Saturday, December 22, 2018

Read of the Year

Last year I did a book of the year post and wanted to keep up the tradition this year! Let me tell ya, it's not easy to pick my favorite read of the entire year. And I'm pretty sure it'd be impossible without Goodreads.


This year I read 41 books, and I rated 22 of those 5 stars (?!). Of those 22, 4 books pretty readily stood out as my favorite reads of the year:


    • Fawkes by Nadine Brandes
    • The Ringmaster's Wife by Kristy Cambron
    • Christy by Catherine Marshall
    • The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows and Mary Anne Shaffer
    After much consideration ... I think the list above is the order in which I would rank them. 

    My read of the year is Fawkes by Nadine Brandes. Unlike last year, that makes my favorite read of the year a book published in 2018!


    To be perfectly honest, I'm not sure how anyone could read Fawkes and NOT make it their favorite read of the year. 

    The Ringmaster's Wife was beautiful, romantic, and exhilarating. Christy was heartwarming/breaking, raw, and thought-provoking. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was historical, mysterious, and clever. They're going to remain some of my favorites.

    But Fawkes was all of those things and more. Its magic system was awesome and yet simple to understand, the story was complex and breathtaking, and the spiritual themes among the colorful characters completely blew me away ... in usual Nadine fashion. Every single element was masterful, and I'm still recommending this book right and left.

    If you're interested, you can read my 5-star review here.
    What amazing books did you read this year? Have you read any of these beauties?

    I hope you have a blessed Christmas with your family!

    14 comments:

    1. FAWKES WAS UTTERLY AMAZING AND AJGSLJGATISYYLASUIUAS I LOVE IT <3 <3 <3

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    2. I srsly can't wait to read Fawkes. I mean, the cover is one of my favorite covers EVER!!

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      1. Right??? I'd already read Nadine's other works and was afraid I wouldn't like it. But it truly was a challenging and thought-provoking book. Hers are some few books I can point to and say they changed the way I think about God.

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    3. I don't know why I haven't read Fawkes yet ;0 And I keep hearing about "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" everywhere! Guess I need to read that ;)

      keturahskorner.blogspot.com

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      1. Fawkes is just amazing in my opinion ... obviously :P I think you would like the Guernsey book! It's written all through communication via letters and that was so neat (and surprisingly enjoyable) to me.

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    4. I still need to read all 4 of those 😂

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      1. Haha I love your honesty xD I was trying to make my 2019 TBR and came up with like ... 100 books. That's totally not happening. #oops

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    5. aw I love Fawkes so much!! <3 <3 and "Christy" is amazing <3 .

      Merry Christmas!

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      1. Ah YAY. I feel like not enough people have read Christy. But I was really impressed with it and actually kind of want to read it again already. Not that I ever get around to rereading ;P

        Merry Christmas to you too! Hope you had a lovely celebration. :)

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    6. Unfortunately I can't relate to reading a lot of good books this year xD Hopefully next year but I'd like to start Fawkes or A time To Die next year.

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      1. That's a bummer! I definitely had some DNFs and several disappointments as well. I love all of Nadine's books but they just keep getting better and better as she publishes them in my opinion!

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    7. Mmmm... I read 350 books in 2018 and I reviewed some 60+ of them. 7 of those were 5+ star reads and 7 others 5 stars. The best one was “Emma,” by Jane Austen... but there were many other wonderful ones, like “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” and “Around the World in 80 Days,” and “Jack & Jill,” and.... xD

      ~Katja L.

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