Here it is!!!

The annual list you’ve been waiting for!

It’s my FOURTH annual “all the books I read last year” post!!!

Somehow I only had TWO library book stacks from 2018:

This year really was a truly pitiful showing in the book category. I think it is the worst year yet for me for reading, possibly since I was able to read. There are a handful of reasons for this which I will detail now so that you do not think I have changed in some horrifying fundamental way.

My reading petered off right around the end of April. This coincides almost directly with the dates I began fostering kittens. Before you start blaming the kittens and hating on them you must first look at some of their ADORABLE FACES.

These are only TWO of the eighteen kittens I fostered in the 2018 kitten season (I really should do a whole post about that)! THE KITTENS ARE NOT TO BLAME!!! While I began fostering around the same time my reading declined there are bigger reasons for my reading decline.

Namely, a new car.

What does a new car have to do with anything? Well, that actually has more to do with my 6 free months of Sirius satellite radio. My old Ford Ranger finally quit running in May, and I had to get a new car. This brought my first car payment in almost a decade. UGH. My new car came with no CD player (because it is NEW and FANCY and does Bluetooth things instead) and free Sirius. So I listened to a lot of Sirius for the first few months I owned my car. In NOVEMBER I finally took the time to figure out how to set up my phone & car for audio-books. I’m not sure what the actual percentages are, but I *read* a lot of books this way. Not listening to any books for the better part of 6 months really took a toll on my book list.

And then there was school.

I’m taking online classes to get my certification as a teacher and there is a fair amount of reading and homework that is associated with that. My first class this summer was PURE HELL. Gobs of AWFUL readings, leaving no time for fun reading. And of course, once August came around I was back in the classroom teaching. Not that that takes much time, energy, or planning…*cough* I kid, I kid.

So between kittens, Sirius satellite radio, diamond painting (my new favorite craft!!), school, being a teacher, and LIFE IN GENERAL, this was a pitiful year for books. Not so much a pitiful year for life though.

NOTE:
Remember that I only keep track of the
“chapter books” that I read,
not cookbooks and craft books, etc.

Here is the lists of books I read in 2018.

That’s a grand total of 18 books.

19 books…
…if you count this silly dime novel I read and forgot to record around December 20.

I cannot promise that this year will be much better as far as book numbers go. I have two classes left in my certification program but I will be DONE by July. I’m still planning to foster as many kittens as possible, but I can read and snuggle kittens at the same time! And even though Mr. Smith was super sweet and got me a YEAR’S subscription to Sirius, I plan to listen to some books as well as sweet bluegrass jams.

I don’t have much to add for favorites besides my perennial favorites with the Cottage Tales mystery novels based on children’s book author Beatrix Potter. I’m currently reading the 5th book in the series.

How was YOUR book list this year? Were there any stand out reads? Comment if you’d like to share some of your favorites!

Check out my previous year’s book lists by clicking the links below!

What did you read in 2017?

What did you read in 2016?

What did you read in 2015?