Now that the holidays are winding down, I find myself in that weird limbo period that exists between Christmas and New Years. I’ve had way too more food and wine than was good for me, got to spent Christmas with my family for the first time in seven years, and spent roughly twenty-seven hours in a car in order to do it. Now I’m back in Toronto and enjoying a few more lazy days before returning back to work and the real world.
Before the second official oneyearonehundredbooks challenge kicks off next week, let’s take a look back at some of the best books I read this year. It was so hard to narrow this list down to only twelve novels, but I finally picked my favorites. Beginning with the honorable mentions:
Honorable Mention: The Wolves of Winter by Tyrell Johnson
Post-apocalyptic novels are always fun, and this novel really benefits from its strong heroine. I definitely recommend this one for a cold winter’s day.
Honorable Mention: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
This memoir, about a girl growing up with a highly unusual family, is equal parts heartbreaking and uplifting. It will make you see the value of family in a new light.
10) Night Film by Marisha Pessl
This was a very hit-and-miss year for thrillers, but Night Film was one of those novels that kept me turning pages late into the night. The creative formatting and captivating plot line all work together to create a genuinely suspenseful experience.
9) Through the Woods by Emily Carroll
Horror novels and graphic novels are two of my very favorite genres, so it comes as no surprise that I was blown away by the five short stories presented in Through the Woods. This is a book that I am determined to add to my own library someday.
8) Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar
The true story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident has fascinated me since I first learned about it more than five years ago. This nonfiction novel fleshes out the final days of the doomed hikers and offers up a new and interesting theory as to what may have caused the deaths of the nine hikers in 1952.
7) You by Caroline Kepnes
This novel wins this year’s “Creeper” award hands-down. The twisted narrator who becomes obsessed with a young woman could give Patrick Bateman a run for his money. This book grabbed me from page one and didn’t let up for a second.
6) The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Kristin Hannah is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. This historical fiction novel, set in the Alaskan wilderness of the 1970’s, deals with the dysfunctional love that often exists in a family. I definitely looked into Alaskan cruises after reading this book.
5) The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane by Lisa See
I lived in China for almost three years, but never managed to visit the tea hills in the southern part of the country. Lisa See has been one of my favorite authors for years. I love her focus on female relationships and the bonds between mothers and daughters.
4) everyone’s a aliebn when ur a aliebn too by Jomny Sun
Earlier this year, I was battling a depression I didn’t even know I felt. This graphic novel, about a aliebn who travels to Earth to learn about its inhabitants, helped me find a release I wasn’t aware I needed. Another book I need to add to my personal library.
3) Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
I will always drop whatever I’m doing to read the latest novel by Mira Grant. She expertly blends science with fiction with horror and this book, about a research expedition to the bottom of the Marina Trench, was a masterpiece of claustrophobia.
2) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
This novel, about the Nazi occupation of the British Isles during World War II, deals with some rather bleak subject material. Despite that, or perhaps because of it is, TGLAPPPS has a cheerful tone and a dry sense of humor that left me feeling optimistic and full of hope. I also reviewed the film, which was released earlier this year.
1.) The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
This dark fairy tale set in medieval Russia is the perfect book to read on a winter’s night. Katherine Arden’s writing style is hypnotic, she paints a version of the Russian forests that is somehow comforting and threatening at the same time. I also reviewed the sequel to this novel, The Girl in the Tower. The third and final installment, The Winter of the Witch, is scheduled for release on January 9, 2019.
The second year of oneyearonehundredbooks will kick off on January 1st.
Happy new year everyone!
Reddit contributor turned published author Dathan Auerbach has some delightfully creepy moments in this short horror novel. Some of the chapters were better than others though, and overall this book was disjointed and uneven.
This is one of those novels that was not bad at all, just disappointing. It failed to live up to the example set by the first installment in the series, and lacked any major character development.
I’m a huge fan of the horror genre, and was really excited to read this book while I was on a camping trip this summer. Sadly, The Troop lacks any kind of exposition and never takes the time to flesh out its characters, relying instead on graphic and gruesome descriptions of bones and bodies.
The story of Lizzie Borden is known all around the world, and this historical fiction novel set out to tell her story as well as her sisters. None of the characters are terribly interesting, however; and this novel ended up a yawn instead of a scream.
I often find that I am not terribly impressed by Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning novel. Similar to the Academy Awards, I think the judging is very biased towards only specific types of stories. A Thousand Acres was yet another example of a Pulitzer-winning novel that offered nothing particularly new or imaginative.
Set in post-apocalyptic Africa, this novel never adequately explains the world it inhabits. I often felt confused as characters seemed to gain new abilities at random, and there was more than one instance of deus ex machina. This is a book in need of a prequel.
The Appalachian Mountains are shrouded in mist and mystery, as are the people who live up in the hills. This historical fiction novel about a war amputee turned bootlegger should have been more exciting than it was. As it stands, I can barely remember the plot.
The book that caused me to temporarily back away from the thriller genre, I think Friend Request suffered from a cascade effect. I had read several disappointing and forgettable thrillers lately, and this novel, about a women who is contacted on Facebook by a deceased schoolmate, was just the cherry on the sundae.
This book earned its spot high on this list because it made me look bad in front of my book club. I chose this YA science fiction novel, about a town where all the adults suddenly vanish, as my very first “pick” and, needless to say, it was not well received. Potentially because it was written by someone who had only the most passing knowledge of teenagers and how they behave.
I remember writing the review for this novel, and thinking that it was good on paper. The novel dealt with the sensitive issue of Native Americans and the United States government with delicacy and tact. However, the cringe-inducing dialects and italics used in the dialogue of the different woman ruined this novel for me entirely. I have never worst-listed a book based solely on formatting, so this was a first.
Another book club pick (not mine), The Devil’s Banker is what happens when American white nationalism gains sentience and writes a novel. It is a collection of loosely gathered racial biases held together with the glue of fear-mongering and lacquered over with a shiny coat of ignorance.
One Year, One Hundred Books 