Every year, when I go to write these posts, I am amazed that another year has passed! These end-of-the-year recaps are some of my favorite posts to write because they’re also my favorites to look back on. This is my third annual book round-up (you can check out the 2017 post, the 2016 post, and the 2015 post, too!) and I’m pleased to report that this year I’ve not only reached my reading goal of 25 books but I’ve surpassed it by reading 27 books in 2018.
There were definitely some lulls this year in my reading. For example, I didn’t read a single book in September, and I didn’t even come close to reading as much as I wanted to over the summer. However, after finals were over, I flew through 4 books in December (and I’m currently working on my 5th).
I debated on what I want my 2019 reading goal to be, and I think I’m going to keep it at 25 books. I’m finishing up grad school this year and will be starting a job and I want to make sure I don’t set myself up for failure! BUT I want to challenge myself this year and start reading more diverse books. If you’ve been following me for a while and read my book posts, you probably know that my go-to reads are thrillers and contemporary fiction. I want to challenge myself to read more memoirs, literary fiction, “classics”, and maybe even some historical fiction. I love reading for leisure but I want to start gaining more knowledge from books, too. Hopefully that makes sense. If you have any recs for me, leave them in the comments!
Now, without further ado, here are the books I read in 2018!
1. MR. PENUMBRA’S 24-HOUR BOOKSTORE BY ROBIN SLOAN
3/5 stars.
My first book of 2018 was a littleeeee underwhelming. I bought this at The Last Bookstore in LA. I had heard such great things about it and it was a pleasant read but nothing super crazy or intriguing. This book is about a guy named Clay who starts working at a bookstore and starts uncovering mysteries about his boss and his place of employment. It was a pretty quick read but, like I said, overall pretty underwhelming.
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2. VOICE UNEARTHED: HOPE, HELP, AND A WAKE-UP CALL FOR THE PARENTS OF CHILDREN WHO STUTTER BY DOREEN LENZ HOLTE
3/5 stars.
This book was one I had to read for my fluency class. It was a super quick read (only 140 pages) and I enjoyed gaining a new perspective from a parent of a child who stuttered but I don’t think this is something any non-SLP needs to pick up and read. UNLESS you have some sort of tie to stuttering and/or stuttering interests you.
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3. THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW BY AJ FINN
4/5 stars.
My first thriller of 2018 did not disappoint! I received this through Book of the Month and really enjoyed it. It’s a long one (almost 400 pages) but I was really into the characters and the mind of the main character, Anna. She’s agoraphobic and sees something happen at her neighbor’s house but no one believes her because they think she’s “crazy”. You’re left questioning if she’s really as “crazy” as everyone thinks she is. It also had a great ending!
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4. DON’T YOU CRY BY MARY KUBICA
4/5 stars.
I picked this one up at Barnes and Noble one day when I was killing time before my night class. I started reading it that day and finished it a couple of days later! I originally bought it because the author of one of my all-time favorite books, Caroline Kepnes, recommended reading Mary Kubica’s work. This book is about a girl that has gone missing, and her roommate trying to find her while learning new things about her along the way. She’s not sure her roommate is the person she once thought she was. This book drug on in some parts but overall it was a good read with an ending I could not have guessed!
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5. FINAL GIRLS BY RILEY SAGER
5/5 stars.
Ah, yes. My first 5 star read of 2018! This book was SO good. I was obsessed with the premise from the start. The main character, Quinn, is one of three girls who have been the sole survivor of a mass murder. The press calls them the “Final Girls”. When one of the three girls dies of apparent suicide, the two that remain finally come together. Quinn doesn’t remember details of the night her friends were brutally murdered and she became a “Final Girl”, but as the book goes on, more details start coming to light. This book was gripping, interesting, and unlike anything I’ve read before. I totally recommend this if you’re into thrillers/mysteries!
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6. ELEANOR OLIPHANT IS COMPLETELY FINE BY GAIL HONEYMAN
4/5 stars.
This book was quirky and fun and I found myself really loving Eleanor as a character as the book progressed. At first, she got on my nerves a tiny bit but after finishing the book I think that was the point! This is a story about Eleanor and how a new friendship helped her to discover new things about herself. The characters in this were insanely likable and overall it was a good read.
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7. A STRANGER IN THE HOUSE BY SHARI LAPENA
4/5 stars.
This one was purchased for me by my friend Caitlin for our Bookish Secret Santa in 2017. I’m glad she introduced me to this book because I was really into it! Our main character, Karen, has just been arrested for speeding through a sketchy part of town but she has no recollection of why or what she was even doing there. As the story progresses, we learn more about Karen and her husband, the neighbors across the street, and the detective assigned to Karen’s case. Karen’s husband begins to question how much he really knows about his wife and tension builds between them. I don’t want to spoil anything else but let’s just say the ending is A+. I can remember finishing this on the plane ride to Galveston, Texas for spring break!
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8. I AM WATCHING YOU BY TERESA DRISCOLL
4/5 stars.
I read this one over two days at the beach in Galveston on my Kindle. It was a fast-paced read that drew me in right from the very beginning. The main character, Ella, is on the train and sees something fishy going on between two girls and two men fresh out of jail. After going back and forth with herself, she decides not to intervene and call the girls’ parents. The next morning, she finds that one of the girls she saw on the train has gone missing. The rest of the story takes place a year later. The girl still hasn’t been found. We learn more and more about what really happened that night and the individuals involved. From Ella, to the girl’s parents, to the friend that was with her that night. I really flew through this and honestly could not have predicted the ending! The story was told from multiple points of view and there were a good number of characters but it didn’t deter from the story for me at all. It could be because I finished it so quickly!
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9. THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME BY MARK HADDON
4/5 stars.
This book had been on my “SLP book list” for a while and I’m so glad I got around to finally reading it. The book is about a boy on the autism spectrum and how he deals with some pretty crazy events going on in his life. I definitely recommend this book to anyone who works with kids who have autism or anyone who is interested in that population. I think it was a great peek into the thought processes of children with autism. This was a quick read for me and I really enjoyed it.
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10. THE HATE U GIVE BY ANGIE THOMAS
5/5 stars.
This book should be required reading for white people. There. I said it. Read this book and realize your privilege. There are so many things about this book that opened my eyes. It taught me more about the types of things people who aren’t white have to worry about and handle on a daily basis. Read the book then go watch the movie.
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11. A CHANCE IN THE WORLD BY STEVE PEMBERTON
4/5 stars.
This was another eye-opening book. A memoir about a child (now a man and the author of this book) growing up in the foster care system. It’s all about lessons he’s learned and how he escaped from it all by reading books. It also details the journey of him finding family members and his struggle to realize his place in the world.
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12. AFTER YOU BY JOJO MOYES
4/5 stars.
I read Me Before You a few years ago and I didn’t really think about reading the next books because, really, what could possibly happen without Will around? Turns out, a lot. I really liked reading about what’s going on with Lou now that Will is gone. She has a whole new life, whole new problems, and a whole new struggle to figure out where she fits in the big city. New characters, new loves, I really liked this book.
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13. DARK MATTER BY BLAKE CROUCH
5/5 stars.
This was another book that people were begging me to read for a few years and I finally got around to it! This book was really interesting and different from a lot of books I typically read. It was definitely a thriller but had some sci-fi moments that I really liked! I flew through this book in 24 hours.
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14. AN AMERICAN MARRIAGE BY TAYARI JONES
4/5 stars.
This book was the start of my BOTM readathon books! This was a really interesting contemporary fiction book. The book was about a newly married couple, Celestial and Roy. They are married for a year when disaster strikes and Roy is accused of a crime he says he didn’t commit. He is sentenced for 12 years in prison and Celestial is prepared to wait as long as it takes. Told partially through letters, An American Marriage is a book about tough choices and what love really is. The storyline was really interesting and I found Celestial a powerful, interesting character. I enjoyed this read and would definitely recommend it!
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15. LIES SHE TOLD BY CATE HOLAHAN
3/5 stars.
The book’s format was interesting, but I’m not sure that it packed enough of a punch for me. This book is about writer named Liza. She’s on a deadline to write a new bestselling thriller, but she’s also juggling the reality of wanting to start a family with her husband, Nick, who is preoccupied with the disappearance of his best friend. Told in alternating chapters of her real life and her new novel, Lies She Told is about the lies we tell and the risks we take to protect ourselves and others from the truth.
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16. LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE BY CELESTE NG
4/5 stars.
I received this book in my BOTM box a while ago and I’m so glad I finally got around to reading it! The book centers around motherhood and what makes someone a good mother. I thought it was a really interesting book and I enjoyed reading it a lot. There were a lot of characters, which had me confused a few times, but even though there were a lot of characters, I felt like I was super connected with all of them which was awesome. This was the reason I was able to finish the book quickly!
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17. SHARP OBJECTS BY GILLIAN FLYNN
3/5 stars.
This book took me a long time to get through because it was super slow. The characters were pretty much all extremely unlikable and therefore, I wasn’t super invested in what happened. When the show on HBO came out, I decided to finish it so I could watch the show and compare (still haven’t watched the show though, just one episode). I ended up finishing the book and it got better but a lot of the “twists” were predictable. I was really disappointed that the ending was so rushed because at that point I actually became invested in the book and wanted to know more. Overall, it was pretty average but I hope to read some of Gillian Flynn’s more recent books soon!
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18. CRAZY RICH ASIANS BY KEVIN KWAN
4/5 stars.
This was probably my favorite book I read in this quarter. Though it took me a little while to get through, I was able to finish it before seeing the movie which meant a lot to me! I enjoyed the book and the movie equally, though they were slightly different from each other. After finishing this, I immediately bought the next book so I’m hoping to read that before the end of 2018 also! The characters were super likable and funny and I loved the plot. Highly recommend reading this if you’re into rom-com type books. The only thing I thought was kind of annoying was that there were a TON of characters to keep track of and it was told in multiple perspectives which became a little confusing at times.
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19. TO ALL THE BOYS I’VE LOVED BEFORE BY JENNY HAN
4/5 stars.
I had this book sitting on my shelf for 4 years! When I heard there was a Netflix movie coming out, I had to make sure I read it. I’m so glad I did! I haven’t read many YA books over the past few years, but this one was cute and the main character wasn’t too annoying. It was a nice change of pace for me.
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20. P.S. I Still Love You by Jenny Han
3/5 stars.
This was my least favorite of the TATBILB series. I didn’t enjoy the conflict and honestly felt like it was unnecessary to the series. However, I still read it pretty quickly and was glad I was able to finish out the series this year!
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21. A Simple Favor by Darcey Bell
3/5 stars.
After realizing A Simple Favor was not just a new movie starring Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively, I picked up the book and was determined to read it before seeing the movie. But I failed because I could not get into the book for the life of me! The characters were so annoying and I had no desire to read it. After seeing the movie, though, I enjoyed the twists and wanted to see how the book’s ending compared to the movie. I read it much faster and actually began to like it. I think I liked the book’s ending better than the movie’s, honestly. It seemed much more satisfying!
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22. The Chalk Man by CJ Tudor
4/5 stars.
This book has been compared to Stranger Things and I definitely think it was a good comparison! The vibes between this book and the show were really similar, although there’s nothing sci-fi about this book. This was a super enjoyable read and I loved the twists and turns. It’s told during two time periods, the 80s and today. Would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys thrillers!
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23. Always and Forever, Lara Jean by Jenny Han
4/5 stars.
Was super pleased that I was able to finish this series this year! I really liked the ending to this book and the message it had. My brother is a sophomore at UVA so I loved the little nuances about the university that were woven into this book! I also enjoyed that the story was not only about Lara Jean, but her family dynamic as well. A sweet little book to round out the series!
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24. Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
3/5 stars.
I love Anna Kendrick as much as the next guy, but this book didn’t really do it for me. There were some fun anecdotes in this book, but nothing super introspective or interesting. I think I would’ve enjoyed it more if I would have listened to the audiobook instead of reading.
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25. One Day in December by Josie Silver
5/5 stars.
This was one of my favorite books of 2018! It was a great book to end my reading challenge on. If you’re looking for a rom-com love story, this is your go-to! It’s not super Christmassy so it would be fine to read any time of the year, but I think it would definitely be a good winter book to cozy up with.
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26. The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle
4/5 stars.
My gut instinct after finishing this book was 3 stars, but because I read it so quickly I bumped it up to 4 stars. The book is super fast paced from the get-go and I think that’s the part that I didn’t enjoy. There wasn’t any backstory on the characters and I felt like I was playing catch-up the entire first half of the book just trying to figure out who the main character was and what was going on. It was a really interesting premise though and would recommend it! Just be prepared to feel a little lost in the beginning.
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27. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
4/5 stars.
Unless I end up finishing China Rich Girlfriend before the end of the year, this is my last book of 2018! I finished this while on vacation and it was a really great beach read. I enjoyed this story and the premise of the book. A woman wakes up from a coma and can’t remember the last 10 years of her life. 10 years ago she was expecting her first child and is happily married. When she wakes up, she realizes she has 3 children and is getting divorced. The book is basically all about her trying to piece together her life and the memories she lost and trying to figure out how things ended up this way.
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Time for a Giveaway!
Just like last year, I’ll be drawing two winners: one from IG and one from the comments here on the blog. I’ll send you one of the books I read this year so you can read it too! BUT, here’s the cool part, you get to pick! Share the book I’ve listed in this post that sound the most interesting to you and I’ll buy it for ya as a thank you for following along with my book posts this year.
Let’s kick off 2019 by reading some amazing books together!
