It’s the very last day of 2018 and what a year it’s been! Actually, I’m not in that much of a reminiscent mood this December. The year had its definite highs and lows, but I don’t really feel like dwelling on them, so I’m not going to! I’m excited for 2019 and I’ve got a lot of plans, but we’re going to talk about those in another post. One thing I do love looking back on is the things I read in a year, so that what’s were going to do today!

I’m going to look at Jamie/The Perpetual Page-Turner’s End of Year Book Survey for inspiration, but I’m not going to do the whole thing because it’s long and I only have an hour before having to get ready and leave for New Year celebrations #oops.

So, let’s get to it!

• Number of books you read: 50
• Number of new reads: 46
• Number of re-reads: 4

 

I’ve read 50 books this year! It’s the first time since 2015 that I managed to read anywhere near this many books, so I’m quite proud. At the start of 2018, I set my Goodreads reading challenge to 1 book because I didn’t want to feel the pressure of “you’re 3 books behind on schedule” and it turned out that was a really good thing to do. I felt no pressure and had a ton of fun reading this year! I read some really long books and some shorter ones – basically, I just read whatever the heck I wanted and it was great.

Like last year, I made a bunch of pie charts because pie charts are fun!

I read so many 4-star and 5-star books this year! There were a ton of books I was really enthusiastic about while and after reading them and that feeling is just the best. I had some trouble thinking of my favourite book of the year, but then I remembered that I finished Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor in the first few days of January, so that counts!

Best three books I read in 2018

• Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (and its sequel Muse of Nightmares)
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer
• Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Honourable mentions 

• Last Night I Sang To The Monster by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
• Mythos by Stephen Fry
• Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
• How To Be A Heroine by Samantha Ellis
• They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera
• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
• Room by Emma Donoghue

Last year, fantasy was my most read genre, which I was a little surprised by back then because I usually read mostly contemporary, but now everything is back to normal! Contemporary is by far my most read genre again, but fantasy is still a clear second. New this year is that I read quite a bit of non-fiction! I never really read non-fiction before (last year’s sliver was 3 per cent), but I really enjoyed it so I’m going to continue doing that in the new year.

Non-fiction shoutouts:

• Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham
• My Friend Fear: Finding Magic in the Unknown by Meera Lee Patel

I didn’t take age categories into account in the genre pie chart, meaning the “contemporary” category contains both adult fiction and YA. So I also made an age category chart! As was to be expected, I mostly read YA, but I also read quite a bit of Adult books. Surprisingly, 14 per cent of the books I read were children’s books! Most of these were classics, though, like The Hobbit and Winnie the Pooh.

Children’s books shoutouts:

• The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
• Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo

Look at that! Seventy-eight per cent of the books I read were written by women! I’m really pleased with that and even more so because it wasn’t even on purpose. The simple fact is that most of the books I wanted to read this year had a female author and I think that’s pretty cool!

Favourite new author I discovered in 2018: Laini Taylor and Sandhya Menon (from When Dimple Met Rishi)

Favourite debut from 2018: A Thousand Perfect Notes by C.G. Drews aka the amazing Paper Fury! She worked her butt off getting her book published and I felt so proud while reading it: it’s absolutely amazing!

Unsurprisingly to me, I read mostly standalones – that’s just what I’m about, y’all. But I also really like series, and it shows!

Best series I started this year: Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor – this series has a special place in my heart!

Best sequel I read this year: Gemina by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (part two of The Illuminae Files – this book, you guys! It had me going “NO!” and “aaaaah!” and “no way!” out loud multiple times. This series is amazing!

Best series finale I read this year:

• Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
  • I keep forgetting I read this book in 2018 as well which is weird because I loved it so much!
• Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
  • I read all three books in the To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before series this year and this one, the last one, was definitely my favourite! I might also have a soft spot for these books due to the amazing Netflix adaptation – that definitely deserves a shoutout, too.

You wouldn’t think it judging by the chart, but 2018 was the year of the audiobook for me! At the end of 2017, I got a subscription to an audiobook app (Storytel) and I’ve loved it ever since. I listened to nine audiobooks, which is quite a lot for me. I mostly listened to them while doing certain mindless chores like folding laundry and such. It’s such a great way of both making those chores a little more fun and getting some reading done at the same time!

Favourite audiobooks:

• Secrets for the Mad by Dodie Clark
  • It included a bunch of her songs, which made the experience so wonderful! Plus, the book was quite personal, so hearing Dodie read it herself was lovely as well.
• Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
  • I’ve got two words for you: Scottish accents. Amazing.

I also reread some of the Harry Potter books on audio, which is always a great idea, especially if Stephen Fry is the narrator.

Favourite quote from a book you read in 2018:

From All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater:

His journey before now had felt like a dream, and a dream can always be changed into something else. But when you are a wake, the truth is bright and stark, not as willing to bend to the mind’s will.

And that’s all we’ve got time for today, folks! Literally: I’ve got to hop in the shower, like, right now. I had an absolute blast of a reading year and I hope you did, too! Did you spot some of your favourites in my recap? What was the best book you read in 2018? Let me know in the comments so we can chat!

There’s only one thing left to say, then:

Happy New Year, everyone!