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With the end of June nearly here and half the year already over, it’s a good time to look back at the best of books for 2018…so far. Despite the fact that I’ve mused on too many books I either DNF’d or didn’t really love, when looking back I find that 2018 books have also provided a lot of pleasure and a rich variety of stories. For that I’m truly thankful!
Initially, I planned on doing ten books, but had a four way tie for that last slot. Instead, today I’m sharing the nine books that for me clearly rose above all others in the first half of 2018. (In order of publication date and nothing more!)
Tell Me More by Kelly Corrigan
Random House (1/9/18) – 240 pages
(Full Review)
Highlights:
– Often laugh-out-loud funny
– Memoir of life lessons we all can learn from
– A book with so much heart, mine broke a little
Everything Here is Beautiful by Mira T. Lee
Pamela Dorman Books (1/16/18) – 368 pages
(Full Review)
Highlights:
– Vivid characters brought to life with great humanity
– A story of the unbreakable bond between sisters
– Mental illness, and how it affects relationships
The Gunners by Rebecca Kauffman
Counterpoint Press (3/20/18) – 224 pages
(Full Review)
Highlights:
– Dual timelines seamlessly woven together
– Story of a group of friends, as children and adults
– Beautiful, illustrative writing
The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer
Riverhead Books (4/3/18) – 464 pages
(Full Review)
Highlights:
– Story of a powerful mentor/mentee relationship
– Relevant themes for the feminist climate of today
– Secondary characters with their own powerful stories
Circe by Madeline Miller
Little, Brown & Company (4/10/18) – 385 pages
(Full Review)
Highlights:
– Classic story (The Odyssey) reimagined
– Woman facing her fears and finding her power
– Reads like a soap opera of the gods
Tin Man by Sarah Winman
G.P. Putnam’s Sons (5/10/18) – 224 pages
(Full Review)
Highlights
– Touching, lifelong friendship between two men who meet as boys
– Dual narrators bring this story to life
– Truly gorgeous writing
Us Against You byFredrik Backman
Atria Books (6/5/18) – 448 pages
(Full Review coming on Thursday)
Highlights:
– Returning to Beartown was like going home
– Backman’s storytelling – like no other, truly captivating
– Characters thoroughly imbued with humanity
The Book of Essie by Meghan MacLean Weir
Knopf (6/12/18) – 336 pages
(Full Review coming next week)
Highlights:
– A story where you like the main characters – a lot
– Three narratives beautifully woven together
– One SMART central character in Essie
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
Viking (6/19/18) – 432 pages
(Full Review)
Highlights:
– Vivid characters you come to care about
– Accurate historical telling of the AIDS crisis in the 80’s
– Writing that can take your breath away
What are some of your favorite books of 2018 (so far)?
Disclaimer: There are Amazon Associate links contained in this post.
Not surprisingly, we have some overlap! And there are a few on here that didn’t work as well for me…Circe, Tin Man, and The Gunners…proof that we are not exactly carbon copies of each other after all?!
I do think, more so than last year, I have more winners that will def make my December list.
I also feel like the majority of my best books for the year I’ve already read. My fall reading is looking pretty skimpy so far.
I haven’t read any of these yet, but I’m very interesting in The Book of Essie. Heard lots of good things about it, can’t wait for your review!
Next week, Angela!
I’ve read some good books this year but nothing published this year that spells G-R-E-A-T to me. Educated perhaps. My backlist reading provided my best reads (American Fire, Mystic River, A History of Loneliness, Red Notice).
But Us Against You is sitting on my table and is next up.
I really considered Educated for this list. It was among the books tied for that last slot. Hope Us Against You works for you. My review is tomorrow.
Lots of great ones here–we’ll have some overlap 🙂 There are a number that I still want to read: Tin Man, The Great Believers, and Us Against You for sure. I love seeing how many of these halfway lists make the final best-of lists at the end of the year.
I’m looking forward to seeing your list, Allison and I’m not surprised that we have some overlap.
Great list! We have some overlap too – I just finished Tin Man and it’s a new addition to my “best of” list. Tell Me More, Circe, and Everything Is Beautiful were all terrific reads. I’m not as big a fan of the Backman book as many others but the rest are on my tbr list!
I’m so happy to find another fan of Tin Man. I feel like it’s an underrated book.
Next up for me is The Book of Essie, then The Great Believers. I enjoyed The Gunners and I read Us Against You didn’t like it as well as the original but that sometimes happens with sequels. I also picked up Tell Me More today so I have a lot of great books to read I hope!
You do have a lot of great reading coming up, Susan. Lucky you!
Three of my favorites that I read this year: Desperate Girls-Laura Griffin, Overkill-Ted Bell & The Final Six by Alexandra Monir!!
Thanks for sharing. I’ll need to check those out next time I’m ready for a mystery/thriller.
Glad to see Circe in the list. I loved it too. I need to read Book of Essie soon. It has been getting rave reviews. I am currently reading The Female Persuasion and loving it.
Like you, I read The Song of Achilles after finishing Circe because I loved Circe so much. Achilles was just as wonderful for me. Pure reading pleasure. Loved you much more thorough list!
Great selection, will definitely check them out, esp Essie because your review this week made me so excited to read it!!
I think you’ll really enjoy Essie. She’s a determined, intelligent, scheming girl!
I haven’t read any of those novels! Thank you for the recs!
My favorites so far are Antti Tuomainen’s The Man Who Died, Lucy V. Hay’s Do No Harm, Killed by Thomas Enger, Dying Truth by Angela Marsons… I could go on forever, so many amazing novels are around!
And, aren’t we lucky to be able to say that!
Loved Us Against You too. And really liked Circe too. I’m now convinced to read Female Persuasion – it just looked like everyone was pushing it, but I wasn’t sure it was any good.
I think The Female Persuasion is definitely worth a try, Tanya.
I looked at my reading tracker and realized that I have had a solid amount of 4 to 5 star books for the year so far, so thanks for helping remind me of them!
I agree with several of yours and would add: Song of a Captive Bird and Anatomy of a Miracle.
I really debated about having Anatomy of a Miracle on this list. It is a book that really stays with you.
Yours is a good list! I tend to read my favorites towards the end of the year. But so far I have liked : Eleanor Oliphant, Tangerine, and An American Marriage. Still I think the golden novel for the year awaits me. ha. 🙂
Let me know when you find that golden novel! I’m always on the hunt.
So many books here that I’m planning to read, so I’m glad to see they made it on your “Best of” list! I have Us Against You literally sitting about 3 feet from me right now, but I can’t start it until I’ve finished I Was Anastasia first (ah, the #bookwormproblem of the library deadlines deciding what I need to read first! ha ha)
Bookworm problems are good to have! I think you’ll love Us Against You.
You’ve got a lot of books on here I want to read: Circe, Everything Is Beautiful, Tin Man. I really enjoyed Tell Me More and want to read more books about how we communicate.
Circe is so fun. I really couldn’t put it down. After I finished I went back and read Miller’s first book, Song of Achilles.
All of these except Tin Man are on my TBR list. I’ve already read Tin Man and really liked it. Great list! I hope you find more good books in the second half of the year.