Acknowledgments: January 2018

Every month I wrangle up some of the more interesting things around the blogosphere and present them to you in a neat and tidy package. Like sports highlights, or the mall.

---

I’ve planned out most of my reading for 2018. This is a small sample, and you can find the rest on my #50BookPledge page (below).

December and January are largely comprised of 2017 wrap-ups and 2018 previews. I’m going to do my best to highlight some other great articles here (although there are a few great 2018 previews that I would like to share, but I’ll save that for the end).

I find that I’m gravitating towards the positive to start the new year. The narrative of “last year sucked, this year probably won’t be any better” is not only trite, but it’s negative. I don’t really have time for it anymore. Yeah, Trump is a monster. Hollywood is a an absolute mess. Lots of people hated The Last Jedi.

Who. Cares.

Choose to see the good things in 2018. I’m not saying ignore the bad, but do yourself a favour and just try to at least acknowledge the good.

Need some help? Let’s kick off this month’s Acknowledgments with a list of the 99 Best Things that happened in 2017.

Around the Web

⇒ This year, I’m doing the #50BookPledge for the first time. Well, at least it’s the first time I’m doing it officially. I set a goal of 50 books every year on Goodreads, but hopefully I’ll smash it this year after a bit of a down year in 2017. Check out all the reading I have planned (so far) on my Shelf. [50 Book Pledge]

⇒ Ever wonder why teens love dystopia so much? NPR has a theory. [NPR]

⇒ Do you remember an article from a few years ago, about a quick way to create an intimate connection with someone? Mandy Len Catron wrote it, and it was how you are supposed to ask a series of increasingly personal questions to each other and answer them as honestly as you can. Then you end by staring into each other’s eyes for 4 minutes. Apparently it works, and she’s expanded on it in her new book How to Fall in Love With Anybody. [CBC]

⇒ Have your heard about The Power? It’s a book in which women develop a power that is physically threatening to men, and it changes everything. Cool concept. Preview of it here. [NPR]

⇒ Do you judge books by the cover? (Don’t lie, everyone does it.) Here are the most beautiful book covers of 2017. [BuzzFeed]

⇒ This is a really interesting piece about how the Amazon Kindle failed to revolutionize books (or kill print sales). And it’s not going to change anything in the next 10 years, either. [The New Republic]

⇒ Okay, here’s a little negativity, but negative reviews are almost always fun. The most scathing reviews of 2017. [LitHub]

⇒ This dude reads the same book every single year, and has done so for the past 37 years. Why? [CBC]

⇒ Early contender for Worst Tweet of 2018. [Twitter]

⇒ What a weird year for books. No new book sold more than a million copies, and yet print sales were up 1.7%. Sales have gone up by nearly 11% since 2013. [Publisher’s Weekly]

⇒ Here you go: The Globe’s Most Anticipated Books of the First Half of 2018. I can’t lie. I love these articles. [Globe & Mail]

⇒ Here’s the Chicago Review of Books’ 2018 preview. [Chicago Review of Books]

⇒ And finally, how not to read best-of books lists. [BookRiot]

On the Blogs

⇒ Anastasia wrote about her 2017 in Books in a really cool way. I thought it was a refreshing take on the year-end wrap up we all like to do. [Read and Survive]

⇒ Naomi covered her Best Books of the Year, and also her Best Atlantic Canadian Books of the Year, too. Classic overachiever, Naomi. What are you hiding… [Consumed By Ink]

⇒ Adam at the Roofbeam Reader is focusing on one word throughout 2018. Interesting project. [Roofbeam Reader]

⇒ Clare, meanwhile, is focusing on the little engine that almost could at the 2017 Booker Awards: Elmet. [A Little Blog of Books]

⇒ Hannah beat me to the punch and wrote about one of 2018’s most anticipated reads: Everything Here Is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee. I’m happy to see that she really liked it. Check it out. [I Have Thoughts On Books]

⇒ It’s January which means it’s Challenge time! We all love them, and simultaneously hate them (at least we will later). Kristilyn is getting Back to the Classics this year. [Reading in Winter]

⇒ THIS is an overview post. Not only did Anne rhyme off all 77 books she read this year, but she linked them all to reviews. Well done. [I’ve Read This]

⇒ The always wonderful Carolyn gives us some of her recommendations from 2017. She’s quieter on the blog these days, so let’s all peer pressure her into making a big return this year. (Kidding. But not really.) [Rosemary and Reading Glasses]

⇒ Emma went a different route for her wrap-up. She did it in survey form, which was refreshing. This post is terrific. [The Terror of Knowing]

⇒ Read Juliana’s wrap-up because she needs more fans and she’s great and you might not follow her and that’s stupid because again her blog’s really good. [Wild Places]

⇒ Months later, I’m just starting to acknowledge that War & Peace exists again (after Laura’s Readalong earlier in 2017). Jane’s piece on the book is the first thing I’ve read about it since. If anyone is planning on tackling the book in 2018, Jane’s piece is a nice intro for you. [Beyond Eden Rock]

⇒ Lily wrote about Catcher in the Rye, a book from my 2018 TBR Challenge. She’s so smart it’s almost annoying. Keep it up, Lily. The world needs more smart blogs. [Editing Advantage]

---

What did I miss? If you’ve read something interesting or fun or maybe even stupid lately, let us know in the comments! Also, I’m on the hunt for good blogs, so feel free to shout out your friends.