2018 was a good year for reading. As they do every year, Goodreads have started generating member’s “year in books” reports, and it’s always fun to dive in and remind yourself what you read (you can view mine here).

The Stats

This year, I finished 65 books, which is way up for me, but is also deceptive, as that includes children’s books I read with my son. If I remove those 31 short stories, that means I completed 34 novels in 2018.

In total, I read approximately 13,000 pages, with the shortest book being only 16 pages (Stephen Biesty’s Trains) and the longest book coming in at 768 pages (The Fireman by Joe Hill).

Yesterday I closed the survey I was running to gather feedback on my newsletter content. Overnight I selected the two winners of the Amazon Gift Cards I had promised as a giveaway prize for completing the survey. I've made contact with the winners, confirmed their details, and sent out the USD$20 eGift Cards. Congratulations Diane and Mahmoud (and thank you for your feedback).

If you'd like to know more about the survey, I have updated the original post with the results.

"A book — a well-composed book — is a magic carpet on which we are wafted to a world that we cannot enter in any other way. Yet, in another sense, all true works of fiction have their scenes laid in the same country, and the events take place in the same climate: that country, that climate which we all long for and in our several ways strive to reach — the region where truth is eternal and man immortal and flowers never fade."

Caroline Gordon, How to Read a Novel (1957), p. 234

But wait, there's more

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The BBC has announced there won't be a 2019 season of Doctor Who, but we will get a New Year's special on 1 Jan (instead of the more traditional Christmas Special) and the series will return in 2020.

This news, while disappointing, isn't a surprise. There had been talk the new writing team didn't feel they could do the show justice while still churning out a full season each year, and even rumors they (and Jodie Whittaker, could depart).

I think this year's season has been excellent; episode one was a little shaky for me, but since then it seems to have gone from strength to strength, and I love Whittaker in the role of Doctor. It's going to be a long wait, but I'm confident the 2020 season will be worth it.

Update: we’ve also been gifted with a trailer for the New Year’s special. 

Genres: Science-Fiction | Dystopia.

"I live for the dream that my children will be born free," she says. "That they will be what they like. That they will own the land their father gave them."

"I live for you," I say sadly.

Eo kisses my cheek. "Then you must live for more."

I’ve been getting hassled about reading this series for a while, so finally sat down and read the first installment — Red Rising. It was fantastic.

Red Rising is set on Mars in a distant future. It follows Darrow, a red, who believe themselves the first colonists on the planet, mining the resources necessary to terraform the surface and make the planet safe for full colonization.

Only, that’s not really true.

A series of events reveals to Darrow just how badly they’ve all been lied to. Left with nothing but a hunger for revenge, he agrees to become the enemy in order to bring them down.

“See. That’s what I don’t get. If I am a good man, then why do I want to do bad things?” Darrow.

What follows is a brutal adventure and Darrow’s first steps on his mission. Darrow is a great character who grows significantly throughout the book and Brown does an amazing job building a believable world. I became completely caught up in the narrative and cheered out loud on several occasions as Darrow successfully pulled off something particularly outrageous. He is wild, audacious, and driven, and I can’t wait to dive into the rest of the series.

Where to find it

If you're interested in Red Rising, you can learn more on Goodreads here, or buy a copy from Amazon here.

While you're here

If you enjoyed this recommendation, why not have a look at my other recommendations as well?

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