{"id":3748,"date":"2019-01-03T18:22:15","date_gmt":"2019-01-03T23:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/meredith.wolfwater.com\/wordpress\/?p=3748"},"modified":"2019-01-03T18:22:15","modified_gmt":"2019-01-03T23:22:15","slug":"my-year-in-books-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/meredith.wolfwater.com\/wordpress\/2019\/01\/03\/my-year-in-books-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"My year in books, 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had such good intentions to blog\u00a0more this year<\/a>, but the second half of 2018 has thrown me a lot of curveballs emotionally and it’s pulled me away from a lot of the things that keep me engaged with others (funny how that seems to happen when you need people the most).Books are always a comforting constant in my life — a good way to get out of my own head. I left 2018 feeling brittle, but hopeful.<\/p>\n

I did a pretty terrible job of keeping track of what I read this year, so it’s quite possible I read other things\u00a0beyond these 52 and just don’t remember. I bolded the books that\u00a0I really loved and would recommend to others\u00a0and I was very surprised that Barbara Kingsolver’s new book did not even come close to making that list (I really disliked it). There are a lot of critically-acclaimed books that I read this year and felt rather “meh” about.<\/p>\n

I’m coaching my son’s Oregon Battle of the Books<\/a> team again this year (they made regionals last year as third graders!) so I committed to read all 16 books and develop practice questions for the kids. It took up way more time than I’d anticipated, so I don’t imagine I’ll do that ever again (it’s always hard to find that sweet spot as a parent where you feel like you’re doing enough that you don’t feel like a\u00a0crappy mom, but aren’t doing so too much that no one is really going to appreciate). Live and learn.<\/p>\n

Here’s my list for 2018:<\/p>\n