Top Ten of 2018 + Reading Goals Recap
There's three weeks left in the year, but I honestly don't expect to get much reading done till my Christmas break (beginning the 20th!!!), so I thought I would start my yearly retrospective a bit early.
These were my reading goals for 2018:
- Bring back Book Journals - Kind of a fail. I started a book journal with Ben-Hur but lost momentum early on. I'm still tacitly reading it, and maybe during my break will start posting about it again.
- Read more non-fiction. Check! Of the 45 books I read (or partially read) this year, almost a third were non-fiction, and some of the fiction was based heavily on real life. That's pretty good for me.
- Escape the comfort zone. Check. I read a number of books this year that definitely challenged me, and some made me extremely uncomfortable.
- Revive the blog. Check. While podcasting, I made an effort to write posts that complemented the episodes, and that worked out nicely.
Here, then, are my top ten books of the year (excluding re-reads):
10. The Undead: Organ Harvesting, the Ice-Water Test, Beating Heart Cadavers--How Medicine Is Blurring the Line Between Life and Death, by Dick Teresi
What a title... This wasn't a cheerful read, but I thought it was very educational, especially the sections on the ambiguity of death itself.
9. Please Look after Mom, by Kyung-Sook Shin
A moving and memorable novel about family, old age, and culture.
8. Various stories by Flannery O'Connor
Can't believe I hadn't read O'Connor before.
7. The Accusation: Forbidden Stories from Inside North Korea, by Bandi
Disturbing, dark, and challenging to anyone who is a writer.
6. About Orchids: A Chat, by Frederick Boyle
A sad history story about one of my favorite flowers.
5. Embers, by Sándor Márai
Another book I couldn't believe I hadn't read before. The ideal book for fans of the introspective, nostalgic novel, almost like something by Ishiguro...
4. 84, Charing Cross Road, by Helene Hanff
A short, poignant book to make you laugh, then cry.
3. A Pale View of Hills, by Kazuo Ishiguro
I don't generally like or read ghost stories, but this one is a masterpiece. It's also featured in one of my favorite podcast episodes from this year - "What Is a Classic?"
2. CEO, China: The Rise of Xi Jinping, by Kerry Brown
To my own surprise, I really gravitated to this biography of a very powerful, and somewhat mysterious, leading figure of 2018. Absolutely worthwhile.
1. The Sea and Poison, by Shūsaku Endō
This book is a Kafkian "axe" if ever there was one. I spent the better part of a week in shock over the book itself, as well as over my research for the episode "Doctors, Murderers." Hard as it was, I'm glad I pushed myself and tackled a subject I was almost too afraid to talk about on the podcast.
That's it for me. What were some of your favorites from this year?
Comments
Some of my favs this year: Hardy's Tess of D'Urbervilles and Jude the Obscure, Anne Frank's Diary, Brittain's Testament of Youth, Machiavelli's The Prince, and Hosseini's The Kite Runner. I feel like I had more disappointment's this year. Hopefully next year I will have a better selection.
I feel I've had a distracted & lacklustre year of reading & blogging, but there were a few standout books:
Mr Standfast by John Buchan - this was my third time reading this book & I appreciate it more each time; Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset was epic as was Anna Karenina which I just finished last night. The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey & The Screwtape Letters were highloghts also.
I'm a bit frustrated that I still haven't finished a couple of books I've been reading for a year or more but I wasn't in the mood for much non-fiction this year.
Interesting that I do not think I've read any of the books on your list. I love ghost stories so I might give Ishiguro a try. The stories from North Korea also look interesting.
I have read Flannery O Connor and I just finished a biography of her. It was very good. If you're looking for non fiction, I would give the biography of O Connor by Brad Gooch a try.
I love biographies and O'Connor sounds like a fascinating person. Thanks for the rec!