I read 31 books in 2018(not all books pictured), 7 books more than I did in 2017 but 4 books less than my target of 35 books. I love reading. It’s a form of escape. It’s a way to acquire vast knowledge and information. It’s also a way to grow and be a better version of yourself.

I joined a book club; @bookhangout in 2018, which brought me closer to my reading target and also connected me to a community of people who love to read, share knowledge and impact the lives of people around them. I read different types of books in 2018; fiction, non-fiction, mind healing, self-help, education and even poetry.

Half of the books I read were hardcover books while the other half were e-books. I must admit that I spent a longer time reading the e-books and this is one of the reasons I didn’t meet up with my target. As much as I love reading, I had never bought a hardcover book in my adult life that was not solely for school/education purposes until last year. I look forward to buying more books this year and adding them to my collection. I probably need to get a book shelf in my room first though.

Below are the thirty-one books I read in 2018 in order of how I read them;

1. Think Big – Donald Trump & Bill Zanker

2. Big Little Lies – Liane Moriarty

3. Like A Virgin – Richard Branson

4. The Early Muslim Women – Dr Abdel-Hamid Eliwa

5. Foreign gods, inc – Okey Ndibe

6. Sleeping With Strangers – Eric Jerome Dickey

7. The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck – Mark Manson

8. How To Be Free – Joe Blow

9. The Rose That Grew From Concrete -Tupac Shakur

10. So Good They Can’t Ignore You- why skills trump passion in the quest for work you love – Cal Newport

11. Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi

12. Who Moved My Cheese – Dr Spencer Johnson

13. Born A Crime – Trevor Noah

14. Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff – Richard Carlson

15. A Modern Introduction To Islam – Abdur-Raheem Shittu

16. The Four Agreements- Don Miguel Ruiz

17. The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle

18. Girl Code: unlocking the secrets to success, sanity and happiness for the female entrepreneur – Cara Alwill Leyba

19. We’re Gonna Need More Wine – Gabrielle Union

20. The Thing Around Your Neck – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

21. An Abundance of Scorpions- Hadiza Isma El-Rufai

22. The Last Black Unicorn – Tiffany Haddish

23. Baby Daddy – Kendall Ryan

24. You Don’t Know Me – Mandy Lee

25. F**k It Do What You Love – John C. Parkin

26. Manuscripts Found In Accra – Paulo Coelho

27. The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari – Robin S. Sharma

28. Think and Grow Rich – Napoleon Hill

29. Becoming – Michelle Obama

30. Goals – Brian Tracy

31. Under The Udala Trees – Chinelo Okparanta

Every book I read left something with me and some particularly more than others. I was intentional about reading some of these books for example; Becoming & Girl Code. Becoming is a book I think everyone should read; it’s not a book for women, it’s a book for everybody. It’s a story of growth, encouragement, support, struggle, perseverance, ambition and strength. Most importantly, it’s also a story about love. Don’t you want to get to know The Obama’s better?

I read some books for fun and some purely out of curiosity too. I’m genuinely happy about the mind healing books I read and I hope to read more this year. I cannot begin to share what I learnt from every book with you but you have my list to research and most importantly read too.

I wrote blogposts about four of them during the year and I have shared the links below;

Think Big

10 Ancient Rituals of Radiant Living

BOOKS| 30 Things I learnt From Girl Code

Book Review|Children of Blood and Bone – Tomi Adeyemi

As an aspiring author, I was delighted to read the first published books from some Nigerian authors and I hope to do more this year. My goal is to read 50 books this year and come back next year to share the list of the amazing books I read. I also want to try to read more than one book at a time. Barack Obama does it, I can do it too.

Have you read any book(s) on my 2018 reading list?

Do you have reading goals for the year?

Thanks for reading.

Mariam Shittu