Best Books of 2018

this post!

As I sit here writing this I am one book away from my 2018 goal of 52 books for the year, a goal that was a whopping two books larger than last year’s goal. I feel good about reaching that number, but it doesn’t mean anything if I didn’t read any good books. Fortunately, the opposite was true. I read a lot of books this year that I loved and recently Wendy and I rounded up our favorite and most memorable books for the year. You can catch our full conversation about each of these books in the video below!

The Best Books of 2018

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This Will Only Hurt a Little – We were both so excited to read this one. Wendy listened on Audible and gifted me the hardcover for my birthday. I read most of it on a long plane ride and really enjoyed it. I found it to be honest and raw and have I mentioned that Busy and I went to college together?

I’ll Be Gone in the Dark   – Wendy owns up to her love of all things murdery and this one fits the bill. Although Michelle McNamara didn’t finish this book before her untimely death, I think there’s a little bit of peace for her loved ones in that the Golden State Killer was ultimately caught.

The Great Alone – Truth be told there were parts of this story that were stressful for me to read. I was just so worried for them all of the time. However, Kristen Hannah is a master and I really loved this story once I felt like I could breathe.

From the Corner of the Oval – If you like smartly written memoirs where the author is brutally honest about past behaviors and also works in close proximity to Barack Obama for a number of years then this is the book for you. I adored this, and although I’ve heard some of the judgement for her behavior I feel like we can all cop to some part of our past that we’re not particularly proud of, can’t we? That she laid it all bare in this book and still walked away with me wanting her to succeed and write more and more is the true triumph.

Class Mom – This book’s target audience is right there in its title. If this is you, perhaps you’ll recognize of the women in the book – if not by name then certainly by type.

Talking as Fast as I Can Can I confess that I started this and didn’t finish it? I think I’ll take Wendy’s advice and listen to it on audio to hear Lauren Graham do her thing.

The Heart’s Invisible Furies I feel like this book needs more than me saying OMG YOU GUYS GO READ THIS, but also OMG YOU GUYS GO READ THIS. It’s so funny and sad and redemptive and also it’s set in Ireland so I have to love it.

The Book of Essie Start with a Duggar-like family, add in a pregnant teenage and a family secret and you’ve got a book that could have been terrible, but was fabulous.

Girl, Wash Your Face Let’s put this book in the memorable column. Wendy was originally drawn in by the charm of Rachel Hollis but has since stepped back a little as the more problematic aspects of this book have revealed themselves. I couldn’t get into it because it’s just not my kind of book, but perhaps that’s for the best. What say you?

Want to see what else we read this year? Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall reading roundups at the links above!