I read 31 books in 2018, the most I'd ever read in a year at that point! This was largely in part due to a large online book club I became a part of, and a local DC chapter that I helped start! Do you see any of your favorites here? I read a ton of different genres and authors, but here's a few highlights from this year.
Favorite Book: The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
Genre: Literary Drama, Generational Saga
Synopsis: How would you live your life if you knew the date of your death? Four siblings seek out a traveling psychic to find out their prophecies. Over the next five decades, the siblings live their lives teetering on the edge of destiny and choice.
Thoughts: My favorite book of 2018. I could not stop thinking about this book for months. I was constantly playing the what-if game. A great book-club pick. I loved the author's style, and learning about each of the characters through the eyes of their siblings.
Tried & True: The Girl with a Clock for a Heart by Peter Swanson
Genre: Thriller
Synopsis: George is swept up in passion and murder when Liana, his ex-girlfriend who vanished 20 years ago, shows up and asks for help.
Thoughts: Another Peter Swanson 5 star read. I really have no words for how marvelously his twists unravel, his flawless execution, his knack for making you miss all the clues but you’re not even mad at it. I read The Kind Worth Killing last year and LOVED it, then read Her Every Fear earlier this year, so I knew this one would be a winner as well.
Pleasant Surprise: The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Own Voices
Synopsis: Stella is a smart but socially awkward thirty-something with Asperger's. She hires a male escort to teach her few things in the bedroom, but not before long someone starts catching feelings...
Thoughts: I’m surprised how much I liked this book! I found myself smiling throughout the book and wanting to read just one more chapter every night. What makes this better is it's an own voices book - the author's journey with autism inspired the story. Content Warning: Steamy!
Laugh-out-Loud: Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple
Genre: Satire, Suburban Dramedy
Synopsis: Bernadette has extreme anti-social anxiety, living a life she never watned, and on the brink of a meltdown when her daughter asks to travel to Antarctica this winter. What could go wrong?
Thoughts: Hop on and buckle your seatbelts. You’re in for a wild ride from Seattle to Antarctica with Bernadette Fox, that involves knowing the difference between burritos and enchiladas, TEDTalks, five-way intersections, the Drake Passage, and what happens to rabbits when they don’t eat carrots for three months.
The Next Gone Girl (but actually): The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Synopsis: A husband, a jealous ex-wife, a replacement. Assume nothing.
Thoughts: The storytelling craftsmanship was just right to keep you reading to the next chapter, but also ties together the smallest of details from each of the three parts. There are the perfect amount of twists that get harder to predict as the book goes on. I also read The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine in 2018 which was similar!
Most Timely & Best Writing: All We Ever Wanted by Emily Giffin
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Synopsis: One drunken photograph makes waves in a prestigious private school community, and changes everything for a teenage girl and her single dad, and a mother who thought she had the perfect life.
Thoughts: This book was powerful, emotional, gritty, and, holy moly, does this story hold a lot of relevancy in today’s society. The story was told in three first-person perspectives that essentially wove together to form one continuous narrative - what a beautiful way to tell a story with so many sides.
Why Didn't I Read This Earlier? Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie
Genre: Classic Whodunnit Mystery
Synopsis: Detective Hercule Poirot must identify a murderer on a train stranded in the snow.
Thoughts: A fun classic that I never got the chance to read in high school. Christie helped to spell out Hercule Poirot's thought processes at exactly the right time, neither too soon, nor too late.
Best in Series: Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
Genre: Thriller
Synopsis: Harvard symbologist Robert Langdom must race against the clock and solve cryptic messages to save history from being destroyed by the Illuminati.
Thoughts: Daunting at first glance; but glad I took the plunge. Kept me turning pages and felt like I learned a lot during the process! Excited to read more about the adventures of Robert Langdon!
Worth the Hype: Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Domestic Fiction
Synopsis: A mysterious mother-daughter duo entangle their lives with a well-to-do family in a suburban neighborhood. Another couple battles to adopt a baby. Somebody's house is on fire.
Thoughts: I, too, grew up in a planned community, and I loved how the Shaker Heights neighborhood becomes a character of its own in this book. The TV show is different, but both the book and show are worth your time.
You Should Probably Read This... Educated by Tara Westover
Genre: Memoir
Synopsis: A woman decides to attend college after growing up in a survivalist family who didn't believe in doctors and never set foot in a classroom.
Thoughts: A powerful gritty story that made me uncomfortable and infuriated me, but also humbling by how she created her own history, her journey to self-hood. Her journey to become educated.
...But Not Everyone Should Read This: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Genre: Fantasy
Synopsis: The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Behind the scenes, a game must play out, a game in which only one can be left standing.
Thoughts: This book is for people who like a thing (i.e. enchanting circus) and descriptions of said thing. It is long, and not plot-driven. But now I know the secrets of The Night Circus and I'm grateful for that.
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