - 5/5
**received from the publisher for an honest review**

Here is the Goodreads synopsis

Have you ever wanted to solve a murder? Gather the clues the police overlooked? Put together the pieces? Identify the suspect?

Journalist Billy Jensen spent fifteen years investigating unsolved murders, fighting for the families of victims. Every story he wrote had one thing in common―they didn't have an ending. The killer was still out there.

But after the sudden death of a friend, crime writer and author of I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara, Billy became fed up. Following a dark night, he came up with a plan. A plan to investigate past the point when the cops had given up. A plan to solve the murders himself.

You'll ride shotgun as Billy identifies the Halloween Mask Murderer, finds a missing girl in the California Redwoods, and investigates the only other murder in New York City on 9/11. You'll hear intimate details of the hunts for two of the most terrifying serial killers in history: his friend Michelle McNamara's pursuit of the Golden State Killer and his own quest to find the murderer of the Allenstown Four. And Billy gives you the tools―and the rules―to help solve murders yourself.

Gripping, complex, unforgettable, Chase Darkness with Me is an examination of the evil forces that walk among us, illustrating a novel way to catch those killers, and a true-crime narrative unlike any you've read before.

This is a story of a true crime journalist who went from reporting on unsolved cases to helping solve them. Anyone who has a interest in true crime has probably heard the name Billy Jensen before. Maybe it is from his work helping to finish the brilliant Michelle McNamara's book on the Golden State Killer, or perhaps you are a Muderino and know of him thanks to Karen and Georgia, or perhaps you are familiar with his work on Crime Watch Daily.  The point is that he, obviously, has a lot of experience. It is this experience combined with his passion that makes Chase Darkness With Me so compelling.

The first thing that grabbed me about this book was the voice. There is a fair amount of humour mixed in and I feel like the reader really gets a sense for who Billy is. If you listen to his podcast, The Murder Squad, you'll immediately notice that Billy writes like he talks. This is someone confident in his voice as a writer and that makes for a strong read.

There is also an empathy that steeps out of the pages of this book. Billy is a man who cares deeply about the victims and the loved ones trying to get answers. You get the impression that some of these cases haunt him because of how much he cares. Any voyeristic or sensational tendencies that true crime tends to lean to are stripped away.

Billy takes the reader through various cases he has worked on and the different methods he used to try to solve them. Most fascinating is the way that Billy uses targeted ads to help solve cases. The same algorithms and technology that helps companies target potential customers is also being used to get particular details about a crime in front of the right people.

It's a must read for anyone with an interest in the true crime genre and entirely different from most of the books you would have read. It's a fascinating, and engaging, look at the good one man tries to do and the cases he's helped solve in a way that shines a light on how we look at and discuss true crime. It highlights the work that still needs to be done and gives the reader to tools to safely, effectively, and most important, ethically help if they so wish.

Billy has said before that the villains in true crime are so often the focus because they are larger than life but we need to shine a light on the heroes. He's pointed to Paul Holes as one such hero. I suspect that Billy would be too modest to consider himself to be among the heroes but this book proves exactly that. Billy's passion, dedication, and drive to help not just solve unsolved cases, but to also be an advocate for victims everywhere makes him one in my opinion. Thank you, Billy for not only striving to make the world a little bit safer but for being a voice for the voiceless.

Best Reads Of 2019 .... So Far

We are quickly approaching the midway point of the year and that means checking in on my reading progress and the books that have stood out so far.

I am always amazed at how fast the year is going whenever I decide to write one of these posts. It seems like it is flying by in particular this year.

I have not read nearly as much as I wanted to. I am already 8 books behind in my Goodreads challenge. I am hoping to refocus my attention on reading and the blog and making some progress this summer.

Taking a look at what books I have read this year has made me realize that I have become quite good at picking books that will appeal to me. I feel like my reading is made all the richer as a result. I still stray outside my comfort zone (especially if friends recommend a book) but feel like I genuinely know what books I will and will not enjoy. This has made picking my ten favourites even more difficult.

Here, in no particular order, are the ten books that have stood out to me during the first half of the year;

1. Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

2. Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

3. Stay Sexy and Don't Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

4. The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg

5. A Curse So Dark And Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer

6. You'd Be Mine by Erin Hahn

7. Top Secret by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

8. Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins

9. 99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne

10. Chase Darkness With Me by Billy Jensen

All of the above books are linked to my reviews so you can discover exactly why they made my list if you so choose. Chase Darkness With Me is not currently reviewed so there is no link for that, but expect a review closer to release date.

I will be curious to see which books make it on to my year end list as the year continues! What book makes your own best of 2019 (at least so far) list? Let me know in the comments!