My Favorite Books of 2018 (aka 5 very sad books)

Hello!!! I am here!! Sorry I have been so absent this year!!

So yeah.

I had Goodreads reading challenge to 62 books for 2018. But that was before I decided to take art classes, and to write more, and move a new place. Before I had, like, a block on writing reviews. But I still read 27 books in 2018, which isn’t…terrible! And I believe the ratings I gave them averaged out to 4-point-something, which means they were a good 27 books. However, I don’t have ten books to call my favorites this year, but I do have a very solid five.

Warning…….they are sad (but great).

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
This was the very first book I read in 2018, and I guess you could say it set a bit of a standard for the rest of the books I read this year. This book centers around a Korean family in Japan in the 20th century, and sprawls over several generations of characters. This book is long, and has moments of sadness, sweetness, awfulness, and is a fantastic exploration of cultural identity and history. And while I love history, it was the characters that left the biggest impression on me. There are a lot of people in this book, and I loved how Min Jin Lee connected them and juxtaposed them against one another, in their personalities, choices, and their reactions to life and culture.  Full review.

Favorite Books of 2017

I am posting this A LOT LATER than I had planned to, and those New Years fireworks are a little outdated 4 days later, but better late than never, right???

Is it strange that I only picked 8? It just felt right to me- these are the ones that left that very best book *glow.* But this was a fantastic year of reading for me, I read so many books I’d hoped to get to, and loved so many more I hadn’t expected. I know I’m speaking as a book lover, but is there anything better than finishing a truly, truly great book?? (No.)