If you've been following my blog for a while, you may recall that for the past 4 years I post about my year in books. I've set a goal to read a number of books that coincides with the year; no real reason other than that it's been doable and I figured why not? So last year, my goal was to read 18 books in 2018. Prior to that 17 books in 2017, and so on.
This is the first year I did not meet my goal. I only read 13.
I have to admit, I have not been reading nearly as much as I used to since my diagnosis. I think part of it is because I'm more tired, and reading while tired is hard to do. And part of it is that I've definitely fallen into a habit of watching more TV, it's just easy to do.
But aside from all of that, coincidence or not, I've just been having a
really hard time getting into books. The past 5 audiobooks I rented were started and never finished because... ehn. They just didn't really interest me that much. The last book I actually finished was in September. Ever since, I've been kind of aimless, picking up and putting down so many books trying to find something that grabs my attention.
So for this year, I didn't increase my goal as I have years before and instead set it again at 18. I am currently reading a book that I'm actually into, so hopefully that can kick me back in the right direction. But, here are my thoughts about the books I read in 2018:
Tell Me Where It Hurts — Written by an animal surgeon, this one promised to be good, but didn't really deliver the kind of 'heart' I was looking for.
Orphan Train — 3 stars, not sure what all the hype about this one is about. It was good, but not
that good.
A Walk In the Woods —I have not chuckled so much at a book in a very long time. I loved his writing style and learned quite a lot as well. I mean, there is only so much you can say about endless walking. This book was peppered with wonderful anecdotes, ecology facts, botany, and history. It was a very enjoyable, quick read.
Ready Player One — Full of 80s nostalgia and references of all types, this book was really good! The movie version, though, is nothing like it and is awful. Avoid the movie lol.
The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye — Really slow, way too many plot lines that oh-so-coincidentally tie-in with each other. Sadly, my road with Lizbeth Salander may have come to an end here. If this hadn't been part of the Millennium books I know and love, I probably would have put this down and not finished. Will I be curious for the next one, just the same? Who knows.
Exit West — The writing style was weird and difficult, but aside from that it just wasn't that interesting. Huge disappointment.
The Great Alone — A bit predictable at times, but the story was told so well that it didn't even matter. I really enjoyed this one. A great story of love, loss, and the hardships and beauty of life.
All the President's Men — I very much enjoyed Bernstein and Woodward's book, and it is crazy how so many of the things that happened parallel with things happening today.
10% Happier — I re-read this one. Good as always.
Finding Gobi — Delightful! This was a well-written, beautiful, feel-good dog story.
Girl, Wash Your Face — I devoured this book. And loved it. If I could, I would give a copy of this book to every young woman my age that I know. There are things to nitpick about it, but the overall message was so good and so well done.
All Creatures Great and Small — This one was alright, but wasn't entirely what I expected. It is a collection of stories from a vet in the British countryside, back in the day. The stories were good, but many of them were frank tellings of, well, medical things, so there's a lot of blood and pus and whatever else you could imagine you'd encounter when you have to take care of farm animals.
Little Fires Everywhere — Really good book! A little too "of the now" at times, but great story telling. I highly recommend the audiobook version.
