As I sit on my couch immersed in a Marvel Avengers binge watch (right now i’m focusing on Captain America because i’m sooo not watching in sequence) – I figured it was time to write my 2018 reading year in review post – I would say its my blogging year in review, but honestly, blog posts have been few and far between this year. Its been both a busy one (traveling to Bahrain for 2 weeks in August, starting a new job in September and running a marathon in October) and a crappy one (losing my dog to a medical emergency in August – BLOAT sucks).
On the reading front, I didn’t read as much this as in previous years. My total read count was 273 books and a total of 84675 pages. Which when compared to last year was 66 books and 5144pgs less. But on average, the books I read in 2018 were longer (310pgs compared to 265pgs).
Now onto the actual books I read during the year:
First book marked as finished for 2018: Mr Churchill’s Secretary – Susan Elia MacNeal – I found this mystery to be interesting and its a series that I would like to continue in the future – so I’ve added at least the next book in the series to Mt TBR…(which might kill me if it ever topples over…)
Last book read in 2018: Dead Witch Walking – Kim Harrison – I have to say I was disappointed in this book – i’d heard a lot about this series and originally bought this in 2010 (so its only been languishing on Mt TBR for 8yrs)…but Rachel just annoyed me and I found her to do too much dumb, impulsive shit that got both her and her friends into trouble.
Longest Book Read: Morgan’s Run – Colleen McCullough – growing up in Australia, Ms McCullough is one of those authors that I should have read growing up – the Thorn Birds by her is a “classic” and yet while I have many of her books on my shelf – I’ve never read anything by her. Morgan’s Run was ok (I gave it 2 stars but annotated that I would have given it 2.5) – overall is was too long and needed a good editor in places.
Shortest Book Read: Another Dance – DeAnne Cameron – this was 2.5 in a series I had been reading but like my longest read of the year – this one just didn’t live up to my expectations (in this case, the fact that I had previously read and enjoyed the authors books).
Most Popular Book: The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins – read by 1,796,450 ppl – I know a lot of people loved this book but for me, I was underwhelmed – there have been many other mystery/thriller/suspense like this that I enjoyed much more (the Breakdown by BA Paris being one of them).
Least Popular Book: Another Dance – DeAnne Cameron – i’m not surprised that this also showed up as my least popular book – I randomly stumbled across her books on Amazon a while back but I rarely hear her name recommended.
Highest Rated: The Sun Also Shines – Anthony Ray Hinton – it is no surprise to me that this is the highest rated book that I read this year (and Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson who features in this was my highest rated in 2017). This book is also my most recommended book of the year – if you ever want insight into why would justice system needs to be reformed – you need look no further than this book – Mr Hinton spent 20yrs on death row in Alabama for a crime he didn’t commit and with no evidence to convict him (and the sheriff who caused this miscarriage of justice is still in a position of power).
Most Read Author: Zoe Chant – During 2018 (or rather since August when I discovered her) – I’ve read 17 books by Ms Chant. They are all included in my Kindle Unlimited package and honestly just the kind of quick easy reads you need when you are down in the dumps or just need something relatively easy/brainless.
And with that, I’m signing off for 2018 and will see you all in 2019! Best Wishes and Happy Reading!
Pop some popcorn, sit back, put your feet up and tell us about the movie(s) you have seen this week!
I’ll admit that I still go and see the Disney animated movie every year when it comes out – except for Frozen because for some reason I was a dumbass and just didn’t go…(no heckling allowed). When I was driving home from work Friday night – I was debating going to see Incredibles 2 or Ocean’s 8 – and it wasn’t until I actually got up to the counter to get my ticket that I decided on Incredibles. Mostly because I didn’t know if I was in the mood to deal with a movie that would have a lot of kids at it – especially since I was going to see the 7:30 showing on a Friday night during the first (or second week) of summer holidays. But surprisingly enough, the movie wasn’t sold out and the kids who were in there were mostly well-behaved (aside from an infant who apparently took offense to one of the scenes with Jack Jack).
All I can say after seeing Book Club is that I would love to have a group of friends like the women in this movie – four friends who have seen each other through marriage, divorce, death, through times that were happy and sad. I have a few friends like that but unfortunately, the military has caused us to be spread across the country, which makes it hard for a real-life book club – but I guess a virtual one has potential.
Adrift, starring Shailene Woodley and Sam Claflin is the true life story of Tami Oldhem and Richard Sharp who were sailing from Tahiti to San Diego in 1983 when they crossed paths with Hurricane Raymond. Adrift tells the story of their attempt at survival on a 44-ft yacht that had a broken mast, was flooding and had no food/water in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. For 41 days they were adrift before being rescued (don’t worry, these aren’t truly spoilers).
This week the movie i’m featuring is from a series that I wish had had more of the series made into feature films. I found it while I was flipping through the various movies available on Amazon Prime (and coincidently this morning in the doctor’s office, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, was playing). My memories of reading these books as a 5/6 year old, are some of my most vivid and I think that the director did a good job of adapting the book to movie and keeping the C.S. Lewis magic.
Annie is one of my all-time favorite movies – i’m pretty sure that the VHS of the movie I had growning up (yeah, i’m so old that I remember VHS) that I wore it out watching it so much, especially the different songs – I would fast-forward between the different songs and just watch them and sing horribly off-tune. There are likely going to be spoilers in this post, but since the movie came out over 3 decades ago, hopefully most people have seen it.
From IMDB:
Dee's Book Blog 