As we are now almost 2 weeks into 2019, it is way past time to look back at last year and reflect on all of the amazing books I read in 2018! Although I did not reach my goal of reading 52 books, I still had an amazing reading year in which I read more diversely, discovered so many new authors, and even finally began listening to audiobooks. This is the 9th time Jamie @ Perpetual Page Turner has done this annual survey, and always I think that it is the perfect way to wrap up the reading and blogging year as a whole.
So here is my end of year survey 2018!
2018 Reading Stats
Number of Books You Read: 49
Number of Rereads: 4
Genre You Read The Most From: Fantasy
I feel like this is always the toughest question to start on! That said, this year I am going to have to go with The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, which left me in awe of its magical and whimsical nature that never ceased to draw you in.
As can be seen by the fact that I included it in my Five Star Predictions Post from last year, I truly expected to love Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. However, that didn’t end up happening, as I found the story to be not for me at all, with the writing too full of info dumps and the plot not as exciting as I expected it to be based on everyone else’s glowing reviews of this extremely popular sci-fi.
On a more positive note, Exit West by Mohsin Hamid completely caught me off guard with how much I adored this tale of love and uncertainly in times of chaos. I fell in love with his gorgeous flowing writing style and am so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone with this little story.
For once I actually managed to convince one of my family members to read one of my favourite books, as I got my dad to read both Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom this year. As someone who doesn’t know too many people in real life who not only read, but read similar genres to me, I was so happy that this year I finally managed to convince someone close to me to discover this glorious world and duology for themselves.
2018 saw me finally start one series I had been meaning to read for so long, The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen, and I am so glad that it was. This unique and complex fantasy is one I have completely fallen in love with, and I can’t wait to read the conclusion to this epic story in 2019.
Despite DNFing it a few years ago, Siege & Storm by Leigh Bardugo ended up being one of my favourite sequels of the year, and completely re-invigorated my interest in this series that I was beginning to considering never finishing at all.
How could this be anything other than Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo?! I did not think that I could fall anymore in love with this duology after the wonder that was Six of Crows, and yet somehow this second and final installment managed to exceed all of my expectations and leave me both wholly satisfied and desperate for more from this band of misfits.
I completely dived straight on board with the hype surrounding The Cruel Prince back in February, and so after that Holly Black definitely became a favourite new author of mine. Although I have yet to read any of her other books just yet, I can not wait to dive back into her worlds in 2019.
This one hands down has to be The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid, as this story was miles out of my comfort zone, but still ended up being one of my favourites of the year. It was heartbreaking and beautifully written, and is one I am so glad so many people have read and loved because it deserves all the hype it receives.
The number of twists and turns that happened in Crooked Kingdom meant this book almost never stopped, with the Dregs always either planning, preparing to, or actually pulling off some elaborate stunt or another.
This has to be A List of Cages by Robin Roe, as everytime I even so much as look at it, I just want to pick it up and dive into it all over again. There are so many moments and quotes that I tabbed in this book and loved so completely that I would be surprised if I don’t end up revisiting this story in 2019!
Honestly, the UK cover of The Smoke Thieves by Sally Green is one of my favourite book covers of last year, as the simplicity of it and colour scheme is just so pretty, and the purple sprayed pages just make it that much better!
Even if Forest of a Thousand Lanterns wasn’t my last read of 2018, Xifeng would still be a character I remember so well for her complexity and slow evolution into the evil queen throughout this story. She is determined to do anything to realise and accomplish her destiny, and her growth throughout this book was just so amazing to read that I can’t wait to dive into the sequel very soon.
I read so many beautifully written books last year, but The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern was definitely the one whose writing style and story I fell in love with the most.
This has to be The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, as this book, inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, discussed so many important and relevant issues, making me more aware of and put more thought into them than I had before.
This is exactly the question I asked myself after finishing Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling back in September, because I can not believe that I waited so long between this and Prisoner of Azkaban!
At 734 pages, Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire was by far the longest book I read last year, and in all honestly the longest book I have read in the last few years.
On the other end of the spectrum, Opal by Maggie Stiefvater was the shortest book, or novella, I read at only 38 pages, which is somehow meant to sustain me until the Ronan trilogy is released…
Not only did STAGS by M. A. Bennett shock me with its plot twists that kept coming right up until the very last page, but it also completely took me by surprise in how much I fell in love with a thriller.
Monty & Percy from The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue stole my heart back in October with their constant romantic tension that had me constantly screaming at them to just admit their feelings throughout this entire book.
If you can’t guess that this one has to be Adam & Julian from A List of Cages, then clearly I haven’t talked about my love for these two enough. Their relationship is just so beautiful and heartwarming, and I am so glad that they managed to find each other again and that Adam could become the brother Julian needed.
Without all of the insane hype surrounding The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid , I never would have even heard of this book, let alone have picked it up for myself and fallen as in love with it as I now am!
After three books of just hearing about him, I finally understand why Celaena fell for Sam after reading The Assassin’s Blade, because honestly, who wouldn’t fall for him?
A Thousand Perfect Notes by C. G. Drews was one of my most anticipated debuts for this year, and it definitely lived up to those expectations! It was heartbreaking yet hilarious, and honestly I can not wait to read more from Cait in the future.
The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli had such amazing world-building through its use of old folk tales and look into the history of this world that truly allowed this setting to come to life whilst reading this fantasy.
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson was my first ever graphic novel, and it managed to put a smile on my face like no other book with its witty humour and characters that just made this story so much fun to read.
As always, I don’t want to give away any spoilers, but there is a certain moment in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo that completely broke me and honestly I am trying not to think about it too much even now because my heart has still not recovered!
I need so many more people to read and love When My Heart Joins the Thousands by A. J. Steiger, because I have seen no one else talk about this fabulous book! It is such a beautiful story of diversity and survival, and I am so glad I read this hidden gem of a novel last year.
Whose soul was not completely crushed by Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare?! I still don’t think I am ready to fully accept some of the things that happened in this finale, even with the amazing epilogue at the end of it.
Although I did have some mixed feelings about this book as a whole, the format of The Dead House by Dawn Kurtagich was so unique in its use of diary entries and transcripts of interviews that helped create the spooky and eerie atmosphere of this story.
I’m not the biggest fan of thrillers anyway, but the key plot twist in Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl angered me so much more than any other I’ve read. My main issue with thrillers is that they leave me feeling underwhelmed or dissatisfied, but instead this one just made me so mad as in my opinion it just completely negated the point of the entire rest of the book.
If you haven’t discovered Books With Chloe on Youtube yet, then I highly suggest that is the very next thing you do. I love watching all of her videos and discovering new books through her recommendations, and I can’t wait to continue to watch her in 2019.
Last year saw me write what I would call my first proper discussion post, Romance in YA Contemporary, and it was definitely my favourite post for both that reason, and because of how much work and time I put into it.
This definitely has to be planning out a month’s worth of posts in advance for when I was in Cambodia over the summer. As someone who never normally plans posts too far in advance, and is not the most consistent or organised when it comes to blogging (as can clearly be seen over the last few weeks!) it was something completely new to me to schedule so many posts so far in advance, but I am really glad that I managed to do that and prove to myself that I can pre-plan when I need to.
Somehow my most popular post this year wasn’t about books? It was actually a Top Ten Tuesday from the summer, in which I talked about my Top Ten Binge-worthy Shows, so clearly I should talk more about my favourite TV shows this year…
Audiobooks! After believing for so long that audiobooks were just not for me, and that I would never be able to read a full book in that way, I finally discovered the wonder of them in the summer.
Although I would say I once again had a pretty good reading year in 2018, I did narrowly miss out on completing my Goodreads reading challenge of 52 books. That said, I did manage to accomplish some of my more specific reading goals for 2018, which I will be talking about in a post that (hopefully!) will be going up soon.
I need to read Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor! Not only is such a popular book that so many people seem to adore, but it also sounds exactly like something I myself would love, and so I am determined to make 2019 the year I finally read this story.
Like so many other people, I can not wait for King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo to finally be out in the world! Although I have yet to finish the Grisha Trilogy, I am still so excited to get a novel centred around Nikolai, who is one of my favourite characters, and to return to this world that I have completely fallen in love with.
Although this book is actually out by the time this post goes up, The Wicked King by Holly Black is definitely my most anticipated sequel for 2019. I just need to return to this dark faerie world and learn what more twists and turns this story has in store!
I really hope to continue to read more diversely this year. About halfway through 2018, I began to track my reading alot more, including the diversity and representation included in what I was reading, and so I would love to continue this habit and continue to be aware of reading wider and more diversely than I have in the past.
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You made it to the end of the post at last! How was your reading year in 2018? What was the best book you read last year? What book did you mean to read in 2018, but didn’t end up getting to?
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