At the beginning of 2018 I created a visual “bookshelf” in my bullet journal to record the books I read and make some notes about them. Looking back at my year, assuming I actually recorded every book I read, I read 28 books (not counting children’s picture books and the like which I didn’t record).

I tend to read several books at once – I’ll have one in my work bag, a couple by my bed, another one or two (or three) by the couch, another on my phone that I listen to when I’m driving. My favorite books are the ones that I end up reading late into the night and also during every spare moment I can sneak in reading time – like when I’m brushing my teeth or eating lunch (those books included, but were not limited to, Educated, Kitchen Yarns, Montaigne in Barn Boots, One Day in December, The Vacationers, The Summer Wives, The Rending and the Nest, Erotic Stories for Punjabi Women, and Saints for All Occasions). 

Here’s my list of Books Read in 2018 by genre (more or less – there’s some genre crossover). They are NOT listed in order of how much I liked them nor are they in any particular order. Please know, however, that if they made my “finished” list, they were books I liked, in most cases a LOT, because I simply don’t bother finishing books if they aren’t catching my attention right away. It’s pretty clear that I read mostly fiction and memoir. I will work on expanding my reading to other genres in 2019!

I am not creating links to each book because it would take me forever to do so – but please know that you can find more information on any of these books at Content Bookstore’s website by typing the title in the “Search for Anything” box near the top of Content’s web page.

Books I read in 2018

Memoir

• Educated by Tara Westover
• Jell-O Girls by Allie Rowbottom
• We’ll Be the Last Ones to Let you Down by Rachel Hanel
• Montaigne in Barn Boots by Michael Perry

Food Writing (could also be in memoir)

• Kitchen Yarns by Ann Hood

Travel Writing (could also be in memoir)

• Mud, Sweat and Gears by Ellie Bennet (4th or 5th time I’ve read this one)

Fiction

• The Grand Tour by Adam O’Fallon Price
• The Vacationers by Emma Straub
• My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
• Paris by the Book by Liam Callanan
• Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal
• One Day in December by Josie Silver
• The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen 83 1/4 Years Old by Hendrik Groen (whoops – I think I actually read this in 2017)
• Less by Andrew Sean Greer
• Talk Before Sleep by Elizabeth Berg
• The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrand
• Be Frank with Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson
• Speak No Evil by Uzodinma Iweala
• The Rending and the Nest by Kaethe Schwehn
• The Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams
• Love and Ruin by Paula McLain
• Radio Girls by Sarah-Jane Stratford
• The Which Way Tree by Elizabeth Crook
• The Other Alcott by Elise Hooper
• The Housemaid’s Daughter by Barbara Mutch
• Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Non-Fiction

• The Good Neighbor by Maxwell King
• I’ll Be There For You by Kelsey Miller

What did you enjoy reading in 2018?