Another year of Readers Imbibing Peril has drawn to an end. And as usual, I read far more than necessary to complete my Peril the First level of the challenge. There are a few days left, but I doubt I’ll get more in, so I thought I’d go ahead and wrap up now. In total, I read 12 books, if you count one I abandoned about 2/3rds of the way in. In order of how much I liked them, least to best:

12. The Witch Elm – Tana French (audio; abandoned)
11. The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein – Kiersten White
10. A Conspiracy in Belgravia – Sherry Thomas (audio)
9. Broken Things – Lauren Oliver
8. A Study in Scarlet Women – Sherry Thomas (audio)
7. The Hollow of Fear – Sherry Thomas (audio)
6. Lethal White – Robert Galbraith (audio)
5. The Muse of Nightmares – Laini Taylor (audio)
4. Lullaby – Jonathan Maberry (audio, short story)
3. The Death of Mrs. Westaway – Ruth Ware
2. Dreadful Company – Vivian Shaw (audio)
1. The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern (reread)

Culled from my original list: Maisie Dobbs, The Phantom Tree

Books that I didn’t receive from the library in time to read: A Pocketful of Crows

Other than my reread of The Night Circus, I didn’t really have any 100% standout books this year. I was expecting to, given that Lethal White and The Muse of Nightmares were two of my highly anticipated books of 2018, but neither of them overwhelmingly wowed me. Maybe it was the books I chose for RIP and maybe it was my reading mood. There were certainly good selections. Great selections. I loved Dreadful Company (follow up to Strange Practice), and The Death of Mrs Westaway was a nice surprise. I discovered a fun series and a few books that I didn’t know were out. Mostly good stuff all around, even without a 100% standout book.

How did everyone else enjoy RIP this year? What were your favorite books? Why am I drinking iced coffee in late October? (Because it’s 80+ degrees out right now, she says bitterly.)