When I was an English teacher I used to keep a list of the books I read on my classroom door. I read a lot of Young Adolescent books so I could always make a recommendation for my students. During those years, I also kept a reading journal, writing about what I read and my thoughts.

Now, I keep lists of what I read for my own benefit, on my blog.  I love being able to search my blog to remember a certain book, to find out where I left off in a series (like that of the Jack Reacher series by Lee Child or the Stone Barrington series by Stuart Woods), or just to compete with myself to read more books than I did the previous year.

I must admit that I am a little disappointed that I didn’t read as much this year as I did last year or the year before. I had a few reading slumps this year, I listened to A LOT of podcasts in place of audio books, and I reread excerpts of a number of professional books at work, but none of that added to this list. There were months that I also watched too much TV, so I made a concerted effort to change that habit into more reading.

Looking through my list, it seems that I read more mysteries than anything else – by my favorite authors and new-to-me authors as well. I read very little YA this year, but I did continue to enjoy celebrity autobiographies. There aren’t a lot of professional books on here, but I do have a stack of new professionals books I hope to read in early 2019. There are some books on this list that I have absolutely NO memory of, which is why this blog is as much for my memory as anything else.  But there are others, like The Immortalists that I can still remember in great detail.

If you’ve read my monthly reading updates, thanks for playing along.  If you know of any books you think I would enjoy, please let me know.

2017: 59

2016: 69

2015: 44

What I read in 2018:

1. Promise My Love (The Bradens Book 7) by Melissa Foster
2. After You Left by Carol Mason
3. Culturize: Every Student. Every Day. Whatever it Takes. by Jimmy Casas
4. We are Going to Need More Wine by Gabrielle Union (audiobook)
5. Final Girls by Riley Sager
6. A Leader’s Legacy by Kouzes & Posner
7. Paris Match (Stone Barrington #31) by Stuart Woods
8. The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
9. The Memory Watcher by Minka Kent
10. Lead Like a Pirate: Make School Amazing for Your Students and Staff by Shelley Burgess and Beth Houf
11. Insatiable Appetites (Stone Barrington #32) by Stuart Woods
12. What Happened by Hillary Rodham Clinton
13. The Hate You Give by Angie Thomas
14. Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich
15. In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende
16. Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
17. Rules of the Game: How to Win a Job in Educational Leadership by Marilou Ryder
18. The Memory of Light by Francisco X. Stork
19. Hot Pursuit (Stone Barrington #33) by Stuart Woods
20. The Good Liar by Catherine McKenzie
21. Missing You by Harlan Coben
22. Stories I Only Tell My Friends by Rob Lowe (audiobook)
23. The Kidney Hypothetical or How to Ruin Your Life in Seven Days by Lisa Yee
24. Foreign Affairs (Stone Barrington #35) by Stuart Woods
25. Kill the Boy Band by Goldy Moldavsky
26. The Fix Up by Kendall Ryan
27. Same Beach, Next Year by Dorothea Benton Frank
28. Onward: Cultivating Emotional Resilience in Educators by Elena Aguilar
29. Pretty Mess by Erika Jayne (audiobook)
30. The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride
31. Retire Inspired: It’s Not an Age, it’s a Financial Number by Chris Hogan (audiobook)
32. Scandalous Behavior (Stone Barrington #36) by Stuart Woods
33. Talk to Me: Find the Right Words to Inspire, Encourage, and Get Things Done – Six Principles of Effective Communication by Kim Bearden
34. Educated by Tara Westover
35. Family Jewels (Stone Barrington #37) by Stuart Woods
36. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
37. Dishonorable Intentions (Stone Barrington #38) by Stuart Woods
38. The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain
39. The Bay at Midnight by Diane Chamberlain
40. The Thousandth Floor (Series #1) by Katharine McGee
41. Sex, Lies, & Serious Money (Stone Barrington #39) by Stuart Woods
42. This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Philipps (audiobook)
43. The Midnight Line (Reacher #22) by Lee Child
44. This is Me: Loving the Person You are Today by Chrissy Metz (audiobook)
45. Thyroid Healing by Anthony William
46. Medical Medium: Secrets Behind Chronic and Mystery Illness and How to Finally Heal by Anthony William
47. Run by Kody Keplinger
48. Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
49. Below the Belt (Stone Barrington #40) by Stuart Woods
50. I am Watching You by Teresa Driscoll
51. Say You’re Sorry by Melinda Leigh*
52. Dead End Girl by Lt. Vargas and Tim McBain
53. Becoming by Michelle Obama (audiobook)
54. Heartbroken by Lisa Unger
55. Fragile by Lisa Unger

*I blogged about my reading each month from January through November, but I’ve simply added my December reads to this list, since this will be published when I would normally publish my monthly reads. In December I found free books in two ways: I finally updated my public library card to use their e-reader app and through Amazon Prime. I LOVED listening to Michelle Obama read the audio version of her amazing book!