2018, in Books

‘tis that time of the year, when I sit back and look at the books I’ve read and make lists of the best from that year. I do this, almost diligently at the end of every year, because I want to keep track of the better books I’ve read. I also refer to posts like this to recommend books to friends. 🙂 
Turns out, I read 87 books in 2018, but the no. of pages is almost similar to what I read in 2017 , with a great avg pages per book (I read 104 books in 2017, and the avg pages per book was 254). 

Also, an interesting read, albeit, quite long, is this post I wrote earlier this year on why I read, and attempting to answer all the questions I get asked about books and reading. Post link, here. 



Here are some of the best books I’ve read this year, in no particular order. I’ve included the GoodReads links to these books, and where applicable, even my notes/review too -  
  1. The Open Road by Pico Iyer – Iyer follows the Dalai Lama for a few years while penning this book, which is an impartial, impassionate account of those times, exploring the Dalai Lama’s mind and philosophy. This book is a must read if you are interested in Tibetan Buddhism. My notes for this book are here. 
  2. The Lost Continent by Bill Bryson – I love Bryson’s prose. And I am beginning to explore this gorgeous, vast country. This book is great for both those purposes.  
  3. We were the lucky ones by Georgia Hunter – This true story about a family that survived the Holocaust is what you need to give you a perspective of how it was to survive that atrocity. My notes here. 
  4. Radical Hope by Carolina de Robertis – These are testing times – when truth is bent to suit the person speaking it, when civility is hard to find for people in lesser fortunate geographies and when you have to keep telling yourself that this is not the norm. If you find yourself on the side the Resistance, then it is imperative to not sound elitist and alienate the other side, so as to get to listen to you. We can win only when we can have a dialogue. This book helps with that perspective. My notes here. 
  5. Menagerie Manor by Gerald Durrell – I enjoyed reading the various anecdotes from his zoo that Durrell doles out. Its a book to read and chuckle when you are feeling down.  
  6. Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence – If you have ever felt heartbroken at the end of the book, then the title story is for you. This is a book written for book lovers by a book lover herself. There are a ton of great book recommendations at the end of this book too! 
  7. Here by Richard McGuire – This minimalistic book is a great example of how you can tell a lot in less. Focused on one corner of a room, McGuire explores the depths of his imagination on what could’ve happened in that corner. This is a graphic novel to keep referring to.  
  8. Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Ba – This book will be a forever favorite for me. The angles in a regular person’s life explored in this graphic novel is amazing! My notes here. 
  9. A Contract with God by Will Eisner – This book has amazing artwork, is full of real stories of various people, like slices of their lives.  
  10. Sourdough by Robin Sloan – At so many points while reading this book and months after having finished it, I wished this were a true story. The joy of baking bread, and writing software, both explored in this book make this book a great read. My notes here. 
  11. The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden – More of a mainstream fiction, this book has well-written prose, set in the cost lands of Russia with a fantasy background. I thought this was a great read, and will go on to read the next in the series.   
  12. Nothing to envy by Barbara Demick – This book, following the lives of six North Korean citizens, through the 90’s famine and their defection is as close as we will get to knowing what hells the North Koreans go through to survive in that regime. Its been months since I read this book, but some gruesome scenes from the famine still play in my head. My notes here. 
  13. Mossad by Michael Bar-Zohar – This premium intelligence organization needs no introduction. This book talks about some episodes of this organization and into the details of some stories, all nail-biting and gripping. Though this feels state-sponsored, IMO, this is a must read if you are interested in spy dramas. And this is all true stories.  
  14. Atlas of Prejudice by Yanko Tsvetkov – If you find yourself generalizing and stereotyping geographies and populations, then this is the book for you. If you are not that kind, then you must read this to know how generalizations are done.  
  15. The Almost Nearly Perfect People of Scandinavia by Michael Booth – A great book if you are interested in the Nordic way of living. This book shatters some myths you’ve built up in your head about the Nordics, and gives some insights into how living there could be. My notes here. 
  16. Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey – This book is a must-read if you are a lover of the vast expanse of the deserts in North America. I enjoyed reading Abbey’s living in the Arches and his boating along the great Colorado river.  
  17. The Last Girl by Nadia Murad – Murad was captured and sold as an ISIS slave. She escaped the regime and lived to tell the tale – and is vocal about the war crimes perpetrated against women and children, and is now the Nobel Peace Prize winner. Very gruesome account of Murad’s living under ISIS, and her joyous life pre-ISIS, this book moved me to tears in multiple places. But this is a story that needs to be told, so people are aware of how women get treated as roadkill in the wars! My notes here. 
  18. Silverland by Dervla Murphy I loved this book about Murphy’s account of an attempt to cycle across the Urals. This is as close as we will get to know about the living in Siberia, along the Amur and by the Pacific Ocean. My notes here. 
  19. Pachinko by Min Jin Lee – This multi-generational story of a family of immigrants made me realize how strongly we all feel for home. Well researched and written, this story moves fast though the size of the book is daunting. I was pleasantly happy to note that every protagonist in this story has always had the best intentions, something so rare to see in real world. My notes here. 
  20. The Lady and the Monk by Pico Iyer – If reading about someone falling in love can be this beautiful, then I want to read such stories every day. If learning about a country and its philosophy can be this educational, I want to read all books by Iyer. My notes here.

Looking back at this list, I can definitely say this has been a great year for reading. My hope is to have at least 10% of the books I read in an year as quality reads and this year, this number is ~25% (20 books out of 87 I read this year!). This means, my method to sift through books and add them to my To-read list is definitely working 🙂 

Also looking back at this list, I realized that I’ve done more non-fiction this year, though I am still not into biographies. This is a certain change from the last few years, and I am curious to see if this trend will continue.  
Well, 2019 will be a busy year, reading-wise. How has your 2018 been? 

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