First was our favorite movies, and now we are so excited to gush about each of our favorite books. Get your TBR list ready to add a few titles.
The next stop on our happy hit parade of 2018 favorites is our favorite books. There’s a bit of variety here as we represent a little romance, a little YA, some non-fiction and a few that could probably fit into a mix of those categories.
And most of them have full reviews from us on the site, so if you are looking for maybe a little more feedback, keep an eye out for the link in the blurb somewhere to read a little more about each of these stellar reads.
What all of these books have in common is great writing. These titles may or may not be appearing on all the other “best of” lists you will see pop up as 2018 comes to a close, but they are all damn fine reads and will have you staying up a little later to read just one more chapter… and maybe one more after that.
Happy reading!
Our favorite books are…
‘Moonlight Sins’ by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Moonlight Sins combines a little bit of thriller-like suspense with a lot of sexy, intense romance to create a genre I like to call pseudo-paranormal romance. It’s not truly paranormal, but all the talk of curses and ghosts, creepy noises in the dark, and weird things happening when no one’s looking definitely makes you question whether or not this series could take that paranormal turn at any time.
I have read a lot of great books this year. From difficult, moving reads like Kennedy Ryan’s Long Shot to fun, light-hearted tales like Royals from Rachel Hawkins (soon to be known as Prince Charming), I have absorbed so much great writing that it was really hard to choose a favorite. But I kept coming back to this story that I read LAST JANUARY.
That’s right. A whole year later and I still find myself smiling when thoughts of Lucian de Vincent come to mind. He had just the right amount of smug and silly to kick the de Vincent series off to a seriously addicting start. I immediately began counting down the days til Moonlight Seduction would hit my kindle, and with Moonlight Scandals arriving in just a few short weeks, I can’t get these boys and their *maybe* cursed mansion out of my head.
‘Sadie’ by Courtney Summers
When I picked up Sadie, I was not expecting it to be my favorite book of the year. If you know me at all, you know I usually pick a book by Rick Riordan, so this wasn’t a choice I took lightly. There have been some fantastic runner-ups, including Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi, but Sadie has stuck with me in a way that no other book has this year, or even for the last several years. It’s layered, realistic, and haunting, and I couldn’t possibly do it justice with only a few sentences. Read my review if you think I’m being hyperbolic, and then do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.
‘The Greatest Love Story Ever Told’ by Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman
Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman are, as the kids say, #RelationshipGoals. The Greatest Love Story Ever Told chronicles their romance from first contact to current day in a conversational exchange between the two. If you are familiar with either of them, the book reads exactly as you would expect a conversation to go between the two — a style that is equally as great on the page as it is in audiobook form. The conversations cover everything from how their family histories, their first date, and how they view the business we call show. In additional passages penned individually, Mullally and Offerman trade off sharing bits about love, religion, art, and, of course, puzzles. It’s at all times funny and touching and the perfect remedy to the year 2018.
‘An Absolutely Remarkable Thing’ by Hank Green
I’ve read a lot of books this year, due to my New Year’s resolution to… well, read more books this year. But the standout title is far and away Hank Green’s debut novel An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. It annoys me when people call it “absolutely remarkable,” so I won’t do that, even though it is. A sharp take on internet culture and the repercussions of internet fame from someone who would know, as well as a thrilling and genuinely surprising story of an alien invasion and how that would go down on the social internet. Warning: this book might make you hate Twitter (even more than you already do).
‘Brooklynaire’ by Sarina Bowen
Sarina Bowen couldn’t have disappointed us with this book even if she tried. Fans had been waiting for Rebecca and Nate’s love story for what seemed like forever and it was so satisfying to finally get to the bottom of what was going on with them. Their romance is the perfect combination of sexy, cute, and entertaining. And Sarina Bowen navigated the tricky waters of an employee/boss relationship by making sure that Nate always made sure Rebecca was an equal partner in and outside of the bedroom. I don’t think there will ever be a romance hero more swoon worthy than Nate.
‘Until the Last Star Fades’ by Jacquelyn Middleton
It has been months since I first read Until the Last Star Fades and I still can’t get the story, characters, or deep emotions out of my head (not like I’d want to). This novel is part romance and part women’s fiction, but completely lovely and swoon-worthy. Its depiction of depression, grief, and love are so well-done and visceral that you can’t help but put yourself in the shoes of the characters and feel like you’re living their lives. It had a really strong effect on me so I’m not quite ready to re-read it just yet, but I know that this is one book I’ll pick up and love for years to come.
‘Legendary’ by Stephanie Garber
Looking back through the books that I’ve read and listened to this year, I think the one that stands out to me the most is Legendary by Stephanie Garber. After the emotional whirlwind of Caraval, Legendary takes the world created and flips it on its head so you don’t know what’s up or down. With unreliable narration and superbly done plot twists, I can’t wait to read the next and final book in the series. If you find yourself in need of escapism where nothing you read is quite what it seems, where magic and mystery intertwine, and yearn for anything to be possible, then Legendary is where you will find it.
‘Ship It’ by Britta Lundin
I have made no secret of the fact that I was absolutely terrified by the idea of a book like Ship It existing in the world. I was scared shitless. Ship It tells the two sides – a teenage fangirl’s and a young male actor’s – of a conflict centered around shipping, fanfiction, queer close reads and queerbaiting on a CW-esque genre tv show.
Penned by Riverdale’s Britta Lundin, a professional television writer who’s proud to have come from from the fandom trenches herself – the trenches of my primary fandom, no less – I knew that the challenge of correctly servicing and honor every perspective was no small one, and I knew that Lundin was up to the task. That’s why I was nervous. I knew Ship It was going to ring true – painfully so, humiliatingly so, vindictively so, empoweringly so. It did all those things and more. As I said in my review, reading this book felt like standing in the middle of Times Square completely naked. Ship It is both expose and fable, lesson and validation, and it’s set a new – and extremely high – bar for talking about fandom in fiction.