I hope you all had a relaxing Christmas if you celebrated it and got in lots of reading! I didn’t get quite as much in as I’d like but I hope to get more done this weekend. It’s that time of year again when the best of lists are hitting the online waves. I love reading everyone’s top books of the year and comparing how much I do (or don’t) line up with everyone’s picks. I tend to not have anything in common with the book critics’ lists and usually much more in common with other bloggers. This year I’ve noticed I’ve strayed down my own path much more than usual, having only 1 or 2 books in common with my favorite bloggers. That’s what makes sharing books so fun, we all have a wide variety of reading tastes! This year wasn’t a great reading year for me, I had a TON of 3 star reads and DNF’s as well. Coming up with this list was easy because not many books stood out to me as stellar reads that I keep recommending to others. That being said, I don’t limit my choices to books published only in 2018 as you’ll soon see, they just have to be books I’ve read in 2018. So grab some coffee, tea, or wine and check out my favorite books of the year, I hope you’ll find something you agree with or want to add to your own TBR pile.
Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance By Ruth Emmie Lang
Why I Loved It
*The Main Character Weylan Gray
*It took me out of my mystery/thriller comfort zone
*Spans years
*A charming story, excellent writing, and a little bit of magic and animals
(My Review)
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark By Michelle McNamara
Why I Loved It
*I love a well written true crime story
*The way she writes is so realistic, my heart was racing while reading
*The story is terrifying and creepy
*It’s a true good vs evil story
It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
Why I Loved It
*Addictive writing
*Characters that feel like real people in good ways and bad
*A storyline that makes you wonder what you would do
*One of my favorite tropes…a love triangle
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Why I Loved It
*It’s Part Mystery, Part Love Story
*Atmospheric nature writing at its best
*Coming of age story
*A flawless second ending with an ending that wowed me
Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier
Why I Loved It
*Murder mystery
*A did they/didn’t they & why plot
*Fast Paced
*Plenty of twists, turns and an ending I didn’t see coming
The Dream Daughter by Diane Chamberlain
Why I Loved It
*Time Travel
*A main character you can root for
*Explores the 1970s and 2000s
*Filled with suspense and tension
*A tearjerker
November Road By Lou Berney
Why I Loved It
*Set in 1960s during time of Kennedy Assassination
*The thrill & suspense of a cat & mouse chase
*Very flawed yet likable characters
*Explores theme of redemption
*Has a love story
One Day in December by Josie Silver
Why I Loved It
*Star crossed lovers
*Female friendship
*Set over a decade
*London setting
*All the emotions
The Wife by Alafair Burke
Why I Loved It
*Subtle suspense that builds
*Unreliable characters done right
* Mystery element
*That ending
And My Top Book of the Year……
I Am Pilgrim By Terry Hayes
Why I Loved It
*Globetrotting spy thriller
*Outstanding character development
*Murder mystery
*Spies, Espionage, More Spies
*One of my favorite main characters of this year
*Suspense, drama, intrigue, thrills: this one had it all right up till the end!
So that’s it, another year of books has come and gone. I’d love to hear your thoughts on my top reads, have you read any of these or want to? I’m looking forward to sharing my book thoughts with you in 2019 which I have to say is looking like it will be a stellar publishing year, I’ve already added tons of books to my wish list. I hope to have my Winter Reading Preview up for you all soon!