**Today we are joined by Fresh Fiction Reviewer Danielle
Dresser and what she’s noticed about her reading trends over the last year.**
Between reviewing for Fresh Fiction, belonging to a book
club, and being an all around avid reader, I’ve read a LOT of books this year. It’s the time of
year when bloggers, reviewers, and publications are releasing their “Best Books” of the year
lists, and while I don’t always think it’s super fair to do that (I’m too indecisive to be so
definitive), I did notice some things about my 100+ books read this year…
I read almost exclusively female authors. Call me
biased or my little way of sticking it to the patriarchy, but aside from a few books in my book
club, over 90% of the books I read were by women/female-identifying authors. It wasn’t totally
on purpose, but when I noticed this over the summer, I made an extra effort to make sure I
was reading books by women. A lot of the books I review for Fresh Fiction are romance novels,
which is a genre mostly written by and for women, and I think that’s pretty bad-ass. It also
leaves a ton of room for this genre to be scrutinized, written off as frivolous, and portrayed as
only being read by bored housewives or spinsters with too many cats (to be fair: some may
consider me a housewife and I have two cats). While thinking over my mostly female reading
list, I’ve realized that women write books of all shapes, sizes, genres, styles, and on and on
and on. No two books I’ve read this year have been the same, and I think female voices are
among the strongest out there to be read widely by anyone, preconceived notions aside.
2019 Goal:
Continue to read mostly women, but double and triple check that I’m intersectional in my
choices: reading more LGBTQAI+ authors, different races and ethnicities, and adding a cool
dude to the mix here and there.
I didn’t read nearly enough nonfiction. I’ve always gravitated toward fiction; there’s
definitely a sense of escape and finding something new in the unknown, but I’m also of the
camp who believes that there’s truth in fiction, and it shows us more about our realities than
we may know. That being said, I only read THREE nonfiction books in 2018, and they were all
memoir/biographies! I read a lot of historical fiction, a lot of which was based on real people or
events, so it should be relatively simple to expand my reading horizons into more types of
nonfiction. I’m currently reading Michelle Obama’s Becoming, which may lead to me
reading one of the Obama White House staffer books. Easier said than done, though!
2019 Goal:
figure out the type of nonfiction that works for me. Maybe I really just am a biography/memoir
reader, but perhaps more cultural commentary, niche exposés, and whatever else looks
interesting.
I judge books by their covers. I know, I know… I’m not supposed to! But look at a few
of my favorite covers from this year - they’re so pretty! Book cover design is a serious aspect
of the publishing process, and if I like what I see at a quick glance, I’m more inclined to pick it
up.
2019 Goal: Keep up with the pretty covers, LOL!
Next
Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton
The
Proposal by Jasmine Guillory
The
Summer Wives by Beatriz Williams
All
the Ever Afters by Danielle Teller
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon
What have you noticed about your 2018 reading trends? Since there are a few more
weeks left in 2018, maybe I’ll get a jump start on my 2019
reading goals!
**Later in December, the Fresh Fiction reviewers will be sharing some of our Favorite
Reads of 2018. We hope you’ll check them out, and share some of yours, as well!**
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