Books I read in 2018

“I hadn’t learned what I had wanted to about how language worked. I hadn’t learned anything at all.”

It’s list time once more! My movie wrap-up is is taking a while to write, so this year I’m starting off with what I read. Unfortunately, my total was only 64 books (including graphic novels), which is down from last year’s total of 80. This is probably because I can play Switch games on my commute, which is usually the only time I can get reading done anymore.

My list this year is a decent mix of non-fiction, poetry, and graphic novels. If you’ve talked to me lately, you know I’ve claimed to be “over” fiction” but there’s still a decent chunk in here. Of course, the big project was Moby Dick, which my friends and I attempted to read a chapter a day. This strategy didn’t really agree with me — I tended to forget for a few days and attempt to catch up all at once. It was obviously a worthwhile read, but I should have read it at my own pace. I intend to finish off the Hap and Leonard books in the spring.

I am always looking for suggestions. Feel free to send things my way!

What I Read in 2018 (Bold = I loved it)

1. Vanilla Ride by Joe R. Lansdale
2. Andre the Giant: Life and Legend by Box Brown
3. Hap and Leonard: Blood and Lemonade by Joe R. Lansdale
4. Cool for You by Eileen Myles
5. IRL by Tommy Pico
6. War of the Foxes by Richard Siken
7. Green by Sam Graham-Felsen
8. Stray City by Chelsey Johnson
9. My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness by Nagata Kabi
10. The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
11. Rules for a Knight by Ethan Hawke
12. Twin Peaks: The Final Dossier by Mark Frost
13. Fight Club 2 by Chuck Palahiniuk
14. The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag
15. Body Music by Julie Maroh
16. Goat in the Snow by Emily Pettit
17. And the Dead Shall Rise: The Murder of Mary Phagan and the Lynching of Leo Frank by Steve Oney
18. The Merry Spinster by Daniel Mallory Ortberg
19. All We Can Do Is Wait by Richard Lawson
20. Red by Chase Berggrun
21. Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
22. The Last Word by Julia Cooper
23. Wade in the Water by Tracy K. Smith
24. Devil Red by Joe R. Landsdale
25. Belmont by Stephen Burt
26. Young Frances by Hartley Lin
27. Habeas Corpus by Jill McDonough
28. Junk by Tommy Pico
29. All Summer Long by Hope Larson
30. Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli
31. They Can’t Kill us Until They Kill Us by Hanif Abdurraqib
32. We the Animals by Justin Torres
33. There There by Tommy Orange
34. Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude by Ross Gay
35. The Idiot by Elif Bautman
36. A Western World by Michael DeForge
37. Sex and the City and Us by Jennifer Kristin Armstrong
38. The Pervert by Remy Boydell
39. My Solo Exchange Diary by Nagata Kano
40. The Adventure Zone: Here There Be Gerblins by the McElroys
41. My Boyfriend is a Bear by Pamela Ribon
42. The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara
43. Landscape with Sex and Violence by Lynn Melnick
44. First Year Healthy by Michael DeForge
45. My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
46. madness by sam sax
47. The Divided Earth (Nameless City #3) by Faith Erin Hicks
48. Brat by Michael DeForge
49. American Sonnets for my Past and Future Assassin by Terrance Hayes
50. feeld by Jos Charles
51. Coyote Doggirl by Lisa Hanawalt
52. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
53. Check, Please! By Ngozi Ukazu
54. The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante
55. Sabrina by Nick Drnaso
56. Spinning by Tillie Walden
57. The Carrying by Ada Limon
58. Through the Woods by Emily Carroll
59. Beverly by Nick Drnaso
60. Alice Isn’t Dead by Joseph Fink
61. Evolution by Eileen Myles
62. The Hidden Witch by Molly Knox Ostertag
63. One Dirty Tree by Noah Van Sciver
64. Leaving the Atocha Station by Ben Lerner

Until next year!