2018 was a great year for reading and one in which I read things I normally would not have, thanks to wanting more variety for this blog. There were so many great books that I read, and these are the best.
For this list, I’m only including books that I read for the first time in 2018, not favorites that I reread, such as Cormac McCarthy’s The Road or Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book.
White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi
This novel was the first I reviewed on Read Yourself Happy, and I still find myself thinking about it regularly. I loved the unusual narration style, especially since the house narrated a few chapters. I’m looking forward to reading many more books by Helen Oyeyemi this year.
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | Thriftbooks
Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo
Read my review of Six of Crows
My review of Crooked Kingdom will be posted later this week
Goodreads
These two novels blew my mind. I’d been hearing about all the hype for ages, and I was incredibly late on this bandwagon, but these books were incredible and I flew through them in order to learn what would happen next. I wanted so much more from this world, and I’ve already reserved Bardugo’s Grishaverse trilogy at my local library.
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | Thriftbooks
An Ember in the Ashes, A Torch Against the Night, and A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir
Read my review of An Ember in the Ashes
Read my review of A Torch Against the Night
Read my review of A Reaper at the Gates
The An Ember in the Ashes series is probably my favorite series I’ve read this year, and I’m not quite sure how I’m going to make it until the fourth book comes out. My co-workers and boyfriend probably got sick of me talking about these books while I was reading them. Elias and Laia are wonderfully fleshed-out characters and I enjoyed the world of these novels.
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | Thriftbooks
City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab
Read my review of City of Ghosts
This was the first Victoria Schwab book I ever read, although it certainly won’t be the last. The book gave me strong vibes of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book, which is one of my all-time favorites. I enjoyed the characters and Schwab’s writing style, and I’m excited that the sequel is going to be released next year, and that there’s going to be a television show based on the novel.
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million
The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue and The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
Read my review of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
Read my review of The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy
I first heard of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue through my favorite booktuber, Hannah at A Clockwork Reader. I tend to have a very similar reading style to her, and I will be forever grateful that I picked these books up at her recommendation. Both of these novels were well-written with loveable characters and great representation.
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | Thriftbooks
Trouble No Man by Brian Hart
This novel comes out on January 29, 2019, and I’m incredibly appreciative to Harper Perennial for sending me a review copy. I rated it five stars, and it’s a great, tragic story. Set in a future where the West Coast has run out of water, the novel follows Roy Bingham through several decades of his life and is told in a non-linear format.
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Read Yourself Happy 
I read fifty some odd books this year
Among my favourites were:
Something Like Happiness by Eva Woods. It had honestly flawed characters, and was beautifully written.
Road to Valour by Aili and Andres McConnan This is the story of great cyclist Gino Bartali and his greater accomplishment of saving people’s lives in the war
Into the Wild by John Krakauer It was well written and led me to tackle his book Into Thin Air.
Beyond Belfast ….. by Will Ferguson He is such a funny, laugh out loud on the subway kind of writer. It was part personal story, part history, part laugh with delight.
How to Be Famous by Caitlin Moran It was raunchy, bold, and different.
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I loved Into Thin Air! It’s my favorite Krakauer book. I’ve never heard of Something Like Happiness, but I’ll have check it out!
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Have a great reading year. I hope you find some gems.
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You too!
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[…] The Best Books I Read in 2018 […]
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[…] Bardugo’s continuation of this series, the Six of Crows duology, ended up on my favorite books of 2018 list, so I wasn’t surprised at how much I loved the original trilogy (even though I read the two […]
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