2018 - Books

2018 Books
1. Artemis by Andy Weir.  I loved The Martian and this one was just as science-y, but even more intriguing characters.  “Maker of bad life choices”.  LOL.
2. Podkayne of Mars.  I listed to an Audible book and I did hear the authors intending ending. I did not like this book.  My Pooky Bear says I don’t like any science fiction from the 1960s written by a man.  She’s probably right because I can barely deal with Orson Scott Card either.
3. Ender’s Shadow.  This made me want to go back and read Ender’s Game again.  But I didn’t.  I did re-watch the movie though.
4. Shadow of the Hegemon.  I’m getting a little sick of Orson Scott Card over here.  But I’ve had these on my computer for a while, they’re huge files, and they need to go.  The Bean Quartet spends a lot of time in the minds of really sick, crazy characters trying to outsmart the smartest people on the planet. As much as I love Bean…
5. Shadow Puppets.  Picking them up and putting them down.
6. Shadow of the Giant which I finished while I was running around the block outside.  How have I read six books in January already?
7. Shadows in Flight.  I believe this concludes the books of Orson Scott Card I’m going to read for a while.  I’m now planning to read a book I heard about on the State Fair Bus and of course, some Carrie Fisher.
8. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah.  Well this one kind of wrecked me.  I’m going to need a minute here.  This is the bus I heard a girl talking about as we rode the bus home from the State Fair. Totally worth your time and you will not be able to put it down.
9. Wishful Drinking by Carrie Fisher.  This is a 2 bubble bath read.  I basically got it done on my way to/from very far away visits for my job. In one day.
10. Shockaholic by Carrie Fisher.  Also a 1-2 bubble bath read. I liked Wishful Drinking a little better.
11. The Princess Diarist by Carrie Fisher.  This one may have been my favorite of what I am now calling the Carrie trilogies.  She talks about all of her dating insecurities.  I loved every minute of it.  It’s like someone found new vocabulary for feelings I’d had throughout my own life of dating (or not dating as is so often the case).
12. 2/12/18 I’m starting to write the dates now. When Breath Becomes Air.  Mom actually recommended this one to me.  It’s hard not to see myself in this one, not that I’m a doctor, but I do serve people who have chronic or terminal conditions.  This author talks about his own illness but also his role as a physician in helping people and families face these issues.
13. 2/16/18 A Gate at the Stairs.  This book sort of shocked me and then sort of destroyed me, but not all the way. It was just long enough ago that not all the characters have cell phones.
14. 2/22/18 The Fixer Upper by Mary Kay Andrews.  I can’t imagine reading this book.  It has to be heard on audio.  Trust me.  The actors who do the things… It just makes the book come alive. It’s pure fluff and I loved it.  It will probably go on the list of books I leave on to hear while I’m falling asleep.  (Currently that list is any Harry Potter book, Artemis, and Ready Player One.)
15. 3/7/18 Euphoria by Lily King.  I couldn't get into this one and then all of a sudden I did and it was over.  Honestly, of the 3 main characters, I'm not sure who was the main protagonist.  I'm a bit confused.
16. 3/11/18 or so (I've lost track) A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  I totally did this in anticipation of the film coming out.  I had to be ready for Oprah.
17. 3/16/18 99 Red Balloons by Elisabeth Carpenter.  I started listening to this on Thursday, and by Friday after work I could not put it down.  I finished it late Friday night.
18. 3/24/18 Current situation:  This recommendation for A Little Life promises 'this book will wreck you'.  WTF. I'm only 8 hours into a 30 hour book and I'm already destroyed.  What have I gotten myself into?!?   3/30/18  Have been rebuilt and then destroyed again. This book is 30 hours long and I have 8 to go. WTF am I doing to myself? 3/31/18 I have finally completed A Little Life.  I am so beyond destroyed.  I am trying to pack for a trip, and pack up my bathroom, and I'm sobbing freely the entire time.  Sobbing!
19. 4/11/18 Born a Crime by Terror Noah.  This is literally a two bubble bath read.  I read it pretty much on the flights down to CDMX and the flights back home.  Having been to South Africa, I have a reference point for some of the the places he talks about, which I think helped me enjoy the book more.
20. 4/22/18 Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin.  I read this on the recommendation on My Pooky Bear.  I did not get into it.  In the same way I have never gotten into any Philip K Dick book.  But I see how other people could get into it and I'm glad I put in the effort.
21. 4/24/18 Are You Sleeping Kathleen Barber.  I absolutely destroyed this book. It's a quick read and I liked it, though some plot threads could've been better developed.
22. 4/30/18 Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty.  Here's another one I devoured.  I did not know until much later this is also a mini series on HBO, so there's something for me to do later.  This is really about being a parent and a wife, and not so much life outside of those two relationships.  So there wasn't a whole lot for me to relate to.  But the plot moved along and kept me entertained.
23. 5/3/18 The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah (who also wrote The Nightingale).  I loved this book, and then it wrecked me, and then at the end I was glad I did the thing.  And I totally want to see Alaska. Also, you can see what this book did to me because I didn't pick anything else up for like a month.
24. 6/2/18 The Girls
by Emma Cline. This will be referred to as 'what I listed to while I painted my bathroom'  It lasted only slightly longer than that experience. This book is so creepy, but yet so good.
25. 6/5/18 Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng.  I loved this book.  One of the characters got more and more despicable as the story went on.  One I thought was more redeemable than general opinion.  A friend read this in her book club and apparently there was quite a discussion.  I think she agreed with me, but apparently we are in the minority on our views. (PS - June 5 and half way to my goal of reading 50 books for the year!)
26. 6/8/18 The Secret Lives of Introverts by Jenn Granneman. This is one of those books that I just accidentally read. On accident.  In like two days. Because it's basically about me.
27. 6/12/18 Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.  I really hated this book. Everyone in it is despicable.  It got to the point I didn't care how it ended as long as it was over.  And then, I found, I really hated the ending too.  Like, is there a sequel or something? I'm planning to skip the movie.  Unrelated, the reader for this book also read "The Great Alone" and some of the voices sounded the same.  Except when she was a girl imitating a boys voice in that book, the boy was sweet and likable. 
28. 6/15/18 First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung.  And spell check keeps trying to change her name.  Even though this was terribly sad, it still had more quality than Gone Girl, and was totally worth my time.  I'm interested in the movie now as well.
29. 6/20/18 The Shack by William P Young.  I'd started listening to this book a long time ago and stopped in the middle.  I wanted to get to the end of the book before watching the movie.  So, finally, done.  There's parts of this book I really liked.  It goes off the rails in the middle and gets kind of boring to me, but I could see that part being important to others, depending on what messages speak to you.
30. 7/1/18 Me Before You by JoJo Moyes. I haven not seen the movie, and actually didn't know this one is a movie.  I have a lot of thoughts on this one.  The subject matter is, in some ways, very close to home professionally.  My initial reaction at this moment is, we never get to hear any of the story from Will's perspective.  We have a lot of other characters input.  I think the author would point out that Will is not actually the point of the story, though once you read it, his character is certain to have an impact on every reader.
31. 7/3/18 Red Shirts by John Scalzi (read by Wil Wheaton).  Total science fiction fluff.  I wouldn't read it again, but it was entertaining once.
32. 7/7/18 After You by JoJo Moyes.  I basically liked this one but I did have a moment of "why are these female characters sometimes so freaking stupid?" and a pinch of "why so needy?" I'm curious to see how the last book sorts itself out.
33. 7/20/17 The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.  I'm already trying to figure out how I can start the next book tonight before bed.  I want to read all 3 books before I try watching the movie(s).  Also, apparently I needed a break after the JoJo Moyes Books, because this one took me a little time to start.
34. 7/24/18 Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins.  This book had some false starts because I kept trying to listen to it and falling asleep.  Sigh  But the minute this book ended, I started the next one. Because I just can't deal with this uncertainty. I'm sorry of like wtf, district 13?!?! but also kind go intrigued by this new development.
35. 7/28/18 MockingJay by Suzanne Collins.  Okay, yeah, now this feels like a Greek Tragedy.  The thing about those tragedies, there are no real winners, only survivors. I may need a minute after these books, to pick up something else.
36, 37, 38: The Maze Runner, The Scorch Trials, The Death Cure by James Dashner.  (Sorry, I went from book 1 to book 2 without noting which date I finished, so I am just doing the whole series as one entry.)  I'm glad I finished this.  I'd seen the movies first and vaguely remember them.  Movies 2 and 3 seem so different from the books in my memory, but I am going to watch them again to see.  These are real 'dude' books with lots of action and fighting.  There are legit female characters who are smart and strong, and totally under used, but that's to be expected in a book about dudes written by a dude. 
39. 8/12/18 (or so), The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin.  I started off being bored with this book, and then I got sucked in.  There's more than one protagonist, and they each tell different parts of the story.  Some protagonists are more likable than others.  The first narrator after the 'intro' and the last narrator were my favorites.  I was kind of 'meh' about the two in the middle.
40. Ladies Night by Mary Kay Andrews.  I really hated this book.  I mean, I kind of liked it, but the main character does a couple really dumb things.  And several of the other characters are despicable.  I kept waiting for it to not be so awful, because I loved 'Fixer Upper' and really didn't find those characters detestable at all. I feel like a female author could have more female characters who aren't dumber than a box of rocks, or insecure and unable to think for themselves.
41. 8/27/18 Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win  by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin.  I read this book because Jordan Hasay mentioned it was one of the books that impacted her this year. This book was really not what I expected.  It was an interesting read about personal responsibility.  From an anthropological standpoint, it was interesting to hear the vocabulary used to describe the conflict in Iraq, and the American role in that conflict. First hand view point for sure.
42. 9/3/18 The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.  This is the first of a trilogy, so I'll have more to say later.
43. 9/8/18 The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin.  This is book two of the trilogy. I sort of had a hard time following this one.  These may be a set of books I read more than once.  WTF is an Obelisk?
44. 9/16/18 The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin.  I think I have to read these books again.  I liked them, and I liked the way it ended.  But there were a lot of things in the plot that either happened too fast, or I totally missed.  I see why the books all won awards though.
45. 9/17/18 Relentless By Tim Grover.  I'll summarize this book: Work hard and handle your shit.  I can't tell if this guy is crazy or an absolute bad ass, or a little bit of both.  This is one of my books in the 'prepare your mind for the Loony Challenge' reading series.
46. 10/3/18 Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda.  This has been my most pleasant surprise of the year.  I told a friend this book reminds me of listening to Charles Dickens or Jane Austen.  The prose is constructed similarly and it was a pleasure to hear.
47. 10/3/18 Second book I finished today has the distinction of being the only book I've read (versus listening to) so far this year. Mind Gym: An Athletes Guide to Inner Excellence by Gary Mack.  I've actually read this one before, but I think it's always worth taking a second glance before a big race.
48. 10/9/18 The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien. Obviously I've read this one before, but it was great to listen to again and refresh my memory.
49. 10/12/18 The Cinderella Deal by Jennifer Crusie.  The best thing I can say about this is that it was short.  I was aggravated at the way the book started, and I thought it was going to grate on me like Ladies Night did.  Ultimately, the characters in this story are slightly more redeemable, and the main characters are for sure more likable so it turned out okay in the end.
50. 10/13/18 Why Can't I Be Normal by Justin Zaza. This is a one bubble bath read.  Like seriously, I listened to it while I was cleaning my house. This book reminds me of The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo because they are both allegories.
51. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. One of the other books I read, that author said this was their favorite book.  I don't remember which now.  So that's how it got on my radar. I can't tell if this is one I want to read again, or one that is so disturbing I can't pick it up ever again.  (Hello "A Little Life")
52. 11/3/18 Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman.  I learned about this book from Instagram.  No joke.  I found the lead female character much less stupid and grating than some of the other books I've read this year, so that was a plus. 
53. 11/13/18 Astrophysics for People in A Hurry.  We should have a sub-list of "I accidentally read this in a day".  I really enjoyed this.  Made me fall in love with science all over again.
54. 11/20/18 Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.  I read most of this on the car trip down to see family, and finished it up while I was here.  I had to get all of the Miss Dashwoods taken care of for a happy holiday.
55. 11/23/18 Atomic Habits by James Clear.  It's not often I actually READ a book, I listen to most of them. This one I read in the space of about 3 days.  I forget what I was reading that even mentioned this book, but I picked it up.  There's parts of it that I'm all "oh, that's me already".  Particularly I think about my habits around packing lunches, and my running habit.  I've got lots of 'habits' that can be improved though.  Currently I'm working on tidying up more frequently.
56. 11/30/18 The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy.  I found this actually slightly less disturbing that 'The God of Small Things'.  I'm almost ready to read it again.  A couple of the characters go by more than one name, and I think I'd follow it more the second time. There was a bit in the middle, when it switched view points, I was literally like "am I reading the same book?  was there a mistake with the recording?"
57. 12/13/18 Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman.  I'd read some other reviews of this book that were lukewarm so I was all "I'd better get this over with".  Now, I've grown to like Eleanor and I find myself sad that I don't get to hear more of her story.  When the book ended I was like "WTF?!? That's All?!?" not because it felt incomplete, just because I wanted to hear more.
58. 12/21/18 Fly Guy, Six Easy to Read Stories by Tedd Arnold.  Accidentally read this kids book in one sitting with my cousin's kid.  And I actually read this one too.  Only the 3rd book of the year.
59. 12/27/18 New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson.  This was a long book. It was a slow start with lots of characters to introduce.  But now I'm loving it.  It's especially fun for me since I've been to NYC and can picture the places in the book.
60. 12/28/18 Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney.  This was a labor of love.  One of my favorite people in Kentucky loves this book so I had to check it out.  Also, I wanted to legit get to 60 books on the year.
61. I think I left 'Still Me' by Jojo Moyes off the list. The other two are on here. That would've been sometime in July?
62. 12/30/18 Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer.  I finished this due in large part to a super long indoor run.  Totally entertaining and made me much less frustrated on the track than normal. 
63. 12/31/18 Artemis Flow: The Arctic Incident  by Eoin Colfer.  Y'all, I legit cannot put these books down.