My Most Memorable Reads of 2018

I’d like to try something different this year. Rather than aim to identify — and then define — the best books I read this year, I’d like to instead take a few moments to discuss the ones that really wormed their way into my memory. The ones that left a mark. The books I can recall without having to look at my Goodreads profile.

They’re not necessarily the best-written, nor were they even necessarily 2018 books. Yet, of the thirty-two books I read in 2018, these are the ones I’d be most likely to recommend to anyone, regardless their reading interests. To see how I wrapped up my annual reads in the past check here and here or even here.

Presented in alphabetical order:

Hawaii by James Michener

This was my first time reading a book by Michener, but it won’t be the last. Hawaii is an epic piece of historical fiction that reveals the history of the island chain, from the first globules of magma that bubbled out of the sea floor to the arrival of the Tahitians; and from the zealotry of the missionaries who arrived in the nineteenth century to the bombing of Pearl Harbor (the book ends shortly before statehood). Michener did an incredible job of linking centuries of events through a handful of composite characters that revealed the sentiments and prejudices of each population over the years, from those of the native Hawaiians to the New England missionaries to the Chinese immigrants to the Japanese-Americans who fought to prove their loyalty overseas during World War II.

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

This is a haunting, disturbing yet accessible story by last year’s Nobel Prize recipient in Literature. Never Let Me Go follows a group of children as they grow up in an English boarding school, an institution with a very dark mystery. To say anything of why these children are there — and why they’re completely sequestered from the outside world — would be to spoil the book. But it’s impossible to look away as they age, move beyond the campus walls, and discover the truth of their existence. Unbeknownst to me until the other day, the book had been adapted into a movie starring Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley. Though the movie did omit one of my favorite — and most touching — scenes from the book, it does a fairly good job of telling the story.

Pacific: The Ocean of the Future by Simon Winchester

From my favorite non-fiction author comes this seemingly unrelated collection of entertaining and informative essays that combine to explain the scope and import of the largest singular entity on Earth, the Pacific Ocean. The tagline for Pacific: The Ocean of the Future truly says it all: Silicon chips and surfboards, coral reefs and atom bombs, brutal dictators, fading empires, and the coming collision of the world’s superpowers. What I really loved about this book is its focus on an eclectic collection of topics that don’t get the headlines (or head-space) that the obvious topics do. And while this may sound a bit dry, Winchester always does an excellent job of writing in a way that entertains as it educates. I’ve read a large number of his books and only once had I ever struggled to stay interested.

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson

I’d say that this is the science fiction book to read for those who don’t like science fiction, but that’d be wrong. Though I don’t normally (ever) read science fiction and still found this fascinating, large portions of this 880-page door stopper are literally devoted to theoretical rocket science, engineering, and astrophysics. This may be a bit much for casual readers. That being said, Seveneves is a gripping story of humanity trying to hastily prolong its existence in space after the sudden break-up of the moon. In short, the Earth’s surface is only a few years from being incinerated by millions of meteorites as the moon’s fragments are pulled into the Earth’s orbit. The nations of the world — and some rather selfish politicians — aim to keep the species alive in space by sending representatives up to a massive hive colony. Stephenson splits the book, effectively leaping a millennium into the future for the final third of the book in effort to complete the story.

Tampa by Alissa Nutting

One of these books ain’t like the others. Yes, that cover is suggesting exactly what you think it is. Tampa is a novel inspired by the titillating, headline-grabbing (and unlawful) accounts of female teachers who court sexual relations with their male junior high students. Yes, this is provocative material. And yes, the book gets quite erotic at times. But regardless the subject matter, Tampa is ultimately a very well-written, tragic tale of a woman devastatingly afraid of getting older. The main character, Celeste, is a sociopath. No doubt. But the author provides such a unique look into Celeste’s why and how that you can’t help but feel sorry for her while also, in a way that may be hard to admit, being impressed by her tactics.

Next on My Nightstand

I finished reading After the Banquet by Yukio Mishima this weekend and the first book I’ll be reading in 2019 is Less by Andrew Sean Greer. I was leaving the library the other day and the cover caught my attention from the Choice Reads shelf. One look at the cover blurb left me no choice but to bring it home. As I set about scheduling my own upcoming book tour, I can only hope this doesn’t hit as close to home as I fear.

You are a failed novelist about to turn fifty. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: your boyfriend of the past nine years is engaged to someone else. You can’t say yes–it would be too awkward. And you can’t say no–it would look like defeat. On your desk are invitations to half-baked literary events around the world. What could possibly go wrong? Thus begins an around-the-world-in-eighty-days fantasia…”

Have a great New Year everyone! As always, thank you for reading! See you in 2019.

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