2018 on Goodreads

Thanks for chatting with me about books this year and for introducing me to so much great stuff, Goodreads friends & friends-of-friends! I had such a great reading year! I posted a Twitter thread of some of my most enjoyable or interesting reads here.A few I did not mention on Twitter: [b:His Quiet Agent 35238838 His Quiet Agent (The Agency, #1) Ada Maria Soto https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1495953087s/35238838.jpg 56588931]: This book looks like a standard contemporary romance, but I found it really strange and lovely. [b:Rattlesnake 26009668 Rattlesnake Kim Fielding https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1438268572s/26009668.jpg 45928823]: I read a lot of Kim Fielding's books this year and enjoyed most of them very much, but this one was my favorite.[b:Butterfly Hunter 41572493 Butterfly Hunter Julie Bozza https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1535666106s/41572493.jpg 21476075]: This gentle romance is another new favorite for me. [b:The Sparrow 334176 The Sparrow (The Sparrow, #1) Mary Doria Russell https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1525457306s/334176.jpg 3349153]: I don't really recommend this book, but I also can't stop thinking about it. I think I'd like to read more books that deal heavily with religion.[b:Exit Strategy 36687477 Exit Strategy Charlton Pettus https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1518022902s/36687477.jpg 58481841] (and books two and three): I'm sad that the Murderbot novellas are wrapped up for the moment, but I look forward to the upcoming novel.[b:Objects in the Rearview Mirror 40194947 Objects in the Rearview Mirror (Memoirs of the Human Wraiths #2) F.E. Feeley Jr. https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1527025108s/40194947.jpg 38851668]: Another horror-adjacent novel that I enjoyed a lot but would never have been interested in if I hadn't tested the waters with [b:Dark Matter 8350864 Dark Matter Michelle Paver https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1504563569s/8350864.jpg 13203928].[b:The Last Witness 25901575 The Last Witness K.J. Parker https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1439819057s/25901575.jpg 45363361]: I didn't read as many Tor novellas this year as I did last year, but I loved this one and am glad to have discovered this author.I read [b:The Caves of Steel 41811 The Caves of Steel (Robot #1) Isaac Asimov https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1335782224s/41811.jpg 140376] and [b:The Naked Sun 30016 The Naked Sun (Robot #2) Isaac Asimov https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1335782263s/30016.jpg 1583154] for the first time, and I was really interested to see this early fictional view of AI.More m/m books I liked a lot: [b:Vanilla Clouds 40699859 Vanilla Clouds Roe Horvat https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1530608017s/40699859.jpg 63301694], [b:Smoke Signals 36655571 Smoke Signals Meredith Katz https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1511562292s/36655571.jpg 58430080], and [b:No Rulebook for Flirting 38141902 No Rulebook for Flirting Laura Bailo https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516699773s/38141902.jpg 59827412].Edit: I hope I didn't spam anyone's feed. There were some mistakes with the wrong ISBNs showing up on book pages and I was accidentally linking to books I hadn't read.

2018 was draining and I kind of stepped away from novels that were more than 250 pages. I focused heavily on graphic novels and comic books. Top 5 reads for 2018

1. What If? Captain America #1 by Tony Bedard
2. Batwoman #0 by J.H. Williams III
3. Rage by Richard Bachman
4. MCMLXXV #1 by Joe Casey
5. Thea II: A Vampire Story by Steven Jenkins

I also read Hogg. I have nothing to say about it other than wow.

In 2019 I want to focus on finishing a comic series (not gonna happen but at least I am trying), reading more stories with LGBTQ+ themes, and re reading Buffy S8.

Top 3 Fiction:
3. The Austen Escape, by Katherine Reay
2. The Princess and the Goblin, by George MacDonald
1. On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness, by Andrew Peterson

Top 3 Nonfiction:
3. Introverts in the Church, by Adam S. McHugh
2. Peace Child, by Don Richardson
1. 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You, by Tony Reinke

This has been a challenging year reading wise. I went back to university so between that and full-time work there wasn't much time left in the day. Sure, I still could have squeezed more reading in this time-frame but I'm a binge reader so scheduling it in short chucks of time didn't work out well for me. Overall, I enjoyed the few books I read, there were only a couple I really disliked. Nonetheless, despite a surface enjoyment I mostly felt unmoved by whatever I was reading even when I was aware I was reading something really good. I basically felt stuck in a never-ending reading slump (with only a short break when I read 4 books in the span of 3 weeks and it felt great). Hopefully next year I will get my reading mojo back.

Top 10 Reads of 20181) [b:Red Sister 25895524 Red Sister (Book of the Ancestor #1) Mark Lawrence https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1481038440s/25895524.jpg 45777900] - 5 Stars - (My Review)2) [b:Wrath of Empire 28811018 Wrath of Empire (Gods of Blood and Powder, #2) Brian McClellan https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507140487s/28811018.jpg 49026466] - 5 Stars - (My Review)3) [b:The Infernal Battalion 25845205 The Infernal Battalion (The Shadow Campaigns, #5) Django Wexler https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1498788742s/25845205.jpg 45746689] - 5 Stars - (My Review)4) [b:Age of War 18052169 Age of War (The Legends of the First Empire, #3) Michael J. Sullivan https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1516720471s/18052169.jpg 25336191]- 5 Stars - (My Review)5) [b:Blackflame 35023786 Blackflame (Cradle, #3) Will Wight https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1493626673s/35023786.jpg 56310116] - 5 Stars - (My Review)6) [b:Skyward 36642458 Skyward (Skyward, #1) Brandon Sanderson https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1531845177s/36642458.jpg 58411143]- 4.5 Stars - (My Review)7) [b:The Calculating Stars 33080122 The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut, #1) Mary Robinette Kowal https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1539850192s/33080122.jpg 53735352] - 4 Stars - (My Review)8) [b:Jade City 34606064 Jade City (The Green Bone Saga #1) Fonda Lee https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1513357590s/34606064.jpg 55755047] - 4 Stars - (My Review)9) [b:The Consuming Fire 34942741 The Consuming Fire (The Interdependency, #2) John Scalzi https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1518468399s/34942741.jpg 56211540] - 4 Stars - (My Review)10) [b:The Core 16096968 The Core (The Demon Cycle, #5) Peter V. Brett https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1487946539s/16096968.jpg 21905325] - 4 Stars - (My Review)For the rest of my review here's the report generated by my GoodReads Parser Application and some general comments about the numbers. ^_^***** Yearly Report ****Year: 2018Total Books: 101Rereads: 8My reading is up for the first time in several years, at least in terms of total books. I did slightly more rereading this year than last, but I've kept it below my goal of 10 or less so as to focus on new stuff. ****** Format Breakdown ******Total AUDIO_BOOK Count: 61 (60.40%)Total BOOK Count: 7 (6.93%)Total EBOOK Count: 14 (13.86%)Total GRAPHIC_NOVEL Count: 19 (18.81%)Part of total increase appears to be a huge spike in Graphic Novels this year. I nearly doubled the number I read in 2017, accounting for a 5% increase of my total consumption. That 5% drop seems to have come off of my audio books, despite their total also being up this year. The number of physical books read continues to decline while ebooks consumption doubled.******* Genre Breakdown ******Total FANTASY Count: 57 (56.44%)Total HISTORICAL Count: 2 (1.98%)Total HORROR Count: 2 (1.98%)Total HUMOR Count: 1 (0.99%)Total NONFICTION Count: 6 (5.94%)Total SCIFI Count: 31 (30.69%)Total THRILLER Count: 2 (1.98%)Hey look I read a lot of fantasy and a fair bit of Sci-Fi. I kept that line from my 2017 review, because it continues to be very true every year. Despite reading 10 more fantasy books in 2018 than 2017, my percentage dropped slightly. Sci-fi consumption was also slightly down (in terms of percentage). So instead of last year's 90%, I'm down to a much more reasonable 87%!The biggest deltas this year seems to be in terms of nonfiction and some horror. The latter is something I don't typically read unless it's basically dark fantasy.******** Author Gender Breakdown ********Total MALE Count: 74 (73.27%)Total FEMALE Count: 26 (25.74%)My ratio is about 2% better than last year, but still pretty unbalanced. I'm not necessarily looking for a 50% balance, but it'd be nice to get it closer. I added a few more new female authors to my list whose books I'll be picking up just as soon as they are published.** Ratings ****Average Rating: 3.83Total 1 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 2 Count: 3 (2.97%)Total 3 Count: 16 (15.84%)Total 4 Count: 73 (72.28%)Total 5 Count: 8 (7.92%)As far as book selection, my average is up a bit this year again. It's once again hovering just under a 4 star rating for the year, so I'm doing pretty well. Of the 4 1&2 star rating books, three were book picks made by someone else. This is my first ever 1-star rating since joining Goodreads over 6 years ago. I'm even more stubborn about 1 star ratings than I am about 5 stars. I usually find some aspect of every book I like, but [b:Night's Master 882258 Night's Master (Tales from the Flat Earth #1) Tanith Lee https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1230090855s/882258.jpg 457123] was a total miss.I had 2 more new 5 star books this year than last year. Of the eight books I gave 5 stars to, three of them were rereads. The percentage of 4 star books was also up this year. So I continue to doing a good job with my book selections overall.Years Published:Total 1818 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1940 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1962 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1975 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1978 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1985 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1986 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1987 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1989 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1991 Count: 2 (1.98%)Total 1996 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1997 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1998 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1999 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 2000 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 2001 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 2002 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 2003 Count: 2 (1.98%)Total 2004 Count: 2 (1.98%)Total 2005 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 2007 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 2010 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 2011 Count: 2 (1.98%)Total 2012 Count: 2 (1.98%)Total 2013 Count: 5 (4.95%)Total 2014 Count: 4 (3.96%)Total 2015 Count: 5 (4.95%)Total 2016 Count: 13 (12.87%)Total 2017 Count: 15 (14.85%)Total 2018 Count: 30 (29.70%)Decade Published:Total 1810 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1940 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1960 Count: 1 (0.99%)Total 1970 Count: 2 (1.98%)Total 1980 Count: 4 (3.96%)Total 1990 Count: 6 (5.94%)Total 2000 Count: 9 (8.91%)Total 2010 Count: 77 (76.24%)Most of my reading continues to come from books published since 2010, and a good number (30) of my total were published in 2018. Only about 5% of the books I read were published before I was born.Additional Stats:Number of Books: 40Total Pages: 9561Longest Book: [b:Jade City 34606064 Jade City (The Green Bone Saga #1) Fonda Lee https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1513357590s/34606064.jpg 55755047] - 600 pagesShortest Book: [b:Frankenstein; Or, the Modern Prometheus 18488 Frankenstein; Or, the Modern Prometheus Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388194510s/18488.jpg 4836639] - 151 pagesAverage Pages: 239.03Number of Books (Excluding Graphic Novels): 21Total Pages (Excluding Graphic Novels): 6653Average Pages (Excluding Graphic Novels): 316.81Number of Audiobooks: 61Total Audio Hours: 990Longest Book: [b:Shōgun 402093 Shōgun (Asian Saga, #1) James Clavell https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1397228842s/402093.jpg 1755568] - 54 hoursShortest Book: [b:All Systems Red 32758901 All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1) Martha Wells https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1484171189s/32758901.jpg 53349516] - 4 hoursAverage Hours: 16.23Another good year for me, and better than I remember since most of my 5 star ratings occurred earlier on in the year. Here's to hoping for a great year of reading in 2019!

LECTURAS 2018


Este año se podría decir que fue bueno, pero hasta ahí. Hubo muy buenas lecturas, no tuve tantas decepciones, pero no pude sacar un libro que se destaque sobre todos los demás y sea un favorito. Así que este listado no tiene un orden, sólo los cuatro de arriba serían los mejores.

MEJORES LECTURAS



- El Jilguero de Donna Tartt.
- La Inquilina de Wildfell Hall de Anne Brontë.
- Lincoln en el Bardo de George Saunders.
- David Copperfield de Charles Dickens.
- Los Desposeidos de Ursula K. Le Guin.
- Born a Crime de Trevor Noah.
- Blankets de Craig Thompson.
- Un mal nombre de Elena Ferrante.
- Volverás a Alaska de Kristin Hannah.
- Viento y Ceniza de Diana Gabaldon.
- La Suerte del Bufón de Robin Hobb.
- Magic Triumphs de Ilona Andrews.

No pude encontrar un favorito, entonces pondré cuatro, que son los libros que obtuvieron las 5 estrellas.

En clásicos este año Anne le ha ganado a Charlotte, con La inquilina de Wildfell Hall, un libro muy adelantado a su época y con un tema no muy visto en otras novelas, por lo que es fácil entender la controversia al momento de su publicación; sin quedarse atrás la manera de escribir de Anne la menor e injustamente menos reconocida de las hermanas Bronte. Por otro lado tenemos a David Copperfield, no pensé que se pudiera colar Dickens, pero con este tercer libro que leo de él me ha convencido de seguir con todas sus obras (que lo bueno es que son muchas y muy largas).

El Jilguero y Lincoln en el Bardo son de esos libros de los que desde las primeras páginas sabía que me gustarían, algo en la historia y la manera en que están escritos. Son libros que dividen opiniones, a algunos les puede gustar y a otros no, a mí me encantaron. En El Jilguero seguimos la vida de Theo que siendo niño estuvo en un ataque terrorista en un museo, en el que su madre es una de las víctimas. En la confusión del incidente roba un pequeño cuadro, este hecho lo perseguirá a lo largo de los años siguientes. Lincoln en el Bardo se desarrolla en un panteón a lo largo de la noche de la muerte de Willie el hijo del presidente Abraham Lincoln, está lleno de fantasmas y personajes entrañables.

En ciencia ficción este año solo esta Los Desposeidos de Ursula K. Le Guin. Tengo que decir que al terminar este libro, me pareció bien, pero me fue gustando más conforme pasaba el tiempo, es de esas lecturas que se quedan y le encuentras más significados mientras más piensas en él. Muy bueno y recomendable.

En no ficción, se coló Trevot Noah y Born a Crime. No leo mucho no ficción, estuve pensando entre este y el de Michelle Obama. Al final me decidí por este, porque de Michelle sabía más sobre su historia, sin grandes sorpresas. No sabía si iba a meter alguna novela gráfica, este año leí dos de Craig Thompson, el arte de Habibi me pareció precioso, y también puedo mencionar The prince and the dressmaker que es una ternura. Pero mi favorito y el que más me llegó fue Blankets.

Tenía que poner a Elena Ferrante y sus dos amigas (la amiga estupenda, Un mal nombre), sólo llevo los dos primeros libros, pero ha logrado que me meta y viva completamente junto con los personajes, sintiéndome por los barrios de Nápoles. Espero leer el tercera antes de que se acabe este descanso de fin de año.

En Histórico, tuve que pensar porque, Volverás a Alaska de Kristin Hannah me gustó mucho, y es de esos libros que es difícil soltar, pero al final suceden una o dos cosas que eran ya demasiado, lo que me hizo bajarle un poco la nota, pero es un excelente libro. Y Viento y Ceniza de Diana Gabaldón, al igual que el año pasado, me esta funcionando más leer un libro entre temporada y temporada (que es una larga espera) y así aguanto, como ya dije estoy ya muy encariñada con los personajes y no puedo decir más.

Y terminamos con fantasía, este año no leí tanto de éste género, podría mencionar a otro de mis favoritos: Guy Gavriel Kay y su duología de Los Mosaicos de Sarantium. Pero ya es sabido mi amor por Robin Hoob, y la trilogía de El Bufón Blanco tenía que estar con este cierre en La Suerte del Bufón. Y yo seguiré aquí esperando a que lleguen los siguientes libros. Traspie y el Bufón son de mis personajes favoritos y yo leeré lo que Robin Hoob escriba de ellos.

Y por último fantasía urbana, el final de Kate Daniels y eso es todo. Esta y Fiebre son mis series de UF favoritas, pero ésta a diferencia de Fiebre no decae con el tiempo y tiene un muy buen cierre, aparte de muy buenos personajes que van evolucionando con el paso de los libros y lo que es más importante: son súper entretenidos!

OTRAS MENCIONES



Hay alunas otras buenas lecturas que valen la pena. Mi historia de Michelle Obama, aunque algunas cosas no sonarán nuevas, a mí me cae muy bien. Shirley de Charlotte Brontë no estará entre los mejores de este año, pero este libro igual me gustó mucho. La amistad de Caroline y Shirley y sobre todo la historia de ésta última en la segunda mitad del libro. Y creo que debería tener una adaptación, no sé porque no existe una todavía.

Este año decidí releer los primeros 5 libros de la serie Fiebre de Karen Marie Moning o la primera parte como la llamaré, esta primera parte es de mis series favoridas de UF junto a Kate Daniels, y decidí seguir con el resto de la serie, que me había tenido tiempo dudando. No está en mis favoritos porque es relectura y la segunda parte de la serie, bueno lo veremos más adelante.

The seven husband of Evelyn Hugo y The Kiss quotient, ambos libros que una vez empezados no pude soltar, libros para entretener y pasar el rato, cosa que intento mucho y no siempre lo logro.

DECEPCIONES

Si, la segunda parte de Fiebre, que ya lo veía venir, pero parece que fueron escritos por otra persona. En los últimos libros se recupera un poco, pero nunca logra llegar a lo que fueron los primeros 5 libros. Riquete el del copete, tal vez me esperaba más de Amélie Nothomb, que por lo menos siempre me divierte, esta año también leí Ni de Eva ni de Adán y me gustó mucho.

PEORES

Tampoco tuve muchas malas lecturas, puse algunas notas bajas, pero no tuve algún libro que se haya ganado mi odio eterno. Pondré algunos no tan buenos. Flores en la tormenta, la verdad no sé todavía por que leí esto y lo terminé, esperando que pasará algo o me cayeran mejor los personajes. Fue un poco pérdida de tiempo. The hating game, no comprendo que le ven a éste libro. Y el primer libro del año El agente de las estrellas, es bastante tonto, pero podría ser divertido, cosa que es en pocas ocasiones.

Y termino, ahora a empezar el año 2019 con mejores lecturas.

2018...what to say about it? Honestly? It was at best a mediocre year for books (for me). Some author's continued to hit it out of the park, and some I had to part ways with. My tastes were a bit all over the place, and I grew frustrated over the lack of originality in the books released this past year.

However, there were still some exceptional books released in 2018, and the following are just a few of those...

– Verity by Colleen Hoover
– The Wish Collector by Mia Sheridan
– White Rabbit: The Rise (The Kingmaker Saga #1) by London Miller
– Depravity (Love Depraved) by Natalie Bennett
– The Fall Before Flight by L.M. Halloran
– Specter (Circuit, #1) by Lacey Dailey
– Hearts Of Darkness (The Santiago Trilogy Book 1) by Catherine Wiltcher
– Dancing in the Dark by T.L. Martin
– The Protégé by Brianna Hale
– The Death and Life of Eleanor Parker by Kerry Wilkinson
– Perfect Vision by L.M. Halloran
– Birds of Paradise by Anne Malcom
– El Malo by K. Webster
– Wishing Well by Lily White
– Psychopath's Prey by V.F. Mason
– My Torin by K. Webster

Close enough to the end of the year for me to have a crack at this.

Some “Best of the Year” books I have read:

Best Travel - Anywhere But Here, by Peter Pinney. A tightly contested category this one, as 90% of my books fit in here.

Best History - The Road to Ubar, by Nicholas Clapp.

Best Military - Guerilla Surgeon, by Lindsay Rogers. Closely contested by The Barbarians, by Peter Pinney, and The Desert Column, by Ion Idriess.

Best Biography - Men of the Jungle, by Ion Idriess. Closely contested by The Dolphins Tooth, by Bruce Kirby and Elephant Bill, by JH Williams.

Best Nautical - Lone Dhow, by Adrian Conan Doyle.

Best Photography - Desert, Marsh & Mountain, by Wilfred Thesiger.

Best Published by The Travel Book Club - Indians on Horseback, by Gustav Bolinder. Closely contested by Four Faces of Peru, by Wilfred Byford-Jones.

Best New Zealand Authored - Nairn Bus to Baghdad, by JS Tullett.

Best Nonfiction Short Story Collection - Ox-Travels.

Nearly there.

Best Fiction - A Burnt-Out Case, by Graham Greene.

Best Fiction Short Story Collection - Shades of Greene, by Graham Greene.

Best Ebook or online read - Our King and His Court, by Rich Larsen.


Some Statistics - Read 115 books this year (probably one to come yet), at just under 29,500 pages. I tried a lower target number of books this year to encourage me to read some longer books, but this year was busy at work, and home, and I am down around 4000 pages on previous years.

My average rating for books is a health 3.8 stars.

Longest book: 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami.

Of the 115 Books I rated:
26 books 5 stars
48 books 4 stars
38 books 3 stars
3 books 2 stars

So these are the five star books from the year:
The Shadow of the Sun, by Ryszard Kapuściński.
Lone Dhow, by Adrian Conan Doyle.
The Desert Column, by Ion Idriess.
Prospecting for Gold, by Ion Idriess.
The Dolphins Tooth, by Bruce Kirby.
Four Faces of Peru, by Wilfred Byford-Jones.
Our King and His Court, by Rich Larsen.
Nairn Bus to Baghdad, by JS Tullett.
Struwwelpeter , by Heinrich Hoffmann.
Samarkand and Beyond, by James Howard Wellard.
Trainspotting, by Irvine Welsh. (My only re-read of the year.)
Skagboys, by Irvine Welsh.
Indians on Horseback, by Gustav Bolinder.
Desert, Marsh & Mountain, by Wilfred Thesiger.
The Road to Ubar, by Nicholas Clapp.
High Adventure, by Sir Ed Hillary.
Elephant Bill, by JH Williams.
Anywhere But Here, by Peter Pinney.
Guerilla Surgeon, by Lindsay Rogers.
Blood Against the Snows, by Jonathan Gregson.
Men of the Jungle, by Ion Idriess.
My Kenya Days, by Wilfred Thesiger.
In Arabian Nights, by Tahir Shah.
A Burnt-Out Case, by Graham Greene.
Lady with A Spear, by Eugenie Clark.
The Barbarians, by Peter Pinney

Thanks to those who labour through my reviews, and bear with my obscure reads.