Bookgazing's Favourite Books of 2018
Jan. 14th, 2019 11:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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ladybusinessI'm putting 2018 away with a quick wrap up of the books I most enjoyed reading last year. Not a lot has changed between now and when I posted my Favourite Books of 2018 (So Far) list, except that I read Washington Black, and LOVED it, but I figure it's always worth repeating yourself when it comes to books you love. I also added an Honourable Mentions list, so you get twice as many books to explore.
My Favourite 2018 Reads
Jade City by Fonda Lee
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
The Changeling by Victor LaValle
Take Courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life by Samantha Ellis
Ms. Marvel, Vol. 8: Mecca by G. Willow Wilson, Marco Failla & Diego Olortegui
Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore
Always & Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
The Backstagers, Vol. 1: Rebels Without Applause by James Tynion IV & Rian Sygh
Honourable mentions
Supergirl: Being Super by Mariko Tamaki & Joelle Jones
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
The Black Tides of Heaven by J. Y. Yang
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanen McGuire
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Prime Meridian by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Teamaster and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard
Check, Please!: #Hockey, Vol.1 by Ngozi Ukazu
A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor
2019 Resolutions
When it comes to reading resolutions for 2019 I'm keeping it simple. Although I read a lot of enjoyable books in 2018, it wasn't always a hugely exciting year for me and reading. I read A LOT of comfort reads, and continuing series, and while I really needed to take quite a bit of time for reading with predictable structures, I also missed some of the intense emotion of reading more books that moved me in surprising and strong ways. I wish I'd read more books that affected me like Wild Beauty did, but to be honest I'm not sure I could have handled any more of that level of lushness and emotion than I had already allowed into my 2018 reading. So, a big resolution for 2019 is to try to be more open to letting the big, emotional reads in (while also making time for lots of comforting returns to well-loved series).
Other resolutions include MOAR non-fiction. In 2018 I read four non-fiction books which was well short of my intention to read eleven, but was also a huge achievement for me in 2018. However, I have SO many non-fiction books in my house, and reading four a year really isn't chipping away at them. I'm also going to make a resolution to go to the library more; something I've really got out of the habit of doing since I became a bookseller, and picked up an amazing discount. In 2018 I read 32 books by chromatic authors and 37 by white authors, and in 2019 I want to keep focused on my goal to make sure I don't just read books by white people. As always I resolve to read more short fiction (maybe one story a week to get me back on track). And, finally I want to make sure I'm finishing series I love rather than abandoning them mid-way. The best way for me to do that seems to be to read the books quite close together instead of spacing them out, so this year I expect to be reading more from the series, and trilogies, I started in 2017 and 2018.
My Favourite 2018 Reads
Jade City by Fonda Lee
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
The Changeling by Victor LaValle
Take Courage: Anne Bronte and the Art of Life by Samantha Ellis
Ms. Marvel, Vol. 8: Mecca by G. Willow Wilson, Marco Failla & Diego Olortegui
Wild Beauty by Anna-Marie McLemore
Always & Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
The Bedlam Stacks by Natasha Pulley
Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
The Backstagers, Vol. 1: Rebels Without Applause by James Tynion IV & Rian Sygh
Honourable mentions
Supergirl: Being Super by Mariko Tamaki & Joelle Jones
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
The Black Tides of Heaven by J. Y. Yang
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanen McGuire
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Prime Meridian by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Teamaster and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard
Check, Please!: #Hockey, Vol.1 by Ngozi Ukazu
A Trail Through Time by Jodi Taylor
2019 Resolutions
When it comes to reading resolutions for 2019 I'm keeping it simple. Although I read a lot of enjoyable books in 2018, it wasn't always a hugely exciting year for me and reading. I read A LOT of comfort reads, and continuing series, and while I really needed to take quite a bit of time for reading with predictable structures, I also missed some of the intense emotion of reading more books that moved me in surprising and strong ways. I wish I'd read more books that affected me like Wild Beauty did, but to be honest I'm not sure I could have handled any more of that level of lushness and emotion than I had already allowed into my 2018 reading. So, a big resolution for 2019 is to try to be more open to letting the big, emotional reads in (while also making time for lots of comforting returns to well-loved series).
Other resolutions include MOAR non-fiction. In 2018 I read four non-fiction books which was well short of my intention to read eleven, but was also a huge achievement for me in 2018. However, I have SO many non-fiction books in my house, and reading four a year really isn't chipping away at them. I'm also going to make a resolution to go to the library more; something I've really got out of the habit of doing since I became a bookseller, and picked up an amazing discount. In 2018 I read 32 books by chromatic authors and 37 by white authors, and in 2019 I want to keep focused on my goal to make sure I don't just read books by white people. As always I resolve to read more short fiction (maybe one story a week to get me back on track). And, finally I want to make sure I'm finishing series I love rather than abandoning them mid-way. The best way for me to do that seems to be to read the books quite close together instead of spacing them out, so this year I expect to be reading more from the series, and trilogies, I started in 2017 and 2018.
