This time last year I did a long retrospective post on what I read in 2017, I thought about doing the same format this year an ’18 best reads of 2018′ list but I realised that what I had to say about my reading this year was a lot more complex than a simple list post.
2018 was the year that I learnt that reading is hard. It was easy while I was at University and had all the time in the world, motivated by the end goals of discussions and essays, I read my set texts and enjoyed reading around the curriculum. Now I do not have the restriction of a set course reading list to keep me on track I sometimes feel lost in the world of literature, unsure how to read a book without a pencil in one hand and half a brain on what the book is trying to say rather than what the words on the page actually say. I also have less time to read, and reading is a hobby that takes time, if I leave it too long between sessions reading a book I lose track on the plot and find it frustrating to go back to so give up on a novel. I find myself torn in my free time between doing something easy like watching youtube and picking up a new book, which requires mental energy and engagement.
About halfway through the year I almost entirely stopped reading novels and started reading manga, which is why my list is 60 books long. Manga was like a breath of fresh air. It combined my love of visual media like films and TV with literature, I fell in love with the genre instantly. I could read a single edition in a day on my way to and from work, so it became a perfect way to fit reading into my busy schedule. Manga was a window into a new style of reading, one that engaged my creative brain and allowed me to learn about a new culture. It opened my eyes to a section of book shops I’d never looked at before, and has allowed me to learn about super cool independent book stores in my city. I’d be pushed to choose a favourite manga from the year, but it’d probably be a tie between Death Note and Kuma Miko. One an iconic supernatural detective story, and the other a super kawaii story about a girl raised by a talking bear.
I revisited the Harry Potter series yet again this year, which was a great comfort to me when I first moved to Manchester in June. Having a series of old favourites to read kept me happy and positive while I got used to a whole new life. As more changes come in 2019 I think I’ll revisit more old favourites and try and find some new friendly books that I’ll be rereading in years to come.
The list below of what I read this year for me is a sort of scrapbook or photo album, a collection of memories. I can think back to the texts in bold that I read in my final term of University and the stress they came hand and hand with, or I can remember the first mangas I read when I felt like discovering something new. The length of the list does not symbolise a target for the coming year, or an achievement for the previous one. The only thing I want to achieve in 2019 is to read more widely again, to commit time, when I can, to exploring new genres and thinking about literature in a more creative and personal way.
What I read this year (Texts in bold are ones I read for University, texts in italic are ones that I reread this year):
- If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler – Italo Calvino
- Look, Stranger! – W.H. Auden
- The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald
- The Children of Men – P.D. James
- Time’s Arrow – Martin Amis
- Fiesta – Ernest Hemingway
- Antony and Cleopatra – William Shakespeare
- Carrie – Stephen King
- 10 Days in the Mad House – Nellie Blyh
- From Here to Eternity – Caitlin Doughty
- It – Stephen King (only managed to finish half of it)
- On the Road – Jack Kerouac
- Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keyes
- The Finger – William Burroughs
- Til September Petronella – Jean Rhys
- Piers of the Homeless Night – Jack Kerouac
- The Outsider – Albert Camus
- Hamlet – William Shakespeare
- A Midsummer Night’s Dream – William Shakespeare
- Venus and Adonis – William Shakespeare
- Mrs Dalloway – Virginia Woolf
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – J. K. Rowling
- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
- Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
- Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
- Murder on the Orient Express – Agatha Christie
- Crash – J.G. Ballard
- Lolita – Vladimir Nabokov
- Thinner – Stephen King
- No Country for Old Men – Cormac McCarthy
- Death Note (Black Edition I) – Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
- Death Note (Black Edition II)
- Death Note (Black Edition III)
- Death Note (Black Edition IV)
- Death Note (Black Edition V)
- Death Note (Black Edition VI)
- Your Name (Volume 1) – Makoto Shinkai and Ranmaru Kotone
- Your Name (Volume 2)
- Your Name (Volume 3)
- 5 Centimetres Per Second – Makoto Skinkai
- And Then There Were None – Agatha Christie
- Orange (Volume 1) – Ichigo Takano
- Orange (Volume 2)
- Orange – Future
- The Word is Murder – Anthony Horowitz
- The Gods Lie – Kaori Ozaki
- Kuma Miko (Volume 1) – Masume Yoshimoto
- Kuma Miko (Volume 2)
- Kuma Miko (Volume 3)
- Kuma Miko (Volume 4)
- Kuma Miko (Volume 5)
- Kuma Miko (Volume 6)
- Kuma Miko (Volume 7)
- Kuma Miko (Volume 8)
- The Count of Monte Cristo (Manga adaptation) – Nokman Poon and Crystal S. Chan
- Setting the Table – Danny Meyer
- We Have Always Lived in the Castle – Shirley Jackson
