Laura’s Top 10 Books of 2018

I’m always a little behind on my top ten books from the past year.  I’ve got links to reviews of my favorite books of 2018 below in my list.  I had a hard time narrowing down my list so I have quite a few books in my runner’s up list as well.  Let’s discuss what you think of my list in the comments below.  What were your favorite books of 2018?  Were any the same as mine?

These are the ten books I loved the most that I read in the year 2018.  It doesn’t mean they were necessarily published in 2018.  I also didn’t count books that I was reading again for the second time (The Long Winter for example by Laura Ingalls Wilder).  These were the books I read and then couldn’t stop thinking about long after I’d read the final page.  They are in no particular order, but are my top ten favorite books.  They are a mix of non-fiction, historical fiction, mystery, romance, literary fiction and classics.

1. And Then There were None by Agatha Christie - This was pretty much the perfect mystery novel.
2. My Grandmother Asked Meto Tell you She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman - An exceptional and interesting story with magical elements woven throughout about a gifted girl learning how to deal with grief and bullying.
3. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon  - A great coming of age story and a mystery seen through the eyes of the autistic narrator.  I just thought it was a mystery and was blindsided by the deep emotional turn the book took. 
4. Every Note Played and Still Alice by Lisa Genova - Both of these novels were 2018 Kewaunee Library Book Club picks, and both were excellent looks at how neurological diseases affect someone and their family.  They were both great books to discuss.
5. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller - Awesome in both print and audiobook, this classic novel is a wild ride into the hypocrisy and lunacy of war.  I can't wait for George Clooney's new series based on this book.
6. The Giver by Lois Lowry - I will admit, I'm still creeped out by the end of this book.  A good look into the horror we can create when we try to make the perfect world.
7. Between Earth and Sky by Amanda Skenadore - This historical fiction novel blew me away with a heart rending story involving the boarding schools that were used to assimulate Native American Children and tear them away from their culture.
8. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood - Another great book for book club, The Handmaid's Tale provided a lot of discussion.  Could you see this dystopian future happening?
9. The Children’s Blizzard by David Laskin - There is a reason why we call off school when we know the weather will be cold, and it's The Children's Blizzard.  It's a horrifying true story of the blizzard of 1888.
10. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion - A hilarious love story told by an autistic professor. It was a unique novel that made me laugh out loud a lot while reading it.

Runner’s Up:  The Endless Beach and Christmas on the Island by Jenny Colgan, Movie Nights withthe Reagans by Mark Weinberg, Wonder by R.J. Palacio, The Storied Life of A.J.Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield, and The GreatAlone by Kristin Hannah

Every Note Played by Lisa Genova

Title: Every Note Played

Author: Lisa Genova

Read by:  Dennis Boutsikaris and Dogmara Dominczk with an afterward read by the author

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Length: Approximately 8 hours and 3 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster.  Thank-you!

I am a fan of Lisa Genova’s works.  She writes intricate tales of people suffering from neurological diseases.  She writes on how they affect the sufferer as well as the family.  After reading and enjoying Still Alice for a spring selection of the Kewaunee Library Book Club, Every Note Played was picked for the August selection of the book club.

Richard Evans is a world class pianist.  What starts out as a tingling in his fingers is soon discovered to be ALS.  As Richard quickly succumbs to ALS and starts to lose his ability to move various parts of his body, he realizes that in becoming a world class pianist, he has also become alone with no one to help him.  His divorce from his Polish pianist wife Karina was acrimonious and his daughter Grace sided with his wife.  Grace doesn’t know the full story of their divorce and Richard doesn’t want to be the one to tell her.  Will Richard be able to come to terms with Karina?

Karina loved Richard and was on the path to be a star in the jazz pianist field until becoming a mother detoured her from this track.  As time passes by and Richard’s star rises and his affairs come to light, Karina finds herself very bitter.  Now that Richard is ill, can Karina forgive him and herself?

I really enjoyed how this audiobook had two different narrators, one for Karina’s voice and one for Richard’s.  The story was told between their alternating viewpoints with it switching each chapter.  They both were superb narrators.

I didn’t know much about ALS before reading this book besides the fact that Lou Gehrig and Stephen Hawking had it.  Every Note Played gave a lot of detail on what exactly having this disease was like from a personal point of view of someone suffering it as well as the caregiver.  It was a learning experience for me, and I’ll admit I had tears in my eyes at the end of the book.  This should be an interesting book to discuss at book club next month!