62. That’s how many books I read in 2018. I think that’s a lot of reading. Once again, I participated in the Goodreads Reading Challenge, with a goal of 52 books for 2018. I reached that mark in early September. Obviously I slacked off after that. However, I feel like I finished strong, with 5 books in December.

Here’s the number of books completed by month:

Of those 62 books, I enjoyed all of them. If I’m not enjoying a book, or able to identify some high value in finishing it, I put the book down, often for good. To be sure, there were a handful of books that I simply wasn’t able to get into during the year. Some I will come back to, others, well, I gave it a good try. Here’s the final rating breakdown:

I try to follow the Goodreads guidance when rating books, which is: 3-stars: I liked it; 4-stars: I really liked it; and 5-stars: it was amazing.

My overall favorite book in 2018 is American Wolf: A True Story of Survival and Obsession in the West, by Nate Blakeslee. I won’t provide a review here, but know that if you enjoy great story telling, adventure writing, and nature writing, move this book to the top of your to-read list NOW. Educated: A Memoir, by Tara Westover is a very close second place, and should be placed right behind American Wolf at the top of your to-read list. Since both of those books are non-fiction, I’ll include my favorite fiction book: Reincarnation Blues, by Michael Poore. Favorites aside, if you’re looking for books to read, the 14 five-star rated books I read in 2018 (the 5-stars are listed first, but ignore the order within each star grouping) is a great place to start, IMHO.

What’s next? My focus is currently on Limits of the Known, by David Roberts. Following that, I’ll be tackling: God Save Texas, by Lawrence Wright; The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah; The Order of Time, by Carlo Rovelli; and Home Grown, by Ben Hewitt.

Finally, here’s a link to my Year in Review that Goodreads put together.