I’ve decided that 2018 was my “Year of the Woman.” Themes of feminism and other various related women’s issues threaded their way through many of my choices. Plus, I read a plethora of amazing work from women authors. I love when the unintentional becomes meaningful!
My top picks for 2018 were all written by women. One is a memoir that’s captivated readers and critics. Another is a feminist book, which should become a classic. The other two are fictional stories that absolutely shook me in their depth and quality.
- Best Fiction: A Little Life
- Favorite Nonfiction: Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger
- Best Audio: Becoming
- Favorite Author New to Me: Rebecca Makkai (The Great Believers)
Each of my blog posts or book reviews are posted under the categories of either Resist, Relax, or Learn. So, it’s my practice to pick the best of each category as well. I truly can’t narrow it down to just four!
Picking favorite books for 2018 proved difficult, just like it did in 2016 and 2017. So I turned to the stars I gave books in Goodreads. These are my five-star reviews in each of the three categories, with links to the original review too. I recommend each and every one of these books.
Resist
Tears We Cannot Stop: A Sermon to White America
When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir
Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger
The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women
Asking for It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture and What We Can Do about It
Relax
A Little Life
Earthseed #1 and #2
Becoming
The Great Believers
Learn
Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics
Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement
2018 Statistics
Nearly 43,000 pages listened to or read
127 total books
Average length 338 pages
55 nonfiction
52 (40%) were on my shelves January 1, with the remainder either borrowed or bought in 2018. I track this because of the Mount TBR Reading challenge. Sadly, I didn’t read as many from my own shelves in 2018 as in 2017. The library tempted me many times!
I also keep track of number of books, number of pages, and authors who are diverse and/or female. To me, a diverse author is anyone who doesn’t identify as white. This year my diverse authors included African American, Asian American, Iranian, mixed race, Nigerian, and Rwandan people.
- 20 books from diverse authors (16% of my 127 books)
- 76 books written by women (60% of the yearly total)
- 26 books in the Resist category (20% of my total)
- 79 books in the Relaxation category (62% of my total)
- 17 books in the Learn category (13% of my total)
Balancing Relax and Resist books was one of my 2018 goals. I certainly leaned towards relaxation, but the resist and learn books I chose were intense! Many of the Resist books could also be considered books I learned from.
Reading Challenges
I started participating in reading challenges a few years ago. It’s opened my reading topics up considerably. Now I can’t imagine not choosing a challenge or three each year!
Litsy #Booked2018 – completed 24 of 24 prompts (also co-hosted this one)
Litsy AtoZ – completed 26 of 26 prompts
Eclectic Readers Mad Libs – completed 10 of 10
Popsugar 2018 – completed 40 of 40
The Year of the Chunkster – completed 11 books at least 500 pages long
MountTBR – Read 52 books (Mt. Ararat)
2019 Goals
I’m trimming down my challenge participation for 2019. I overdid the commitments in 2018, especially when you include two book groups and running a buddy read. It left me feeling less able to mood read than I’d like. So, this year I’m just committing to #Booked2019 and the Reading Women Challenge. I’m also continuing with MountTBR, since reading books I already own is always a good thing!
I’d like to increase my diverse author choices, and dig into some of the political books I already own that center on the current administration.
Here’s to a blank slate on the first day of the year! May you read great books for many hours in 2019.
Recent Comments