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Top Books Read in 2018
Dec. 31st, 2018 03:43 pmAccording to my Goodreads account, I read 111 books this year, which is admittedly a lot, though that does include reading all 80 Caldecott Medal winners for a talk, so a large number of those were picture books (some of which were wonderful, and some of which were pretty dang awful, actually... The Biggest Bear, I'm looking at you).
So, here are my top 10 that weren't in that grouping, in no particular order. Do note I don't tend to read a lot of books that are brand new.
Becoming - Michelle Obama - I was so not expecting the surprise ending of her slaying Acathla at the end! Kidding. Obviously. This was a very interesting peek at her background, her relationship with her husband and children, and life in the White House in general. She is definitely an intelligent and highly determined person.
The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton - No, I hadn't read it before. Even as an English major and professor, I assure you there are a LOT of famous pieces of literature I've never read. Thankfully, this is no longer one of them. Excellent voice from the author, realistic, painful, and really likable though flawed characters.
Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl - This memoir of a Jewish man who survived the Holocaust but lost pretty much everyone and everything else and how he coped with that could be intensely challenging, but his overall sense of the importance of giving life meaning, and that meaning can come in day-to-day things that add up to more, was amazing. This one is going to stick with me.
Wonderstruck - Brian Selzick - I fell completely in love with the author/artist's The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and this is equally good. Partially told in prose, partially through illustrations, we follow two connected lives decades apart, one person born Deaf, and the other recently unable to hear. Amazingly beautiful storytelling.
The Handmaid's Tale - Margart Atwood - Another one of those "supposed to" books that I got around to reading finally, and I'm very happy I did, though this is far from a happy book. The strange thing is, while the books itself and the plot and the world-building were excellent, I didn't always like Offred all that much at times, which is fine, by the way, because she still interested me.
The Complete Peanuts: Volume 1 1950-1952 - Charles M. Schulz - Everyone knows Charlie Brown and Snoopy. But this was how it all started. It was fascinating to see what characters were central originally (Shermie and Violet with Patty, and not Peppermint Patty), the way the kids were depicted, and the way humor changes. Excellent and exhaustive interview with Schulz at the end from the 1980s as well.
Dietland - Sarai Walker - This was a very strange novel for me. It was at times sexually graphic, filled with foul language, and there was quite a bit of violence as well. The main character, Plum, is slowly pulled into a world of radical feminist beliefs, particularly in regards to body image, and it slowly becomes apparent how much of modern culture makes zero sense unless women really are being treated like things. Frightening, weird in places, but definitely something to think about.
The Ways of White Folks - Langston Hughes - I'm much more familiar with Hughes's poetry than his short stories, and this collection was eye-opening. Hughes basically discusses the way white people end up ruining black people's lives in a variety of different ways, or at least attempt to. It's painful in places since not everyone is the stock "racist." Some are people who were perhaps well-intentioned but are actually still guilty of prejudice or treat black people as a hobby. This is the 1930s, so how he got this published without being killed is pretty amazing.
The House on Mango Street - Sandra Cisneros - Another collection of short stories, this time about a family of Hispanic descent living in a house that both embodies their dreams and their nightmares. They're moving up economically, but they're also trapped. Some of the stories are more light, some are very dark, but they paint a clear portrait of their world.
The Joy of Cookies: Cookie Monster's Guide to Life - Cookie Monster (that is literally the credit on Goodreads) - There had to be something delightfully light and fun here, and this is it. I wish I loved ANYTHING as much as Cookie loves his cookies. The enthusiasm is palpable. Furry, even.
For the curious, my 10 favorite Caldecott winners would be A Sick Day for Amos McGee (Stead), The Three Pigs (Wiesner), Flotsam (also Wiesner), Where the Wild Things Are (Sendak), The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Selznick), Locomotive (Floca), The Lion and the Mouse (Pickney), Jumanji (Van Allsburg), Ashanti to Zulu (Musgrove), and My Friend Rabbit (Rohmann).
So, here are my top 10 that weren't in that grouping, in no particular order. Do note I don't tend to read a lot of books that are brand new.
Becoming - Michelle Obama - I was so not expecting the surprise ending of her slaying Acathla at the end! Kidding. Obviously. This was a very interesting peek at her background, her relationship with her husband and children, and life in the White House in general. She is definitely an intelligent and highly determined person.
The Outsiders - S. E. Hinton - No, I hadn't read it before. Even as an English major and professor, I assure you there are a LOT of famous pieces of literature I've never read. Thankfully, this is no longer one of them. Excellent voice from the author, realistic, painful, and really likable though flawed characters.
Man's Search for Meaning - Viktor E. Frankl - This memoir of a Jewish man who survived the Holocaust but lost pretty much everyone and everything else and how he coped with that could be intensely challenging, but his overall sense of the importance of giving life meaning, and that meaning can come in day-to-day things that add up to more, was amazing. This one is going to stick with me.
Wonderstruck - Brian Selzick - I fell completely in love with the author/artist's The Invention of Hugo Cabret, and this is equally good. Partially told in prose, partially through illustrations, we follow two connected lives decades apart, one person born Deaf, and the other recently unable to hear. Amazingly beautiful storytelling.
The Handmaid's Tale - Margart Atwood - Another one of those "supposed to" books that I got around to reading finally, and I'm very happy I did, though this is far from a happy book. The strange thing is, while the books itself and the plot and the world-building were excellent, I didn't always like Offred all that much at times, which is fine, by the way, because she still interested me.
The Complete Peanuts: Volume 1 1950-1952 - Charles M. Schulz - Everyone knows Charlie Brown and Snoopy. But this was how it all started. It was fascinating to see what characters were central originally (Shermie and Violet with Patty, and not Peppermint Patty), the way the kids were depicted, and the way humor changes. Excellent and exhaustive interview with Schulz at the end from the 1980s as well.
Dietland - Sarai Walker - This was a very strange novel for me. It was at times sexually graphic, filled with foul language, and there was quite a bit of violence as well. The main character, Plum, is slowly pulled into a world of radical feminist beliefs, particularly in regards to body image, and it slowly becomes apparent how much of modern culture makes zero sense unless women really are being treated like things. Frightening, weird in places, but definitely something to think about.
The Ways of White Folks - Langston Hughes - I'm much more familiar with Hughes's poetry than his short stories, and this collection was eye-opening. Hughes basically discusses the way white people end up ruining black people's lives in a variety of different ways, or at least attempt to. It's painful in places since not everyone is the stock "racist." Some are people who were perhaps well-intentioned but are actually still guilty of prejudice or treat black people as a hobby. This is the 1930s, so how he got this published without being killed is pretty amazing.
The House on Mango Street - Sandra Cisneros - Another collection of short stories, this time about a family of Hispanic descent living in a house that both embodies their dreams and their nightmares. They're moving up economically, but they're also trapped. Some of the stories are more light, some are very dark, but they paint a clear portrait of their world.
The Joy of Cookies: Cookie Monster's Guide to Life - Cookie Monster (that is literally the credit on Goodreads) - There had to be something delightfully light and fun here, and this is it. I wish I loved ANYTHING as much as Cookie loves his cookies. The enthusiasm is palpable. Furry, even.
For the curious, my 10 favorite Caldecott winners would be A Sick Day for Amos McGee (Stead), The Three Pigs (Wiesner), Flotsam (also Wiesner), Where the Wild Things Are (Sendak), The Invention of Hugo Cabret (Selznick), Locomotive (Floca), The Lion and the Mouse (Pickney), Jumanji (Van Allsburg), Ashanti to Zulu (Musgrove), and My Friend Rabbit (Rohmann).
