Well, another year over. 2018 was an excellent year of reading for me. I had initially said that my goal was 53 books, hoping to do a little over one Well, another year over. 2018 was an excellent year of reading for me. I had initially said that my goal was 53 books, hoping to do a little over one book a week. I instead surpassed 60, which while not a new record for me, is a record in my adult life.
This post contains a breakdown of the books I read, a few fun (for me at least) statistics and finally a top ten list of the year. Hope you all enjoy as much as I did. :)
Translated from... Chinese - 1 Japanese - 10 Norwegian - 1 Polish - 1
Now for the top 10 (I've reviewed each of the books on the list, so I'll only post a quick few sentences reaction here. For more on my thoughts check the reviews, or feel free to ask! I'm always glad to discuss!).
10. Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner - Imagine, if you you, that Jane Austin and Oscar Wilde had gotten together to write a fantasy comedy of manners... Yes, it is rather amazing.
9. Blood on Snow by Jo Nesbø - One does not often hear the phrase "hitman with a heart of gold" but that's the quickest sum up for this one. A wonderful short noir, where you're constantly questioning how reliable our narrator truly is...
8. The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin - The second of Le Guin's Earthsea books is easily my favorite, expanding upon the world she created in fascinating ways and creating a wonderful lead character. The ending is also rather brilliant as well.
7. We Are All Completely Fine by Daryl Gregory - Short, but doesn't waste a single word. This brilliant little book is about group therapy sessions for the survivors of classic horror situations. If that doesn't sell you on it immediately, it's probably not the book for you.
6. Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames - This is arguably the most purely entertaining novel I read this year. Take the classic "getting the back back together" plot line, and make it an aged mercenary band doing one last tour "of duty" and you get one hell of a fantasy novel.
5. Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio by Pu Songling - A collection of Chinese stories that range from comedic, to horror, to the downright bizarre. The only thing they have in common is that they are indeed strange. A delightful read, and a wonderful look into the past ideals of another country/culture.
4. Devils in Daylight by Junichirō Tanizaki - A wonderful short work that manages to both analyze the voyeuristic nature of cinema and Edgar Allen Poe. Made even more impressive in that it came out during the early days of cinema (1912!)
3. The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie - Christie wrote many amazing novels, and this is certainly one of the high points in my opinion. A twist on the classic Poirot formula, being less of a locked room mystery and more of a serial killer plot. Being Poirot though, it's all about the psychology of the criminal rather than the clues left behind. Highly entertaining.
2. Kill Creek by Scott Thomas - While it is not the greatest horror novel that I've ever read, I think this one hit my own personal fears enough to be the scariest... but fear, much like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder... so take my comment there with that in mind. Putting the fear factor aside, this is a wonderful haunted house novel and easily the best horror story I've read in years.
1. L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy - Not only the best book I read this year, but the best example of a modern noir that I've ever read. Extremely bleak, rather depressing, but one hell of a read (Fun note, it was also my 100th Goodreads review!)
Happy new year everyone, and may 2019 be filled with even better reads. :)...more