Published 16:42 IST, December 5th 2018
10 Best Books of 2018: Top Ten Books That You Should Read in 2018
Check out the best books to read in 2018. Republic World brings to you the list of top books to read in 2018. Now complete your reading challenge for the year with these bestselling books of 2018!
“I guess there are never enough books.” said John Steinbeck, author, and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature, and boy was he right! There is but one thing that gives a person more pleasure than reading a book, and that thing is, buying more books to read.
Catching that distinct whiff that emanates from within the pages of a book, old or new, is a feeling best felt, not described and since we love that feeling as much as you do, here is some good news. As the year draws to an end, here’s a list of some of the best books of 2018.
Agreed, there isn’t nearly enough time in any of our lives to read all the books we wish to read, but the temptation of owning an envious collection of books is the next best thing. Our list of the top books of 2018, contains not just the bestselling books, but some of the most highly rated ones.
As subjective as people’s preferences are, we have attempted to keep our list of the best books of 2018 as thorough and inclusive as possible. Without further ado, let us look at some of the best books to read before 2018 ends, and the next year begins to unleash another list of prospective books to buy!
Best Books of 2018:
1. Notes On A Nervous Planet by Matt Haig
Writer Matt Haig attempts to deconstruct and discuss the often overlooked aspects of mental health such as anxiety and depression, the fast-paced modern life that ends up exhausting many, and ‘the dehumanizing process that employment has become, as opposed to ideally being, rewarding.
“The aim of this book isn’t to say that everything is a disaster and we’re all screwed because we already have Twitter for that,” says Matt Haig per The Guardian’s Katy Guest.
Notes on a Nervous Planet is a follow up to Matt Haig’s previous book, Reasons to Stay Alive from 2015. It enjoys several strongly positive ratings on Amazon and is surely one of our picks for the top books to read in 2018. Notes on a Nervous Planet also did well commercially as it also became one of the bestselling books in 2018.
2. Becoming Michelle Obama
An autobiographical memoir of a strong, immensely educated and accomplished woman, and the first African-American First Lady of the United States of America is ought to capture the attention of the public, although Michelle Obama’s Becoming did more than garner curiosity.
It succeeded in selling over 1.4 Million copies in its first week, securing rave reviews and carries an aggregate review of 4.9/5 on Amazon.com from over 686 reviews!
Through Becoming, Michelle Obama discusses her childhood and her roots, her time at the White House and many more personal experiences, making it one of our picks for the top books of 2018.
3. Warlight by Michael Ondaatje
Set during World War II, Michael Ondaatje’s Warlight is the story of a 14 year old boy, Nathaniel and his older sister, Rachel left by their parents with a man called Walter, known as The Moth. After being attacked one night while he’s out with his sister and The Moth, Nathaniel finds that his mother had been living in the same city, away from them due to a deal she made that would spare the children’s lives.
The book follows Nathaniel as he grows up and attempts to uncover the events and facts that he in unaware of, finding out that their mother may have been a spy, and the reason for their parent’s strange decision to leave them in the care of The Moth.
Warlight is both highly rated and recommended by many readers on GoodReads.com and Amazon.com with a weighted average rating of 3.9/5 making it one of the best books to read and one of the bestselling books in 2018.
4. Circe by Madeline Miller
The story of Circe, the daughter of Helios, the God of the Sun who believes she is born with no powers but soon discovers herself to possess the power of witchcraft, only to be banished to a deserted island by Zeus. She finds herself at a crossroads, with both the Gods and the mortal men, should Circe align herself with her family, or with the mortals whom she has learned to adore?
This is the story Madeline Miller brings to life with her book, one of the most fascinating fictional works that hit the shelves this year. With a weighted average rating of more than 4.7/5 on Amazon, Madeline Miller’s Circe is a certain inclusion in our list of the best books to read in 2018.
5. Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
Akwaeke Emezi’s debut novel, Freshwater narrates the story of Ada, a young Nigerian woman who is ‘born with one foot on the other side’. She begins to manifest multiple personalities in her mind as she grows older, eventually travelling to America for further education.
“..a traumatic event crystallizes the selves into something more powerful. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind and these alters—now protective, now hedonistic—move into control, Ada’s life spirals in a dangerous direction.” is how the events chronicled in Freshwater are described.
Impressing readers and becoming one of the top books to read in 2018, Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi is most certainly a strong recommendation.
6. The Friend by Sigrid Nunez
Caring for a dog can be hard, but caring for a dog you don’t want can be harder. What could be the hardest though? Could it be caring for an unwanted dog that your closest friend left behind when he tragically passed away?
Of course when it comes to Sigrid Nunez’s The Friend, there is a possibility that things could most definitely go much worse since the apartment building does not allow dogs, and the dog in question is a large Great Dane dealing with the sudden disappearance of his master!
This melancholy yet eventually redeeming tale of how the dog and the author grow closer to each other and “while troubles abound, rich and surprising rewards lie in store for both of them.” Says the description of the book.
7. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin
A psychic arrives in New York City, and the word around the Lower East Side is that she can pinpoint the day of death for anyone who asks. It is 1969 and a quartet of young adolescent children, Simon, Klara. Daniel and Varya wish to find out what the future holds for them.
From 1969 to the post 9/11 period, Chloe Benjamin’s The Immortalists travels all over with the four central characters of the story, from San Francisco to Las Vegas, telling the tale of eventual magicians and army doctors.
This work of fiction made it to innumerable top 10 to top 100 lists of best books from 2018 from Entertainment Weekly to Harper’s Bazaar.
8. Calypso by David Sedaris
Popular for his self-deprecating and observational humor, David Sedaris has been writing for over two decades, with a notorious reputation of never holding back what he is thinking. Calypso is yet another swing in that very direction, and it is definitely not a miss.
A beach house at a Carolina coast is David Sedaris’ vision of a vacation home where relaxing vacations and unwinding under the beach sun will be punctuated by playing board games and soaking up the sun. Although, the experience turns out to be anything but that since Sedaris can take a vacation from everything but himself.
Calypso’s dark, twisted and shocking humor guarantees it a place among some of the top books of 2018 that you must own, and enjoy.
9. The Monk of Mokha by Dave Eggers
Based on a true story, The Monk of Mokha is a story about a young San Francisco resident trapped in the country of Yemen as civil war breaks out in the country. Yemeni American by descent, Mokhtar Alkhanshali dreams of reestablishing the art of preparing Yemeni style coffee back in America.
As soon as he is about to realize his dream, the war ends up crushing not only the dreams of resurrecting Mokhtar’s dream but throws his prospects of getting back home into question.
The Monk of Mokha is one of the most gripping non-fiction stories of the year and rightly makes it to the list of top books to read in 2018.
10. Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
This piece of fantasy fiction has already tempted Hollywood to whip up a cinematic version, and Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone is the first installment in a trilogy that could live up to be an epic. Admittedly inspired by fantasy novels and literature such as Harry Potter and movements such as Black Lives Matter, Tomi Adeyemi presents a hard-hitting commentary on racism through her work.
Set in the land of magic called Orïsha, the story revolves around Zélie, who loses her mother when an evil king passes orders that anyone with magical powers be killed. Among the few beings with power who manage to live must fight to bring back magic to her land.
Complete with epic battles, strange and dark creatures and spirits, Children of Blood and Bone is best books to read in 2018 and definitely gives us hope for the next two chapters of the trilogy.
These were some of the best books to read that hit the shelves in 2018 and garnered praise from both readers and critics alike and managed to become a success.
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Updated 16:42 IST, December 5th 2018