Holiday Post 2018: Books and Reading

Welcome to the third in my series of my 2018 holiday posts. Today we are looking at books and reading. This is where I share some book lists to give you ideas for gifts as well as for reading in 2019. This year I think pickings were a bit slim compared to previous years when it comes to good book lists. Still, I think we got a good sampling. I'll add some comments, and where I can, I will highlight books from these lists I may have read already.

A Christmas tree made out of books, because you know in some library somewhere there is one  of these.

Some general lists

A sampling of general lists from newspapers, magazines, websites, etc.

• The New York Times has their annual 100 Notable Books. A lot of this list is the usual commercial stuff that as a reader I am usually not interested in. However, as a librarian, I need to be aware of this kind of books and at least read the reviews. From the list, I have read Homer's The Odyssey (it gets mentioned because there is yet another translation out. If I recall, the big deal is that a woman did the translation this time). Boom Town, a history of Oklahoma City, sounds interesting, and I may add it to my TBR list down the road. The Darkening Age, which  looks at how Christians basically destroyed the classical world (all that whiny stuff about Christians getting persecuted way overblown. Once they got in power, Christians were serious assholes to anyone  not Christian) also sounds like a possibility for my TBR list. 
• The Washington Post has their best books of 2018. You may find some overlap with the NYT list. 
• The New Statesman also has their best books of 2018. They asked some authors to give their picks. 
• Signature offers "22 Book Gifts for Everyone on Your List." Everyone? Really? They do not know what kind of crazy psychos I have on my list, including a few who are barely literate. Just saying. From this list, Contact High: a Visual History of Hip Hop looks like a good addition to my TBR list.
• The Guardian also did the ask some authors thing to compile their best books of 2018.
• BookNet Canada offers their 2018 list of bestselling books. From this list, I have The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck on my TBR. On a lighter note, and not on this list, I did read The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F*ck.
• Entertainment Weekly offers their year in books. 
• GQ offers their 17 Best Books of 2018.
• LitHub goes all out and offers "The Ultimate Best Books of 2018 List." 
• For our friends who read in Spanish, El País has published their list of top 50 books published in Spain. The list is in two parts: Books 1-30 and Books 31-50.
• World Literature Today has 75 Notable Translations for the year. 
• Open Letters Review also offers a list of best books in translation.

Specific Topics Lists

It seems there is a list for just about every other reader out there. Let's look at a few of them.

• For entrepreneurs, top business books via Inc. 
• To make you a better person, also via Inc.
• For children of feminists who want to smash the patriarchy, via Ms. Magazine.
• Books for activists, via Read It Forward.
• Texas books for Texans, via Texas Observer.
• For art lovers, here are art books via the New York Times. 
• Some espionage fiction via Crime Reads.
• Horror? Becky has you covered.
• Some erotic fiction? Book Riot made a nice list of 50 Must Reads. 
• For masochists, Open Letters Review has the worst fiction and the worst nonfiction of the year.

Graphic Novels and Comics

• The Comics Beat has their best comics of 2018. There are some items here that look interesting, and I will add them to my TBR list.
• The Advocate has the best LGBTQ graphic novels for 2018.

Food and drink

• Book Riot has a list of best food books for 2018.
• Grub Street has their list of best cookbooks for 2018.
• The New York Times has the best baking cookbooks of the year.

Bookish things and trivia

• Via LitHub, the best book covers.  This is according to some book cover designers.