In 2018, I didn’t have as many five-star reads as I did in 2017—only nine, five fiction and six nonfiction, as opposed to a total of sixteen, ten fiction and six nonfiction. In 2016, sixteen books also garnered top honors. Historically, I tend to be a bit tougher on my nonfiction reads, and this year, for the first time ever, I read more nonfiction than fiction. Usually, though, including this year, they are fairly close, so I don’t know if that can really explain my somewhat lackluster year. To be fair to the books that did earn five stars this year, the ones that did shine did so brightly.
This year’s top ten rose to the top of a pile of 77 total reads—the lower end of average for me. Here are the basic stats:
Total number of books: 77
Total fiction: 34
Total nonfiction: 43
Number of print books: 35
Number of pages read: 11,688
Number of audio books: 42
Number of hours listened to: 523
2018 Top Fiction:
This year’s top novel was a difficult choice, but there was one book that I talked about more than any other. It could be that it is set where I live, or it could be that I went into it with very low expectations. No matter the reason, here it is:
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah snags Lit in the Last Frontier’s top fiction read of the year. If you follow my reading life, you might recall that I really hated Hannah’s much lauded The Nightingale. Taking that into consideration and the fact that the last book I read that was set here in Alaska, Dave Eggers’s Heroes of the Frontier, was just flat out awful in every regard, I had darkest depths of a crevasse expectations for The Great Alone. Since I wrote a review for this novel, I’ll direct you there for more of my thoughts.
2018 Fiction Runners-up:
Rounding out the other four fiction slots, in no particular order, are:
If the Creek Don’t Rise by Leah Weiss: This book is a fabulous example of Southern Fiction and was recommended to me by two of my favorite readers, a Tennessee lady and a North-easterner. I found it interesting that two friends of mine who don’t share a common reading circle and who generally enjoy different books from each other would both rave about this evocative and wrenching debut. Within its own genre, If the Creek Don’t Rise was also chosen by the Southern Independent Booksellers Association as a top pick. As is common in Southern Fiction, this book is drenched in that slow burning melancholy of lives that happen to a person—as opposed to lives mastered—and the systemic inability to alter your trajectory once on it. I wanted so much for our protagonist that I just had a terrible feeling wouldn’t be within her grasp. I read this outstanding novel at the very beginning of the year and even then had no doubt that it would make this list; I cannot recommend it highly enough. recommended for book clubs
As Bright As Heaven by Susan Meissner: Meissner is one of the many, many authors whom I have never read and always mean to “get to.” I read the synopsis of this novel in the publisher’s pre-publication marketing and was drawn to its unique plot line. Set in 1918 Philadelphia, this lovely, character driven novel centers on a mother and her three daughters, newly arrived in the city when the Spanish Flu arrives and alters all of their lives beyond imagining. I loved every minute of following these women as they built not the life they had anticipated but one even richer in love, accomplishments, and service. recommended for book clubs
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman: This novel is the conclusion to Swedish novelist Backman’s Beartown; you absolutely must read that novel first. Both novels are set in a small, rural Swedish town and show what can happen when priorities become skewed. I enjoyed both novels, but the finale earned the fifth star because the plot didn’t always go in the direction I thought it would (or wanted it to), the characters that were interesting in the first book became riveting in this one, and the conclusion of the message was profound without being trite.
In Every Moment We Are Still Alive by Tom Malmquist: Another great work from a Swedish writer, this one is very different stylistically—Malmquist’s writing is far more spare and artistic (he is a poet), and this is an autobiographical novel (the main character is tellingly named Tom). His style, tone, and personal engagement are perfect for this stirring story of a man trying to go on in the wake of his wife’s death, a death which has left Tom alone raising their baby daughter. This is not an easy read from start to finish, but it is short (again, not surprising from a poet) and will leave you thinking about it for a very long time.
2018 Top Nonfiction:
As the year began to draw to a close, I had five five star nonfiction reads and no idea how I would decide between several of them for the top slot. In December I read Lindsey Hilsum’s standout biography of Marie Colvin, and I knew without a doubt that I had found a winner. So, Lit in the Last Frontier’s top spot for nonfiction goes to:
In Extremis: The Life and Death of the War Correspondent Marie Colvin by Lindsey Hilsum: One of the biggest issue that I tend to have with biographers is that they fall in love with their subjects. It would have been easy for Hilsum, who was both a friend and a colleague of Marie Colvin, to do so. Marie Colvin is, without a doubt, the most renowned female war correspondent of all time and was loved by those who spent time with her in the world’s darkest places for her willingness to help, positive attitude, courage, and passion for the mission she felt called to—that of shining a light on the most egregious happenings so that the world could not claim ignorance. For all her wonderful attributes, Marie Colvin fought some sizable personal demons every day. Lindsey Hilsum shows her readers that part of what made this woman so awe-inspiring was that everything didn’t come easily for her, that as dark as her professional world was, her personal world often shone rather less than bright, too. This is an outstanding, if at times grim, biography that I recommend to anyone curious about imbedded war correspondents. recommended for book clubs
2018 Nonfiction Runners-up:
The other four nonfiction books that earned top honors, in no particular order, are:
Shoe Dog by Phil Knight: This might look to be an improbable book to make the top ten of someone who reads as much serious nonfiction as I do, but there is a lot to like here. Phil Knight is the founder of Nike, and this is the story of how a college project—that absolutely no one thought was plausible—morphed into a fantastic success story. A former collegiate runner, Knight shares what drove him as an athlete and how he used the mental attributes and knowledge of equipment honed as a competitive runner and the networking connections made during those years as the driving factors in beginning and then growing Nike. This story is inspiring and fast paced. Even if you have no interest in beginning a business, it is a great read about an iconic product and the man behind it.
Radium Girls by Kate Moore: Until I read In Extremis in December, it was looking like this work would be my top nonfiction of the year. Another book that covers many micro topics in the course of telling its central tale, this story of small town America and unscrupulous company practices made many, many “best of” lists this year. During the first decade of the 1900s, paint containing radium began being used to paint numbers on clock faces and aviation equipment because the paint glowed in the dark. This book tells the story of the young women—whose small, deft hands were particularly suited to the minutia of the work—who painted the faces of the watches, clocks, and instruments. By the 1920s, it was becoming apparent that these women were all suffering terribly—and dying—as a result of their work. The book tells of their desperate fight during their dying years to get justice from the companies they worked for and bring awareness to their plight.
The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukhergee: I am very late to the reading party with regard to this book depicting the history of cancer. If you have read a broadly about the history of disease, then a good portion of this book will be a refresher course on the topic but from the standpoint of how that history relates to cancer. It was yet another work that was a strong candidate for my top nonfiction spot. The reason I didn’t select it was because I don’t think it is a book that will have the universal appeal of In Extremis. There are times when the book gets a bit bogged down in medical jargon, and if you don’t come at the subject with a decent knowledge base and interest in the subject, you will likely end up skimming a bit. If however, it is a subject you enjoy, you will love this book.
Ticker: The Quest to Create an Artificial Heart by Mimi Swartz: My dad and I had been talking about the research that led to the artificial heart. I was pretty positive that it had its genesis at the University of Utah (where I had heart surgery), but my dad was positive it began in Austin, Texas. Shortly after our discussion, I saw this book in its publisher’s new book marketing. Dad was correct, and this is the story. I loved this book! Mimi Swartz does a great job of making not only the history of the artificial heart interesting and understandable to the layperson but of bringing to vibrant life the many researchers. The book also tackles the path that any medical device takes to FDA approval, the ethical issues, and the emotional and familial stressors of the researchers. While this book is an easier read than The Emperor of All Maladies, I still felt it lacked the broad appeal that might have earned it my top spot. That said, the artificial heart is one of the most significant medical milestones of the twentieth century, and this readable history will find many devotees.
Nonfiction Near Miss: I only had one extra nonfiction title that didn’t make the top five: Nine Continents by Xiaolu Guo
2018 Top Audiobook:
Beartown and its conclusion, Us Against You, by Fredrik Backman were the absolute best audiobooks I listened to this year. Narrator Marin Ireland not only masters voices for each of the characters, she successfully conveys all the subtle emotional nuances needed to accurately impart the message behind the happenings in Beartown. There was some criticism that Marin Ireland didn’t attempt Swedish accents or that the publisher didn’t select a Swedish narrator for the audiobook, but I disagree. Her performance is so pitch perfect in every other regard. I also feel that a Swedish narrator would have taken the global aspect away from the story, which is written in such a way that it is not obviously set in Sweden. Because an American narrated the story, I could absolutely picture this tale playing out in any hockey crazy small American town. Fantastic story. Fantastic narration. What more could you ask for?
2018 Big Miss: Spies in the Congo: America’s Atomic Mission in World War II by Susan Williams. It baffled me that someone could manage to take a spy story, set in colonial Africa and based upon the secrecy of the hunt for uranium, and make it so incredibly boring. This book desperately needed an editor to weed out the minutia and bring into focus the heart of what should have been a fascinating tale.
Hopefully you will have a chance to add one of these outstanding books to your stack! I wish for you all a wonderfully bookish year!
I’m so happy I did. Through the blog posts of Iris (the woman who passed away from cancer) and various forms of communication primarily involving her boss, Smith; her replacement at work, Carl; and her sister, Jade, this novel achieves flow and a lovely arc of emotion as those left behind find their way through grief and living and come to terms with how they can honor Iris’s final wishes in ways that also honor their goals for their own lives and help them come through Iris’s death more in touch with themselves.
