My 2018 in books

'Theft by Finding' - David Sedaris
'An Autobiography' - Agatha Christie
'Eleanor Olifant is Completely Fine' - Gail Honeyman
'The Buried Giant' - Kazuo Ishiguro
'Three Daughters of Eve' - Elif Shahak
'Conversations with Friends' - Sally Rooney
'After the Party' - Cressida Connolly
'Masterpiece' - Emile Zola
'The Haunting of Hill House' - Shirley Jackson
'The End We Start From' - Megan Hunter
'I Hate the Internet' - Jarett Kobek
'The Tipping Point' - Malcom Gladwell
'Me Talk Pretty One Day' - David Sedaris
'De Oroliga' - Linn Ullman (Swedish)
'Egenmäktigt Förfarande - en roman om kärlek' - Lena Andersson (Swedish)

Not pictured:
'Educated' - Tara Westover
'South and West' - Joan Didion

Best read: 'Conversations with Friends' - Sally Rooney
This book kind of blew my mind. Boy oh boy can that Sally Rooney write - and then some! It's always a good sign when a book is so gripping that when you look up, you're surprised to find yourself not in it - if you know what I mean. There was one point when I paused while reading this on a train, and got a jump, as I had totally forgotten where I was IRL! I seriously recommend it if you haven't read it yet. Can't wait to read 'Normal People' once it's out in paperback.


Worst read: 'Eleanor Oilifant is Completely Fine' - Gail Honeyman
I HATED this book. I would never have sought it out myself, but a woman working in my local book shop recommended it to me, and I thought that I if I liked it, I could trust her recommendations in the future. Well, I tried my hardest and finished it, but I knew quite quickly that we didn't have the same taste in books, but there was only way of finding that out. I'm a bit of a fusspot when it comes to books, and generally don't like best sellers, so with this book being a HUGE hit last year it shouldn't have come as a surprise that I didn't like it. It was the complete opposite of Sally Rooney's writing; it read like it was written as a result of someone taking a creative writing course, and following a  formula of how to write a certain kind of book. Just not my cup of tea at all, I'm afraid.

I've been mostly reading non fiction for the past couple of years, so it felt quite refreshing to return to fiction. I'm also so happy to be reading physical books again, even though I've now got huge piles next to the bed. Reading on a Kindle was fun in the beginning, but you just can't beat browsing in book shops, as well as the tactile experience of holding a proper book in your hands. If it ain't broke and all that...

Normally I'd ask what your likes and dislikes were last year, but I get that no one can be arsed to comment these days, so I won't (no offence taken - I know you guys are still reading)! 😚

Update: oops, turns out something wasn't right in the comments settings in Blogger, and I've not seen any comments since May last year! I'm so sorry to those who have taken the time to comment, and then not gotten a reply from me. Hopefully it should work from now on!