My 2018 Reading List
In my journey of figuring out what I like to do with my time, I rediscovered my love for reading. At the beginning of 2018, I decided to make a goal of reading at least one book per month. Little did I know that I was going to not only embrace that goal but blow it out of the water!
As I was reflecting on the year, I realized I actually read 85 books in 2018! I know, crazy right?! If you are like me, you might be asking yourself, “how the heck did she have time to read that many books?”. Since I figured people were going to ask me that, I thought I’d first share my tips on how I read so many books.
Get a library card! There is NO way I could have read all of the books I did this year without my library card. I am not made of money!!! Library cards are free and most libraries now have ways that you can borrow e-books and audiobooks. If you don’t have a library card already, I would highly recommend getting a library card as soon as you can! Without one, you are missing out on so many FREE books!!
Choose to read instead of watching TV! Nowadays, we spend SO much time watching TV. I know for me, turning on the TV is an automatic when I get home from work, eat dinner or if I am bored. I realized since TV was my go to (and is probably rotting my brain!), so I should probably focus reading more than I watch TV. That mainly looks like me only watching TV with my hubs and minimizing watching TV by myself.
Always have a book with you (or the Kindle app)! I find that I am usually early to most things that I go to so I have ample time to read while I wait. I used to just scroll through Instagram, but now I open my Kindle app and read until it is time to go in places. It’s amazing how much you can read in 10 minutes!
Audiobooks are your friend! I generally listen to audiobooks while I am driving. Think of how much time you spend in the car! If you are like me, you may have a 25-35 minute commute every day before and after work, so it is super easy to breeze through books this way! Disclaimer: I feel conflicted about if listening to audiobooks counts as reading but since this is my blog post, I will count it. ;) With that being said, I have only listened to about 20 of the 85 books via Audible or OverDrive.
Join a book club! This year I decided to start a book club. I have always wanted to be in one but never made it happen. After seeing the movie Book Club back in the summer, I was so inspired by their friendship and how much fun they had in the movie (yes, I know the movie is not real life and was cheesy, but I LOVED it still!). My book club meets once a month and we host the club in our homes. It’s a great way to be read more, be inspired, learn and have fun!
Now that you know how I read so many books, here’s the list of the books that I read this year!
12 Rules for Life by Jordan Peterson
A Field Guide for Getting Lost by Rebecca Solnit
A General Theory of Love by Thomas Lewis and Fari Amini
A Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl
A Voyage for Madmen by Peter Nichols
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson
A Year of Less by Cait Flanders
Alone on the Wall by Alex Honnold
And David Perceived He Was King by Dale Mast
Astrophysics for People in Hurry by Neil de Grasse Tyson
Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
Born to Buy by Juliet Schor
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Braving It by James Campbell
Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown
Breathing Underwater by Richard Rohr
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover
Enough! by Chonyi Taylor
Ever Increasing Faith by Smith Wigglesworth
Everything that Remains by Joshua Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus
Fearless & Fabulous by Cara Leyba
Find the Good by Heather Lende
Finding God in the Waves by Mike McHargue
Girl Code by Cara Leyba
Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Book 2 by J.K Rowling
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Book 7 by J.K Rowling
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Book 4 by J.K Rowling
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Book 6 by J.K Rowling
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix Book 5 by J.K Rowling
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Book 3 by J.K Rowling
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Book 1 by J.K Rowling
Healing and Freedom by Restoring the Foundations
How to Be Here by Rob Bell
Igniting Faith in 40 Days by Steve Backlund
In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan
In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters
Inner Engineering by Sadhguru
Irena's Children by Tilar Mazzeo
Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard
Living Forward by Michael Hyatt
Love Wins by Rob Bell
Mating in Captivity by Esther Perel
My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent
North by Scott Jurek
Proverbs Wisdom from Above by Brian Simmons
Ruthless River by Holly FitzGerald
Scrappy Little Nobody by Anna Kendrick
Simple Church by Thom Ranier
Someday, Someday, Maybe by Lauren Graham
Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham
The 100 Thing Challenge by Dave Bruno
The 4-Hour Body by Tim Ferriss
The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer
The Book of Doing and Being by Barnet Bain
The Deborah Anointing by Michelle McClain-Walters
The Esther Anointing by Michelle McClain-Walters
The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Shinn
The Happiness Advantage by Shawn Achor
The Irresistible Introvert by Michaela Chung
The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish
The Needs of the Heart by Chip Dodd
The Power of a Positive No by William Ury
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel
The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson
The Voice of the Heart by Chip Dodd
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
Thinner Leaner Stronger by Michael Matthews
This Will Be My Undoing by Morgan Jerkins
Trespassing Across America by Ken Ilgunas
We Stood Upon Stars by Roger Thompson
What Is the Bible? by Rob Bell
Wild by Cheryl Strayed
Year of Yes by Shona Rhimes
You Can’t Touch My Hair by Phoebe Robinson