Favorite Books (Nonfiction and Fiction) Read in 2018

The last few years I have pushed myself to read more books out of the box that I was used to reading. And I’m so glad I did. This year’s reading introduced me to an author who is quickly becoming a favorite, nonfiction books that made me smile and inspired me to push myself, and books that opened my eyes to parts of this world that I never would experience otherwise.

I hope reading does this for you, and I hope that you too can enjoy some of my favorite books that I read in 2018. (Make sure to read all the way to the end, because the last one is my #1 read of all year.)

Nonfiction Favorites of 2018

I’d Rather Be Reading
by Anne Bogel
Month read: October 2018

Everything about this book makes me smile. The cover, the little illustrations throughout, the chapter titles, the chapter topics, the examples. Everything. This is the book I wanted, even needed, Anne Bogel to write. She is a true reader that understands readers.
And I love her book blog as well.

You are a Bada$$
by Jen Sincero
Month read: July 2018

I can’t say there is any particularly *new* information in this book that I’ve never heard. Yes, I have read most of these points in other books or heard them in messages and podcasts. So why do I keep reading books with basically the same message? Because every person says it in a new way that impacts me differently. And this book is no different.
Favorite chapter: Fear is for Suckers.
As soon as I finished this book, thought, I immediately went back and skimmed over it again. While I don’t prescribe to all her beliefs, it keeps things fresh for me to read books from other perspectives and backgrounds. And pushes me to better myself in new ways.

5 Things Successful People Do Before 8 a.m.
by Terri Savelle Foy
Month Read: September 2018

Yes, my husband works for Terri. Yes, I’ve known her my whole life and she used to babysit me. But those things in no way skew my love of her message and her books.
Next to Imagine Big, this is my favorite of Terri’s books. (And I’ve read Imagine Big four times!) Now, I’m not an early riser or a morning person, but what I love about this book is that even though she talks about so many successful people who are early risers and morning people….she doesn’t ever condemn those of us who aren’t (including her husband). Her main point is getting the 5 habits in place and consistent. She is the ultimate cheerleader of dreams, and this book offers nothing less. Inspiration. Practical teaching. Poignant stories and illustrations.
But my FAVORITE chapter was on how to stay self-motivated. It literally made me tear up and gave me goosebumps.

Fiction Favorites of 2018

The Great Alone
by Kristin Hannah
Month Read: February 2018

No favorites list of mine would be complete without Kristin Hannah!
Hannah has a way of breaking my heart while keeping me smiling. She is a master at creating beautiful and deeply broken characters. Her slow build pays off every time. I love her poetically descriptive details. I had to read this book with a blanket to keep warm, as she sketched life surviving in rural Alaska.

The Mountain Between Us
by Charles Martin
Month Read: January 2018

This was the first book I read last year, and it stuck with me the entire year. After being on my tbr (to be read) list for years, I finally pushed it to the top when I heard a movie was being released. Of course, the book was better! I was not a big fan of the movie. As Hollywood often does, it missed the heart and true message of this beautiful book.
It is not only a survival book. It is not only a love story. It is both of those things but not how you think. It is about the survival of love. The survival of the human spirit. The survival of our deepest values.

The Hate U Give
by Angie Thomas
Month Read: February 2018

This was a difficult book, but such an important one. I believe we should all read books that challenge us and our beliefs and what we hear and what we feel. I could never experience anything like this because it wouldn’t happen to me the same way. And that’s why we learn to listen, to empathize and learn from the mistakes and troubles of the past…even others pasts.

The Dream Daughter
by Diane Chamberlain
Month Read: August 2018

This one had my heart in a vice from page one. Every time I thought it was going to loosen its grip on me, Chamberlain amped up with another twist and curve in the road.
The way the author wove time travel into a women’s fiction, non-fantasy/sci-fi story was brilliant and believable, creating a fascinating way to deal with the events of 9/11 and the Vietnam War. Each twist took me on the emotional journey with every character. Any holes in the story were well flushed out, which is difficult to say in a time traveling story and typically doesn’t happen. But she made it all feel possible and real, like this could be me or my neighbor or my friend.

Wall of Crosses
by Baj Goodson
Month Read: September 2018

AHHHHH! That’s how I feel at the end of this book. For no other reason than wanting more. What a well done book that brings a family together under one house after the death of the patriarch. Like so many families, they don’t get along, and each member is shrouded with secrets. Secrets unravel page after page until the final page. Wickedly, delicious secrets.

And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer
by Fredrik Backman
Month Read: December 2018

A beautiful, heart aching short story. The kind that you finish and hold tightly to your heart because it meant that much. Every line, every moment was stunning. Such a small story (I listened to the audiobook in about an hour) packs in so much heart.
The book is written in such a way to be inside the mind of a man losing his own mind to illness and trying to say goodbye to his family and his life. The confusing facets of the writing make perfect sense to the reader (just not character living through it), and it’s fascinating.
With that in mind, the author’s note at the opening of the book is one of the things that makes the book all that much more heart warming and lovable. He writes, “…this would be my greatest fear: imagination giving up before the body does. I guess I’m not alone in this. Humans are a strange breed in the way our fear of getting old seems to be even greater than our fear of dying.”

Beartown
by Fredrik Backman
Month Read: October 2018

My #1 book of the year. If someone had told me I would love a book about hockey, I would have looked at them cross-eyed. But this book blew me away. From the very first page, I was all in.
You know when you pick up a book and from the feel of the first page or first chapter you just KNOW that you are going to really love it.
And still, it surprised me. I don’t know how the author cast suspicion on literally every single teenage character in the entire town, but I decided to not even try to figure out who the first page was referring to and just go for the ride. And was it ever a ride.

I would love to hear your favorite books of 2018, because it’s a new year and new to-read list! Comment and let me know what book I missed in my list so I can add it!

If you struggle with finding the time to read as much as you’d like, I give all my tips in this post: How I find the time to read.

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