Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Artsy Reader Girl. This week it’s all about our favourite books of the past year. I read 72 books this year which was great, but it did make it a bit difficult to narrow down by favourites. I managed it though and, in no particular order, here are ten of the best books I read in 2018.
The Garden of Evening Mists by Tan Twan Eng
I found The Garden of Evening Mists to be a beautiful story about war, forgiveness and growth.
The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed
I don’t think I read as much YA in 2018 compared to previous years but what I YA I did read was generally pretty good. The Nowhere Girls was the best that I read. It was funny, inspiring and I loved all the main girls and what they set out to do.
The Power by Naomi Alderman
I finally read The Power and I found it compelling and fascinating. It’s hard to read at times but that made it even more affecting.
The Three Musketeers by Alexadre Dumas
I’m so happy I’ve now read this classic. It was a great adventure story with interesting characters and it was a lot of fun.
Kartography by Kamila Shamsie
Events in Kartography were affected by the civil unrest when Bangladesh became independent from Pakistan, a historical event I knew very little about. My Read the World Project has made me read books set in countries during notable events in their history and I’m really enjoying that experience.
Thirty Days by Annelies Verbeke
It took me a while to get settled into Thirty Days but when I did, I loved the main character and his desire to help others, even when it was detrimental to his own happiness and relationships
Tales of Suspense: Hawkeye & the Winter Soldier by Matthew Rosenburg, Travel Foreman and Rachelle Rosenburg
I didn’t read many comics or graphic novels this year but Tales of Suspense: Hawkeye & the Winter Soldier was a lot of fun and memorable. Clint Barton is one of my favourite characters ever and I love seeing how he bounces off more stoic characters like the Winter Solider.
Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell
The only book on this list that I didn’t review, but that’s mainly because I find it difficult to review thrillers that have a lot of twists and turns and surprises without giving everything away. Then She Was Gone was a book where I could figure out some of what happened, but never managed to get it all straight in my head before the big reveal – I think that’s the best kind of thriller.
Multitudes by Lucy Caldwell
This is one of the best short story collections I’ve ever read. It’s all about girls and women, and each character feels so real even though you only spend a dozen or so pages with them.
Lala by Jacek Dehnel
This story made me laugh and cry. It’s a sweeping family epic but it’s the little anecdotes and the ridiculous things that make a person, and their family, more real that stood out to me.
What were some of your favourite books you read in 2018?
Elena Square Eyes 
Awesome list! Happy reading in 2019! 😀
My Top 10 Books of 2018
Thanks! And same to you! Hope you have many wonderful reads! 🙂
Nowhere Girls! Glad to hear you enjoyed that one (although enjoy seems like a bad way of putting it in light of its topic). I think I’ve a copy of it somewhere, but anyways, I’ve heard wonders of it and its approach to bringing light the truth of rape culture etc. so it’s definitely on my moderately-immediate TBR.
Cheers,
joey via. thoughts and afterthoughts
Haha! I know what you mean. I’m loving the kind of trend of books about teenage girls learning to stand up for themselves/what’s right and I think The Nowhere Girls handles the complexities of rape culture so well. I hope 2019 brings you many awesome reads!
The Nowhere Girls was a decent read! Great choices.
Thanks! Yeah I flew through The Nowhere Girls and I’m enjoying this trend of stories about teenage girls coming together to stand up for themselves/what’s right.
Then She Was Gone sounds amazing- I’ve become a big Lisa Jewell fan after reading a few of her previous books now, and I’ll have to add this one to the list!
Hawkeye and the Winter Soldier sounds great- I think it would be fun to see those two play off each other. 🙂
Then She Was Gone was my first Lisa Jewell book but I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for more of her work. 🙂
Oh yeah they are! There’s also a Hawkeye vs Deadpool comic which is also super fun!
Good job on reading 72 books! I probably cheat because I combine all series that I read in a year together if I like them all. I haven’t read any of these yet, but The Three Musketeers is a classic.
Thanks! I very rarely read series nowadays – I don’t think I have the attention span for them anymore! Audiobooks definitely helped me read more books this year.
I tried to read Three Musketeers once, since I love the adaptations, but it was massive and I didn’t manage it, maybe I’ll try again 🤔 great list! 72 books is very impressive!!
Thanks! Reading 72 books was definitely thanks to getting into audiobooks. I listened to The Three Musketeers on audio and found it very accessible and less intimidating that way 🙂
Ah I have heard great things about audiobooks! Ooh maybe I’ll try that 🤔
I prefer The Count of Monte Cristo to The Three Musketeers, but d’Artagnan and co. are still very fun in their own way 🙂
Maybe I’ll give The Count of Monte Cristo next! I like to tackle a big classic every now and then 🙂
I just finished The Power a few hours ago. I’m glad you liked it. Happy 2019!
Haha! It’s funny when things like that happen!
All the best for 2019! 🙂
I *just* added The Nowhere Girls to my digital tbr, and I am getting more and more excited to read it by the second.
I have been on the fence about reading The Power all year…seems there are a lot of mixed feelings about it…and I am kind of finding myself losing interest in going for it afterall. Hmm. Must continue to consider.
Well, all the best for 2019 then!
Ooh yes! The Nowhere Girls is fab! Yeah I think there was definitely major hype when The Power first came out but now there’s been some time there’s some more interesting discussions on it. I did enjoy it and it made me think, but there was so choices made in terms of character and story I wasn’t always on board with.
All the best for 2019 to you too! 🙂
Great list! The Garden of Evening Mists, The Power and The Three Musketeers are all books I’d like to read, and I love the sound of Multitudes! 🙂
Thanks! I always think people’s top ten books lists are always deadly as you end up putting so many of them on your TBR! 😀