Welp, it’s another year, and as you may have guessed, I come bearing lots of excuses for why I didn’t finish all my books from the 2018 book list. At a quick glance, it looks like I read all my books plus some, but see below for a quick comparison.

Here are the books I set out to read in 2018, alpha by author (for the full post, click here):

1. Mosquitoland by David Arnold
2. Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo
3. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
4. Passenger (Passenger #1) by Alexandra Bracken
5. Golden Son (Red Rising Saga #2) by Pierce Brown
6. Morning Star (Red Rising Saga #3) by Pierce Brown
7. Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga #4) by Pierce Brown
8. Ender’s Shadow (The Shadow Series #1) by Orson Scott Card
9. Shadow of the Hegemon (The Shadow Series #2) by Orson Scott Card
10. Shadow Puppets (The Shadow Series #3) by Orson Scott Card
11. Shadow of the Giant (The Shadow Series #4) by Orson Scott Card
12. Shadows in Flight (The Shadow Series #5) by Orson Scott Card
13. The Reader (Sea of Ink and Gold #1) by Traci Chee
14. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
15. The Circle by Dave Eggers
16. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
17. Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands #1) by Alwyn Hamilton
18. The Diabolic (The Diabolic #1) by S.J. Kincaid
19. The Ugly Truth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #5) by Jeff Kinney
20. The Girl in the Spider’s Web (Millennium #4) by David Lagercrantz
21. Nil (Nil #1) by Lynne Matson
22. The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
23. A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz
24. The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo #2) by Rick Riordan
25. The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard Book III) by Rick Riordan
26. Carve the Mark (Carve the Mark #1) by Victoria Roth
27. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling
28. The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz
29. Our Dark Duet (Monsters of Verity #2) by Victoria Schwab
30. The Crown’s Fate (The Crown’s Game #2) by Evelyn Skye
31. A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes #3) by Sabaa Tahir

And now for the books I actually read (in the order I read them, squeezing in one last title during the last four days of the year):

1. The Ugly Truth (Diary of a Wimpy Kid #5) by Jeff Kinney
2. Golden Son (Red RisingSaga #2) by Pierce Brown
3. Morning Star (Red Rising Saga #3) by Pierce Brown
4. Blackwater Swamp by Bill Wallace
5. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay by J.K. Rowling
6. Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga #4) by Pierce Brown
7. Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
8. The Crown’s Fate (The Crown’s Game #2) by Evelyn Skye
9. Mosquitoland by David Arnold
10. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne
11. Our Dark Duet (Monsters of Verity #2) by Victoria Schwab
12. Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1) by Leigh Bardugo
13. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
14. Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi
15. Crooked Kingdom (Six of Crows #2) by Leigh Bardugo
16. An Ember in the Ashes (An Ember in the Ashes #1) by Sabaa Tahir
17. A Torch Against the Night (An Ember in the Ashes #2) by Sabaa Tahir
18. Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer
19. A Reaper at the Gates (An Ember in the Ashes #3) by Sabaa Tahir
20. Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
21. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly by Jean-Dominique Bauby
22. The Hired Girl by Laura Amy Schlitz
23. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E.L. Konigsburg
24. Passenger (Passenger #1) by Alexandra Bracken
25. Carve the Mark (Carve the Mark #1) by Victoria Roth
26. Wayfarer (Passenger #2) by Alexandra Bracken
27. Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident by Eoin Colfer
28. The Fates Divide (Carve the Mark #2) by Veronica Roth
29. Ender’s Shadow (The Shadow Series #1) by Orson Scott Card
30. Artemis Fowl: The Eternity Code by Eoin Colfer
31. The Ship of the Dead (Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard Book III) by Rick Riordan
32. Shadow of the Hegemon (The Shadow Series #2) by Orson Scott Card
33. The Dark Prophecy (The Trials of Apollo #2) by Rick Riordan

Nine of the above titles are books that I read with my elder son, who is dyslexic. Although it’s a chore for him to read, and I wish he could do more of this on his own, I do love that we still read together. We started the Artemis Fowl series, which my husband and I both love, and I hope to finish it with him this year, but there’s always the chance that we’ll get sidetracked by other books he has to read for school, and that’s okay.

Of the five other titles that weren’t on the original list, two were books that I had to re-read in order for me to get to the next book in the series (which was on the list), and the other three were sequels. Hey, it happens (and will probably happen this year, too).

So of the 33 books that I read, only 19 of them were actually from the original list. I’m carrying 12 over into 2019. I know that the chances of finishing this year’s list is slim, even though it’s not a particularly ambitious one. I just know me, and I know that there will be days when I’m lucky to read five pages.

Also, unlike all previous years, I don’t have a picture of piles of new books that I’m looking forward to reading. In fact, I didn’t receive a single book for Christmas (a first), but I did receive a generous gift card to Barnes & Noble from a loved one who knows I love to read. So here’s what I bought for myself:

I know, I know—GRE for Dummies. Super entertaining, right? That’s a large part of what’s going to occupy my time in 2019. I take the test later this month, and from there, it’s grad school applications. I must be a crazy person. But at least I got one new book and a cool Stranger Things bookmark. And I’ve ordered/pre-ordered several other books (listed below) that weren’t available in-store. Instead of assigning myself piles of books, I hope to thoroughly enjoy what I do read this year. And if (big if) I do get through all these, there are always titles I’ve read in the past that I would love to revisit.

Here is 2019’s list:

1. Kids of Appetite by David Arnold
2. Dark Age (Red Rising Saga #5) by Pierce Brown
3. Shadow Puppets (The Shadow Series #3) by Orson Scott Card
4. Shadow of the Giant (The Shadow Series #4) by Orson Scott Card
5. Shadows in Flight (The Shadow Series #5) by Orson Scott Card
6. The Reader (Sea of Ink and Gold #1) by Traci Chee
7. Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception by Eoin Colfer
8. Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
9. Artemis Fowl: The Time Paradox by Eoin Colfer
10. Artemis Fowl: The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer
11. Artemis Fowl: The Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer
12. The Circle by Dave Eggers
13. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
14. Rebel of the Sands (Rebel of the Sands #1) by Alwyn Hamilton
15. The Diabolic (The Diabolic #1) by S.J. Kincaid
16. The Girl in the Spider’s Web (Millennium #4) by David Lagercrantz
17. Bird Box by Josh Malerman
18. Nil (Nil #1) by Lynne Matson
19. The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
20. A History of Glitter and Blood by Hannah Moskowitz
21. The Burning Maze (The Trials of Apollo #3) by Rick Riordan
22. The Tyrant’s Tomb (The Trials of Apollo #4) by Rick Riordan
23. Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed
24. Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

I hope you have a wonderful 2019, full of only pleasant surprises and lots of good reading!