All About Books discussion

This thread is where you can post your favorite book each month in 2018. You can create your post with the template below . At the end of each month when you edit your post , send a post telling us that you have updated it . For anyone interested , it's a good way to share our favorites .

Copy the template below, and each month come back and edit your post with the favorite book you read that month. Then you pick out of those 12 for your favorite book of the year.

January -
February -
March -
April -
May -
June -
July -
August -
September -
October -
November -
December -

Best of the year -

This is where I will post my favorites of 2018

January - The Italian Teacher and White Chrysanthemum
February -The Eight Mountains and Educated: A Memoir
March -Us Against You and In The Shadow of 10,000 Hills
April -Gateway to the Moon and The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After
May - Tin Man and The Very Marrow of Our Bones
June -Our Homesick Songs and A Place for Us
July -My Real Name Is Hanna
August -Where the Crawdads Sing and There There
September - The Winter Soldier
October - Witness: Lessons from Elie Wiesel’s Classroom
November - Becoming and Returning
December -Housekeeping

Best of the year - Tin Man and The Very Marrow of Our Bones

This is where I will post my favorites for 2018:

January - The Blue Guitar 5* by John Banville
(My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)

February - The Tie That Binds 5* by Kent Haruf
(My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)

March - Then and Now 5* by W. Somerset Maugham
(My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)

April - The Snows of Kilimanjaro 5* by Ernest Hemingway
(My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)

May -The Maytrees 5* by Annie Dillard
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

June - In the Skin of a Lion 4* by Michael Ondaatje
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

July - The Old Maid: The 'Fifties 5* by Edith Wharton
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

August - Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America 4* by Gilbert King
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

September - The Old Patagonian Express: By Train Through the Americas 4 * by Paul Theroux
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

October - Girls & Boys 5 * by Dennis Kelly
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

November - All the Little Live Things 5 * by Wallace Stegner
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

December - Angle of Repose 5* by Wallace Stegner
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Best of the year - Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

This is where I will post my favorites of 2018

January - The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews (4-star)
February - Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler (one of the Hogarth Shakespeare series) (4-star)
March - In the Woods by Tana French (4-star) (a fun read)
April - Children of God by Mary Doria Russell (4-star)
May - Dune by Frank Herbert (5-star)
June - Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien (4-star)
July - The Past Is Never (5-star)
August - The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (5-star)
September - Their Eyes Were Watching God (4-star)
October - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle (5-star)
November - The Forbidden Worlds of Haruki Murakami (5-star)
December -

Best of the year -

My favorites for 2018:

January - L'odio È Antiquato by Günther Anders
February - The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy
March - The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë
April - Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
May - If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino
June - A Man Asleep by Georges Perec
July - Pines by Blake Crouch
August - Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
September - The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
October - Fiori sopra l'inferno by Ilaria Tuti
November - The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
December - Foreskin's Lament by Shalom Auslander

Best of the year - The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka

My favourites for 2018:

January - Himself by Jess Kidd
February - A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
March - The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
April - The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
May - American by Day by Derek B. Miller
June - The Bookshop of the Broken Hearted by Robert Hillman
July - An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
August - I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
September - There There by Tommy Orange and The Choice: Embrace the Possible by Edith Eger
October - Hanns and Rudolf: The German Jew and the Hunt for the Kommandant of Auschwitz by Thomas Harding
November - Tin Man by Sarah Winman
December -

Best of the year -

My favorites for 2018:

January - Più forti dell'odio by Christian de Chergé 5* (non-fiction)
February - The Golden Ass by Apuleius 5* (fiction)
March - Saremo giudicati dall'amore. "Il demonio nulla può contro la misericordia di Dio" 5* (non-fiction)
April - The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary: From the Visions of Ven. Anne Catherine Emmerich 5* (non-fiction)
May - War's Unwomanly Face 5* (non-fiction)
June - Angeli Custodi. Una presenza amica 4* (non-fiction)
July - The Dalai Lama's Cat 4* (fiction)
August - Sai Baba di Shirdi. Un messaggio di fratellanza e unità 4* (non-fiction)
September - La bell'Alda: Leggenda 4,5* (fiction)
October - L'arte di ricominciare 4,5* (non fiction)
Interviste del Secolo Breve 4* (non fiction)
November - Il catalogo delle donne valorose 5* (non-fiction)
December - none

Best of the year - The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary: From the Visions of Ven. Anne Catherine Emmerich
and
Più forti dell'odio by Christian de Chergé (no English edition)

I didn't do this last year as my reading was so inconsistent but hopefully I will have a better year in 2018! Thanks for setting the thread up

January - A Gentleman in Moscow
February - Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body
March - The Glorious Heresies
April - Elmet
May - Home Fire
June - Idaho
July - I Am, I Am, I Am: Seventeen Brushes with Death
August -
September -
October -
November -
December -

Best of the year -

My favourites of the year:

January - You Are Not a Stranger Here by Adam Haslett
February - The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
March - My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
April -
May -
June -
July -
August -
September -
October -
November -
December -

Best of the Year -

Here's hoping my reading slump disappears with the new year; bookmarks crossed.

January -
February -
March -
April -
May -
June -
July -
August -
September -
October -
November -
December -

Best of the year -

Bette, wishing you a great reading year in 2018!

Bette, have you gotten out of your reading slump????????

Chrissie, not really. I have just re-read a novel I read in 2014 but concentrating on a new novel is till beyond me. Too much to do here with unpacking. I have three new releases waiting for after the new year.

Bette, moving is VERY hard, so I do sympathize. Try and give yourself some time away from your "work", but I guess things you have to think about keep popping up in your head. I am hoping you find a book that captures you totally.

January -
February -
March -
April -
May -
June -
July -
August -
September -
October -
November -
December -

Best of the year -

Esti's Besties 2018

January -
February -
March -
April -
May -
June -
July -
August -
September -
October -
November -
December -

Best of the year -

Here is my spot where I will post my favorites of 2018:

January - Martin Eden (4.5*)
February - The Eye of the World (4.5*)
March - If on a Winter's Night a Traveler (5*)
April - A Town Like Alice (4.5*) {reread} or The High Window (4.5*)
May -
June -
July -
August - Drink to Yesterday (5*)
September -
October -
November -
December -

Best of the year -

Here am I

January - Severino Cesari Con molta cura ****1/2
February - Louise Penny Glass Houses  ****
March - Bertold Brecht Vita di Galileo ****
April - Edith Wharton The Fruit of the Tree ****
May - Mary Shelley The Last Man ****
June - Josè Saramago Cecità ****1/2
July - Anthony Trollope Can You Forgive Her? ****
August - William Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing *****
September - W. Somerset Maugham The Moon and Sixpence ****
October - John Steinbeck East of Eden ****1/2
November - Fernando Arambur Patria *****
December - Virginia Woolf Flush **** 1/2

Best of the year -  Fernando Arambur Patria *****

Really enjoyed doing this in 2017, so I'm in for another year:

January – The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
February – Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
March – The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois
April – The Invasion of Canada: 1812-1813 by Pierre Berton
May – Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
June – Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
July – The Outsider by Stephen King
August – Baby Teeth by Zoje Stage
September – Texts of Terror: Literary-Feminist Readings of Biblical Narratives by Phyllis Trible
October – The Penderwicks on Gardam Street by Jeanne Birdsall
November –Fire and Blood: The European Civil War, 1914-1945 by Enzo Traverso
December – Half the World by Joe Abercrombie

Best of the year – The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

May the standard be so high, that it is hard to pick!

January - The Novel in the Viola by Natasha Solomons
February - Astray by Emma Donoghue
March - Childhoods Real and Imagined: Volume 1: An Introduction to Critical Realism and Childhood Studies by Priscilla Alderson
April - Feminist Praxis: Research, Theory and Epistemology in Feminist Sociology by Liz Stanley and Sue Wise
May - Introduction to Sociology: Feminist Perspectives by Pamela Abbott and Claire Wallace
June - Boneshaker by Cherie Priest
July -
August -
September -
October -
November -
December -

Best of the year -

Oh dear what an insufferable nerd I am :/ not so much fiction here

My list of favorites for 2018

January - probably Chocolat? I read several good books in January
February - Njal's Saga or maybe Splintered Light: Logos and Language in Tolkien's World. I was very impressed with Too Like the Lightning as well.
March - Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch a reread of one of my favorites. But Seven Surrenders was also excellent.
April -
May -
June -
July -
August -
September -
October -
November -
December -

Best of the year -

My list of favorites for 2018

January - Winter Garden
February - Everybody's Son
March - The Simplicity of Cider
April - Little Fires Everywhere
May - The Invisible Bridge
June - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone & Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
July - Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? & The Interestings
August - The Kitchen God's Wife
September - If The Creek Don't Rise
October - The Happiness Project: Or Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun
November - The Collector’s Apprentice
December - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix



Best of the year - so tough, but I think I need to go with The Invisible Bridge .

My list of 2018 favorite books:

January -
February -
March -
April -
May -
June -
July -
August -
September -
October -
November -
December -

Best of the year -

My list of favorites for 2018:

January - The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng (4.3 stars)
February - Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (4.5 stars)
March -
April -
May - Waterloo: The History of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles by Bernard Cornwell (4 stars)
June - The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa (4 stars) and Michael Kohlhaas by Heinrich von Kleist (4 stars)
July - The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham (5 stars)
August - The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Kay Penman (4.5 rounded up to 5)
September - Pavilion of Women by Pearl S. Buck (4.5 rounded up to 5)
October - Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (4.5 rounded up to 5)
November -
December - 近代中國史綱（上） (A Short History of Modern China Vol. 1) (4.5 rounded up to 5 stars)

Best of the Year - The Razor's Edge

My favourite books for 2018:-

January - The Good People by Hannah Kent - 10/10
February - Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie - 9/10
March - Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon - 10/10 and Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng - 10/10
April - Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng - 10/10
May - All the Beautiful Lies by Peter Swanson - 10/10
June - The Stars Are Fire by Anita Shreve - 10/10 and The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse - 10/10
July - Us Against You by Fredrik Backman - 10/10 and The Book of Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowler - 10/10
August - The Blinds by Adam Sternbergh - 10/10
September - A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne - 10+++/10!!!
October - The Widow by Fiona Barton
November - A Noise Downstairs by Linwood Barclay - 10/10 and Vox by Christina Dalcher - 9.5/10
December -

Best of the year -

I’ve edited post #2 with my favorites for January: The Italian Teacher and White Chrysanthemum.

Edited mine with Severino Cesari Con molta cura ****1/2 for January

My favorite for January is a non-fiction: Più forti dell'odio by Christian de Chergé not only 5*, but I've read it already twice.

My favourite reads

1. January
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Incredibly beautiful.
2.February by Milan Kundera
3. March:Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
4. April: H Is for Hawk Helen Macdonald 322 p. 3 april 2018 5 stars
5.MayAll Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque 307 p. 8 may 2018 5 stars
6.June two definite winners
Warlight Michael Ondaatje 304 p. 19 june 2018 5 stars

] Kudos Rachel Cusk 224 p. 28 june 2018 5 stars

7. July
My favourite this month
Kindred Octavia E. Butler 287 p. 4 july 2018 5 stars

8.Reservoir 13 Jon McGregor 336 p. 2 august 2018 5 stars

9. September
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Muriel Spark 150 p. 24 september 2018 5 stars

10. October

The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald 233 p. 15 october 2018 5 stars
Het huis van de namen Colm Tóibín 320 p. 25 octobef 2018 5 stars

11. November There There Tommy Orange 304 p. 12 november 2018 5 stars

Claire , I loved that book !

I have updated message three with my one five-star book for January - The Blue Guitar by John Banville

My favorites for 2018:

January - Gone with the Wind 5*
February - A River in Darkness: One Man's Escape from North Korea 4*
March - Go, Went, Gone 5*
April - When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife 5*
May - Ruby 5*
June - Family Matters 5* and Homegoing 5*
July - The Wife's Tale 5*
August - My Life with Bob: Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues 4*
September - This Mortal Boy 5*
October - Misery 4*
November - Euphoria 5*
December - The Summer Book 5*

Best of the year - When I Hit You: Or, A Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife 5*

Added my favorite for January: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. It was so good. My review, if you're interested: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I've had a good reading month! Was a tough pick but I chose A Gentleman in Moscow and this ended up being my only 5* read

Angela M wrote: "Claire , I loved that book !"

Happy to hear I’m not the only one. I love finding those gems.

I had several 5 star reads in January, but my favorite has to be A Man Called Ove. Really loved it, and I'm going to have to read more by this author.

Laurel wrote: "I had several 5 star reads in January, but my favorite has to be A Man Called Ove. Really loved it, and I'm going to have to read more by this author."

Oh, good -- I have the audiobook of that! I'll have to move it up in the queue.

Heather wrote: "I've had a good reading month! Was a tough pick but I chose A Gentleman in Moscow and this ended up being my only 5* read"

It was close between this and Martin Eden for me but Martin Eden was just a tad better for me.

I listened to the audio also. Good narrator. He had me laughing out loud quite a few times on my drive to and from work!

Leslie wrote: "Laurel wrote: "...my favorite has to be A Man Called Ove."

Oh, good -- I have the audiobook of that!"

I've updated message #5. It wasn't easy to choose a favorite for January, since it was just an okay month for reading. I had 3 and 4 stars books, nothing really outstanding. However, I've chosen L'odio È Antiquato by Günther Anders. The book doesn't have an English translation, because it is just a short part of a longer book called Haß. Die Macht eines unerwünschten Gefühls. I can't find an edition on Goodreads.

I just updated message #6. I had a nice reading month in January giving two books 5 stars, Himself by Jess Kidd and The Choke by Sofie Laguna - ended up going with Himself as my favourite.

Laurel wrote: "I had several 5 star reads in January, but my favorite has to be A Man Called Ove. Really loved it, and I'm going to have to read more by this author."

My absolute favourite from last years readings!

2018 Favorites:

January - The Witch of Little Italy
February -The Handmaid's Tale
March -In a Dark, Dark Wood
April -
May -
June -
July -
August -
September -
October -
November -
December -

Best of the year -

My 2018 faves:

January - Ubik by Philip K. Dick
February - Shadow on the Mountain by Margi Preus
March - Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family by Thomas Mann
April - The Heart's Invisible Furies
May - We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler
June - Americanah
July - Doña Barbara by Rómulo Gallegos
August - Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
September - Ostland by David Thomas
October - The Panda Theory by Pascal Garnier
November - The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
December - Doc by Mary Doria Russell

Best of the year- I have to go with Lonesome Dove!

Fave reads of 2018,

January - Music shop by Rachel Joyce
February - Hangman by Jack Heath
March -
April -
May -
June -
July -
August -
September -
October -
November -
December -

Best of the year -

January - Brave - Rose McGowan
February -
March -
April -
May -
June -
July -
August -
September -
October -
November -
December -

My favorite for Feb. updated. Angela - I bet you would love Everybody's Son.

Alice wrote: "My list of favorites for 2018:

January - The Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng (4.3 stars)
February -
March -
April -
May -
June -
July -
August -
September -
October -..."
Hello Alice, am just thinking about my favourite for February and I noticed your January favourite...in case you haven't read it, I can strongly recommend another of Tan Twan Eng's books: The Garden of Evening Mists. Cheers, Paul

Best book for February: The Golden Ass by Apuleius 5*

I didn't have quite as good a reading month in Feb as in January but my favourite for the month was Animal: The Autobiography of a Female Body which I listened to on audiobook.