A Year of Books: (2018 In Review)

In 2017 my goal was to read 100 books.  I made that goal, plus an additional 7, ending with 107.  It was a joyful year getting lost in the pages of wonderful stories and escaping reality into my imagination. 

In 2018, I wanted to stretch myself and my comfort zone.  This was a challenge as I tend to think of reading as a pleasurable thing - a treat - and why would I force myself to eat veggies if I could have chocolate?  Well, because we all know that we need more than just sugar to balance us out and make us healthy. 

So, my 2018 goal was to stretch myself into things I wouldn't normally read and feed my soul with content with a little umph!  I started by forming a book club at work and that was a good beginning step into opening new genres that I may have avoided or simply not sought out.  I didn't make it 100 books this year, (I only made it to 77) but, I feel as though I fed my mind a little more - but still indulged in the reading that gives me pleasure and is a release for me. 

As for the book club, I am loving it!  It has been so fun to talk about a book and see things through someone else's eyes.  If you are a reader and you love books, I highly recommend that you find or start a book club.  It doesn't have to be extensive or extravagant - just a place to feed you mind and connect with others who have similar interests.  It feeds the soul! 

So now I wonder what my reading/book goal should be in the new year??  How about you?  Do you have a goal?  Maybe I can steal your goal and make it my goal!  :)

Here is my 2018 book list: 

2018 BOOK LIST
GOAL:  More meaningful and out of my comfort zone in 2018
#	TITLE	SERIES BOOK	AUTHOR	RECOMMEND?	NOTES
1	To Trust	Broken Roads Romance 1	Carolyn Brown	N	Not my favorite C. Brown book series…but they were  entertaining non-the-less.
2	To Commit	Broken Roads Romance 2	Carolyn Brown	N
3	To Believe	Broken Roads Romance 3	Carolyn Brown	N
4	To Dream	Broken Roads Romance 4	Carolyn Brown	N
5	To Hope	Broken Roads Romance 5	Carolyn Brown	N
6	Left Drowning	Book 1	Jessica Park	Y	Wow!  I really enjoyed this book. A captivating story with twists and life lessons all mixed together.
7	Restless Waters	Book 2	Jessica Park	Y	It was slow to get going and I found the sex to be a bit unneccessary, but it was worth the read to follow up with the first book
8	Mustard Seed	Book 2 - follows Yellow Crocus	Laila Ibrahim	Y	I loved this book.  While set in the time shortly after the Civil War, I found it to be very poingnant specifically today.  As a bit of a shock - I realized that this was a follow up to Yellow Crocus which I loved as well.
9	Love Beyond Time	Morna's Legacy:  Book 1	Bethany Claire	Y	15 books in a series! This is 11 more than I consder to be the most a series should be.  However, I was entertained and enjoyed the series very much.  I devoured each book quickly and found the ease and flow of them to be soothing and entertaining.  It would make a great mini series. At about book 9, I was getting a little weary of the same opening...but once I got past the boring "present day" part, the stories were different enough that I was still entranced.
10	Love Beyond Reason	Morna's Legacy:  Book 2	Bethany Claire	Y
11	A Conall Christmas	Morna's Legacy:  Book 2.5	Bethany Claire	Y
12	Love Beyond Hope	Morna's Legacy:  Book 3	Bethany Claire	Y
13	Love Beyond Measure	Morn'as Legacy:  Book 4	Bethany Claire	Y
14	In Due Time	Morna's Legacy Book: 4.5	Bethany Claire	Y
15	Love Beyond Compare	Morna's Legacy Book: 5	Bethany Claire	Y
16	Love Beyond Dreams	Morna's Legacy Book: 6	Bethany Claire	Y
17	A McMillan Christmas	Morna's Legacy Book: 7.5	Bethany Claire	Y
18	Love Beyond Belief	Morna's Legacy Book: 7	Bethany Claire	Y
19	Love Beyond Reach	Morna's Legacy Book: 8	Bethany Claire	Y
20	Morna's Magic & Mistletoe	Morna's Legacy Book: 8.5	Bethany Claire	Y
21	Love Beyond Words	Morna's Legacy Book: 9	Bethany Claire	Y
22	Love Beyond Wanting	Morna's Legacy Book: 10	Bethany Claire	Y
23	Love Beyond Destiny	Morna's Legacy Book: 11	Bethany Claire
24	You:  A Novel		Caroline Kepnes	Y	These are dark books.  I did like the writing style and I was captivated.  It is odd to read of evil and somehow think it is normal.
25	Hidden Bodies		Caroline Kepnes	Y
26	Don't Trust Me	Hamlet Book #1	Jessica Lynch	Y	I liked this book ok.  It was predictable, but it kept my attention and didn't drag.  Not sure it was captivating enough to want to read more in the series.
27	School For Spirits:  A Dead Girl and a Samurai	Book 1	Aron Lewes	Y	Captivated right off the bat and ready to read book #2.  It was a super fast read and there was something peaceful and calming to me about the book.
28	School For Spirits:  Final Test	Book 2	Aron Lewes	Y	A great follow up to the first one.  I enjoy this series.  Definitely worth my time.  Looking forward to book 3 in November
29	School For Spirits:	Book 3	Aron Lewes
30	Grounded	Book 1 (The Grounded Trilogy)	G. P. Ching	Y	Loved this series.  I don't know why it resonated with me on so many levels, but I devouered all three books in less than a week.  They were entertaining, exciting, fast moving and didn't get to bogged down despite being a 3 book series.
31	Charged	Book 2 (The Grounded Trilogy)	G. P. Ching	Y
32	Wired	Book 2 (The Grounded Trilogy)	G. P. Ching	Y
33	A Letter from America	N/A	Geraldine O'Neill	Y	I enjoyed this book.  There was a solid story with a minor twist and I was entertained.
34	A Once & Future Love	N/A	Anne Kelleher	Y	I enjoyed this Scottish time-travel romance.  It was predictable, but a good story none the less.
35	Act Normal:  Memoir of a Stumbling Block	N/A	Kristy Burmeister	Y	This was a good book.  It is relevant today with the issue of women being objectified…and I found a lot that resonated with my upbring. Powerful.
36	Big Little Lies	N/A	Liane Moriarty	Y	The more I read her, the more I like her writing style.  It keeps me a little off kilter.  The books are a bit dark, but in a captivating way. It makes dark feel normal. Is that bad?
37	Blackfish City	May Book Club (Book #4)	Sam J. Miller	Y	I really enjoyed this book.  Brother-in-law of Eric Talent - the reason I decided to read it - to support friends - I'm not a sci-fi person…but I really liked the story and the way the author slowly connected the characters for the reader in an entertaining fashion, but still brought a political and "post-apocoliptic twist to it without going over the top.
38	Circe	November Book Club (Book #8)	Madeline Miller	Y	Great book.  I enjoyed the read and am inspired to read more mythology.
39	Come In From The Cold	N/A	Cindy Davis	N	I didn't like how the era was muddled and I felt like the writer jumped into things expecting the reader to be a bit of a mind-reader.  The ending was predictable.
40	Cruelty's Daughter	N/A	Anna Willett	Y/N	This was a quick and entertaining red, but I felt as though it was predictible and there were areas that the content dragged and seemed superfluous.
41	Educated	August Book Club (Book #6)	Tara Westover	Y	Wow!  What a terribly sad account of someone's life and the result of ignorance and adverse mental health.  Very thought provoking for me.
42	Everyday Lies	N/A	Louise Guy	Y	This book hooked me right off the bat.  I liked the entertwining of stories and the empasis on good communication
43	Half A Heart	N/A	Karen McQuestion	Y	This was a quick read.  I enjoyed the story and it was entertaining.
44	Happy Day	N/A	Elizabeth Downey	Y	I enjoyed this story and would recommend it.
45	Hell's Princess:  The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men	N/A	Harold Schechter	Y/N	I was a well written book in that it kept your attention throughout.  I listened to it on audio for almost 1/2 and found the audio to be well done.  As for the story itself…I am horified at the brutality of it and left in wonder that I made it thru school knowing NOTHING of this.
46	In The Light of the Garden	N/A	Heather Burch	Y	This was a quick read.  I felt like the ending was a bit anti-clamatic and as a whole it was predictable.
47	Killers of the Flower Moon:  The Osaage Murders and the Birth of the FBI	March Book Club (Book #2)	David Grann	Y	Wow!  How did we not learn about this in school?  What does that say about us as a society? I am horified and haunted.  Aren't we supposed to learn from history so as to avoid repeating our mistakes...And yet, corruption is rampant in our governemnt.  Still greed, power lust and atrocities plague our "civilized society."   a
48	Lies That Bind Us	N/A	Andrew Hart	Y	I felt like this was a little predictable, but I liked the weaving of Greek Mythology into the story.
49	Lies She Never Told Me	N/A	Michael Gresham	Y/N	Stylistically, this was an odd book.  In the beginning I questioned whether it was a novel or a non-fiction memoir of sorts.  I almost gave up, but ended up sticking with it and it was ok - hard to follow who's/who.
50	Lizzie	January 2019 BB Book Club (Book #9)	Evan Hunter	Y	I was initially uncertain about the story path.  Combined with the difficult bulk of the actual court proceeding being included, it got bogged down a bit in the middle, but the end was thought provocing and the theory suggested as to the motive of the murders was interesting.
51	Mr. Rochester	N/A	Sarah Shoemaker	Y	I really enjoyed this book.  It is part of the Jane Eyre saga.
52	My Husband's Wives	N/A	Faith Hogan	Y
53	My Ex-Life	June Book Club (Book #5)	Stephen McCauley	Y/N	I think the descriptions/reviews of this book are completely off-base.  I did not find humor in any of it.  It wasn't "sparkling", "sharp", "clever" or "heartwarming." It is a sad description of split marriages and the aingst of relationships.  I also feel that the author tries too hard and attempts to be too big for his britches with his use of "big words."  As for the issue with the daughter. I did not approve of the authors take on the whole situation and felt like he justified and of made it seem like it wasn't the crime that it is.  SHAME ON HIM for not denouncing child porn and the exploitation of children. NOT OK.
54	P.S. From Paris	N/A	Marc Levy	Y	I enjoyed the story and the twists
55	Persephone	N/A	Kitty Bennett	Y	Loved this book.  The story was enticing and kept my rapt attention.  I couldn't put it down.  I gobbled it up in just 2 days.
56	Pretty Ugly Lies	N/A	Pamela Crane	Y	wow.  An unexpected twist for sure.  Along the lines of a Liane Moriarty book. A good, quick, entertaining read.
57	Sea of Memories	N/A	Fiona Valpy	Y
58	Seasons of the Moon	February Book Club (Book #1)	Julien Aranda	Y	I loved the romanticism of this book.  It was almost lyrical in places.  I found that I could relate to the disposing of "baggage" for the sake of the changes in one's life as well as the positive nature of the character - positivity trumping all else.
59	Sold on a Monday	N/A	Kristina McMorris	Y	A little slow to get going, but once I got in to it, I enjoyed the story.  Made me take a historical look at the Great Depression
60	The Bigamist:  The True Story of a Husband's Ultimate Betrayal	N/A	Mary Turner Thompson	Y	A real life thriller/page turner in these pages.  I am in "chilled" awe of the sickness of mind that many people find themselves.
61	The Found Child	N/A	Jo Crow	Y	I got sucked into this quickly and was thru it in a couple days.  I enjoyed the twists.  The style of writing kept me engaged.
62	The Girl I Used to Know	N/A	Faith Hogan	Y	Two stangers in one house that were enemies, but found they had so much more to connect them.  It was a quick read and I found the story to be "thick" enough to feel worthy of my time.
63	The Heirloom	N/A	Evie Gaughan	Y/N	I felt like the story was a bit of a let down.  I wanted the past life to be a bit more substantial.
64	The Husband's Secret	N/A	Liane Moriarty	Y	Good story line.  I enjoyed the twists.  I'm becoming accustomed to her style of writing. Quick, captivating read.
65	The Hypnotist's Love Story	October Book Club (Book #7)	Liane Moriarty	Y	This is my first Moriarty read.  I enjoyed the style of writing.  I was facinated by the way she made me root for the villian.  A great lesson about the crap we carry and let drag us down and letting go!
66	The Last Girl	N/A	Nick Twist	Y	I am rarely befuddled and kept in suspense very long, but this book kept me guessing until the very end.  While you could at first think the book anti-climatic, it isn't that so much as it is in a constant state of climax and the end is untwisted in an unexpected way.  I found myself so wound up for the entire book that the ending was a little flat for me - but still a good read and worth every minute.
67	The Last Midwife	N/A	Sandra Dallas	Y
68	The Night Circus	N/A	Erin Morgenstern	Y	I liked this book ok, but after the raving about it, I guess I wasn't all that impressed.  I mean, there was a great fantastical - fantasy element that was fanciful and enjoyable, but I was expecting to be blown away.  I mean, I would recommend it…but I didn't find it to be as moving as anticipated.
69	The Party	N/A	Lisa Hall	Y	This was a quick read that was entertaining all the way through.  However, I lnew "who-dun-it" within the first little bit of the book and I was right on target.  The great thing about this book is that there is a climax…and then it give a little more.  Enjoyable.
70	The Secret Wife	N/A	Gill Paul	Y	I loved this story. Historically based novel re: romance and the Russian Tsar family - the Romanovs.
71	The Stationmaster's Cottage	N/A	Philipa Nefri Clark	Y	This was a quick moving story that engaged me and kept me speeding through the pages in an attempt to help the characters get to the truth of the matter!
72	The Tuscan Child	N/A	Rhys Bowen	Y	I enjoyed the story and the way the author bounced back and forth from the history to the "present."  It seemed a little fanticiful and there were some unanswered things in the story, but I enjoyed it non-the-less
73	The Unquiet Dead:  A Novel	April Book Club (Book #3)	Ausma Zehanay Khan	Y/N	This was a difficult book to get in to.  The Canadian setting made it seem a bit off.  I ended up doing lots of research about the actual events and found it so terrbily depressing.  It was a heavy read for me.
74	The Woman in the Window	N/A	A. J. Finn	Y	A good phycological thriller.  I wasn't sure I liked it, but I couldn't atop reading it.
75	What Alice Forgot	N/A	Liane Moriarty	Y	A lot of this book hit home with me.  Specifically the parts about fertility…or lack thereof.  It made me think a lot about the person that I am today compared to the person I was 10 years ago.
76	What See Saw	N/A	Sheila Lowe	Y	A quick thriller of sorts that I enjoyed.
77	Whiskey Lullaby	N/A	Stevie J. Cole	Y	I like this story.  It was tragic and simple and truthful to the stories that we all tell ourselves that are so dangerous because there is little if any truth in them.