Ashley’s Books of 2019

Instagram has been amazing to find a community of booklovers. That is where I found Ashley, or was it that she found me? We have chatted about books before, tagged each other in posts and she was super helpful in helping me choose the best photo for my 100th blog post on Armed with A Book. It is a pleasure to talk to her about her 2019 books.

Like other posts in this series (see archive), remember that Ashley’s words are in italics and since this is a bookish discussion, all book links open in a new tab so that you can refer to them afterwards.

Welcome to Armed with A Book, Ashley. 🙂 Tell me a little bit about your love for books.

Thanks for having me and asking me to be apart of this great blog post!! My love for books started as early as I can remember. We didn’t grow up with a whole lot of money so my mom would often bring me and my younger brother to the library and we would spend hours in there. There I found so many amazing books that are still my favorites!

That’s great! Books are amazing that way. Do you participate in the Goodreads Reading Challenge? How do you usually choose this goal and what was your goal for this year?

I do use Goodreads and I did participate in the reading challenge this year. I usually go about setting my challenge based off how I did the year before. My goal for 2019 was to read at least 65 books. At the time of writing this, I am currently at 60 books, just 5 left! 

Congrats! That’s exciting. That feeling of reaching a goal is one of the best ones out there.

What was your reading goal for the year?

I aimed for 50 in the beginning but once I reached it, I challenged myself more and changed it to 75. I reached that too recently, but I am celebrating every extra book. 🙂

How do you find book recommendations? Bookstagram, book stores, friends… there are so many options nowadays!

I tend to buy books based off bookstagram and also when I’m just browsing the bookstore, I’ll grab what stands out. Then when it’s time for me to actually start my next book it really bases off my mood. I try and set a monthly TBR, sometimes I stick to it but usually I just grab what sounds interesting to me in the moment.

About the books this year

I believe that every story has something to offer and changes me in ways. Was there such an impactful read for you this year? Where there any books that challenged your thinking and you learned a lot from?

I read Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens this year and it completely changed my outlook on how I treat others and what my impact on other people can do to their lives and my own.

I’ve been meaning to check that one out for a while now! Did you read any books that had practical strategies to apply to life?

Nothing in particular stands out but overall a lot of the books I read this year just taught me to be kind to others and never assume you know what’s happening in another’s life.  

That’s a great takeaway from reading. I want to hear more about these books! Tell me about four books of them that I should check out and why.

 I mentioned one of the books earlier but definitely check out Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. It’s such a raw and beautiful book about a resilient female as she’s trying to navigate her life at a young age, it was just so beautiful.

Then there’s The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah. It’s about a young girl and her parents moving to Alaska and not realizing just how different their lives are going to change. It’s kind of a coming of age story but also a story about the strength this young girl never really knew she had.

After that we have Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston. Such a fun read but tackles some pretty hefty topics such as acceptance, self love, family issues and covers a beautiful LGBTQ love story.

Finally we have Beyond The Point by Claire Gibson. A story about three girls starting their first year at West Point Academy, them becoming friends and navigating this new life. But then the twin towers are attacked and their lives are flipped upside down as they are sent to war. The story is filled with strong female dynamics and it was just so raw.

I already had the first two on my list. The other two are going on there as well! I look forward to chatting with you about them as I read.

What has been your favorite book of 2019?

It’s so hard to choose just one, you are putting me in a touch spot. 😆Beyond The Point reminds me The Farm by Joanne Ramos. It’s a story about a Filipina, Jane, who decides to become a surrogate mother to support her family. It has some strong female characters too so I think you will like it. I’ll be sharing about it tomorrow on the blog.

The Year Ahead

Would you change anything, whether it is your reading habits, review routine or reading goal, for 2020?

I really want to try and read more classics and more non fiction in the New Year! I also think I’m going to up my Goodreads reading goal to 85!

That’s fantastic! Let me know what you end up reading and maybe we can find something together.

Do you have any reading plans for 2020, Kriti? 

This year, I did so much more reading than before, a lot of it directed by review copies. For 2020, I would like to focus on my own TBR pile. We will see how that goes because I enjoy talking to authors and reviewing makes them more accessible, but I’m looking forward to a more chill year. 🙂

Ashley’s Little Book Bingo

I hope you enjoyed this conversation with Ashley! You can find Ashley on Instagram (her handle is readingwithash). Be sure to share with your circles!

Next up, on the 22nd, I’ll have Brent over to learn about his year in books.

Thanks for reading! ❤️