I read 177 books this year, and 31 of them I marked 5 stars! My top pick for 2018 is:
A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge
Frances Hardinge is one of my favorite authors, so it’s no surprise that this book was amazing. It’s set in an underground city where talented craftsmen can make wine that erases memories and perfume that makes you trust the wearer even while they’re stabbing you. There’s Medici-style politics, class warfare, and a heroine who isn’t taking any shit. I love it.
The rest:
Nonfiction
A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century by Barbara Tuchman
This narrowly avoided being my top pick for the year! It was so good! A history of the 14th century that reads as easily as a novel.
Paperback Crush: The Totally Radical History of 80s and 90s Teen Fiction by Gabrielle Moss
This book was a great nostalgia trip, and also hilarious.
The Lexicographer’s Dilemma: The Evolution of “Proper” English from Shakespeare to South Park by Jack Lynch
I’ve read a lot of history of language books, but I still learned somethings from this one about where how the “rules” for our language developed.
The Gossamer Years: The Diary of a Noblewoman of Heian Japan
This autobiography was written around 974 in feudal Japan, and the author is so extra I LOVE HER. Most written communication happens through poetry, and girl attaches a mean poem to A DEAD FLOWER to send to her neglectful lover. Plus once she moves without telling him.
Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
I feel like I highlighted this entire book.
Atlas of a Lost World: Travels in Ice Age America by Craig Childs
This book was a really interesting look at what we know and don’t know about the earliest people to live in the Americas. The author travels to different archaeological sites and talks about how the land would have looked different back then.
Asking For It: The Alarming Rise of Rape Culture and What We Can Do About It by Kate Harding
This book was depressing as fuck, but important and well-researched.
Sergeant Reckless: The True Story of the Little Horse who Became a Hero by Patricia McCormick
This horse is more badass than most humans.
Fiction
The Shepherd’s Crown by Terry Pratchett
I finally read this, the last Discworld book, this year after rereading the entire series. I was scared it wouldn’t be a fitting end to my favorite series, because Raising Steam really kind of sucked? But, no, it was perfect.
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
This book was like the lovechild of Isabel Allende and Umberto Eco, and I am here for that.
The Screaming Staircase by Jonathan Stroud
A teen ghost fighting agency!!!
The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed
Hard to read, but amazing.
Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
Another third wave girl power book which I really wish had been around when I was in high school.
Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson
Epistolary novels are my jam
My Lady’s Choosing by Kitty Curan
A CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE REGENCY ROMANCE NOVEL! RUN! DON’T FUCKING WALK!
Island Beneath the Sea by Isabel Allende
This book was about Haiti, and is the first Allende novel I’ve read that I think rivals House of the Spirits.
A Blink of the Screen by Terry Pratchett
A collection of Terry Pratchett short fiction I read for the first time during my giant Discworld reread.
…And the Ladies of the Club by Helen Hooven Santmyer
I had to read a book over 1000 pages, and I’m really glad I picked this one. It reminded me of Edward Rutherford, but on a much smaller scale.
Graphic Novels and Comics
The Stone Heart by Faith Erin Hicks
The sequel to The Nameless City, about the friendship between a street urchin girl and a boy from the ruling caste foiling an assassination attempt, politics get even more murky here. The art style is beautiful too!
Step Aside, Pops: A Hark! A Vagrant Collection by Kate Beaton
I’m slowly building up my Kate Beaton collection.
Rat Queens, Vol. 1: Sass & Sorcery by Kurtis J. Wiebe and Roc Upchurch
This was a pretty funny D&D parody universe.
Piper by Jay Asher
A retelling of the Pied Piper folk tale, following a deaf girl who lives in the town and is therefore the only one immune to the piper’s powers. The art style is beautiful.
Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
A super-villain and his shapeshifting sidekick!
Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile by Bill Willingham
Fairy tale characters trying to make it in the modern world
Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant by Tony Cliff
Delilah Dirk is my idol
Delilah Dirk and the King’s Shilling by Tony Cliff
Delilah Dirk gets revenge and tea continues to be a plot point
Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules by Tony Cliff
Delilah Dirk goes full Indiana Jones
Check, Please!: #Hockey, Vol. 1 by Ngozi Ukazu
Hockey! Romance! Baking!
Other
The Compleat Discworld Atlas
Beautifully done, another Discworld reread addition
The witch doesn’t burn in this one by Amanda Lovelace
A poetry collection that pulls no punches. “Burn anyone who tries to burn you”
Next: 2018: The Bad
Previously: 2017: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly (and the Pretty)
These all sound fantastic!