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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.

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