2018 in Books
Some of the many books I read in 2018!
We’re two weeks into the New Year, so it’s high time I post my traditional round-up of the books I read over the year that just ended. I held off on doing so because I hadn’t written & posted as many reviews of my 2018 reading as I would have done ideally; still, I suppose that if I do write additional reviews, I can always update this post later with the new link. The magic of the Internet!
As per usual, I’ve split the list in two: one for plays and one for everything else. Because this is a public blog, I list plays only if they’re available in published form to a general audience (as opposed to listing drafts of scripts by playwrights of my acquaintance). Works that were rereads for me this year are marked with an asterisk. Works that I read for my book club are marked with a dagger.
Non-Plays:
† The Awakening and Selected Stories, by Kate Chopin
The Household Tips of the Great Writers, by Mark Crick
Ingrid Bergman, by David Thomson — my thoughts
† My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldstein
The World Only Spins Forward, by Isaac Butler and Dan Kois
* Ex Libris, by Anne Fadiman
† A Tale for the Time Being, by Ruth Ozeki
The Girls in the Picture, by Melanie Benjamin — my thoughts
† * Vile Bodies, by Evelyn Waugh
* Decline and Fall, by Evelyn Waugh
When in French: Love in a Second Language, by Lauren Collins
† *The Odyssey, by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson (note: this was my first read of this recent translation, but my 4th read overall)
* Wild Magic, by Tamora Pierce
* Wolf-Speaker, by Tamora Pierce
* Emperor Mage, by Tamora Pierce
* The Realms of the Gods, by Tamora Pierce
† The Talented Mr. Ripley, by Patricia Highsmith
Cassandra at the Wedding, by Dorothy Baker
The Uncommon Reader, by Alan Bennett
† North and South, by Elizabeth Gaskell
Etiquette & Espionage, by Gail Carriger
Curtsies & Conspiracies, by Gail Carriger
† It Can’t Happen Here, by Sinclair Lewis
Waistcoats & Weaponry, by Gail Carriger
Manners & Mutiny, by Gail Carriger — my thoughts on the 4 Carriger “Finishing School” novels
† The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, by Anne Brontë — my thoughts
The Little Pleasures of Paris, by Leslie Jonath, illustrated by Lizzy Stewart — my thoughts
† The Magic Toyshop, by Angela Carter
* The Bloody Chamber, by Angela Carter
* Wise Children, by Angela Carter
* Nights at the Circus, by Angela Carter
Take Courage: Anne Brontë and the Art of Life, by Samantha Ellis — my thoughts
Soulless, by Gail Carriger
Changeless, by Gail Carriger
Blameless, by Gail Carriger — my thoughts on these 3 Carriger “Parasol Protectorate” novels
* Mary Poppins, by P.L. Travers
* Mary Poppins Comes Back, by P.L. Travers
Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence, by Nick Bantock
* Look, I Made a Hat, by Stephen Sondheim
These books, by the numbers:
22 American, 13 British, 2 Australian, 1 Italian, 1 Greek
29 books by 16 different women, 10 books by 9 different men
25 new reads, 14 rereads
19 adult fiction, 10 YA/kids’ fiction, 7 nonfiction, 1 humor, 1 narrative poem, 1 adult picture book
Plays:
The Moors, by Jen Silverman
Lascivious Something, by Sheila Callaghan
Roadkill Confidential, by Sheila Callaghan
That Pretty Pretty, or The Rape Play, by Sheila Callaghan
The Revenger’s Tragedy, by Thomas Middleton
The Spanish Tragedy, by Thomas Kyd
* Hamlet (1603 quarto), by William Shakespeare (note: this was my first read of the “bad” quarto, but… it’s still Hamlet)
Antonio’s Revenge, by John Marston
The Tragedy of Hoffman, or A Revenge for a Father, by Henry Chettle
The Mousetrap, by Agatha Christie
Ten Little Indians, by Agatha Christie
Appointment with Death, by Agatha Christie
The Hollow, by Agatha Christie
Witness for the Prosecution, by Agatha Christie
Towards Zero, by Agatha Christie
Verdict, by Agatha Christie
Go Back for Murder, by Agatha Christie — my thoughts on these 8 Christie plays
* R.U.R., by Karel Čapek, translated by Claudia Novack-Jones — my thoughts
Cambodian Rock Band, by Lauren Yee — my thoughts
Dear Octopus, by Dodie Smith
* The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde
Pillars of the Community, by Henrik Ibsen, translated by Deborah Dawkin and Erik Skuggevik
* A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen, translated by Deborah Dawkin and Erik Skuggevik
* Ghosts, by Henrik Ibsen, translated by Deborah Dawkin and Erik Skuggevik
* An Enemy of the People, by Henrik Ibsen, translated by Deborah Dawkin and Erik Skuggevik (note: this was my first read of Ibsen’s original version as opposed to Arthur Miller’s adaptation)
* Heartbreak House, by George Bernard Shaw — my thoughts
* Cyrano de Bergerac, by Edmond Rostand (note: I read two editions of this this year: Rostand’s original French and the blank-verse translation by Brian Hooker)
These plays, by the numbers:
14 plays by 5 different female playwrights, 13 plays by 10 different male playwrights
14 British, 5 American, 4 Norwegian, 2 Irish, 1 Czech, 1 French
19 new reads, 8 rereads
For the first time, I read more plays by women than by men! Of course, 8 of them were Agatha Christie potboilers, and Christie is known to be a statistical outlier among female playwrights, making the numbers for female writers in our profession look better than they actually are.
Previous Years in Reading lists (on my old blog): 2017, 2016, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007