On the up side, I went to loads of book events, including three festivals, met lots of awesome people and started this here little blog. That in turn introduced me to a fabulous community of book bloggers, who have been supportive and encouraging. I did my first paid editing work, started using Instagram, did my first blog tours and was a character in a book!
But on the down side, I've had a couple of health issues, both mental and physical. Nothing too serious, but there were some difficult periods during the year, including the last two months, where my reading and the blog suffered. But with some counselling, sleep, medication and self care, I'm much improved in all areas, and feeling positive going into the new year.
I didn't meet my Goodreads target of 100 books, which surprised me, so next year I'm aiming to keep better records, in case that had something to do with it. And I'm hanging my head in shame as I 'be read none of the twelve books in my TBC (THE Book Club on Facebook) 2018 challenge! None. Not one. Pathetic. Maybe I'll get a wooden spoon or something! So I'm carrying those forward to read in 2019, along with those for the new challenge, when it's set.
As a result of all that, I'm not going to do a Top 10 or Best Of list. Instead I'm going to share some of the books I have enjoyed this year, just in the order they appeared on the blog. You can find my original posts, including reviews, by clicking on the titles.
1. The Pursuit of Ordinary by Nigel Jay Cooper
2. End Game by Matt Johnson
3. Presumed Dead by Mason Cross
4. Unbroken by Madeleine Black
5. Savage Lies by Peter Boland
6. The After Wife by Cass Hunter
There are only seven standout books listed here but there were so many. I couldn't pick a favourite Keith Nixon book - I think I've read seven this year. Same with David Blake and Sarah Dahl (although the numbers are smaller here). Another fab thing was that I discovered loads of new (to me) authors - three of the seven highlighted above fall into that category. I also loved Thirteen by Steve Cavanagh and The Suffering of Strangers by Caro Ramsay, but as these are still to be reviewed, they will feature in next year's selection. There wasn't enough time to read even a fraction of what I wanted to read, so some of this year's crackers are on next year's list - more on that tomorrow - so I 'm hoping my reading mojo keeps up!
I was lucky enough to go to heaps of fabulous book related events and cosy up to some gorgeous, talented people. One big highlight of my year is the Bloody Scotland Crime Writing Festival, held in Stirling in September. You can find my post about it here, and a selection of my pictures are below.
The Sunday after Bloody Scotland, I spent a lovely afternoon at the four events which closed the Tidelines Book Festival in Irvine. My wee photo montage is below and the review is here.
My final festival of the year was The Wee Crime Festival in Grantown-On-Spey in November. Organised by Majory (who is a wee dynamite) of The Bookmark bookshop, this is a smaller scale, more intimate festival. This was my first year there and I will definitely be back. Unfortunately, as my health took a bit of a nosedive on my return, there isn't a post about it, but I do have a montage of pics.
You might notice some pics of the same folks dressed up in all three montages. This is because one of the Carry On Sleuthing plays by Douglas Skelton was performed at each festival! So much fun.
I also went to a couple of sessions at the Aye Write festival in Glasgow in March (in the days before the blog), and several book launches and different events, and basically just had the best time! Looking forward to more of the same in 2019!
Thank you so much for supporting my wee blog, it means loads to me - especially as it's so new and I 'm still finding my feet with it. . And be sure to sign up to follow it, so you don't miss anything.
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