TheBookchemist 48K subscribers · Jan 10, 2019

Top 20 Books I Read in 2018

Reviews23

AcceptanceJeff VanderMeer
Not a fan

I didn't enjoy acceptance too much but I do respect immensely that in the volume two and three in this series and Vandermeer didn't just rewrite her valuation all over again but it did something completely different and that's praiseworthy for sure

AnnihilationJeff VanderMeer
Loved it

this is a horror novel and in2 adored it's in a way it's a perfect book if you ask me it immerses you in this reality through a very peculiar rather strange sort of unreliable first-person narrator

it's truly engaging and there are also a couple of truly unforgettable characters in here but this is truly an original and engaging way of talking about relationships while also dropping in you occasional parallel universe which never hurts

AsymmetryLisa Halliday
Loved it

it's beautiful it plays a lot of games I'd like to reread it and to look more into the text I definitely recommend this novel there's too many great books this year

AuthorityJeff VanderMeer
Mixed

I wasn't necessarily a fan of its sequels Authority and acceptance and enjoy the authority I do respect immensely that in the volume two and three in this series and Vandermeer didn't just rewrite her valuation all over again but it did something completely different and that's praiseworthy for sure

Catch-22Joseph Heller
Mixed

I found it a rather difficult book very hard to get into it for the first 50 100 pages also because that humor I mentioned I'm not too sure how well it has aged this is a novel that actually deals with some of the bleakest moments in recent history and some of the greatest contradictions of human life in honest terms

Chronic CityJonathan Lethem
Loved it

chronic Stevie may very well be possibly even his best work being inside this book feels like being inside this critics apartment surrounded by DVDs and knickknacks and books

Cloud AtlasDavid Mitchell
Loved it

what a towering achievement what an amazing book basically six great novels all compressed in a single book all interacting with one another in beautiful engaging thrilling ways

dissident Gardens is so strong and I liked it so much purely because of its so of the fact that it's people buy so many unforgettable characters so many different ones

Foucault's PendulumUmberto Eco
Loved it

this book Foucault pendulum by Umberto Eco was on a whole different level it's people with amazing characters it's an impossibly great historical and mystery thriller

gang with occasional music has that type of ambitiousness and scope you encounter often in debit normals in first novels you can definitely feel the influence of Liam's youthful readings in this book

LessAndrew Sean Greer
Loved it

less by Andrew shondrea a book which I liked and in my video I stressed the fact that it seemed to me like a very easy very enjoyable read in the best possible sense

LeviathanPaul Auster
Loved it

this is here because of the way it's written I've talked extensively on my channel about how I adore books that are told rather than shown if you're an austere fan you shouldn't miss Leviathan

Look at MeJennifer Egan
Loved it

a novel that pose of that most difficult of narrative tricks the parallel storyline both of these stories are equally enthralling equally engaging and equally nightmarish

Man in the DarkPaul Auster
Loved it

men in the dark was one of the last books I read in the course of the year and it was a surprise it's one of the most humane and highly emotional among Oscars novels and I liked it very much

my brilliant friend is the one book I would recommend to everyone this book has the heft of a 19th century realist novel and it manages to do that beautiful thing that the literature does which is to show you how people's experiences are both Universal and quintessentially specific

The Color PurpleAlice Walker
Loved it

another surprise I wasn't expecting to enjoy that book so much it's also much more complex on the level of form than it was expecting and in terms of emotional impact it needed to drove me to tears toward the end in the middle of a library

The Dying EarthJack Vance
Loved it

dying earth was an excellent fantasy novel in it you find so many of d plot elements and monsters and some of the spells that then seeped into the mainstream of fantasy fiction

this is the second book in Vance's classical fantasy saga and in my opinion it was a better experience than dying earth on so many different ways absolutely recommended to fantasy fans and I don't think you need to read dying earth first

The Golden StateLydia Kiesling
Loved it

it's a hell of an achievement for a debit novel it's quite a difficult defeat Kiessling managed to pull off and I can't wait to read more by her I really like this book

it's a rather hard eating book that makes you look at some recent historical events under a different light it's a beautiful story once again it's sterling I highly recommend you read it in a single sitting

The piscesMelissa Broder
Loved it

it has a great plot on top of that and a beautiful surprising ending that I really liked a lot I definitely recommend the fishes if you're even just a tiny bit interested in the concept