2018 Favourites - Books
At the start of 2018 I really enjoyed doing a post on my favourite things in 2017 - from films to podcasts and of course, books.
I wanted to do the same thing for 2018, but with 95 books read over the year I thought books might require their own post!
2018 was definitely a year of reading.
I set my goodreads goal for 2018 at 40 books, after reading 43 in 2017, 13 over my 2017 goal of 30 books. I had absolutely no idea I'd hit my reading goal for the year in July, or that I'd have hit double that goal by October.
(And no, I'm not disappointed I didn't hit 100, because honestly I didn't think I'd read 50 books this year, let alone 95!)
Reading definitely became a hobby in 2018. I read in the morning, on the way to work, on my lunch break, on my way home from work, and in the evenings. I read waiting for the bus or waiting in queues.
I read every single day of 2018.
Some days I read a page, some days I read a whole book. But I made it a challenge to read at least something of a book every day.
And the biggest help was my constant stream of reading material - thanks to reading podcasts, book twitter, reading blogs and goodreads. I read voraciously as I was always constantly excited by what else was out there to read. In the past I'd found my reading drop when I've been stuck for what to read next - right now I have 56 unread books on my Kindle, 71 books on my library saved list and 134 books on my Amazon wishlist, not even including the dozens of unread books on my shelves!
I love being excited about reading again. The sadness of finishing a book I loved is reduced by knowing there's always something else brilliant waiting for me!
And I have put books down this year. Any time I find myself scrolling through Twitter instead of reading I know I'm not enjoying my current book, and I've been better this year at not forcing myself to read things I'm not enjoying, or reading books I feel I "should" read.
I've definitely used my library card this year - 44 (nearly half!) of my books read this year were from the library. It saves me a fortune!
And while I have bought a lot of books on Kindle, I've been much better at buying most of my physical books this year either second hand or from bookshops, as was one of my goals for 2018.
I'm naturally asked how I find the time to read as much as I do, and the reality is as I said before, I squeeze time in when I can, but I've also done it instead of many other things this year. I didn't carry on with much yoga after my first 32 days of the year, I didn't start learning Spanish again - but I don't regret the time I've spent reading! Like anything else, I've read lots by making reading a priority.
So, what did I love that I read in 2018?
My original "favourites" list of the year contained 29 books. Not much of a shortlist! So I've managed to cut it down to my 15 favourites.
These are in no particular order, but I do have a favourite book of the year...
- Everything I know about Love - Dolly Alderton
- The Guilty Feminist - Deborah Frances-White
- Beartown - Fredrick Backman
- Normal People - Sally Rooney
- This Must be the Place - Maggie O Farrell
- The Nix - Nathan Hill
- Educated - Tara Westover
- Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng
- Based on a True Story - Delphone de Vigan
- Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng
- I'll be Gone in the Dark - Michelle McNamara
- Three Things about Elsie - Joanna Cannon
- The Silent Companions - Laura Purcell
- Lullaby - Leila Slimani
- I am, I am, I am - Maggie O Farrell
I'm surprised how many of my favourite books this year were non-fiction - 5 of my top 15, including my book of the year, Everything I know about Love.
I have read some absolutely incredible books this year and I am so excited for what my 2019 in reading will bring!
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