2018 was one of the most successful reading years I’ve ever had. I’m a slow reader, which is particularly frustrating with an ever-growing backlog numbering in the upper-hundreds. Sometimes I need help remembering that reading is more than just a leisure activity. It’s something I need to do deliberately, something that enriches my daily life and feeds my creativity and helps me be better at doing the things I love. Below are the 21 books I read in 2018, listed in the order in which I finished them:
Half the World by Joe Abercrombie
Assassin’s Fate by Robin Hobb
Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon
Borne by Jeff VanderMeer
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski
The Magicians by Lev Grossman
Ghost Talkers by Mary Robinette Kowal
Witchmark by C.L. Polk
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas
Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear
The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch
The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey
Broken Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
Alchemy, The Great Secret by Andrea Aromatico
The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
Blood Song by Anthony Ryan
I’ll spend a little bit of time talking about these books in a later post, but there are a few things I want to mention.
- Although I stuck pretty firmly to spec fiction (I’m still playing catch-up after many years without any), there were a few books that I definitely wouldn’t have read based on the blurb. I’m grateful for the experiences that opened me up to new authors, one of which was…
- … the 4th Street Fantasy conference, which I attended for the first time this year. It was such a wonderful experience to read work by some of the kind, generous, and brilliant people I met. I hope to read a lot more in the upcoming year.
- I didn’t set the conscious goal of reading more women and POC, but I’m glad I did. I’m better for it, and I am going to be more deliberate about this year.
So, onward and upward. Cheers to more reading in 2019.
