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Another year, another best-of list.
I like writing these posts because it gives me an excuse to look back at everything I read over the last 12 months (close to 100 books!) and think about what stood out. As usual, I read a lot of amazing books in 2018, and judging from my ever-growing TBR list, 2019 is also going to be a pretty great book year for me.
I’m also hoping 2019 is the year I can finally finish a first (aka shitty) draft of the novel I’ve been working on. What I do with it after that is an entirely different thing to worry about. There’s also the question of the children’s story I submitted to a contest this year. It made through the first couple of rounds of selection but not the final cut. I got some excellent feedback on it, though, so I’d like to work on it some more and then maybe try to get it published.
But back to reading. These are just some of my favourites from the last twelve months. For a more detailed breakdown of what I read this year, check out My Year in Books.
The Library Book
by Susan Orlean
The Haunting of Hill House
by Shirley Jackson
I couldn’t even bring myself to write a Book vs Movie post about this one. Honestly, the book was incredible. The show was great up until that last episode, then it completely lost me.
Less
by Andrew Sean Greer
The Vanishing
by Tim Krabbe
This was the year I discovered that the 1993 movie The Vanishing was an adaptation of a 1988 Dutch film that was an adaptation of the novella written by Tim Krabbé, which I loved.
Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel
The Ocean at the End of the Lane
by Neil Gaiman
(More of a reread, technically, since I read it for the first time back in 2013.)
The Complete Persepolis
by Marjane Satrapi
My Year of Rest and Relaxation
by Ottessa Moshfegh
Probably the book I’ve recommended the most this year. It’s so unique and strange, and I haven’t really been able to stop thinking about it.
Adventures in Memory
by Hilde & Ylva Østby
I loved this book. It’s about how we make memories and about how our memories are fallible. It’s about how little we actually know about memory as a process. It’s also about forgetting. The Guardian did a very detailed review of the book recently. I recommend Adventures in Memory to pretty much everyone I talk to these days.
I’ll be Gone in the Dark
by Michelle McNamara
Sabrina
by Nick Drnaso
The New York Times called this graphic novel “a shattering work of art” and I think that sums it up quite well.
And Then There Were None
by Agatha Christie
Pet Sematary, The Mist, and Gerald’s Game,
all by Stephen King
I am loving the current King renaissance. Not only is 2019 going to give us the new Pet Sematary, but we’ll also get to see It: Chapter Two. In 2018 I loved reading and watching Pet Sematary, The Mist, and Gerald’s Game.
Your Money or Your Life
by Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez