In 2018, I read 70 books. [Not counting lit mags or news.]
This year, I found my opinions ran cold or hot. I tended to really get into a book [mostly fiction] or else feel disapointed or bored. A few I discarded a few chapters in, and I didn’t count those here. But there were many beautiful novels, some absorbing books and masterful stories.
Here is my list of books read in 2018, in no real particular order. Titles in bold are books I stumbled upon, that left me especially surprised & delighted.
1. PACHINKO by Min Jin Lee
2. THE ICE HOUSE by Laura Lee Smith [such great comic touches]
3. CAROL by Patricia Highsmith
4. MANHATTAN BEACH by Jennifer Egan
5. LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng
6. THE SYMPATHIZER by Viet Thanh Nguyen
7. THE AFTERLIVES by Thomas Pierce
8. SURPRISE ME by Sophie Kinsella
9. THE IMMORTALISTS by Chloe Benjamin
10. STRAYING by Mollie McCloskey
11. AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE by Tayari Jones
12. ASYMMETRY by Lisa Halliday
13. THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW by AJ Finn
14. MRS. CALIBAN by Rachel Ingalls
15. AUTUMN by Ali Smith
16. EXIT WEST by Mohsin Hamid
17. BORNE by Jeff Vandermeer
18. THE REFRIGERATOR MONOLOGUES by Catherynne Valente
19. STILL WRITING by Dani Shapiro
20. THE ALMOST SISTERS by Joshilyn Jackson [Willie Morris Award contender]
21. NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE US by Stephanie Watts [Willie Morris Award contender}
22. GRADLE BIRD by J.C. Sasser [Willie Morris Award contender]
23. ONE GOOD MAMA BONE by Bren McClain [Willie Morris Award winner]
24. RABBIT CAKE by Annie Hartnett [Willie Morris Award contender]
25. THE BOOK OF POLLY by Kathy Hepinstall [Willie Morris Award contender]
26. THE HOME THAT WAS OUR COUNTRY: A MEMOIR OF SYRIA by Alia Malek
27. AN EDUCATION by Tara Westover
28. SWEET BITTER by Stephanie Danler
29. THE MARS ROOM by Rachel Kushner
30. CRAZY RICH ASIANS by Kevin Kwan
31. KUDOS by Rachel Kusk
32. CLOCK DANCE by Ann Tyler [Tyler is a master of interiority & emotional beats]
33. LESS by Andrew Sean Greer [Pulitzer prize winner with laugh out loud scenes]
34. OUR KIND OF CRUELTY by Araminta Hall
35. LAWN BOY by Jonathan Evison
36. SUNBURN by Laura Lippman
37. THE FRIEND by Sigrid Nunez [I loved this early on, so happy it won the National Book Award]
38. THE BUSINESS OF BEING A WRITER by Jane Friedman
39. THE LITTLE STRANGER by Sarah Waters
40. THE ART OF POSSIBILITY by Benjamin Zander and Rosamund Stone Zander [self-help & creativity]
41. THERE THERE by Tommy Orange
42. MY EX-LIFE by Stephen McCauley
43. ELINOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE by Gail Honeyman [loved the humor, the voice]
44. GIVE ME YOUR HAND by Megan Abbott
45. MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION by Ottessa Moshfegh
46. HOW TO WRITE AN AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL by Alexander Chee
47. COLD COMFORT FARM by Stella Gibbons
48. SLAMMERKIN by Emma Donaghue
49. FLIGHTS by Olga Tokarczuk
50. THE BIRDS OF OPULENCE by Crystal Wilkinson
51. LIE TO ME by JT Ellison
52. TIN MAN by Sarah Winman
53. WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens [LOVED the marsh, the nature, the page-turning mystery]
54. THE KEEP by Jennifer Egan [I’ll read anything Jennifer Egan writes, glad I got around to this one]
55. BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES edited by Roxanne Gay
56. THE CARRYING: POEMS by Ada Limon
57. CLOUD ATLAS by David Mitchell
58. SONG OF ACHILLES by Mary Miller
59. SEVERANCE by Ling Ma
60. LIGHT THE DARK: WRITERS ON CREATIVITY edited by Joe Fassler [on the craft]
61. CRUDO by Olivia Laing
62. DINNER AT THE HOMESICK RESTAURANT by Ann Tyler [reread this favorite]
63. TOUCH by Courtney Maum
64. START-UP by Doree Shafer
65. IMAGINE WANTING ONLY THIS: a graphic memoir by Kirsten Radke
66. DARK MATTER by Blake Crouch
67. PARABLE OF THE SOWER by Octavia Butler [Loved this sci-fi novel]
68. OF LOVE AND WAR by Lynsey Addario
69. TELL THE MACHINE GOODNIGHT by Katie Williams
70. CHERRY by Nico Walker [Unique voice & insight into characters who are veterans and struggling with opioid addiction]
Next year, my goal is to read 100 books.