Favorite Books of 2018

Once again it's a baker's dozen, and I've cheated a little by putting two similar books by the same author as one listing. C'mon, it's Alistair Cooke...

 Christmas: A Biography, Judith Flanders
The history of Christmas by British historian Flanders.

 Red, White, and Who: The Story of Doctor Who in America, Steven Warren Hill, Jennifer Adams Kelley, Nicholas Seidler, and Robert Warnock, with Janine Fennick and John Lavalie
Hefty trade paperback with everything you ever wanted to know about Who broadcasts, fandom, etc. in the U.S. If you've been an American Who fan since way back when, this is the book for you.

 Becoming Madeleine, Charlotte Jones Volkis and Léna Roy
Madeleine L'Engle's granddaughters present a children's version of her biography, with rare photos and facsimiles of Madeleine's art and diaries. ::swooon::

 To Die But Once, Jacqueline Winspear
The latest (so far) Maisie Dobbs mystery novel, now set in the years before World War II.

 One Man's America, Alistair Cooke & Talk About America, Alistair Cooke
Published, printed essays from Cooke's regular BBC radio series "Letter from America," which ran from the 1940s until his death.

 Space Helmet for a Cow 2: The Mad, True Story of Doctor Who, Paul Kirkley
Sequel to Space Helmet for a Cow (surprise!), but this time from the new series. More snark, more fun.

 The Whole Art of Detection, Lyndsay Faye
Incredibly good volume of Sherlock Holmes pastiches by Faye. She has the voices down pat.

 The Book, Keith Houston
A book about...books (by the same guy who gave you the book about punctuation).

 America and the Great War, Margaret E. Wagner
Text and photos/posters/advertisements/propaganda in one seductive volume.

 The World of All Souls, Deborah Harkness, Claire Baldwin, Lisa Halttunen, and Jill Hough, with illustrations by Colleen Madden
For fans of Diana Bishop and Matthew Clermont, a book about their universe, including historical research used for sources, plus chapters that were edited from the trilogy, accompanied by wonderful ink illustrations.

 The Prisoner in the Castle: A Maggie Hope Mystery, Susan Elia MacNeal
American-raised cryptographer turned British spy, Maggie knows too much, and is confined to an island with others in similar straits—until it all goes Agatha Christie.

 On Trails, Robert Moor
Super nature text about trails and how they are formed, while Moor walks some of the most famous trails in the world.

 The Morville Hours, Katherine Swift
Beautifully written chronicle, based on a medieval book of hours, of Swift's restoration of an estate's gardens.

With an honorable mention to Mary Mason Campbell's The New England Butt'ry Shelf Almanac. I loved Campbell's essays in this book and wish there were a book of more of them.