2018 Books in Review

2018 was a great year for reading and here is a list of all the books read in the 1 year period. 124 books (not counting Stephen King’s as I’ve only reviewed them but I’ve officially read them years ago). Newcomer Bentley Little surprised me with his take on horror with The Walking and the Netflix show “The Haunting Of Hill House” introduced me to agoraphobic writer Shirley Jackson.

Biggest read accomplishment of the year is Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged”, a beast of a book which in audio format took 3 months of commuting to finish off. Biggest disappointment is as ever, V.C. Andrews.

1. Orson Scott Card
   1. Rebekah (Women of Genesis) (Book 2)
   2. Tales of Alvin Maker * Book 5 – Heartfire
   3. Hart’s Hope
   4. Songmaster
   5. Stone Tables 
2. The Raven Boys – by Maggie Stiefvater – Crappiest book of 2018 (just getting started)
3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
4. Jeffrey Archer
   1. As the crow flies
   2. The Fourth Estate
   3. First Among Equals
   4. A Prisoner of Birth
   5. A Matter of Honour (1986)
   6. Prison Diary (2003)
   7. Honor Among Thieves
5. Flowers
   1. Petals in the Wind * Book 2
   2. If there be thorns * Book 3
   3. Seeds of Yesterday * Book 4
6. Stephen King
   1. Eyes of the Dragon
   2. The Dark Half
   3. Umney’s Last Case (1993)
   4. Riding the bullet
   5. Different Seasons
   6. UR – Short Story
   7. Dark Visions 
   8. The Colorado Kid
   9. Sisters of Eluria
   10. Bachman Books (Stephen King) * Blaze * Short Story
   11. Willa
   12. Joyland 
   13. The Gingerbread Girl
   14. Stationary Bike Short Story
   15.  “N” Short Story about how Stonehenge and OCD can be connected
   16. The things they left behind Short Story
   17. Stephen King & Owen King * Sleeping Beauties
   18. Just after sunset
   19. Redstone (Crossroads Book 4)
   20. The cat from hell
   21. Dreamcatcher
   22. The Wind Through The Keyhole 
   23. Salem’s Lot 
   24. From a Buick 8
   25. Desperation
   26. Storm of the Century
   27. The Talisman 
   28. Stephen King
   29. Cell
   30. Mile 81
   31. The Dark Tower – The Wolves of Calla
7. Running Girl (The Garvie Smith Mysteries #1) by Simon Mason
8. At Night We Walk in Circles: A Novel by Daniel Alarcón
9. Patrik Rothfuss
   1. The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
10. Bentley Little
    1. The Walking
    2. Houses
    3. The Revelation
    4. The Summoning
    5. Guests
    6. The Ignored
11. Evernight (Book 1) Claudia Grey
12. Saskia’s Journey (2004) A novel by Theresa Breslin
13. The Waste Land
    1. Burial of the Dead (I)
    2. A Game of Chess (II)
    3. The Fire Sermon (III)
    4. Death by Water (IV)
    5. What the Thunder Said (V)
14. Anansi Boys – Neil Gaiman
15. Trigger Warning * Neil Gaiman
16. Delia’s Crossing
    1. Delia’s Crossing – V.C. Andrews (Book 1)
    2. Delia’s Heart * V.C. Andrews (Book 2)
17. Gabriel Garcia Marquez : The Early Years by Ilan Stavans
18. Margaret Atwood
    1. Wilderness Tips
    2. Robber Bride
    3. Surfacing
    4. Speeches for Doctor Frankenstein
    5. Lady Oracle
19. I, Robot * Isaac Asimov (1950)
20. Rolling in the Deep * (Mira Grant)
21. Someday, Somewhere * Eileen Ramsay
22. Kings Rising * C.S. Pacat
23. Haruki Murakami
    1. South of the Border, West of the Sun
    2. Sputnik Sweetheart (Supūtoniku no Koibito) 
24. The Hidden People by Alison Littlewood
25. Ready Player One! Ernest Cline
26. Black Dog Summer * Miranda Sherry
27. The Strain (Book 1) – by Guillermo del Toro, Chuck Hogan
28. The Devil Crept In * Ania Ahlborn
29. Battle Royale – Koushun Takami
30. The Annihilation Score * Charles Stross
31. Follow you home * Mark Edwards
32. The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
33. James Patterson * Mistress
34. Alis * Naomi Rich
35. The Woman Before Me * Ruth Dugdall –
36. John Dies at the End * David Wong
37. The Time Machine * H.G. Wells
38. Something Ends, Something begins * Witcher Saga
39. Dean Koontz
    1. Saint Odd * Odd Thomas
    2. The Taking
40. Time To Say Goodbye * S.D. Robertson
41. Snow Crash * Neal Stephenson
42. The Lovely Bones * Alice Sebold –
43. Mockingjay * Suzanne Collins * Hunger Games Book 3
44. Dexter by Design * Jeff Lindsay (Book 4)
45. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks * Rebecca Skloot
46. Kate Saunders – The Secrets of Wishtide
47. Pierce Brown
    1. Red Rising
    2. Golden Son
    3. Morning Star
    4. Iron Gold
48. Kim Stanley Robinson * Red Mars (Red Mars Trilogy Book 1)
49. Anita Shreve
    1. The Last Time They Met
    2. Testimony
50. Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand * By Leonard Peikoff
51. The Soul Mirror by Carol Berg
52. A Study in Charlotte by Brittany Cavallaro
53. Oprah * A (Crap) Biography By Kitty Kalley
54. Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin
55. When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead: Useful Stories from a Persuasive Man – Jerry Weintraub
56. The Devil’s Casino: Friendship, Betrayal, and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Brothers – Vicky Ward
57. Veronica Roth
    1. Divergent 
    2. Insurgent 
58. David Mitchell * Slade House
59. Pieces of Light * Adam Thorpe
60. Not Safe After Dark: And Other Stories (Inspector Banks)
61. Atlas Shrugged * Ayn Rand
62. Lie In Wait – Eric Rickstad
63. Black Mass by Dick Lehr, Gerard O’Neill
64. Fourth Grave Beneath My Feet by Darynda Jones
65. The Woman in the Woods (John Connolly)
66. Shirley Jackson
    1. The Haunting Of Hill House
    2. “The Lottery” (1948) 
    3. We Have Always Lived in the Castle
    4. The Summer People
67. Leave Me Novel by Gayle Forman *
68. Karin Slaughter * The Good Daughter
69. Flesh and Spirit – Lighthouse Duet * Carol Berg
70. I’d Rather Be Reading – Anne Bogel
71. Dead Harvest (Inspector Ray Wilson Thriller Book 1) by Andrew Leatham
72. Little Girl Gone by Alexandra Burt
73. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck – Mark Manson
74. The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard – Robert E. Howard
75. Educated – Tara Westover
76. Prospero’s Children by Jan Siegel
77. Spoken from the Heart – Laura Bush
78. Born a Crime – Trevor Noah
79. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind – Yuval Noah Harari
80. Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) by Sylvain Neuvel
81. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
82. Anne Tyler – Noah’s Compass
83. Bare Almond Trees by D.H. Lawrence
84. THE VIRTUE OF SELFISHNESS * Ayn Rand (1964)
85. The Ask – Sam Lipsyte
86. Shades of Treason – Sandy Williams
87. Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be – Rachel Hollis
88. The Regional Office Is Under Attack!: A Novel – Manuel Gonzales
89. Fire & Blood: 300 Years Before A Game of Thrones (A Targaryen History) (A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R. R. Martin
90. 01 – The Witcher Saga – The Last Wish
91. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin Sci-Fi
92. Heaven, Texas – Susan Elizabeth Phillips – Worst book of the year award

Best Books of the Year:

1. Atlas Shrugged * Ayn Rand
2. The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
3. The Devil Crept In * Ania Ahlborn
4. Battle Royale – Koushun Takami
5. The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall
6. The Woman Before Me * Ruth Dugdall
7. David Mitchell * Slade House
8. Hart’s Hope * Orson Scott Card
9. Karin Slaughter * The Good Daughter
10. Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) by Sylvain Neuvel

Top 5 Sci-Fi Books

1. I, Robot * Isaac Asimov (1950)
2. Ready Player One! Ernest Cline
3. Kim Stanley Robinson * Red Mars (Red Mars Trilogy Book 1)
4. Snow Crash * Neal Stephenson
5. Sleeping Giants (Themis Files #1) by Sylvain Neuvel