It’s pretty clear from the general zeitgeist that 2018 was a rough year for a lot of us – and even if that wasn’t through personal events, the news cycle put an incredible level of psychic stress on pretty much everyone. However, as we draw the year to a close, and head into 2019, I’ll look at 2018 at its best – by the books that I read.

The thing that I really love about Goodreads (other than some very fun author features that I like to play with on slow days) is how it lets me keep track of every book that I read. I finished 50 this year, and some were pretty great. Others were actually a surprise to remember that I’d even read, which probably says a lot about my experience reading them. And a few were pretty darn bad. But overall, another great year in books.

With a nice round number like fifty, I’m going to break this into five parts. I basically read as my tastes and inclinations led me, so there’s a mix here. If your reading overlapped with mine on any of these books, let me know in the comments.

January 9, 2018 – March 7, 2018

What Was Amazing And You Need To Read It Now, NOW I Tell You:

• Catherine The Great: Portrait of a Woman by Robert K. Massie

What Was Good, And Should Go On Your Giant, Teetering To-Read Tower:

• Lake Silence by Anne Bishop

Pretty Decent, Worth Reading One Of These Days:

• The Monsters of Templeton, by Lauren Groff

This Was, Indeed, A Book. And One That You Will Likely Complete:

• The Welsh Girl, by Peter Ho Davies
• How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm: And Other Adventures In Parenting, by Mei-Ling Hopgood
• Dead Ever After, by Charlaine Harris
• The Royal We, by Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan
• Stronger, by Jeff Bauman

I Mean, It Filled Some Time And It’s Not Like It Was Awful

• The Other Family, by Joanna Trollope

Oh My God, It Was Awful

• Partnership, by Anne McCaffrey & Margaret Ball