Top Ten (Or So): Books Read in 2018

This year I can say my taste has decidedly changed. ALL of the books except one on this list are nonfiction (not including the runners up). This is very new for me. I like it, for now, although I do hope I'll get back one day to the joys of fiction.

So without further ado, in sort-of approximate order from least to most favourite, are some of the best books I read in 2015:

Runners Up: The Fictional Books

These three books felt very similar in my brain--they're all thrillers, I really don't know which I liked best, and I forget them all a bit, but they were engaging and readable at a time when I couldn't read much fiction. Also, I started out quite loving all of them, but they got less interesting in the final third of the book. But the first two thirds were good enough that they deserved to be runners up.

--The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. What exactly was going on? I couldn't wait to find out.
--The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. Death is sad, but recovery can be possible with discovery.
--The Lying Game by Ruth Ware. The liiiies. So fascinating.

The Girl on the Train. There's a movie! Any good? I don't know. But Emily Blunt is pretty awesome.

Third Place: The Self Help and Recovery Books

--Total Money Makeover by David Ramsey. My finances are actually in decent shape (I'm hoping to be debt free by the end of this year or the middle of next, and I'm not a big spender). But I read this to try to help my family, and it's really great. David Ramsey's style bugs me a bit, but he's right in the essentials. Debt is a nasty thing, and many of us could actually be free of that trap if we worked really, really hard and followed his steps.

--Master the Day by Alexander Heyne. Honestly, I got more from his Youtube videos than this book, since much of the info from his videos are in this book. But still, he's helped me quite a lot to begin to achieve a better life.

Alex Heyne

--Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski. Sex! Needs to be talked about! Especially the female experience!

--The Trauma Myth by Susan A. Clancy. A fascinating book, although probably easily misunderstood, and not for everyone. It turns our view of trauma and abuse on its head (in a sense--it does NOT make it seem good instead of bad, just... different).
I'm also going to give a shout out here to The Obsidian Mirror, by Louise M. Wisechild. It's more of a standard view of abuse, but really good and personal and poetical. (Although, to be honest, I don't remember it very well... That's not necessarily a sign that it's not as good, though.)

Second Place: The More Fascinating Self Help Book

The man himself, Jordan Peterson

--12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson. Peterson is famous for his stance on Canadian laws for transgender pronouns, but that's not at all what the majority of people like him for. His view on life and how to live it is really really inspiring for me, and makes me want to be strong and courageous more than almost anything else. He definitely has some flaws, in my opinion, and I disagreed with sections of his book (thus the second place). But I keep going back to him to be inspired to change.





First Place: The Cookbooks and Journalistic Books

--The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson. So entertaining, so interesting, so strange, so real. I've found a new author to devour everything he's written.

This was made by me!!!

--British Columbia From Scratch by Denise Marchessault and Eating From the Ground Up by Alana Chernila. Cookbooks! It seems like cheating! But it's not, because I read every single word in these amazing books. The first (BCFS) made me interested in cooking, and the second (EFtGU) made me interested in vegetables. What a feat! My whole friend group is astounded. For both of these books, I've found things that are better than almost anything I've had, definitely than anything I've cooked.
Plus both books are soooo pretty. I flip through them periodically, and it gives me such pleasure. Seeing the beautiful colours, the beautiful food. Imagining how good they will taste, and how fun they will be to try to make. Being so thankful at my increase in skill, and at the whole world being interested in food has opened me up to.
It was hard not to book these as first place, but I felt that would somehow be cheating to put cookbooks in first place.

--August: Osage County by Tracy Letts. And the one fictional book on this list! And it's not even a novel, but a play! But such a good one. The subtly and reality of those relationships. It was sad, but it was so real. I don't know, I can't praise this in the right way, I'm no English major. You'll just have to trust me--it's good.

--Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, as well as David and Goliath and Blink. These books have changed the way I've thought about things from choosing schools to airplane safety. How does he find so much fascinating information? Usually I'm not one for random facts, but he makes them so interesting. These books have given me hours of excellent conversation with my family members, and I've found a new favourite author.

One more picture of this book because it's so freaking beautiful

P.S. See also the Top Ten (Or So) lists from previous years: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017.