Sunday, December 30, 2018

Books Read in 2018 #MyYearInBooks #80in2018

Welcome to my 11th Annual Books-In-Review post!

This year was a lot of fun in reading - doesn't it feel like there are so many wonderful books out in the world right now? I will never ever ever "catch up" with all of the books that are on everyone's lists and that everyone suggests. It makes it all so much fun, though, to discuss with others who love books as much as I do. And at the end of the year, I adore reading all the "best of" lists and wishing I could read them all. 

This year, I read books 2 - 14 in the Maisie Dobbs series...so you can see 13 books by one author! I think that's a new record for me. Maisie Dobbs is a "girl detective" in the period between WW1 and WW2 in London. The books are a wonderful slice of historical fiction and just so much fun to read. Also, she drinks tea a LOT and I found myself always wishing for a biscuit and a cuppa.

So...here's this year's book list:
  1. The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish
  2. The Leavers by Lisa Ko
  3. Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich
  4. Denton Little's Death Date by Lance Rubin
  5. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
  6. Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
  7. One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt
  8. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
  9. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
  10. Young Jane Young by Gabrielle Zevin
  11. Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear
  12. Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear
  13. Messenger of Truth by Jacqueline Winspear
  14. The Orchard by Yochi Brandes
  15. An Incomplete Revenge by Jacqueline Winspear
  16. The Kremlin's Candidate by Jason Matthews
  17. Among the Mad by Jacqueline Winspear
  18. The Mapping of Love and Death by Jacqueline Winspear
  19. A Lesson in Secrets by Jacqueline Winspear
  20. Elegy for Eddie by Jacqueline Winspear
  21. Leaving Everything Most Loved by Jacqueline Winspear
  22. I Still See Her Haunting Eyes by Aaron Elster
  23. A Dangerous Place by Jacqueline Winspear
  24. Journey to Munich by Jacqueline Winspear
  25. In This Grave Hour by Jacqueline Winspear
  26. To Die but Once by Jacqueline Winspear
  27. Beartown by Fredrik Backman
  28. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
  29. Jerusalem, Drawn and Quartered by Sarah Tuttle-Singer
  30. The Prime Ministers by Yehuda Avner
  31. The Cloister by James Carroll
  32. The Power of Moments by Chip Heath
  33. Sadness is a White Bird by Moriel Rothman-Zecher
  34. Calypso by David Sedaris
  35. Gateway to the Moon by Mary Morris
  36. Mrs. by Caitlin Macy
  37. The Emerald Circus by Jane Yolen
  38. The Gallery of Vanished Husbands by Natasha Solomons
  39. After Anatevka by Alexandra Silber
  40. The Emperor of Shoes by Spencer Wise
  41. The Last Watchman of Old Cairo by Michael David Lukas
  42. We are Gathered by Jamie Weisman
  43. The Other Woman by Daniel Silva
  44. The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn
  45. The Trick by Emanuel Bergman
  46. Eternal Life by Dara Horn
  47. The Life Lucy Knew by Karma Brown
  48. All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin
  49. The Checklist Manifesto by Atul Gawande
  50. The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir
  51. Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
  52. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
  53. An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
  54. Just One Day by Gayle Forman
  55. Educated by Tara Westover
  56. The Bookshop of Yesterdays by Amy Meyerson
  57. The Art of Gathering by Priya Parker
  58. The Fate of the Tearling by Erika Johansen
  59. The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
  60. Traitor by Jonathan de Shalit
  61. The Moscow Sleepers by Stella Rimington
  62. Paper Things by Jennifer Richard Jacobson
  63. Three Floors Up by Eshkol Nevo
  64. Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty
  65. Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee
  66. Tasting the Sky by Ibtisam Barakat
  67. Witchmark by C.L. Polk
  68. The Sisters of the Winter Wood by Rena Rossner
  69. Memento Park by Mark Sarvas
  70. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
  71. The Summer of Broken Things by Margaret Peterson Haddix
  72. Resistance by Jennifer A. Nielsen
  73. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon
  74. Becoming by Michelle Obama
  75. Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
  76. China Rich Girlfriend by Kevin Kwan
  77. Rich People Problems by Kevin Kwan
  78. The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
  79. The Spy with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke
  80. Ivy Aberdeen's Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake
So what did I like? Wow, it was a good year. The Great Believers, The Weight of Ink, Pachinko, The Leavers, The Immoralists...all outstanding. Loved the pairing of Sisters of the Winter Wood and Spinning Silver, and I hadn't read the Crazy Rich Asians books but after seeing the movie...I decided it was time and I loved them! Gratitude to President Obama for recommending American Marriage and Educated, both really wonderful, and of course, he had to recommend Becoming, but that was well-deserved! Overall, it was a great year in reading and I can't even choose a favorite. 

I'm looking forward to starting new lists for 2019...I keep track of my books on Goodreads - follow me there. What do you think I should read in 2019? What are you going to read? What was the best book you read in 2018?

Previous years' book lists are here: