Best Books of 2018 According to Me

I’m always so curious about what people are reading. From quick posts on social media to reviews shared by professional readers, I’m frequently watching and listening for the next interesting recommendation. As a romance novelist, I often gravitate toward my preferred genre. Although this year I read some incredible non-fiction and memoir. While I can’t honestly say I stepped too far out of my comfortable romance zone in 2018, I’m determined to cast my proverbial net a bit wider in 2019. I did exceed my goal of reading thirty-six books this year and I’m hoping to read 52 next year.

Without further delay, here’s my highly subjective according-to-me list of the 12 best books I read this year.

Becky Wade’s Falling for You (A Bradford’s Sisters Romance): delightfully well-written, with a super swoon-worthy romance and characters I adored. I’m smitten with this series and soooo excited for book 3, which arrives in the spring. There are certain fictional characters that stick with me long after I’ve read the last page of their stories. Becky Wade’s characters are like that for me.

Bob Goff’s Everybody Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People. I started listening to Bob Goff speak via podcasts and I was instantly intrigued by his story and the message he’s quietly demonstrating with his life. This one’s a keeper and I often find myself thinking about his words and ideas about loving everybody we encounter all the time.

Maddie Dawson’s Matchmaking for Beginners: a little quirky, a little bit crass and a complete delight from start to finish! I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Susan May Warren’s Wait for Me (Montana Rescue Series): Fans of Susan May Warren are probably all a bit distraught that this series has come to a conclusion. But, man, she sure finished it with a phenomenal story! I could go on and on about this book and the whole series. You can read my full review here.

Elin Hilderbrand’s Winter in Paradise: I listened to this audiobook and was sucked in from the first line. This author is a master at constructing twisted, tangled plots with complex, flawed characters. The narrator is fantastic, the setting is amazing and I look forward to hearing more in the next release.

Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Bush’s Sisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life. I so enjoyed this thoughtful and poignant read about one of our nation’s most prominent families. Such an interesting and well-written book.

Rachel Hauck’s The Love Letter: I didn’t know how much I’d love dual timeline stories until I started reading Rachel’s. Soooo good! This one is quite compelling as she expertly weaves the lives of four characters together in a must-read inspirational novel.

Marisa de los Santos’s I’ll Be Your Blue Sky: this author will always be one of my very favorites. Her ability to craft lovely prose while telling an incredible story is amazing. While many novels have been written about a beach house, none that I’ve read tell a story quite like this one. Highly recommend!

Jenny B. Jones’s His Mistletoe Miracle: this one just released and I must confess I devoured it in a weekend. Such a clever premise–a hero who was held in captivity and now grapples with his freedom in light of all he experienced and observed. Throw in Jones’s trademark snark, small-town America, fun and feisty characters all wrapped up in a Christmas romance and this one is absolute perfection.

 

Billy Coffey’s Steal Away Home: this was the first book I read this year and I’m so glad I gave this new-to-me author a chance. Baseball is an excellent metaphor for life and I’m always curious about how an author will take a tried and true plot device like this one and put a fresh spin on it. Equal parts inspiring and bittersweet, Coffey weaves a real page-turner here.

 

The Road Back to You: An Enneagram Journey to Self-Discovery by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile

A dear friend gifted me this book in the spring and I was quite curious because I’d heard the buzz online, but lacked any knowledge of the Enneagram. Wow! What a life-changing presentation of an age-old philosophy/teaching. Unlike other personality type philosophies, the Enneagram helps us understand human motivation, which is something I frequently analyze as both a regular person and a writer. More importantly, the authors present a healthy, mildly unhealthy and super unhealthy description of each of the nine personalities, which is extremely helpful for navigating relationships. There are numerous podcast interviews with the authors and Ian Morgan Cron has a wonderful podcast, Typology, dedicated to the Enneagram. If you only read one self-improvement book in the new year, I hope it is this one.

 

Scott Harrison’s Thirst: I heard Scott speak via a podcast recently about his unlikely journey from successful nightclub promoter to founder and CEO of Charity: Water and I was immediately compelled to get my hands on his book. I’m only a third of the way through and if it wasn’t Christmas week, I’d devour it as quickly as possible. As the tagline states, “A story of redemption, compassion, and a mission to bring clean water to the world.” Don’t miss this one, friends!

 

Your turn: what’s your favorite book you read and/or listened to in 2018? Let me know in the comments.

Happy New Year and happy reading, friends!