The first book I read in 2018 was Home from the Vinyl Cafe by Canadian Stuart McLean, which made me laugh very much, and the last was Life after Life by the British Kate Atkinson, which impressed me no end.
To amuse myself, I will now colour-code these books by category:
Blue for novels/fiction in English.
Red for works in Polish.
Black for non-fiction.
The books I wrote about for publications are in bold.
Life after Life (Kate Atkinson, great book, an astonishingly good writer)
The Tiger in the Smoke (Allingham, just the slightest bit overwritten for my tastes but very good)
Tradition & Sanity (Kwasniewski, see LSN review): Catholic interest
Podróż Wędrowca do świtu (C.S. Lewis, trans. into Polish by Andrzej Polkowski)
Goodbye, Things (Sasaki, inspiring): Minimalism
Horace and Me (H. Eyres, moving but apostate): Classics
A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy (W. Irvine, quite fun if ultimately atheist): Philosophy
Beowulf the Dragonslayer (R. Sutcliffe, satisfyingly Anglo-Saxon in its rhythms)
The Lovely Bones (A. Sebold, v. good)
A Long Way Down (N. Hornsby, v. good)
The French Country Table (Washburn, better read than a cheap romance novel): Cooking
A Guide to the Stock Market: How the [UK] Stock Market Works (Croft, off-putting, class-conscious, surely out of date & I couldn't finish it): Money
The Geeks Guide to the Writing Life (Vanderslice, interesting): Writing
Self-Sufficiency: Hen Keeping (Hatcher, useful): Hens
Human Croquet (Atkinson, genius)
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (Amy Chua, gripping, painful, frightening, made me cry): Biography/Pedagogy
The Zero Waste Home (Bea Johnson, inspiring): Stewardship
The Abolition of Woman: How Radical Feminism is Betraying Women (Nash, brilliant, see LSN interview): Women/Catholic Interest
The urban hen: a practical guide to keeping poultry (Paul Peacock): Hens
Family guide to keeping chickens (Anne Perdeaux): Hens
Make your own beer and cider (Paul Peacock): Cider
Booze for free: the definitive guide to homebrew (Andy Hamilton): Cider
Eat Move Sleep (Tim Rath, inspiring): Health
Grow your own vegetables (interesting): Gardening
French Women Don't Get Facelifts (shallow): Health
Murder is Easy (Christie, good--I guessed the murderer for first time)
Problem at Pollensa Bay and Other Stories (Christie, good)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Haddon, brilliant)
Miss Moneypenny's Guide to financially independent women (McGregor, ok but blogs are better): Money
Low Cost Living (J. Harrison, interesting): Minimalism
Książę Kaspian (C.S. Lewis, trans. into Polish by Andrzej Polkowski
Escape Everything (Wringham, inspiring & fun): Minimalism
The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Barbery; trans, Anderson, brilliant)
Marrying Off Mother (G. Durrell, dirty and disappointing)
The Sleep Revolution (A. Huffington, fun): Health
Authentic Happiness (Seligman, some use, ultimately atheist): Pop Philosophy
Eat that Frog (Tracy, v. helpful): Work Skills
Mad about the House (Watson-Smyth, informative & enjoyable): Home Design
Happy by Design (V. Harrison, excellent): Home Design
Girl's Guide to Decorating (A. Ahern, inspiring): Home Design
Patios & Courtyards (Royal Hortic. Soc., interesting): Gardening
Love Your Garden (A. Titchmarsh, interesting): Gardening
Poland: A History (A. Zamoyski, sweeping): History
Stamboul Train (G. Greene, sad)
Multilingualism: a Very Short Introduction (Maher, tooth-achingly PC): Languages
Crewe Train (R. Macaulay, funny & sad)
The Outcast (Sutcliff, master class on drama)
The Silver Branch (Sutcliff, brilliant)
Amore and Amaretti (Unintentionally but desperately sad): Biography
Better than Fiction 2: True Adventures from 30 Great Fiction Writers (Lonely Planet, v. good): Travel
The World My Wilderness (R. Macaulay, excellent)
Third Girl (Agatha Christie, genius at puzzles)
We Can't All be Astronauts (Clare, made me grateful for own lot): Writing
Jane of Lantern Hill (Montgomery, wonderful)
The Truth is Out There: Brendan and Erk in Exile, Vol 1 (Amadeus, good): Catholic interest
Why We are Catholic (Horn, very good; see LSN reflection): Catholic interest
Siostrzeniec Czarodzieja (C.S. Lewis, trans. into Polish by Andrzej Polkowski; see LSN reflection)
12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos (J. Peterson, awesome; see CWR review): Pop philosophy
A Short Guide to a Long Life (Agus, amusing pop medicine): Health
Bertrand Russell's The Conquest of Happiness (Phillips, not Russel, so disappointing): Pop philosophy
The Nursing Home Murder (N. Marsh, dull)
Każdy dzień z Jezusem "Each day with Jesus"
Home From the Vinyl Cafe (S McLean, laughed until I cried)
An amusing footnote to this year of reading is that Jordan Peterson's team felt my CWR review of his book worth noting in its Wikipedia entry. I suspect it was my perhaps unexpected reference to Fr. Bernard Lonergan, S.J.
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