The Best Books of 2018

It’s time for the Best Books of 2018 meaning… My Favorite Read of the Year and a few special Book Awards. Not all of these were published in 2018 but it’s the year I read them so that’s what we’re going with! I’m not going to go into to much detail though I’ll link to reviews but needless to say I would recommend them all!

Best Start to a Series

Skyward

Brandon Sanderson does YA sci-fi. My first Sanderson will not be my last.

Biggest Surprise Considering…

Honor Among Thieves

Granted I’ve loved leviathans ever since Farscape but considering how much I hate the cover and the title I did not expect to love this story so much. Great relationships, no romance (yet), awesome ship, friendships. Looking forward to the sequel.

Best New Character

Murderbot. I’ve read all four novellas in record time this year and am breathless awaiting the next story with my favorite cranky cupcake.

Best Classic

Anne of Green Gables

I went to Green Gables this year and despite the fact childhood went by so fast I will always count Anne among my favorites and I can’t believe it took so long to read it!

Best Ending to a Series…

I Hate Fairyland Volume 4

If my journeys with Gert and Larry through the supremely messed up Fairyland had to end it stayed true and really ended the only way it could have.

Lived up to the Hype

Vicious

The origins of Victor and Eli totally lived up to the massive hype this book has in the blogging community. It’s sequel didn’t do it for me but that’s a whole other story.

Best Poetry

Wild Embers

By no means am I an expert but I fell in love with Nikita Gills accessible and empowering poems this year!

Best Friendship

I loved Eleanor and Raymond’s friendship in this book and the sense that even though issues run deeper than we may ever imagine there’s always a chance to grow and heal. And relationships whether friendships or romances help but do not offer the cure.

The Best of the Best

Muse of Nightmares and Strange the Dreamer really struck me as the tale of the devastation that an endless occupation and enslavement wrought. The character of Minya might be one of my all times favorites. Her and Eril-Fane especially show the trauma and effects on two very different victims of that occupation. Taylor also seemingly opens up this world to create a shared universe with Daughter of Smoke and Bone and possible future books which I’m very much looking forward to.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows but I really loved this slice of life story even with its tragic mystery focused a lot on not just women but middle-aged and older women immigrants. It was both funny and heartbreaking all wrapped up in an English class turned erotic writing.

Because it’s also about one of my other favorite things- the power of stories to connect people of all ages, pasts and parts of life.

Sneaking in at the end of the year (though perhaps not surprisingly since The Bear in the Nightingale was on last years best list) the story of Vasya continues on this time crossing paths with her brother and sister, the Grand Prince and a power she can’t imagine. Not only did this sequel live up to the first one. It’s possible Arden is writing what could be a favorite romance.

And coming from me that’s a big deal.

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo might be one of the most hyped books I’ve ever read and I couldn’t believe it when it lived up to the hype. This is the story of aging starlet Evelyn Hugo’s rise through Hollywood and the one true love that sustained through it all.

Heart-breaking and beautiful with a twist I did not see coming.

The Loneliest Girl in the Universe was another one I expected something completely different out of so when I got one of the best space/survival stories I’ve ever read was the best of surprises. Romy Silvers is not only a great character James just completely nails the isolation and the helplessness and puts us in her place.

You are trapped with a group of former friends between life and death. All of you have secrets and after a set amount of time you will have to vote. Only one of you can live and until you decide the world keeps resetting itself.

It’s an insanity fear inducing nightmare come true. But it’s also fascinating, fast moving, heart-breaking and poetic and I felt for everyone by the end. Neverworld Wake was Marisha Pessl’s first YA foray and, I hope, not her last.

Matt Haig was probably the author I read the most this year but The Humans about an alien who comes to Earth to do what it takes to stop us from getting the technology for space travel. According to his alien people- we aren’t good enough.

In fact he finds us quiet gross. What are noses?

But dogs, music and poetry make our case in this funny and sweet book that’s really about the good of humanity.

Madeline Miller’s Circe turned out to be my favorite of the year. The journey of a great female character. Mythological retellings. Fantastic cameos. The fate of Odysseys and the relationships Circe develops and that ending! I mean this one was always going to appeal to me but Miller’s writing just knocked the book out of the park.