Book Lists
Compared to 2017, I had a horrible reading year in 2018. I set out to finish 230 books, but only managed to get through 165. (Apparently, having a full-time job again really cuts into your reading time. Who knew?) It also took me longer to make my list of favorites this year, because of the books listed below, I only really loved the first eight. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed a lot of them, but only the top eight will probably stick with me for years to come. Oh, well. Maybe next year will bring a slew of perfect books. But until then, here are my favorite books that I read in 2018.
1. I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara I’ve been obsessed with true crime since I was a little 5-year-old, watching all of the coverage of the JonBenet Ramsey case. I’ll read/watch/listen to pretty much anything related to true crime and my love of the My Favorite Murder podcast led me to picking up this book. When Michelle McNamara talked about her childhood and some of her writing habits, I realized just how much she and I have in common. I hate that she died before seeing the Golden State Killer arrested, but I’m positive that her book renewed interest in the case and helped lead to that monster being caught. Also, Patton Oswalt’s afterword made me ugly cry. A lot. 2. Columbine by Dave Cullen As stated above, I’m really into true crime. The Columbine shootings happened when I was 8 and, due to the constant news coverage, I thought I knew everything there was to know about it. Then I read Dave Cullen’s book and discovered that all I know is the narrative the media pushed. There is actually so much more to the story and much of what the media put out was completely fabricated. The most shocking thing I learned is that a story that is still circulated about one of the Columbine victims was made up by one of the survivors and then the media ran away with it. (I’m not going to mention here which story or victim, but if you’ve read this book, please talk to me. I NEED to talk to somebody about this!) 3. Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame by Mara Wilson Since I was 5, one of my favorite movies has always been Matilda. Part of that is probably because Matilda was a bookworm, just like me. Part of my love for the film is likely the fact that little Mara Wilson looked a lot like little Jacinta. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen every movie Mara Wilson’s been in, I follow her on Twitter, and I started listening to the Welcome to Nightvale podcast because she plays a character on it. She reads the audiobook of her memoir, and I’m glad I listened to it instead of reading it myself. She reminds me a lot of myself, especially her overactive imagination. And her chapter about Robin Williams was absolutely heartbreaking. 4. The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne I’m a sucker for a novel that covers multiple decades, switches between characters’ perspectives, and features pretty much everyone getting his or her heart broken. I can’t remember if I cried a lot while I read this one, or if I only cried a little, but my goodness, this was a damn good book. 5. Talking as Fast as I Can: From Gilmore Girls to Gilmore Girls, and Everything in Between by Lauren Graham Gilmore Girls is one of my favorite TV shows and I absolutely love Lauren Graham. If you also like Gilmore Girls and Lauren Graham, then I highly recommend you check out this memoir. Also, listen to the audiobook. She reads it herself and is perfect, as usual. 6. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman One of my aunts recommended this book to me and I finally got around to reading it. I’ve always been close to both of my grandmothers (one of whom died when I was 16 and the other who just moved to the nursing home), and part of my relationship with them hinged on our love of books. The main character of this book is close to her grandmother, and many of their interactions take place in the make-believe world they’ve created together. As seems to be the theme with my top books this year, this one also made me cry a lot. 7. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate This book made me furious. Then I read in the author’s note that it was based on events that really happened, which made me want to throw it across the room. Then I turned on the news and saw that children were being taken away from their parents and put in cages and I was hit with the realization that history is just going to keep repeating itself until we all eventually die. (And, of course, this book made me cry.) 8. Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann This one also made me furious, because this one isn’t just based on true events, it’s a completely non-fiction account of what happened. And despite having lived in Kansas my entire life, I had no idea that members of the Osage tribe living in Oklahoma and Kansas were murdered throughout the early 1920s. Why did it take so long for anyone to care? Why didn’t law enforcement get involved immediately? Why don’t we learn about this in history class? Okay, since I liked the rest of these, but didn’t love them, they’re going to get much shorter blurbs. 9. The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin It’s a fictionalized version of the early days of Hollywood. What more could a Joan Crawford/Barbara Stanwyck-obsessed woman ask for? 10. Tin Man by Sarah Winman I honestly don’t remember much about the plot of this one, but I remember that the writing was absolutely gorgeous. 11. The Wicked + The Divine: The Faust Act by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie One of the most beautifully drawn graphic novels I’ve ever read. 12. Enchantress of Numbers: A Novel of Ada Lovelace by Jennifer Chiaverini I knew nothing about Ada Lovelace before I listened to this audiobook, but now I kind of love her. 13. Heartsick by Chelsea Cain It’s about a female serial killer, so it’s right in my wheelhouse. 14. Our Kind of Cruelty by Araminta Hall Unreliable narrator and an ambiguous ending. Can someone please read this so we can talk about it? 15. Mistress of the Art of Death by Ariana Franklin It’s about a medieval serial killer, so again, right in my wheelhouse. 16. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead What if the Underground Railroad had been an actual railroad? Like, with a train and everything? 17. Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick Listen to the audiobook. It’s like having your best friend, who just happens to be Anna Kendrick, talking in your ear. For the rest, I’m just going to list them, because I’m terrible at writing blurbs. If you want more information about any of these, let me know. And don’t hesitate to send me any recommendations you have for my 2019 reading! 18. The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman 19. The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh 20. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 21. Fly by Raven Gregory and Eric J 22. Call the Midwife by Jennifer Worth 23. The Magnificent Flying Baron Estate by Eric Bower 24. Pet Sematary by Stephen King 25. Modern Lovers by Emma Straub 26. Anatomy of a Miracle by Jonathan Miles 27. Alice I Have Been by Melanie Benjamin 28. Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi 29. Invictus by Ryan Graudin 30. Hellbound by Davide Dileo, Victor Gischler, and Riccardo Burchielli
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Jacinta M. CarterProfessional Book Nerd Archives
December 2018
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