SATURDAY SMORGASBORD: My 2018 Favorites

I read a lot of books every year. I like to keep track of what I read every year and see how it stacks up to years before. Here are some of my reading statistics for 2018.

2018 Stats

Through the course of 2018 I read 418 books. There were 66 more that I started but did not finish. My stated goal for the year was 250, but I was hoping to get to 365. My highest number since I started keeping track was around 340. I’m pretty proud of all the reading I did this year, and even more proud of walking away from books that aren’t working for me.

Of those 418, the break down for target audience is

36% adult (151 books)
21% middle grade (87 books)
20% teen/young adult (83 books)
18% picture books/early readers
5% transitional chapter books
And of those, 27 were graphic novels for various ages.

The main genre breakdown is

39% Fantasy
19% Realistic/Contemporary
14% Mystery
9% Science Fiction
6% General Nonfiction (26 books – my goal was at least one per month)

This year most of the books I read were from the library (30%). I read 93 books from my To Be Read shelves (which are overflowing), including brand new books, as well as 110 advanced reader copies from publishers. I also re-read 60 favorites this year. Next year I want to split out my new books and my truly “TBR” books that have been on my shelves for awhile. I’d like to make more progress getting through the books that I’ve had for awhile in 2019.

When someone asks me my favorite genre, I automatically answer “mystery,” but my actual reading did not reflect that in 2018. Last year my genre reading was more balanced between Fantasy, Mystery and Realistic/Contemporary. This year I really went all in on Fantasy, although my top three genres were the same. I’d like to read more mysteries this year. I really focused on adult books again this year, but my reading for kids – middle grade and teens – was more balanced. I’d like to keep this balance in 2019.

This year I discovered that I do better reading nonfiction if I have a physical book. To stay focused, I need to be able to underline and dog-ear and make notes. In 2019, I want to keep reading 1-2 nonfiction books each month. I am also going to add a spreadsheet to my tracking process to see if I can better track authors and characters of color and other factors.

2018 Favorites!!

At the end of the year, I love to pull the titles of all of my 5 star favorites and then compare them to come up with my favorites for the year. I might not remember every detail about them, but I remember how I felt about them. These are the books I recommend time and time again, the ones I re-read and long to re-read.

You can see my list of favorites from 2016 here and 2017 here. Last year I had one middle grade book, five YA books, and four books for adults (including two nonfiction). When I went back through my list of the 400+ books I read in 2018, I came up with about 35 that were candidates for the best of the year. I whittled that list down to ten – 7 books for adults and three middle grade books. And here they are:

10. The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl – I adored this middle grade novel about a girl who was struck by lightning, which made her a genius. You can read more about it here.

9. Aliens Abroad – Book 16 in the Gini Koch series that I adore. I read the whole series once or twice a year. I read this book twice in 2018, and it was excellent both times! You can read my full review here.

8. The Reckless Club – I felt like this was a mash up of The Breakfast Club and Golden Girls. The elderly folks in this novel are just as engaging as the kids. This was a book I wanted to hug. You can read more here.

7. Six Cats a Slayin’ – Book 10 in the awesome Cat in the Stacks series by Miranda James/Dean James. Right now this is my favorite book in the whole series. Read a full write up on this one here.

6. Captain Superlative – I have been talking about this book to everyone I know – kids, teachers, booksellers. I even wrote about it for another blog about books for kids. I fell in love with the characters in this one. Read about them here.

5. ‘Twas the Knife Before Christmas – This Christmas series is a staple for me every November/December. Both books so far have had fantastic mysteries, and I adore the setting and characters. Read more here.

4. A Lady’s Guide to Etiquette and Murder – I just got around to reviewing this one this week, but I have loved this since I first read it last summer. The mystery is fantastic. I already have book two on my wish list for summer 2019. You can see my review here.

3. Lark the Herald Angels Sing – Book 24 in one of my all-time favorite cozy mystery series. I didn’t get to do a full review of this one in 2018, but it was an excellent combination of Christmas cheer, a great mystery, and the quirky characters I adore. You can read a little more in this post of Christmas books from 2018.

2. Ella: An Amish Retelling of Cinderella – I have adored this entire series, but Ella is my favorite of the three books. I’d love to see more books in this series, but I don’t know if that is the publisher’s plan. You can read these in any order, and I highly recommend all of them, including Belle and Sadie. You can read more about Belle and Ella here.

1. Kill the Queen – The cover is what first caught my attention on this one, but the book was even more fantastic than the cover promised. This is my favorite book from 2018. I already have book 2 on my wish list for 2019. I can’t believe I never had a chance to post a full review on this one in 2018!! I’ll be posting a full review as soon as I have an open spot, but you can read the Book News summary here.