Right, the year is at its end and I can now definitively say that I have read the staggering amount of 78 books. Three posts will be dedicated to all the books I’ve read. Next year I will tackle my reading posts differently, but more of that in my post about 2019.

This is my second post in the “series”. The first post was regarding all the Sci-Fi and Fantasy books I read in 2018, this post will be about all the Classics, Contemporary, Historical Fiction & Non-Fiction books I read. Brace yourself because this is a lenghty post with a lot of favourites as Historical Fiction is one of my favourite genres.

Like last time I don’t want to flood you with information about the books, so I have highlighed my favourite books of the year with extensive reviews. The other reviews are just one-liners. If you’d like more information about the books and my opinion about them, you can check out my Goodreads page.

Contemporary: 11 books in 2018

Favourite: Mindy McGinnis – The Female of the Species (2016)

“But boys will be boys, our favorite phrase that excuses so many things, while the only thing we have for the opposite gender is women, said with disdain and punctuated with an eye roll.” (McGinnis)

This book is a really heavy read. Judging by the praise on Goodreads, I always thought it would be good. However, it’s better than good.

The novel is really complex. The story itself isn’t, but the feelings that you get while reading it are. The Female of the Species examines the rape culture amongst teens. The way men take advantage of girls who drink too much on a night out. The way sexist jokes are waved away and submissed by onlookers.

It examines what happens to a girl whose sister is raped and killed by a random man. It examines revenge. There’s violence in this book, gruesome violence, but there’s also sadness, and love.

The book follows three characters: the aforementioned sister Alex, Peekay (the Preacher’s Kid) who befriends Alex and Jack who falls in love with her.

I can highly recommend this book! If I wouldn’t have seen the negative reviews of Mindy McGinnis’ latest books I would’ve ran for the store to pick them up. Now, I don’t know what to do. Any advice? Should I pick up another book by her?
Stars: 5 out of 5

Favourite: Celeste Ng – Little Fires Everywhere (2017)

What a refreshing “contemporary” novel – it takes place in the past hence the brackets. Celeste Ng has written a very slow burning story. One where we are introduced to two families at length. The introduction is lengthy for a reason. I’ll try to explain why.

One of the two families lives in Shaker Heights, a placid, progressive suburb of Cleveland, where everything is meticulously planned. The other family, an enigmatic artist and single mother and her daughter, move to the neighbourhood and rent a house from the aforementioned family.

This story explores the notion of keeping secrets within a family, the love of a mother for a child, and the sacrifices one makes for their children.

Now what the overall story boils down to is that there is no right or wrong. The reader (or in my case listener) is free to make up their own mind, exactly as the characters do. I’m 100% sure that not everyone has the same opinions as I do when reading the more troublesome passages. This way it opens up a conversation about race, abortion & other matters, without forcing this discussion on the readers because Celeste Ng is just telling the story.

That’s what I like most about this book, it triggers a lot of feelings but it doesn’t seem to do so on purpose.

The only pity is that it takes place in the past. What this does is that it makes us feel like the problems in the book aren’t relevant any more. I think it would’ve been a bit more daring if she would’ve placed this story in the backdrop of today’s world.
Stars: 4 out of 5

Others

• Josie Silver – One Day in December (2018)
  4 out of 5 stars because even though the book is really good I’m strict when it comes to books like these. One of my all-time favourite books is One Day & I love the movie Love, Rosie. The premise of all three stories is similar and I like the latter two more.
• Nick Hornby – High Fidelity (1995)
  • 3 out of 5 stars because now that I have re-read it, I will forget it soon again. There’s not much in this book that will make it linger in my mind but it’s entertaining enough. I’m in my thirties now, like the characters and it’s a bit relatable – in a way. I’ve met people like Rob before. Most of the music theory is lost on me, but to enjoy the book you don’t really need that.
• Curtis Sittenfeld – You Think It, I’ll Say It (2018)
  • 2 out of 5 stars because this book deserves the prefix un-. The short stories are unremarkable, unimportant, unnecessary, underwhelming, etc.
• Balli Kaur Jaswal – Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows (2017)
  • 2 out of 5 stars because it’s hard to like any of the characters. Nikki is incredibly judge-y of anything conservative, which makes her quite unpleasant. She’s the main character and she signs up to a storytelling class which she will teach. A group of Punjabi widows join her class and for some reason or other decide to tell each other erotic stories. Why? I don’t know… This is the whole problem. The erotic stories feel gimmicky so imagine how useless the mystery seems.
• Griet Op de Beeck – Gezien de feiten (2018)
  • 4 out of 5 stars because I feel for Olivia, who suddenly loses her husband when she is 71 years old. Her desire to live her life is understable too, but so is her daughters fear of losing the thoughts of her father. I see on the reviews that people have fallen over the ending. I can understand that, but I thought it was fitting.
• Herman Koch – Makkelijk leven (2017)
  • 2 out of 5 stars because similarly to the book from the Dutch Book Week in 2016 Broer, I quite enjoyed the read until it ended and I didn’t get what the author meant. I have that with Dutch books. I guess I don’t read enough of them.
• Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀ – Stay with Me (2017)
  • 4 out of 5 stars because it’s a really good book, but it’s still not my type of story. Stories about families that focus on children don’t thrill me that much. Other than that it’s good and it kept me flipping pages. The story is unpeeled slowly which makes it an interesting read.
• Jill Santopolo – The Light We Lost (2017)
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars because I really enjoyed to listen to this book. It’s a very light read in a way, as you can tell from the get-go the story is a sad one. It’s about the undying love of Lucy & Gabe whose life and dreams get in the ways of being with each other.
• Gail Honeyman – Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine (2017)
  • 3 out of 5 stars because I’m not a fan of reading books with characters who have a mental illness. That sounds horrible, and I promise I’m not a cold-hearted person, but it simply does not appeal to me. What saved Honeyman’s book is that it wasn’t a love story. It didn’t contrive a perfect world for Eleanor instead we see her grow by herself – with the help of some of her friends. It doesn’t feel unnatural, which is why I’m rating it 3 stars instead of only the 1.
• Mark Haddon – The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2003)
  • 3 out of 5 stars because it’s an incredibly fast read due to the big images & empty pages. The story is propelled forward as well. I’m not usually a fan of reading books where characters have mental illnesses (as I said before), but I do think Mark Haddon portrayed Christopher is a positive way. What I don’t like reading it this time around is the family-situation. I don’t want to give anything away, but I think it’s troublesome.

Historical Fiction: 15 books in 2018

Favourite: John Boyne – The Heart’s Invisible Furies (2017)

This is hands down one of my favourite books of all time.

I usually try to write a few lines about a book to convey my thoughts. In this case, I can’t. I don’t know how to describe it. Even the Goodreads description doesn’t do the book any justice. Nothing does.

Just read it. Read it and be transported away by it, I’m 100% sure you won’t regret it.

** I wonder if all of John Boyne’s (adult) books are this good. I will definitely pick up more of them to check.
Stars: 5 out of 5

Favourite: Taylor Jenkins Reid – The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo (2017)

This book grabbed me from the first words until the last pages. While you’re reading it you can’t stop wondering why the super famous Evelyn Hugo has selected a quite unknown journalist Monique Grant for her once in a lifetime tell-all. What is the reason?!

Taylor Jenkins Reid manages to make Evelyn’s life story interesting. It feels like it’s the story of a real person. It’s sad but hopeful at the same time.

I can really recommend this book.
Stars: 4 out of 5

Favourite: Kristin Hannah – The Great Alone (2018)

I have thought long and hard about which rating I should give Kristin Hannah’s latest book. Exactly this time last year I was absolutely spell-bound by the Nightingale, which is still one of my favourite books.

It’s not fair to compare this book to the Nightingale. It’s not like I mirror all my five star reads to this book, so I shouldn’t do it for The Great Alone either. I’m giving it five stars because I couldn’t put it away and because I loved it from start to finish.

The Great Alone is about the Allbright family. Cora and her husband Ernt, a recently-returned Vietnam veteran scarred by the war, uproot their thirteen year old daughter Leni to start a new life in Alaska. Utterly unprepared for the weather and the isolation, but welcomed by the close-knit community, they fight to build a home in this harsh, beautiful wilderness.

It’s a story about survival, but most of all it’s a story about enduring and painful love. I have read reviews of people who thought the ending was too over-the-top emotional. I thought the ending was fitting. Hannah is really good at conjuring up well-rounded families who are in conflict with each other, but who also love each other deeply.

I will keep my eyes peeled on Goodreads for her next release.
Stars: 5 out of 5

Favourite: Emma Donoghue – The Wonder (2016)

One of my favourite books of all times is Wuthering Heights, and even though the story of the Wonder is completely different – it still arouses the mysterious feelings of the moors.

The Wonder takes place in a small town in the middle of Ireland in the 19th century. An English nurse is sent to Ireland to investigate an 11 year-old girl who claims to be surviving a fast.

The story that ensues is incredibly frustrating, but so well-written. The atmosphere of the little town is set perfectly & the pace of the story is done to gothic-perfection.

If you like fast-paced & action-rich novels, this book is not for you. If you can appreciate a slow-burn with plenty of shocks along the way, this is a great book to pick up.
Stars: 5 out of 5

Others

• Chigozie Obioma – The Fishermen (2015)
  • 4 out of 5 stars because this novel surprised me in a very good way. I left it on my shelf for ages. I don’t always like fiction from the African continent. This story takes place in Nigeria. It also sounded a bit more mythical than I might like. The good thing about this book is that it interweaves stories about the boys’ past and Nigeria’s past, without feeling like oversharing. It’s also in no way unbelievable. It’s mythic in the sense that it could be mythical and you would still believe it.
• Madeline Miller – Galatea (2013)
  • 4 out of 5 stars because it’s a very short read, but it’s satisfying. Galatea’s – a statue of a perfect woman turned to life – point-of-view is a very interesting one. I’m afraid I’ll have to wait a long time for her next novel now, unless she releases another short story.
• Khaled Hosseini – A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007)
  • 5 out of 5 stars because everything about this story is still perfect. The way it is told first from the point-of-view of Mariam then of that of Laila. How their stories then intertwine. I love it! It’s not a favourite this year, because it’s a re-read.
• Gaël Faye – Small Country (2016)
  • 2 out of 5 stars because the writing style of the author (or the translator) didn’t really agree with me. He jumped from one subject to another, and he never won me over on something. Even something as small as the friendship between Gaby and his friends. Unfortunately, I don’t know of many books written about this time in history but I would definitely like to know more about the civil wars between the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.
• Ian McGuire – The North Water (2016)
  • 4 out of 5 stars because this book is seriously dark. The setting on a whaling ship in the middle of the icy ocean really helps. The story is quite simply about a killer on board the ship. If that’s not compelling enough, I don’t know what else could convince you to pick this book up. It’s gruesome at times, but that really fits with the story and the atmosphere. Great read!
• Beatriz Williams – The Summer Wives (2018)
  • 1.5 out of 5 stars because the mystery wasn’t much of a mystery. I guessed the whole plot from the start. It’s not scary, it’s not exciting, it’s a drag. The story drags, and drags, and drags, and we end up with nothing. I don’t just have issues with the plot. The writing is also way too complex for such a simple story. It’s like the author googled different synonyms and added them as adjectives to her nouns.
• Heather Morris – The Tattooist of Auschwitz (2018)
  • 2 out of 5 stars because the story and storyline itself is so unbelievably scattered and all over the place, that it’s hard to get invested. It’s apparent that this is the author’s first book. Maybe she didn’t want to be too sentimental, but I think she missed her mark whatever she tried to do.
• Mackenzi Lee – The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue (2017)
  • 4 out of 5 stars because I remember I loved this first Montague Siblings book due to the characters’ witty remarks. I found out this time around that unfortunately the story itself isn’t very memorable. Apart from the highwaymen and the romance, I didn’t remember anything from reading this book previously. Anything! Either that means the wit overshadows everything or the story isn’t memorable. I’m going for the first one, hence the high rating. A bit lower than previously though.
• Claire Fuller – Bitter Orange (2018)
  • 2 out of 5 stars because I’m both proud and disappointed I continued reading this book, since I didn’t care about any of the characters or the story in general. I read it recently and I already forgot the storyline.
• Ruta Sepetys – Salt to the Sea (2016)
  • 4 out of 5 stars because the build-up of this novel is slow, considering all that happens at the end. However, the pace of reading is fast as it has multiple POV’s whose view changes every two or three pages. So, pacing fast, build-up slow. First, I thought I wouldn’t be able to be emotionally invested because of the fast pace and short chapters. In the end I shed a tear, so somehow it still snuck up on me.
• Ken Follett – A Column of Fire (Kingsbridge #3) (2017)
  • 3 out of 5 stars because it’s simply not as good as the previous two Kingsbridge novels. The storylines are too scattered and there are no true villains like in the previous books.

Non-Fiction: 6 books in 2018

Favourite: Astrid Holleeder – Judas: een familiekroniek (2016)

I usually try to read one or two Dutch books per year. You know, to kind of keep up with literature from my own country. I usually regret my picks. This time around I picked up one of my favourite books of the year.

I’m writing this review in English, because the book has been or will be translated in English and this story will definitely be able to cross country borders.

I know about Willem Holleeder because he’s a famous criminal in the Netherlands. When he was younger he kidnapped Freddy Heineken with a bunch of friends. This story has been adapted to movies, even in Hollywood. Later on, he started having his enemies and friends killed, but no one could point the murders to him. He became a Dutch “cuddle” criminal, because he has a lot of charisma. So much so that he even appeared in College Tours, where students could ask him questions and learn from him.

This book is not a recounting of his famous misdeeds, but the story of a childhood that included regular beatings by an alcoholic father, and, later, of Willem’s mafia-style hold on his family.

All perfectly ordered and told by Astrid. His favourite sister who betrayed him and testified against him. I say perfectly ordered, because I read reviews from people who said that the order didn’t make sense. It did to me. She tells it chronologically, and when it’s logical she breaks through the storyline to tell the backstory.

It’s heart-rendering. Last year I was deeply touched by A Little Life, this year I think this book will hold me in its grip.
Stars: 5 out of 5

Others

• • Trevor Noah – Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (2016)
    • 4 out of 5 stars because the story itself is very good. It doesn’t only give you an insight into Trevor’s childhood, but also South Africa’s past. I like that it has taught me new things. The thing I didn’t like was the scattered chronology. I couldn’t understand why we jumped from one part to another, or from one subject to the next within one chapter. It’s something that bothered me because it left me constantly figuring out where we were in his life and timeline.
  • Kevin Hart – I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons (2017)
    • 4.5 out of 5 stars because the part about Kevin Hart’s upbringing is quite sad, but at the same time well-written with a added bit of humour. His life has known a lot of ups and downs, and he tells it all with a bit of self-deprecating humour.
  • Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – We Should All Be Feminists (2014)
    • 4 out of 5 stars because this simply is a solidly good book about feminism.
  • David Grann – Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (2017)
    • 2 out of 5 stars because the subject matter felt obvious to me. The Osage are a native American tribe who have become very rich due to oil money. Then members of the tribe are killed off one by one. This isn’t really a whodunnit, because you can already guess. It’s done by people who are disgruntled by all the money they have taken. There are more murders than are reported, because some of them are ruled suicide or accidental. Even this, didn’t come as a shock to me. I also didn’t enjoy the writing. I felt it distanced us from the subject matter, because it’s written in such a matter-of-fact way.
  • Carolijn Visser – Selma (2016)
    • 2 out of 5 stars because I feel tricked! The title of this novel is “Selma” and the tagline “Escaped Hitler, prisoner of Mao”. I mean… That’s just a sensationalism. This isn’t a spoiler, but I think it’s good to know that you won’t find anything about being a prisoner of Mao in this book. This is why I said I don’t like the tagline. I bought this book because I thought it would tug at my heartstrings like Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. This is no such story, this is a story told from different point-of-views while staying far away from any kind of feelings.

Classics: 6 books in 2018

Favourite: Emily Brontë – Wuthering Heights (1847)

This is the third time I have read this book. I’m happy to say that it’s still one of my favourite books of all time.

There are things I don’t remember from my first two times reading the book. I didn’t remember the long passage after Catherine’s passing. I did remember it, but I didn’t remember it was so long (dare I say, a bit too long). I also found out I feel compassion for another character now, namely Hareton. I never noticed how truly messed up he was by his father and uncle. How he was held back in life.

I still like almost everything about this book. Emily Bronte’s writing is as beautiful to me as ever, the picture that is painted of the moors remains grim & mysterious and the tale is absolutely heart-breaking. I adore this novel!

Stars: 5 out of 5

Favourite: Émile Zola – Thérèse Raquin (1867)

Man, this book is deliciously dark! I didn’t know anything about the story when I bought it on Audible. When I read the preface, I felt interested but also turned off by this sentence: “Zola’s shocking tale dispassionately dissects the motivations of his characters–mere “human beasts”, who kill in order to satisfy their lust–and stands as a key manifesto of the French Naturalist movement, of which the author was the founding father.”

This sounds boring. The book, however, is not! I was interested from the moment the main characters are introduced. When Thérèse and her cousin are told to get together in a loveless marriage, and when she plots the death of her cousin/husband with her passionate lover.

This is all executed at the start of the book, but it doesn’t end there. Thérèse and Laurent are haunted by the death & the proceedings are enthralling throughout. It doesn’t go deep & boring like the preface might suggest. I would say this is a great classic novel to read!

Stars: 4 out of 5

Others

• L.M. Montgomery – Anne of Green Gables (1908)
  • 4 out of 5 stars because the story itself is quaint, but good. Ann (with an E) is an orphan girl who accidentally ends up with the family of Green Gables. Anne loves to daydream. She makes a mistake or two but never out of malice. It’s a cute and uplifting story.
• Charlotte Brontë – Jane Eyre (1847) 
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars because it’s an enjoyable story but it’s too long-winded. It doesn’t have to be 19 hours of listening time & 500 pages long. Sometimes one dialogue about the same thing continues for an hour. That’s tedious.
• Elizabeth Gaskell – North and South (1855)
  • 2.5 out of 5 stars because the description announced a Byronic hero, which I love. However, the main character Thornton certainly isn’t. People compare this book to Pride and Prejudice. I see where this comparison is coming from, only I’m not feeling it. There was a better connection Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth than there was between Thornton and Margaret.
• Sun Tzu – The Art of War (500 bC)
  • 2 out of 5 stars because the “instructions”/”story” I listened to only lasted one hour and in that hour the narrator throws a lot of phrases & definitions your way. For example, there are around five types of spies. These types all function a certain way. They are all formed a certain way, and that wraps up the chapter of spies. Next chapter…

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Next up: the Mystery, Thriller, Horror and Paranormal books I read in 2018!

What was your favourite historical fiction/contemporary/non-fiction novel of 2018? Please let me know in the comments!