The books I read in 2018
I read most books with my Kindle. I borrow them online from our local library. One day towards the end of the year, I was poking around on Amazon and I saw that all of the books I borrowed from the library digitally were displayed by the date that I borrowed them (Amazon sends the books that I borrow from the digital library to my Kindle). I was instantly curious when I realized that I could recount (in my mind) and actually, literally count the books I'd read so far that year. I've never had a goal regarding reading a certain number of books but I was, nonetheless, curious. I enjoyed reading the titles of the books that I read this year and the memories that some books conjured. Some, I remembered little about. But many, I remembered fondly. I thought I'd chronicle the books that I read as well as offer some of my thoughts regarding some of them.
Books borrowed from my library's digital library in 2018:
1. Always by Sarah Joi
2. Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
3. The Burning Girl by Claire Messud
4. The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud
5. The Butterfly Sister by Amy Gail Hansen
6. Missing, Presumed by Susan Steiner
7. The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
8. The Good Father by Noah Hawley
9. The Golden Hour by T. Greenwood
10. Lab Girl by Hope Jahren (non-fiction)
11. Testimony by Scott Turrow
12. You Will Know me by Megan Abbott
13. The Girl Before by JP Delaney
14. Idaho by Emily Ruskovich
15. Lea by Pascal Mercier
16. The Fix by David Baldacci
17. On Night's Shore by Randall Silvas
18. Heartbreak Hotel by Jonathon Kellerman
19. Motive by Jonathon Kellerman
20. Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
21. Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
22. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
23. American Gods by Neil Gaiman * I did not finish this book
24. Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
25. One Perfect Lie by Lisa Scottoline
26. Talking As Fast as I can- Lauren Graham (non- fiction)
27. Turtles All the Way Down- John Green
28. The Distant Hours- Kate Morton
29. My Absolute Darling- Gabriel Tallent
30. Tell Me Three Things- Julie Buxbaum
31. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things- Bryn Greenwood
32. Rebecca- Daphne du Maurier
33. My Cousin Rachel- Daphne du Maurier
34. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
35. The Silent Wife- Kerry Fisher
36. Big Little Lies- Liane Moriarty
37. End Game- David Baldacci
38. Three Wishes- Liane Moriarty
39. A Visit from the Good Squad- Jennifer Egan
40. Hillbilly Elegy- JD Vance (non- fiction)
41. The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett- Chelsea Sedoti
42. The Ninth Hour- Alice McDermott
43. Look at Me- Jennifer Egan
44. Emerald City- Jennifer Egan
45. The Handmaid's Tale- Margaret Atwood
46. Two Kinds of Truth- Michael Connelly
47. Admission- Jean Hanff Korelitz
48. Bittersweet- Miranda BeverlyWhittman
49. The Perfect Nanny- Leila Slimani
50. The Immortalists- Chloe Benjamin
51. Genuine Fraud- E. Lockhart
52. Persons Unknnown- Susan Steiner
53. Tex-SE Hinton
54. The House Swap- Rebecca Fleet
55. The Outsiders- SE Hinton
56. The House at Riverton- Kate Morton
57. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl- Harriet Ann Jacobs (non-fiction)
58. A Tale of Two Cities- Charles Dickens
59. Great Expectations- Charles Dickens
My favorite book that I read this year was Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. The writing, the plot, the twist, ah, everything was so good. The book was written back in the day (1938) when coarse language and any amoral conduct on the part of the characters was alluded to and not written out in crass and/ or coarse detail.
I also read a few book books (not on my Kindle). Abby enrolled in Honors English for her English class. During the summer, before the school year started, the students in the class had to read three books and write papers on them. The students could pick books from a selected list of books that the teacher gave the students. Abby either borrowed the books she read from friends or borrowed them from the library. Since she had the books in book form, I decided to read them, too (it's difficult for me to not read a book that's in my house).
One book she chose to read was The Glass Castle. I'd heard of it when it came out but had not read it until this summer when Abby got the book and read it for her class. It was quite the book- I can see why it garnered so much attention. Regarding the book, I said to Abby, "The book probably made you appreciate your staid and suburban mom." She shrugged her shoulders but I'm of the opinion that she had to be glad to have her upbringing and not the author's. I think the book should be required reading for all teenagers. Seriously. It's good and sad but ultimately, mostly good.
Abby also read, The Kite Runner by Khald Hosseini for her English class and I read it, too. Actually, I should say that I started the book and did not finish it. I'd heard such good things about it when it was popular years ago. Perhaps my expectations were too high? I didn't dislike it and if I'd downloaded it onto my Kindle I probably would have finished it. But, at one point, Abby and I were both reading the book and she needed to finish it so I gave it to her as I'd been reading it. I never asked for it back to continue reading. It just didn't draw me in like many (most) books that I read do.
Many times, when I read a book and like it, I'll seek out other books by that author and read them. A number of books that I read in 2018 had the same author as another that I'd read previously. My favorite book by far that I read in 2017 was The Woman in White by Wilke Collins (published in 1859). I loved it so much that instead of reading another of his in 2017, I made myself wait until 2018 to read another one of his. Delayed gratification of the literary nature. This year, I read one of his, The Moonstone. It was a good book, but not nearly as good as The Woman in White. When I discovered Rebecca this year, I decided to not delay reading another of hers until the next year. I didn't like My Cousin Rachel as much as Rebecca but I liked it and I plan to read more of Daphne du Maurier.
I read Charles Dickens for the first time in 2018 at the very end of the year. Um, Dickens is incredible. HOW HAD I NOT READ DICKENS BEFORE? One reason is that none of his books had ever been assigned to me in school (I read every book that was assigned in any English or lit class that I was a student in). The only work of his that I was really familiar with (of course I'd heard the titles of many of his famous books) was A Christmas Carol since that's been adapted into play and movie forms. I enjoy the story of a ACC but after seeing it performed or watched it in a movie, I'd never felt like I would love to read his works. Oh, but I'm so glad that I did. I preferred Great Expectations to A Tale of Two Cities probably because it (GE) was easier to initially get into; the plot is more apparent from the beginning. A Tale of Two Cities is much more disjointed in the beginning. It gets really good but not for a while. I plan to read a lot more Dickens (like everything that he wrote- I paid $0.49 to download his complete work- YES! so I should be able to do so).
A word about my Kindle. Some people are book purists and need to smell the book, feel the book, touch and turn the pages of the book, and hold an actual, physical book. I was one of those people when e-readers became available to purchase years ago. I stalwartly refused to get one. Actual books were what people had been using since the Gutenburg Bible era and I saw little need to change the means by which I enjoyed reading books.
Then came Tolstoy. More specifically, my desire to read War and Peace. This was probably nine years ago. I went to our local public library to check out War and Peace. The copy that I picked up off the shelf was rough. I held the book in my hands and leafed through it. On one page, there appeared to be some sort of dried up secreted matter. Out of which orifice this secretion originated I know not (and I think I've blocked from my mind what the matter looked like). If I could have gotten past the dry secretion (not certain I could have), I couldn't help but notice the print in the book was incredibly small. I was not in need of reading glasses; I could see normal print fine. This print was teeny tiny. Due to the dried secreted matter and tiny print, I did not check out War and Peace from the library.
Instead, I bought a Kindle and downloaded War and Peace. I loved War and Peace and would go on to read all of Tolstoy's novels. It was love at first download with regard to my Kindle. I have been downloading books on it ever since. My Kindle is not the original one that came out but it's probably not too far removed from the original model. It's not touchscreen, there's nary a light to be found on it, I have to connect to wi-fi to download books- in short, there are no bells or whistles- it's merely a device on which I can obtain and read books in electronic form. And I love it. When/ if it stops working, I'll upgrade but as long as my original Kindle works, I'll continue to use it.
I'm looking forward to much more reading in 2019 provided time allows...
My Kindle, my friend- the kids got me this cover for my Kindle years ago for Mother's Day. The Vera Bradley design dates my Kindle but age is just a number, right? And just like many of my favorite books were published one hundred years ago or more, I have no problem with a vintage(esque) cover.
Just a non fancy Kindle with a cover that's showing some wear...
The cover is also a little bit dirty but I take comfort in knowing the dirt came from my unwashed hands, not a stranger's, and should dry secretion make its way onto my Kindle, that, too, will be mine and not a stranger's 😊
Books borrowed from my library's digital library in 2018:
1. Always by Sarah Joi
2. Before the Fall by Noah Hawley
3. The Burning Girl by Claire Messud
4. The Woman Upstairs by Claire Messud
5. The Butterfly Sister by Amy Gail Hansen
6. Missing, Presumed by Susan Steiner
7. The Secret Keeper by Kate Morton
8. The Good Father by Noah Hawley
9. The Golden Hour by T. Greenwood
10. Lab Girl by Hope Jahren (non-fiction)
11. Testimony by Scott Turrow
12. You Will Know me by Megan Abbott
13. The Girl Before by JP Delaney
14. Idaho by Emily Ruskovich
15. Lea by Pascal Mercier
16. The Fix by David Baldacci
17. On Night's Shore by Randall Silvas
18. Heartbreak Hotel by Jonathon Kellerman
19. Motive by Jonathon Kellerman
20. Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout
21. Amy and Isabelle by Elizabeth Strout
22. The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
23. American Gods by Neil Gaiman * I did not finish this book
24. Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
25. One Perfect Lie by Lisa Scottoline
26. Talking As Fast as I can- Lauren Graham (non- fiction)
27. Turtles All the Way Down- John Green
28. The Distant Hours- Kate Morton
29. My Absolute Darling- Gabriel Tallent
30. Tell Me Three Things- Julie Buxbaum
31. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things- Bryn Greenwood
32. Rebecca- Daphne du Maurier
33. My Cousin Rachel- Daphne du Maurier
34. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
35. The Silent Wife- Kerry Fisher
36. Big Little Lies- Liane Moriarty
37. End Game- David Baldacci
38. Three Wishes- Liane Moriarty
39. A Visit from the Good Squad- Jennifer Egan
40. Hillbilly Elegy- JD Vance (non- fiction)
41. The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett- Chelsea Sedoti
42. The Ninth Hour- Alice McDermott
43. Look at Me- Jennifer Egan
44. Emerald City- Jennifer Egan
45. The Handmaid's Tale- Margaret Atwood
46. Two Kinds of Truth- Michael Connelly
47. Admission- Jean Hanff Korelitz
48. Bittersweet- Miranda BeverlyWhittman
49. The Perfect Nanny- Leila Slimani
50. The Immortalists- Chloe Benjamin
51. Genuine Fraud- E. Lockhart
52. Persons Unknnown- Susan Steiner
53. Tex-SE Hinton
54. The House Swap- Rebecca Fleet
55. The Outsiders- SE Hinton
56. The House at Riverton- Kate Morton
57. Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl- Harriet Ann Jacobs (non-fiction)
58. A Tale of Two Cities- Charles Dickens
59. Great Expectations- Charles Dickens
My favorite book that I read this year was Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. The writing, the plot, the twist, ah, everything was so good. The book was written back in the day (1938) when coarse language and any amoral conduct on the part of the characters was alluded to and not written out in crass and/ or coarse detail.
I also read a few book books (not on my Kindle). Abby enrolled in Honors English for her English class. During the summer, before the school year started, the students in the class had to read three books and write papers on them. The students could pick books from a selected list of books that the teacher gave the students. Abby either borrowed the books she read from friends or borrowed them from the library. Since she had the books in book form, I decided to read them, too (it's difficult for me to not read a book that's in my house).
One book she chose to read was The Glass Castle. I'd heard of it when it came out but had not read it until this summer when Abby got the book and read it for her class. It was quite the book- I can see why it garnered so much attention. Regarding the book, I said to Abby, "The book probably made you appreciate your staid and suburban mom." She shrugged her shoulders but I'm of the opinion that she had to be glad to have her upbringing and not the author's. I think the book should be required reading for all teenagers. Seriously. It's good and sad but ultimately, mostly good.
Abby also read, The Kite Runner by Khald Hosseini for her English class and I read it, too. Actually, I should say that I started the book and did not finish it. I'd heard such good things about it when it was popular years ago. Perhaps my expectations were too high? I didn't dislike it and if I'd downloaded it onto my Kindle I probably would have finished it. But, at one point, Abby and I were both reading the book and she needed to finish it so I gave it to her as I'd been reading it. I never asked for it back to continue reading. It just didn't draw me in like many (most) books that I read do.
Many times, when I read a book and like it, I'll seek out other books by that author and read them. A number of books that I read in 2018 had the same author as another that I'd read previously. My favorite book by far that I read in 2017 was The Woman in White by Wilke Collins (published in 1859). I loved it so much that instead of reading another of his in 2017, I made myself wait until 2018 to read another one of his. Delayed gratification of the literary nature. This year, I read one of his, The Moonstone. It was a good book, but not nearly as good as The Woman in White. When I discovered Rebecca this year, I decided to not delay reading another of hers until the next year. I didn't like My Cousin Rachel as much as Rebecca but I liked it and I plan to read more of Daphne du Maurier.
I read Charles Dickens for the first time in 2018 at the very end of the year. Um, Dickens is incredible. HOW HAD I NOT READ DICKENS BEFORE? One reason is that none of his books had ever been assigned to me in school (I read every book that was assigned in any English or lit class that I was a student in). The only work of his that I was really familiar with (of course I'd heard the titles of many of his famous books) was A Christmas Carol since that's been adapted into play and movie forms. I enjoy the story of a ACC but after seeing it performed or watched it in a movie, I'd never felt like I would love to read his works. Oh, but I'm so glad that I did. I preferred Great Expectations to A Tale of Two Cities probably because it (GE) was easier to initially get into; the plot is more apparent from the beginning. A Tale of Two Cities is much more disjointed in the beginning. It gets really good but not for a while. I plan to read a lot more Dickens (like everything that he wrote- I paid $0.49 to download his complete work- YES! so I should be able to do so).
A word about my Kindle. Some people are book purists and need to smell the book, feel the book, touch and turn the pages of the book, and hold an actual, physical book. I was one of those people when e-readers became available to purchase years ago. I stalwartly refused to get one. Actual books were what people had been using since the Gutenburg Bible era and I saw little need to change the means by which I enjoyed reading books.
Then came Tolstoy. More specifically, my desire to read War and Peace. This was probably nine years ago. I went to our local public library to check out War and Peace. The copy that I picked up off the shelf was rough. I held the book in my hands and leafed through it. On one page, there appeared to be some sort of dried up secreted matter. Out of which orifice this secretion originated I know not (and I think I've blocked from my mind what the matter looked like). If I could have gotten past the dry secretion (not certain I could have), I couldn't help but notice the print in the book was incredibly small. I was not in need of reading glasses; I could see normal print fine. This print was teeny tiny. Due to the dried secreted matter and tiny print, I did not check out War and Peace from the library.
Instead, I bought a Kindle and downloaded War and Peace. I loved War and Peace and would go on to read all of Tolstoy's novels. It was love at first download with regard to my Kindle. I have been downloading books on it ever since. My Kindle is not the original one that came out but it's probably not too far removed from the original model. It's not touchscreen, there's nary a light to be found on it, I have to connect to wi-fi to download books- in short, there are no bells or whistles- it's merely a device on which I can obtain and read books in electronic form. And I love it. When/ if it stops working, I'll upgrade but as long as my original Kindle works, I'll continue to use it.
I'm looking forward to much more reading in 2019 provided time allows...
My Kindle, my friend- the kids got me this cover for my Kindle years ago for Mother's Day. The Vera Bradley design dates my Kindle but age is just a number, right? And just like many of my favorite books were published one hundred years ago or more, I have no problem with a vintage(esque) cover.
Just a non fancy Kindle with a cover that's showing some wear...
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