As I’ve shared with you all before, I’m a slow reader (no shame here!) so the fact that I was able to read more titles than the ones I selected for My Lit Box is no small feat. My 2018 tally was 31 books, 27 of them by writers of color, 27 of them by women writers, 5 of them poetry, 1 non-fiction (I have to do better here), all of them worth it (the ones that weren’t amazing I didn’t even finish and we won’t even talk about those). Below I’ll list all the books I read this year with a few blurbs about the ones that stood out to me the most. So without further ado, let’s get into my 2018 reads!
Adult Fiction/Non-Fiction
An American Marriage by Tayari Jones – When Oprah says
My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite – I was a little apprehensive going into this book because the title is a bit on the nose, but there was more to this novel that left me wanting to know more by the end. Not only do you have this imbalanced relationship between sisters but you learn pieces of their pasts that helped shape the relationship they have with one another. This book is a quick read that is funny in some parts, sad in others, but good all around
A River of Stars | An American Marriage | Heads of the Colored People: Stories | The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore | My Sister, the Serial Killer | North of Dawn | Praise Song for the Butterflies | Silver Sparrow | Speak No Evil | The Kinship of Secrets | The Proposal | The Storm | Welcome to Lagos | Well-Read Black Girl: Finding Our Stories, Discovering Ourselves
Young Adult Fiction
Monday’s Not Coming by Tiffany D. Jackson – Have you ever read a book that stuck with you long after the last page? Monday’s Not Coming was that book for me. If you’ve read her debut novel, Allegedly, you know that Tiffany D Jackson doesn’t shy away from the heavy topics. In Monday’s Not Coming, she tackles the issue of Black girls going missing and how no one seems to care but there’s a twist to this story that I won’t ruin for you. You’ll just have to read it for yourself.
More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera – I actually read this book before Monday’s Not Coming and when I was done I was intrigued by the similarities I was able to draw between the two stories. In More Happy Than Not you have someone trying their hardest to forget then wishing only to remember. I am a fan of Adam Silvera’s imaginative storytelling and this book sealed the deal for me.
American Street | The Poet X | Finding Yvonne | Monday’s Not Coming | This Is What It Feels Like | From Twinkle, With Love | Darius the Great Is Not Okay | More Happy Than Not | Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire | Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince | Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix | Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Poetry
Corazon & Tesoro by Yesika Salgado – Yesika is one of those writers where you swear she lives inside your head and your heart because everything is so damn relatable. From
Dear Ancestors | Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth | Corazon | Tesoro | Black Girl Magic: A Poem
So there you have it, my 2018 reads! My goal each year is to always read a few more books than I did the previous year so my 2019 goal is 35 books with at least 5 of them being non-fiction titles. Can I do it? I think so! What are your 2019 reading goals? Share them with me in the comments below!
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