I
had no idea that my public (all four of you! LOL) was waiting for this list, so
I apologize for taking so long to publish it! I have to admit that I didn’t meet
my GoodReads Reading Challenge Goal of 50 books this year, topping out at a
hearty 47. It appears that many of my
titles this year were set in Asia, and I think that means maybe I need to travel
there? The other theme of this year seems to be DEBUT NOVELS…completely by
accident. But as I review my favorite books, I have discovered that these new
authors are amazing, and will give us many more works to look forward to in the
years to come. Debut novels are noted with a star, just for fun.
So,
for my friends and family who often ask me for book recommendations, here’s
what I enjoyed in 2018!
My Top
Five-Star Picks of the Year:
Drum Roll,
Please…My Favorite Book of 2018!!
Full disclosure, I have recommended this book as my
top choice this year to a number of people. Some loved it as much as I did.
Others weren’t as into it. I don’t know what it was here…but see if you can
figure out how you CAN stop time. I had a great take-away on this topic. And if
the title of my blog is any indication into my personality, you’ll know why I’m
searching for an answer to this question. This book gave me one. Read it and
let’s see if we have the same answer! From Amazon: “How to Stop Time tells
a love story across the ages—and for the ages—about a man lost in time,
the woman who could save him, and the lifetimes it can take to learn how to
live. It is a bighearted, wildly original novel about losing and finding
yourself, the inevitability of change, and how with enough time to learn, we
just might find happiness.” And I just noticed while I was revisiting the book’s Amazon
page…”Soon to be a major motion picture starring
Benedict Cumberbatch.” Hurry up and read it before the movie comes out and then
we can all go together!
The Rest of the Top Five (can’t
decide what order)
As NPR put it…Heartbreaking and humorous. This is a
book you don’t want to miss. It snuck up on me in the same way A Man Called Ove
did, and delivered just as powerful an emotional punch. Don’t miss out on this
one, seriously. It was fantastic. “Eleanor
Oliphant is a quirky loner and a model of efficiency with her routine of frozen
pizza, vodka and weekly phone calls with Mummy. [She’s] a woman beginning to
heal from unimaginable tragedy, with a voice that is deadpan, heartbreaking and
humorous all at once.” –NPR.org
I loved this gypsy novel… “A piercing tale of isolation,
redemption, and belonging,” When a group of traveling people descends on the
sleepy town of Shelk, Pennsylvania, Zaccariah Ramsy, owner of the local bar,
finds himself drawn into their world after a hungry man turns up on his
doorstep. Meanwhile, Stella Vale, Ramsy's former love, believes that her
long-lost daughter might be among those who begin to rob townspeople's homes.
As tensions between Shelk residents and the newcomers rise, Stella and Ramsy
must decide whether they will remain isolated from the world around them--or
reach for a life of new possibilities.” It was a surprise to discover this
author and a great, lovely read.
Most of you probably read this in 2018…It was an Oprah Book
Club pick. She was on the money with this one! “This stirring love story is a
profoundly insightful look into the hearts and minds of three people who are at
once bound and separated by forces beyond their control. An American
Marriage is a masterpiece of storytelling, an intimate look deep into
the souls of people who must reckon with the past while moving forward—with
hope and pain—into the future.”
Three books here, one great ride! I discovered Crazy
Rich Asians in January 2018 and quickly plowed through the other two books in
the series. And then the movie came out, and I loved that too! These books
might belong in the fun reads section, but they were too great to leave out of
my Top Five.
The Rest of the Five-Star Pack
This is a debut novel and I devoured it. Again, the themes
resonate with me. Reincarnation and past lives? Right up my nostalgic alley. “What
would you do if your four-year-old son claimed he had lived another life and
that he wants to go back to it? That he wants his other mother? Gorgeously
written and fearlessly provocative, Sharon Guskin’s debut explores the lengths
we will go for our children. It examines what we regret in the end of our lives
and hope for in the beginning, and everything in between.” Sounds amazing, right? It was!
Okay, so this is technically a YA novel, but it was so
good it actually made me cry. I haven’t cried reading a book in a long, long
time. Maybe since like Racing in the Rain or Where the Red Fern Grows or Watership
Down—and those all involve animals. I might have cried at the end of Gone with
the Wind, but that was mostly just because I didn’t want it to end. This novel
moved me, truly. It’s about teenage friendship and faith and loyalty and love
and I cherished spending time with these characters. "Beautiful,
heartfelt, deep, and real. This book broke my heart and I loved every minute of
it."―Robyn Schneider, author
of The Beginning of Everything. Rock on, Tamara Ireland Stone. Keep dazzling
us.
Another debut novel that I really enjoyed. “An astute,
engaging debut” (Publishers
Weekly), The Trouble with Goats and Sheep is
a quirky and utterly charming tale of a community in need of reconciliation and
two girls learning what it means to belong.” England,
1976. Mrs. Creasy is missing and the Avenue is alive with whispers. The
neighbors blame her sudden disappearance on the heat wave, but ten-year-olds
Grace and Tilly aren’t convinced, and decide to take matters into their own
hands. The best part of this novel for me was the voice of 10 year-old Grace
and her observations…
It’s not possible for John Boyne to write something
that isn’t amazing. This was horrifying and touching and so, so devastating. “Berlin,
1942: When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his
belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and
the family must move to a new house far, far away, where there is no one to
play with and nothing to do. A tall fence stretches as far as the eye can see
and cuts him off from the strange people in the distance. But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that
there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While
exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and
circumstances are very different from his own, and their meeting results in a
friendship that has devastating consequences.”
"To the Bright Edge of the World is
a glorious feast of American mythology. In it, Eowyn Ivey's Alaska blooms vast
and untouchable, bulging with mystery and wonder, and lit by an uneasy midnight
sun. On this haunted stage, the lines between man and beast are blurred, and
Ivey has etched her most compelling characters: the incorruptible, determined
Sophie Forrester, who wrestles with the rules of men and polite society; and
her husband, the explorer Allen Forrester, who struggles mightily against the
uncivilized Alaskan wilderness with its ragged teeth. Gorgeously written,
utterly un-put-downable, To the Bright Edge of the World sweeps
its reader to the very brink of known territory, and presents that bright edge
in stark relief: gleaming, serrated, unforgiving. As with The Snow Child,
Eowyn Ivey has once again written a magical, breathtaking novel that I just
cannot put out of my mind." ―Jason
Gurley, author of Eleanor
Short Story
Collections:
I picked this up because I saw Anne Patchett talking
about books on the Today Show, and she claimed this one was “hands down” her
favorite book of the year. It did not disappoint! “Filled
with imagination and humor, Baby, You’re Gonna Be Mine is
an exuberant collection of captivating and charmingly bizarre stories that
promise to burrow their way into your heart and soul.” If you like short stories,
go get this book.
Nonfiction
You probably read this one this year already, too.
What a gripping story. I liked the first half better than the second half of
it, but it was no mistake that it was picked as Amazon Editors’ Best Book of
2018! “Tara Westover wasn’t your garden variety college student.
When the Holocaust was mentioned in a history class, she didn’t know what it
was (no, really). That’s because she didn’t see the inside of a classroom until
the age of seventeen. Public education was one of the many things her religious
fanatic father was dubious of, believing it a means for the government to
brainwash its gullible citizens, and her mother wasn’t diligent on the
homeschooling front….Educated is an inspiring reminder that
knowledge is, indeed, power.” --Erin Kodicek, Amazon Book Review
Middle
Grade/Young Adult:
Okay,
so this was Andrew’s middle school “One Book, One School” pick for 2018,
meaning the whole school had to read it and then the author paid every one a
visit. I picked it up just because it was sitting on the table. And then I
couldn’t put it down! I loved the concept and it was a great Middle Grade read.
“Chase doesn't remember falling off
the roof. He doesn't remember hitting his head. He doesn't, in fact, remember anything.
He wakes up in a hospital room and suddenly has to learn his whole life all
over again . . . starting with his own name. He knows he's Chase. But who is Chase? When he gets back to
school, he sees that different kids have very different reactions to his
return. Some kids treat him like a hero. Some kids are clearly afraid of
him. Pretty soon, it's not only a question of who Chase is -- it's a
question of who he was . . . and who he's going to be. Restart is the spectacular story of a kid with a
messy past who has to figure out what it means to get a clean start.”
I’m not sure how I ran into this book, but I am so
glad I did. This is a YA title, and it was an awesome read. “Jonny
knows better than anyone that life is full of cruel ironies. He's spent every
day in a hospital hooked up to machines to keep his heart ticking. Then when an
organ donor is found for Jonny's heart, that turns out to be the cruelest irony
of all. Because for Jonny's life to finally start, someone else's had to end. That someone turns out to be Neve's twin brother, Leo.
When Leo was alive, all Neve wanted was for him (and all his glorious,
overshadowing perfection) to leave. Now that Leo's actually gone forever, Neve
has no idea how to move forward. Then Jonny walks into her life looking for
answers, her brother's heart beating in his chest, and everything starts to
change. Together, Neve and Jonny will
have to face the future, no matter how frightening it is, while learning to
heal their hearts, no matter how much it hurts.”
I fell into this book because it was “research” and
then fell in love with it. I loved the voice, the clear love for libraries and
games (two of my favorite things) and the three brothers (natch). A great read
for Middle Grade. “When Kyle learns that the world's most famous game maker,
Luigi Lemoncello, has designed the town's new library and is having an
invitation-only lock-in on opening night, he's determined to be there! But the
tricky part isn't getting into the library—it's getting out. Because when
morning comes, the doors stay locked. Kyle and the other kids must solve every
clue and figure out every secret puzzle to find the hidden escape route!”
(See above!)
Notable
Fiction (Four stars):
Another book set in Asia. I loved this one! I don’t remember
why I didn’t give it 5 stars, but I probably should have. J “In
1942, Will Truesdale, an Englishman newly arrived in Hong Kong, falls headlong
into a passionate relationship with Trudy Liang, a beautiful Eurasian
socialite. But their love affair is soon threatened by the invasion of the
Japanese as World War II overwhelms their part of the world. Will is sent to an
internment camp, where he and other foreigners struggle daily for survival.
Meanwhile, Trudy remains outside, forced to form dangerous alliances with the
Japanese—in particular, the malevolent head of the gendarmerie, whose desperate
attempts to locate a priceless collection of Chinese art lead to a chain of
terrible betrayals.”
Another one set in Asia! This was heavy, hard and breathtaking.
You can’t shy away from the deep stuff, right? “In Tokyo,
sixteen-year-old Nao has decided there’s only one escape from her aching
loneliness and her classmates’ bullying. But before she ends it all, Nao first
plans to document the life of her great grandmother, a Buddhist nun who’s lived
more than a century. A diary is Nao’s only solace—and will touch lives in ways
she can scarcely imagine. Across the Pacific, we meet Ruth, a novelist living
on a remote island who discovers a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a
Hello Kitty lunchbox—possibly debris from the devastating 2011 tsunami. As the
mystery of its contents unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao’s drama
and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future. Full of Ozeki’s signature humor and deeply engaged
with the relationship between writer and reader, past and present, fact and
fiction, quantum physics, history, and myth, A Tale for the Time
Being is a brilliantly inventive,
beguiling story of our shared humanity and the search for home.”
Lighter
Reads
Part three of the Me Before You triogy. Another great
read from one of my fav Aussie authors, JoJo Moyes. “Louisa
Clark arrives in New York ready to start a new life, confident that she can
embrace this new adventure and keep her relationship with Ambulance Sam alive
across several thousand miles. She steps into the world of the superrich,
working for Leonard Gopnik and his much younger second wife, Agnes. Lou is
determined to get the most out of the experience and throws herself into her
new job and New York life. Funny, romantic, and poignant, Still Me follows
Lou as she discovers who she is and who she was always meant to be—and learns
to live boldly in her brave new world.
“Great thriller/mystery! Amber
wakes up in a hospital. She can’t move. She can’t speak. She can’t open her
eyes. She can hear everyone around her, but they have no idea. Amber doesn’t
remember what happened, but she has a suspicion her husband had something to do
with it. Alternating between her paralyzed present, the week before her
accident, and a series of childhood diaries from twenty years ago, this
brilliant psychological thriller asks: Is something really a lie if you believe
it's the truth?”
“A hilarious and poignant new novel about four
families, their neighborhood carpool, and the affair that changes everything. At any given moment in other people's houses, you can
find...repressed hopes and dreams...moments of unexpected joy...someone making
love on the floor to a man who is most definitely not her husband...*record
scratch* As the longtime local carpool mom,
Frances Bloom is sometimes an unwilling witness to her neighbors' private
lives. She knows her cousin is hiding her desire for another baby from her
spouse, Bill Horton's wife is mysteriously missing, and now this...” Fun and
funny read!
Get
reading. There is so much beauty here...Enjoy!
