Monday, December 31, 2018

So Long, 2018


I was reminded today that this blog still exists so I thought I should swing by to let you all know that I am okay (nothing happened ... just a trip to California, a couple of colds, and some malaise) and that I am mentally making my way back here. I also couldn't miss the opportunity to write up an end of the year summary, especially as I noticed last night that I had finished my *120th* book of the year! Whoa! So, no, it is not my reading that has fallen to the wayside, just my blogging.

In 2018 I ...

  • Read/listened to just over 40,000 pages in 120 books
  • Found time for 20 rereads
  • Enjoyed 11 non-fiction books
  • Journeyed through 7 books in translation (French, Japanese, Spanish x4, German)
  • Listened to 18 audiobooks
My favorite books of the year (in no particular order)
  • The four books of Martha Wells' Murderbot series - All Systems Red, Artificial Condition, Rogue Protocol, and Exit Strategy
  • The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (and fabulous rereads of the previous three books in the series)
  • The Broken Lands and The Kairos Mechanism by Kate Milford
  • Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens
  • The Philosopher's Flight by Tom Miller
  • Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
  • The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss
  • The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland
  • March, Books 1-3 by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
  • Early Riser by Jasper Fforde (not out yet in the U.S.!)
  • Dark Tales by Shirley Jackson
  • The Wicked Cometh by Laura Carlin (again, not out in the U.S.)
  • Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch (yes! I finally started this series!!)
  • The Book of Dust, Book One: The Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman
  • All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
I don't know if I'm going to do catch-up posts for any of the books I read over the past two months or if I'll just give myself permission to start with a clean slate. It will probably be the latter. No need to start the new year with a stack of stress!


These are the books I got for Christmas this year and, as you can imagine, some of my most anticipated reads of the new year! I might even reread Persuasion since I have this lovely new edition to replace my old Signet Classics paperback. I'll be starting the year with Kage Baker in print (The Machine's Child) and Michelle Obama (Becoming) on audio. My goals for 2019? I'm not going to make any. I am just going to work through as much of my home TBR (161 books) and my library list (58 books) as I can, choosing whatever I want to along the way and sprinkling in some rereads. I will still host DWJMarch/MarchMagics this spring but will probably have a rather generic topic. As for blogging, I may switch to a more journal-like format for a while, until this malaise and general inability to get my thoughts to coalesce passes. If I stay out of the habit of writing for much longer, this blog is toast!

Anyway, I hope that all of you had a satisfactory reading year and that you have great books to look forward to in 2019! Tell me something you are looking forward to in the comments (if they work for you. I know there are some issues and I can't figure out what is wrong.)

With confetti,
K

14 comments:

  1. Glad you didn't fall off the planet. ;D Love your list of favorites...there are several titles on it that I want to read next year. And 120 books? That's awesome. Happy New Year!

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    1. It's not an unheard of number for me but I really thought I wasn't having a great reading year. Turns out I did! And I hope that you enjoy the books that were my favorites. :) Happy New Year!

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  2. Whoa, that's a ton of books! Congrats! I applaud this clean slate permission and lack of goals--I hope your 2019 reading is amazing! I need to catch up on The Invisible Library so I can read The Mortal Word, and that Holmes book looks interesting... Happy New Year!

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    1. I'm so excited for The Mortal Word and I don't remember where I heard about the Holmes book but the author is a Baker Street Irregular so I trust that it will be great! I hope you have an amazing year too! :)

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  3. Nice to have you back, Kristen. That's an exciting stack of books you got there. I read and loved Raven Master when it first came out.

    I am looking forward to reading The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden when it comes out next week!

    Happy new year!

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    1. Oh, don't even get me started on the books that are coming out in the next month or two! ;)

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  4. Hey, my kid got Ravenmaster too! Going to steal that one. May 2019 be a big improvement over 2018.

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    1. Very cool that one of your kiddos would be interested in Ravenmaster! And how could you resist borrowing it?!
      And really, especially in your neck of the woods, 2019 *has* to be a better year. There's no other option.

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  5. Happy New Year! I’m looking forward to my vacation to Iceland, France, London, and Ireland in April

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    1. That will be so awesome! I look forward to hearing about it. ;)

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  6. Ooh, I hope you'll tell us all about The Ravenmaster when you read it! I've been seeing things about it lately, and it looks super interesting.

    And Happy New Year, mon vieux. <3

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    1. I will definitely be getting to it soon. I'm on a non-fic kick for some reason. Weird!

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  7. Hi, Kristen. I hope all is well with you, and I hope you are immersed in your Christmas load of good books and are enjoying them!

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    1. I haven't read any of these yet but I am reading books that (in my mind) lead up to them! Readers are silly people. ;)

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