7ToF: 2018 books worth reading

1. Here is my list of books I read in 2018 that were worth reading. I used to do this every year, but I don't think I have in awhile. If you want the reader's digest version, hmmmm..... I think my top favorites were Brown Girl Dreaming, A Tale for the Time Being, and A Gentleman in Moscow for fiction, and Columbine for non-fiction.

Carry on for the full list.

2. Fiction:  
- Rules of Civility and A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles. Not exactly page turners, but you fall in love with the characters. I didn't want either one of them to be over.
 - A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. Starts out with a conventional literary story about two unconnected people, a Japanese teen and a writer living on the west coast of Canada. Their lives overlap more and more as the story goes on. The ending requires major suspension of disblief but it worked for me. 
- Sing Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward. Terrifically good writing, but I seriously do not agree with reviewers who say that her biggest accomplishment is making the drug addict mom into a sympathetic character because SHE IS NOT. FEED YOUR CHILDREN, YOU DEADBEAT. But it's still a good book.  
- Foreign Affairs by Alison Lurie. Two English professors, one middle aged and female, one young and male, spend their sabbatical in London (and no, they do not have an affair, which is what I was expecting from the blurb, although their lives overlap in interesting ways).

3. Non-fiction: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Confederates in the Attic, Lost City of the Monkey God, Reality is Not What it Seems (about quantum physics!! and I read it! and it was good!), The Art of Memoir (Mary Kerr), and Columbine. Columbine (by Dave Cullen) isn't an easy read, but it's not as awful as I was afraid it would be, either, and it is fascinating. It is probably the best book I read this year, even though it was published in 2009.

4. Mysteries: The Dry by Jane Harper. A Melbourne police detective returns to his rural hometown for the funeral of his childhood best friend and then things get complicated. Several by Catherine Aird, which I already told you about. I made myself take a break so I wouldn't get tired of them, but I'm still enjoying them. Some of them are better than others (of course). I'm also slowly working my way through Donna Leon. I read two by Tana French (The Likeness and Faithful Place) and liked them both, but both required major suspension of disbelief (for different reasons).

5. Memoirs: Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson, I'm Still Here by Austin Channing Brown, We're going to Need more Wine by Gabrielle Union, I Am I Am I Am by Maggie O'Farrell, Plan B by Anne Lamott, Calypso by David Sedaris.

6. Kids/Young Adult: Dumplin' by Julie Murphy, The War that Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, The Red Pencil, by Andrea Davis Pinkney, El Deafo by CeCe Bell, The Prince and the Dressmaker, by Jen Wang.

7. One 2018 new year's resolution that I did pretty well on was to track my reading on Goodreads. I also decided that I would write a review for every book I read. I didn't do quite as well on that one-- I think I missed half a dozen or so-- but if you want to read any of them, click here and scroll down a bit.

Happy Solstice! By the time you read this, we will be on the other side of the winter dark and headed toward the light again. Have I told  you recently how much I appreciate you, my gentle readers? (Especially if you waded through to the end of this one.) Have a lovely, relaxing holiday, and let me know your best reads of the year in the comments.