The Big 2018 Blog Post
I was inspired to do this blog post after reading the wonderful Steph’s blog post here! I’ve certainly not been as prolific as Steph, however, so I’m just taking the ‘Best In Books’ section for today’s post…
First up - my 2018 reading stats…
NUMBER OF BOOKS YOU READ: 43
NUMBER OF BOOKS YOU LISTENED TO: 2
NUMBER OF RE-READS: 13 (minus the six re-listens of Good Omens)
NUMBER OF DNFs: 4
TOTAL: 58 books (+4 DNFs)
1. BEST BOOK YOU READ IN 2018?
Hands down, The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon.
2. BOOK YOU WERE EXCITED ABOUT & THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO LOVE MORE BUT DIDN’T?
To be honest, I was super excited for Leah On The Offbeat, but it just wasn’t as good as Simon Vs for me.
3. MOST SURPRISING (IN A GOOD WAY OR BAD WAY) BOOK YOU READ?
They Both Die At The End by Adam Silvera. I was expecting to love it, but 2018 was the year of me not connecting with Adam Silvera books. I’m hoping 2019 sees that change!
4. BOOK YOU “PUSHED” THE MOST PEOPLE TO READ (AND THEY DID)?
This will always and forever be The Knife Of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness. Although this year it was closely followed by Heartstopper by Alice Oseman because I CANNOT contain my feels for my beautiful boys Charlie and Nick!
5. BEST SERIES YOU STARTED IN 2018? BEST SEQUEL OF 2018? BEST SERIES ENDER OF 2018?
Series Starter - Scythe by Neal Shusterman.
Sequel -
Series Ender - Bright We Burn by Kiersten White. I sum up all my feels about this book here.
6. FAVORITE NEW AUTHOR YOU DISCOVERED IN 2018?
I think this is probably going to be Renee Ahdieh. Her books aren’t mind-blowing, but they’re great at what they do and I read every book she’s written over the space of a few months earlier this year.
7. BEST BOOK FROM A GENRE YOU DON’T TYPICALLY READ/WAS OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE?
Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen. I don’t usually read contemporary teen romance, but this one was cute and sweet but also talked about some important stuff.
8. MOST ACTION-PACKED/THRILLING/UNPUTDOWNABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR?
Clean by Juno Dawson. This was compelling and once Lexi’s voice had jumped out of the first page, it would not let me go! Similarly, Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes? by Holly Bourne was also completely unputdownable.
9. BOOK YOU READ IN 2018 THAT YOU WOULD BE MOST LIKELY TO RE-READ NEXT YEAR?
It’s Clean. Or The Priory Of The Orange Tree. Or the entire And I Darken series. SO MANY GOOD BOOKS.
10. FAVORITE COVER OF A BOOK YOU READ IN 2018?
I know it’s only the ARC, but the ARC cover or Priory is a thing of beauty. Also love the covers of the collector’s editions of Vicious and Vengeful by VE Schwab.
11. MOST MEMORABLE CHARACTER OF 2018?
Victor Vale. Need I say more??
12. MOST BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN BOOK READ IN 2018?
The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily X.R. Pan. Beautiful, lyrical, magical realism exploring a girl’s grief at the loss of her mother.
13. MOST THOUGHT-PROVOKING/ LIFE-CHANGING BOOK OF 2018?
Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Katherine Webber. It made me laugh, it made me cry (a lot!), and made me feel all the feels. Also need to mention Starfish by Akemi Dawn Bowman. I didn’t count this as a DNF, but I had to pause as it hit a little too close to home for me given the frame of mind I was in when I first started reading it. So I’d say that’s the most life-changing.
14. BOOK YOU CAN’T BELIEVE YOU WAITED UNTIL 2018 TO FINALLY READ?
Simon Vs The Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. I barely read this before the film came out, and the book/film is probably my most-revisited story of 2018!
15. FAVORITE PASSAGE/QUOTE FROM A BOOK YOU READ IN 2018?
I really don’t know! But I loved the sentiment in Priory, The Astonishing Colour of After, and Only Love Can Break Your Heart, so I’d go with something from one of these!
16.SHORTEST & LONGEST BOOK YOU READ IN 2018?
Shortest - Michael Morpurgo’s retelling of Beowulf.
Longest - Either Priory of the Orange Tree or Kingdom of Ash. One of these was far more deserving of the time and effort I put in to reading it than the other. I’ll let you figure out which.
17. BOOK THAT SHOCKED YOU THE MOST?
Can I say Bright We Burn by Kiersten White? Every time I thought Lada had reached peak anti-heroine, THERE WAS EVEN MORE.
18. OTP OF THE YEAR (YOU WILL GO DOWN WITH THIS SHIP!)
Because my OTP is actually in Priory and I can’t share it here without kinda huge spoilers, I’m going to go with my all time faves from this year - the wonderful Nick and Charlie from Heartstopper. They are TOO CUTE.
19. FAVORITE NON-ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP OF THE YEAR
I think probably Tane and Nayimathun in Priory of the Orange Tree.
20. FAVORITE BOOK YOU READ IN 2018 FROM AN AUTHOR YOU’VE READ PREVIOUSLY?
Either Are We All Lemmings and Snowflakes? by Holly Bourne or Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Katherine Webber.
21. BEST BOOK YOU READ IN 2018 THAT YOU READ BASED SOLELY ON A RECOMMENDATION FROM SOMEBODY ELSE/PEER PRESSURE/BOOKSTAGRAM, ETC.:
Definitely Vicious by VE Schwab. It was everything I needed it to be and more!
22. NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH FROM A BOOK YOU READ IN 2018?
I mean, I have only watched the film rather than read the book (shocking!) but can I say Peter Kavinsky? He’s dreamy…
23. BEST 2018 DEBUT YOU READ?
Outside by Sarah Ann Juckes. Sarah is a wonderful human and her debut is an incredible tale all about Ele who has been trapped in the Inside, but then experiences the Outside for the very first time. It’s just started appearing in bookshops, so pick your copy up asap!
24. BEST WORLDBUILDING/MOST VIVID SETTING YOU READ THIS YEAR?
Definitely The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. I’ve never read worldbuilding like it. I felt like I was reading a masterclass in how to worldbuild. I am in awe.
25. BOOK THAT PUT A SMILE ON YOUR FACE/WAS THE MOST FUN TO READ?
Definitely Simon Vs. That ending! So cute. So many happy feels.
26. BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY OR NEARLY CRY IN 2018?
Only Love Can Break Your Heart by Katherine Webber. I cried basically for the whole second half of the book.
27. HIDDEN GEM OF THE YEAR?
Honestly, I really was surprised by The Astonishing Colour Of After. I can’t believe more people aren’t talking about this book.
28. BOOK THAT CRUSHED YOUR SOUL?
See 26. Katie Webber made me feel all the feels until my heart hurt. it was beautiful.
29. MOST UNIQUE BOOK YOU READ IN 2018?
Scythe by Neal Shusterman. This is kind of hard to argue on the unique front, but I felt like this book gave the sometimes predictable dystopian genre a good old kick. In a way that had me absolutely hooked.
30. BOOK THAT MADE YOU THE MOST MAD (DOESN’T NECESSARILY MEAN YOU DIDN’T LIKE IT)?
Kingdom of Ash. For so very, very, many reasons.
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What books have you loved / hated / got hooked on / have had your soul crushed by this year? Let me know in the comments!
