evelyn_b

I read some books in 2018, most of them Sue Grafton (as you can see below). This is numerically more books than last year, but the count is inflated: many of these are novellas or even chapbooks. On the other hand, I finished a few hefty ones this year, including Ulysses and The Life of Samuel Johnson (both highly recommended). I started out keeping track of a bunch of variables, then gave up. There are about 70 non-fiction books, 147 fiction, 24 poetry, and 25 miscellaneous - but I doubt those numbers are exact and I doubt I'll feel like counting again. Most of the books I read this year were good. The biggest disappointments were probably To Say Nothing of the Dog, which couldn't live up to its title or its premise, and Reality and Dreams, which wasn't terrible but was way below expectations for Muriel Spark.

Best book of 2018: I'm going to go ahead and say Gilgamesh the Hero, a stunning child-friendly adaptation by Geraldine McCaughren.

( Under the cut it's just a list of titles )

I did do a lot better on impulse book buying and clearing off my shelves this year. A lot of these books are either from the library or books I already owned; most of the ones I owned I've since given away. Some of the titles are still on my shelf (often in spite of intentions to the contrary): Gormenghast, The Life of Samuel Johnson, PrairyErth, Maud Martha, The Balkan Trilogy. I might have kept Hungry Hearts, because it was delightful, but it fell apart in my hands, poor thing.