Toward the end of last year (November 17, 2017, to be exact), I posted my Top Ten list of books I had been looking forward to earlier in the year, and books I was looking forward to in 2018. Now we’re nearing the end of 2018, and it’s time to see how things went. Those who are familiar with Nick Hornby’s “Stuff I’ve Been Reading” column – or really anyone who always has a to-read list going – know that some books never quite rise to the top of the list, even if you really meant to read them, while others jump the queue. Here are the ones I was planning to read:

• I Have Lost My Way by Gayle Forman (YA/new adult)
• I Am, I Am, I Am by Maggie O’Farrell (memoir)
• Starlings by Jo Walton (short fiction and poetry)
• Fun Home by Alison Bechdel (graphic novel/memoir)
• Far from the Tree by Robin Benway (YA)
• Mrs. Queen Takes the Train by William Kuhn (fiction)
• The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin (sci-fi/fantasy)
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (YA)
• Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier (gothic romance)
• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (nonfiction)
• Hunger by Roxane Gay (memoir)
• The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden (fantasy)
• Walking Home by Simon Armitage (nonfiction/memoir/poetry)
• Transcription by Kate Atkinson

I’ve done pretty well with this list, even with queue-jumpers; the only ones I haven’t read (yet!) are Mrs. Queen, Daniel Kahneman, Roxane Gay, and Walking Home. Of the rest, I really enjoyed them all, but Jemisin’s trilogy was particularly outstanding for its world-building, character development, and storytelling structure/perspective, and Transcription was incredible as well; when Kate Atkinson observes that “The mark of a good agent is when you have no idea which side they’re on,” file that away for later. And Maggie O’Farrell continues to amaze me; I’ll read anything she writes.

Re-reading: I used to love re-reading, but when I started working in publishing and then in libraries, there were always so many enticing new books I didn’t re-read the ones I liked nearly as often as I used to. This fall I’ve made more time for re-reading, including the Harry Potter series (I’ve re-read the first six since the end of August). I plan to re-read the seventh, and maybe The Cursed Child as well. I’m also planning to re-read The Princess Bride (that was on my mental list for November/December even before the sad news that Bill Goldman passed away). And December wouldn’t be quite complete without re-reading Greenglass House by Kate Milford, though maybe this year I’ll re-read Ghosts of Greenglass House or Bluecrowne by her instead.

Community Reads: In addition to continuing to serve on the Arlington Reads Together committee, I’ve been drafted to be on the Winchester Reads committee, which means I have a nice new stack of books to read before our next meeting in February; I’m not sure if our shortlist is public knowledge yet so I won’t say what those titles are, but there are some strong candidates and I’m looking forward to starting them…after I finish S. Morgenstern’s classic tale of true love and high adventure.

2019: It looks like Nick Laird’s new poetry collection will be out next summer. I’m also hoping for the next Book of Dust by Philip Pullman, and Audrey Niffenegger’s sequel to The Time Traveler’s Wife. I’m sure there are plenty of other books to look forward to – what’s on your radar for next year?

I’m planning to post the actual 2018 wrap-up in early January. Here’s the 2017 wrap-up, and here’s the 2018 mid-year reading wrap-up.