Thursday, January 10, 2019

Book List 2018

I've been reading as long as I can remember, but it wasn't until 2008 that I started putting together a list of all the books I read each year. I use Goodreads to keep track throughout the year and then list them all here once the year is over. Even though Goodreads compiles my Year in Books, it's always fun to go back through all the books I've read over the course of the year and see how many pages and how many hours of reading I have.

Also, once again I'll link to any reviews I did. As always, I have good intentions to review more of the books I read, but I don't always follow through. I feel like I did a much better job of rating and reviewing this year. Several books even earned 5 stars, which is rare for me. I usually go with 4 stars, saving that elusive 5th star for something that really makes an impression.  Let's see what 2018 looked like, shall we?

Again, all books are listed by the month I finished them. Even if I started listening or reading the previous month.

January
  1. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley (audio) - 8 hrs
  2. The Good Liar - Catherine McKenzie - 373 pages
  3. One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are - Ann Voskamp - 241 pages
  4. Hearts of Resistance - Soraya M. Lane - 324 pages
  5. Substitute: Going to School with a Thousand Kids - Nicholson Baker - 733 pages
  6. Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage - Alfred Lansing (audio)  - 10 hrs 20 min -  (5 stars)
  7. The Thief's Daughter (Kingfountain #2) - Jeff Wheeler - 368 pages
2039 pages | 18 hours and 20 minutes | I wrote a review for 6 out of 7!

February
  1. Turtles All the Way Down - John Green - 304 pages
  2. Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1) - Rachel Caine (audio) - 10 hrs 26 min
  3. Scarred: A Journey of Restoration - Jan Levine - 162 pages
  4. The King's Traitor (Kingfountain #3) - Jeff Wheeler - 386 pages  - (5 stars) but for some reason, I didn't take the time to write a review...
  5. My Sister's Grave (Tracy Crosswhite #1) - Robert Dugoni (audio)  - 10 hrs 49 min
852 pages | 21 hours and 15 minutes | and, ummm - only 1 review

March
  1. The Maid's War (Kingfountain 0.5) - Jeff Wheeler - 302 pages
  2. The Zookeeper's Wife - Diane Ackerman (audio) - 10 hrs 55 min
  3. How to Stop Time - Matt Haig - 331 pages
  4. God's Love Story - Marissa Baker - 42 pages
675 pages | 10 hours 55 minutes | a review for all 4

April
  1. The Wretched of Muirwood (Legends of Muirwood #1) - Jeff Wheeler - 350 pages
  2. God, Me, and Sweet Iced Tea: Experiencing God in the Midst of Everyday Moments - Rose Chandler Johnson - 149 pages
  3. Sunrise (Sunrise #1) - Karen Kingsbury - 301 pages
  4. The Fate of the Tearling (The Queen of the Tearling #3) - Erika Johansen (audio) - 19 hrs 33 min
  5. Charlotte Morgan and the Great Big Math Problem (The Number Investigators Book 1) - Martin Tiller - 117 pages
  6. Jar of Hearts - Jennifer Hillier - 311 pages - (5 stars)
  7. Isaiah 53 Explained - Mitch Glaser - 164 pages
1392 pages |19 hours 33 minutes | reviews for 4 of 7

May
  1. Dark in Death (In Death #46) - J.D. Robb (audio) - 13 hrs 25 min
  2. The Blight of Muirwood (Legends of Muirwood #2) - Jeff Wheeler - 548 pages
  3. Bring Me Back - B.A. Paris - 384 pages
  4. The Wind Through the Keyhole (The Dark Tower #4.5) - Stephen King - 309 pages
  5. Girls' Night Out - Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke - 333 pages
  6. Nick of Time (Nick McIver Adventures Through Time #1) - Ted Bell (audio) - 11 hrs 56 min
  7. To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee - 324 pages - (5 stars)
1898 pages | 25 hours 21 minutes | reviews for 4 of 7

June
  1. After Anna - Lisa Scottoline - 352 pages
  2. A Life for God: A Rabbi’s Analysis of Life, the Cross, and Eternity - Greg Hershberg - 112 pages
  3. All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr (audio) - 16 hrs 2 min
464 pages | 16 hours 2 minutes | a review

July
  1. A Gathering of Secrets (Kate Burkholder #10) - Linda Castillo - 308 pages
  2. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time - Mark Haddon - 226 pages
  3. Baby Teeth - Zoje Stage - 304 pages
  4. Lies - T.M. Logan - 498 pages - (5 stars)
  5. To Be Where You Are (Mitford Years #14) - Jan Karon (audio) - 17 hrs 48 min
  6. Edison: The Mystery of the Missing Mouse Treasure - Torben Kuhlmann - 112 pages
 1448 pages | 17 hours 48 minutes | reviews for all 6

August
  1. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Fly Guy (Fly Guy #4) - Tedd Arnold - 32 pages
  2. Summer (Sunrise #2) - Karen Kingsbury - 356 pages
  3. Hearts of Fire: Eight Women in the Underground Church and Their Stories of Costly Faith - The Voice of the Martyrs - 304 pages
  4. Wake Up Happy: The Dream Big, Win Big Guide to Transforming Your Life - Michael Strahan (audio) - 5 hrs 38 min
  5. The Kitty Committee: A Novel of Suspense - Kathryn Berla - 234 pages
  6. Speak - Laurie Halse Anderson - 198 pages
1124 pages | 5 hours 38 minutes | 3 reviews (sort of)

September
  1. The Man in the High Castle - Philip K. Dick (audio) - 9 hrs 58 min
  2. No Longer a Slumdog: Bringing Hope to Children in Crisis - K.P. Yohannan  - 156 pages
  3. The Teacher's Funeral - Richard Peck (audio) - 4 hrs 42 min - (5 stars)
156 pages | 14 hours 40 minutes | 2 reviews

October
  1. The Rock, the Road, and the Rabbi: My Journey into the Heart of Scriptural Faith and the Land Where It All Began - Kathie Lee Gifford - 224 pages
  2. The Library Book - Susan Orlean - 336 pages - (5 stars)
  3. A Long Way From Chicago: A Novel in Stories (A Long Way from Chicago #1) - Richard Peck - 157 pages
  4. Vessel - Andrew J. Morgan (audio) - 8 hrs 46 min
  5. I'll Never Tell - Catherine McKenzie - 380 pages - (5 stars)
1097 pages | 8 hours 46 minutes | 3 reviews

November
  1. Adrift: A True Story of Tragedy on the Icy Atlantic and the One Who Lived to Tell about It - Brian Murphy - 257 pages
  2. Ready Player One - Ernest Cline (audio) - 15 hrs 40 min - (5 stars)
  3. Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates - Brian Kilmeade (audio) - 4 hrs 52 min
  4. Night Driving: Notes from a Prodigal Soul - Chad Bird - 160 pages
417 pages | 20 hours 32 minutes | a review for all 4

December
  1. Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower #5) - Stephen King - 714 pages
  2. The Girl in the Spider's Web (Millennium #4) -David Lagercrantz (audio) - 13 hrs 23 min
  3. Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices - Frank Viola, George Barna - 337 pages
  4. The Hate U Give - Angie Thomas - 447 pages - (5 stars)
  5. The Tattooist of Auschwitz - Heather Morris - 249 pages
  6. Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence - 389 pages
2136 pages | 13 hours 23 minutes | 5 reviews
  • Total books - 63 (compare to 36 in 2017 - looks like I just flipped the digits!)
  • Total pages - 13,698 (compare to 5180 pages in 2017)
  • Total time - 192 hours 13 minutes  (compare to 178 hours 55 minutes in 2017)
Page counts courtesy of Goodreads; audio lengths courtesy of Audible. My reading goal for the year was 50 books, and I met and surpassed it. Feels pretty good, considering I failed to meet my goal last year. I'm not confident enough in my ability to repeat that, though, so I'm shooting for 50 again this year.

I did a better job of writing reviews this year - 43 reviews. Some of them were just a few words, but that's better than nothing, right? Still, there were books that I really meant to review but didn't...

  How many books did you read in 2018?  I'd love to hear some suggestions for my 2019 reading list.  Because my already crazy long and ever-growing TBR list can always use a few more.

*if you happen to click any of the book covers and buy from Amazon, they say they'll pay me a small percentage.  Every little bit helps, and I thank you for your support!