2018: A Year in Books

One of the worst things about dealing with Depression & Anxiety is my inability to focus. It screws with my attention and my memory which every doctor I've ever complained to about it (which is many) has claimed "is symptomatic of the disease."

Great help there, thanks.

So, basically, it's really fucking hard to read because my brain would rather be freaking the hell out than focusing on the words on the page. Not that long ago, I read nearly 100 books a year. In 2018, I struggled to reach 25. As a life-long bibliophile, I can't even tell you how hard that is for me.

Sigh.

But, let's look on the bright side. I did manage to reach my target of 25 books for 2018. I'd like to share them with you now...

5 Stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
  And Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
  The Cruel Prince (The Folk of the Air #1) by Holly Black
  A Discovery of Witches (All Souls Trilogy #1) by Deborah Harkness
  The Hazel Wood (The Hazel Wood #1) by Melissa Albert
  Pawn of Prophecy (The Belgariad #1) by David Eddings
  Queen of Sorcery (The Belgariad #2) by David Eddings
  Welcome to Night Vale (Welcome to Night Vale #1) by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor

4 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
  Bellamy and The Brute (Bellamy and the Brute #1) by Alicia Michaels
  Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House by Michael Wolff
  Gabriel's Hope (Rhyn Eternal #1) by Lizzy Ford
  The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
  The Healer (The Healer #1) by C.J. Anaya
  Light: A National Poetry Day Book by Gaby Morgan (Editor)
  See Me (Simply Supernatural #1) by Susan Hatler
  Starstruck (Starstruck #1) by Brenda Hiatt
  The Ultimate Guide to Strange Cinema by Michael Vaughn

3 Stars ⭐⭐⭐
  Deep Blue Secret (The Water Keepers #1) by Christie Anderson
  Flight (The Crescent Chronicles #1) by Alyssa Rose Ivy
  The Gender Game (The Gender Game #1) by Bella Forrest
  OMG That's Me!: Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, and More... by Dave Mowry
  Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt by John Cooper Clarke

2 Stars ⭐⭐
  Blood Entwines by Caroline Healy
  Open Minds (Mindjack #1) by Susan Kaye Quinn

1 Star ⭐
  Fire in Frost (Crystal Frost #1) by Alicia Rades
  Fledgling (The Shapeshifter Chronicles #1) by Natasha S. Brown
  Forks (Forks #1) by A.E. Davis
  Midnight Rose (Midnight #1) by Dani Hart

My favourite book of the year is A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. The world-building and character development were phenomenal. The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert just beat Holly Black's The Cruel Prince for second place. (I'm definitely feeling the Fae right now.)

I love to know what your favourite books of 2018 were. I'm also looking for suggestions to add to my reading challenge for this year. What have you got for me?

And, by the way, if you're struggling with mental health problems, don't beat yourself up if you can't enjoy the things you've always enjoyed. Yeah, it's "symptomatic of the disease" and all that, but it's also okay. You can find new things to enjoy. Those old things might just came back too, eventually - even if you never get back up to your 100 books. Just enjoy what you can, when you can. 💛