Inspired by the first Top Five Wednesday post of July, Best 2018 Books, I realized that I haven’t talked about some of my favorite books of 2018. While I plan on doing summer favorites and yearly favorite posts, I want to fangirl about my favorite books that I read from January to May.

I read 47 books within these five months, including 5 Throne of Glass-related rereads. Excluding my ToG rereads, today I’ll be talking about the following 11 gems and some honorable mentions!

Scythe and Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman- Almost half a year later, I will keep bowing down to the hype that made me pick up the first two books in Neal Shusterman’s Arc of a Scythe series. Scythe and Thunderhead gave me The Hunger Games-esque and dystopian feels that I didn’t know I was missing. While I not-so patiently wait for the final book, The Toll (am I the only one disappointed by the two-word title?), I want to pick up some of Neal’s backlist titles and his upcoming book with Jarrod Shusterman, Dry.

 

 

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli- Remember when I used to call this book The Upside DOWN of Unrequited? And Becky even liked my tweet using that title. Thanks Stranger Things. And Twitter for still not blessing us with some sort of edit feature. The Upside of Unrequited is easily my favorite Becky Albertalli book. It’s been a while since I related to a character so much, and I’m so grateful to Becky for creating Molly and her story. And of course Reid.

All of This Is True by Lygia Day Peñaflour- All of This Is True peaked my interest for its four teens becoming best friends with their favorite author premise and I loved it more than I expected to! I could so see a TV or film adaptation, Big Little Lies style.

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang- New favorite graphic novel alert! I was expecting to love Jen Wang’s The Prince and the Dressmaker and I’m so glad I did! This book was taking forever to come in from my library so I decided to buy my own copy and I’m so glad I did since it’s one of my new favorites.

 

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas- I can’t believe I didn’t read Tower of Dawn until April, but my reunion with Chaol came at the right time. Tower of Dawn is one of my top ToG books (I think my heart still belongs to Queen of Shadows). AND YES, YOU NEED TO READ IT IN ORDER TO READ KINGDOM OF ASH! WHY WOULD YOU NOT WANT TO BE REUNITED WITH CHAOL AND NESRYN AND SO MANY AWESOME NEW CHARACTERS! I’m one of the those ToG fans that never really thought Chaol was that in the wrong, but Tower of Dawn is both his redemption story and his story of regaining his strength. We also get to learn a lot more about Nesryn and a character from The Assassin’s Blade. I’m still reeling over that last chapter AND epilogue.

A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena- I really wish more people we’re talking about Tanaz Bhathena’ stunning debut, A Girl Like That. This book was just so eye-opening and I can’t wait to see what Tanaz Bhathena does next.

 

Girl Out of Water by Laura Silverman- Yup, I’m still trying to figure out how I didn’t read Laura Silverman’s Girl Out of Water before May. A summer contemporary with the title that basically describes me away from the shore?

The Geography of You & Me by Jennifer E. Smith- While I enjoyed Jennifer E. Smith’s Windfall and This is What Happy Looks Like, The Geography of You & Me was definitely an unexpected favorite. I’ve discovered this year that travel contemporary books are among my favorite genres. It was so fun to see its two main characters, Lucy and Owen, travel on their own while figuring out themselves and their relationships. This book had the perfect combination of fluff, self discovery, and romance.

 

Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian- Like Tower of Dawn and The Prince & The Dressmaker, Stay Sweet was another read that I went in expecting to love and thankfully did! How could I not love a summer contemporary with friendship, feminism, romance, AND ICE CREAM! Can I please work at Meade Creamery!?

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo- I went into Maurene Goo’s The Way You Make Me Feel not knowing too much, and maybe I should do that more often because I still think about this book! Again, how could I not love a summer contemporary featuring A FOOD TRUCK??? The Way You Make Me Feel had the perfect amount of family, friendship, romance, and food- give me BBQ and iced coffee any day.

 

Honorable Mentions:

The Bear & the Nightingale by Katherine Arden- I never knew I need Russian folklore-inspired fantasy until I read this book. I’m very excited to pick up books 2 & 3.

American Panda by Gloria Chao- Another great example of the balance between family and romance!

We Are Still Tornadoes by Michael Kun and Susan Mullen- This book is told through letters between two best friends and had me laughing out loud!

Finding Felicity by Stacey Kade- I love how this COLLEGE YA book incorporated real-life TV and fandom, and truly captured that going to college and starting over isn’t always easy.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout- A SCHOOL BOOK ON MY FAVORITES LIST? I took a short story English class in the spring that included books that we’re all published within the past 6 years!!! Olive Kitteridge was such a heartwarming and heartbreaking collection.

Her Body and Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado-ANOTHER SCHOOL BOOK? Her Body and Other Parties is full of amazing female POVs and it just feels and is so current.

 

What are some of your best books of 2018? Any of the above? Share in the comments!