What a wonderful reading year I had in 2018! Sometimes, I think I know what books to choose and it doesn't turn out that great. This year, for the mosWhat a wonderful reading year I had in 2018! Sometimes, I think I know what books to choose and it doesn't turn out that great. This year, for the most part, I allowed the books to choose me - and the results were a pleasure.
A preliminary note for my personal rating system might be warranted here:
1-Star Reads: this is not something I have experienced yet
2-Star Reads: these are, plain and simple, bad choices on my part
3-Star Reads: books in this category are, for me, most likely ones that were good, but had flaws that prevented me from feeling moved, or the flaws hindered my thoughts or learning process.
4-Star Reads: this is a category that designates a great reading experience for me with a minor flaw or two that I noticed but that didn't affect my enjoyment.
5-Star Reads: these books are ones that almost always jump out at me and say, "Read me!!" They were my most frequent reads during 2018 - and I consider them a Gift!
Beyond 5-Star Reads: This category is where the books are so good and so memorable and that enveloped me on so many different levels that they ended up on my Favourites shelf.
Speaking of shelves, I do create a new shelf for books I have read each year. This helps me to keep more organized, but also, for friends who are looking for my most recent reads, the yearly shelves open far more quickly than my "Read" shelf. I plan on going back and creating shelves specific to previous years also.
I have had many problems this year with my Goodreads Friends' reviews not showing up on my Update Feed. If I have missed any, I apologize - and it is without doubt my loss. I do receive my email notifications of "likes" and "comments", though. I have resorted to keeping a separate folder for "likes" because I can click on the person's name and go to their Profile page. If there are reviews or adds or updates there, I will "like" anything I can find - and I hope it makes up for some of the missed ones.
If you are interested in which of my reads from 2018 are 5-Star reads, that shelf would be the place to go. I won't add them here because they might not all fit! Instead, I will include below the books that became new inhabitants of my Favourites shelf this year, in the order that I read them:
None of this wonder-filled reading year would have been possible without some very special and kind and generous Goodreads friends. I appreciate each one of you from my heart for helping to keep this a safe place to share our thoughts, feelings, and reviews.
Only a couple of times this year have I witnessed people hi-jacking someone's review thread and being outright rude. In all of those incidents, I am proud to say that my Goodreads friends were unfailingly polite and just let the ranters rant. Sometimes I think we all need to be reminded that our opinions are all valuable, but attacking people for their own opinions is just wrong.
Again, thank you from my heart to all the wonderful BookFriends, both long-term and short-term, for helping to enrich my reading life through your choices of books, your reviews, and also your comments and/or "likes" for mine.
I am grateful for all of it: the people, the reviews, the books, the exchanges. May 2019 be filled with the best possible in all those categories for all of us!...more
2017 has been one of my best years for wonderful books – ever. Maybe it’s also because it is my first year in full retirement and thus with more time 2017 has been one of my best years for wonderful books – ever. Maybe it’s also because it is my first year in full retirement and thus with more time to spend fully immersed in my reads. However, I also don’t want to take away one tiny bit of praise for the wonderful writing of the majority of the authors I read this year – including several who aren’t with us anymore, but whose work speaks for them so beautifully.
I have read more than 180 books this year so I won’t even try to list them all. In fact, I am going to limit this to books I read this year that I have added to my “All Time Favourites” shelf. There are so many others that I loved to the 5-Star point and beyond, but my “All Time Favourites” shelf holds the ones that moved me in an exceptional way from start to finish.
To be fair, I will list them in alphabetical order:
As I mentioned, there are many, many other books that I also loved in 2017. Thanks to becoming more active earlier this year (after a long hiatus when work and other life events took up the majority of my time) and through so many outstanding reviews by my GoodReads friends, I have been nudged multiple times toward books I would never have known about without this site and the wonderful people who post here.
May your Christmas be filled with happiness and hope, may your Holiday season hold warmth and wonder, and may 2018 be filled with friendships and fantastic books to read . . . along with the best of health and an abundance of all that holds meaning for you....more
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