The Best Books I've Read in 2018

This year has been a record for me.  I started with a goal of reading 50 books in 2018 and as I write this, I have read 167 and I continue to read others.  I estimate that by December 31, I will have completely read 175 books.  That would be 350% of my goal.  As a writer, being an avid reader is essential.  Reading helps me to appreciate different styles of writing, learn about trends, read my writing colleagues' works, improve my own work, see what makes an award-winning novel a success, and other possibilities.  Today, I decided to rank my top 10 favourite books that I read this year. 

My 2018 Top 10 Favourite Canadian Books I Read:

• Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
• A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena
• The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
• Beware that Girl by Teresa Toten
• All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews
• We Are All Made of Molecules and Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen
• Saints & Misfits by SK Ali
• Boat People by Sharon Bala
• The Marrow Thieves by Cherie Dimaline
• Brother by David Chariandy​​

My Top 10 Favourite Young Adult (YA) Books I Read in 2018:

• Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
• I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez
• A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena
• The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon
• November Blues and Fall of Jericho by Sharon M. Draper
• When Dimple Met Rishi by Sadhya Menon
• The Fault In Our Stars, Turtles All the Way Down, Abundance of Katherines, and Will Gayson by John Green​
• We Are All Made of Molecules and Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen​
• Piecing Me Together and This Side of Home by Renee Watson
• The Marrow Thieves by Christine Dimaline

My Top 10 Favourite Middle Great (MG) Books I Read in 2018:

• The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
• Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson
• Gone Crazy in Alabama and Clayton Bird Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia
• Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender
• The Skin I'm In by Sharon Flake
• As Brave As You by Jason Reynolds
• Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper
• Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
• Half Brother by Kenneth Oppel
• Unstoppable Octobia May by Sharon M. Flake

My Top 10 Favourite Picture Books I Read in 2018:

• Crown by Derrick Barnes; illustrated by Gordon James​
• Deep Underwater by Irene Luxbacher
• Over and Under the Pond by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal
• All Are Welcome Here by Alexandra Penfold
• Africville by Shauntay Grant; illustrated by Eva Campbell
• Stolen Words by Melanie Florence; illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard
• Auntie Luce's Talking Paintings by Francie Latour; illustrated by Ken Daley
• The Boy and the Blue Moon by Sara O'Leary; illustrated by Ashley Crowley
• A Greyhound, A Groundhog by Emily Jenkins; illustrated by Chris Appelhans
• Even Superheroes Have Bad Days ​by Shelly Becker; illustrated by Eda Kaban

My Top 10 Favourite Black Speculative/AfroFuturism Books I Read in 2018:

• Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
• Ghost Boys by Jewell Parker Rhodes
• The Jumbies and The Rise of Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
• American Street by Ibi Zoboi
• Hurricane Child by Kheryn Callender
• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
• Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
• Shadow House Fall by Daniel José Older
• The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton
• Fledgling by Octavia Butler
  

Top 10 Overall Favourite Books I Read in 2018

My criteria for selecting these books is for the fresh ways that they told stories.  These were the stories that clasped my heart and would not let go.  These audiobooks made me want to sit in my car and not leave so that I could listen to them in their entirety.  These books, I held tightly.  These were the fresh stories that I really needed.  These were the stories I did not want to end.

Some of these books were actually published in 2018 and a few are oldies and it was tough pick.  You can see the reviews and the covers below.

This was so tough so first I picked ten runner ups... no twelve. 

Very close runners up of books I read in 2018:

• The Fault In Our Stars, Turtles All the Way Down, Abudance of Katherines, and Will Gayson by John Green
• Harbor Me, Miracles' Boys, and Another Brooklyn by Jacqueline Woodson
• Fledgling by Octavia Butler
• Beware that Girl by Teresa Toten
• Crown by Derek Barnes, illustrated by Gordon C. James
• Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
• We Are All Made of Molecules and Optimists Die First by Susin Nielsen
• Gone Crazy in Alabama and Clayton Bird Goes Underground by Rita Williams-Garcia
• When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds
• Washington Black by Esi Edugyan
• History of Seven Killings by Marlon James
• Piecing Me Together and This Side of Home by Renee Watson

​Top 10 Overall Favourite Books I Read in 2018

• Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
• I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena
• And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
• The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon
• The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
• every book by Sharon M. Draper
• When Dimple Met Rishi by Sadhya Menon
• American Marriage and Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones

Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Egmont Books, 2018 

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sánchez
Ember, 2018

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
​Crown, 2010

A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena
​Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2018

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
​Riverhead Books, 2013

The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon
Penguin Random House, 2016

The Journey of Little Charlie by Christopher Paul Curtis
Scholastic, 2018

every book by Sharon M. Draper​
various,
I can't believe I never heard of Sharon M. Draper until this year.  I got to meet this author at her signing in Toronto this year too.

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sadhya Menon
Hodder & Stotton, 2017

American Marriage and Silver Sparrow by Tayari Jones
Oneworld, 2018
Algonquin Books, 2011