2018 was a great year for reading for me! I was so convinced that it was going to be a bad year for reading with how much I had going on, but I read a total of fifty-seven (updated 12/31) five star reads!
I think one thing that really helped was me finally being okay with DNFing. This has definitely helped me to move on from books that aren’t a hit with me so I can focus on books that I love.
Best Books That I Read In 2018
Below is my list of books that I read in 2018, all of which I gave five star ratings. This list is simply organized in the order of the date that I read them.
- Gun Kiss by Khaled Talib
- Assassin Marked by Michael C. Sahd
- The Chalk Man by C.J. Tudor
- The Murders of Molly Southbourne by Tade Thompson
- Collected Halloween Horror Shorts: Trick ‘r Treat by Kevin J. Kennedy & Various Others
- Space Dumplins by Craig Thompson
- The Last Straw (Pigeon-Blood Red Book 2) by Ed Duncan
- Force of Nature (Aaron Falk #2) by Jane Harper
- The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn
- Tales of the Lost by Richard Howard
- The Bear and the Nightingale (Winternight Trilogy #1) by Katherine Arden
- Soul Siphon by T.L. Branson
- Collected Easter Horror Shorts by Kevin J. Kennedy & Others
- Soul Render by T.L. Branson
- The Summer the World Ended by Matthew S. Cox
- The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan
- Voltron Legendary Defender Vol. 2: Pilgrimage by Tim Hedrick, Mitch Iverson, Jung Gwan, Rubine
- I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
- There’s a Bear on My Chair by Ross Collins
- Strange Tales in Fiction and Fact by Richard Howard
- The Infinet (Trivial Game, #1) by John Akers
- Ethan and the Key by Dennis Canfield
- Mask Beneath Her Face by Rafael Chandler
- I Love You, Stinky Face by Lisa McCourt, Cyd Moore (Illustrator)
- The Last Time I Lied by Riley Sager
- Dead Ends: How to Survive the Afterlife Book 3 by Tony Moyle
- War of the Damned by Martin Ferguson
- No Man’s Land by Hervey Copeland
- Backseat In The Dark by Milton Dewar
- Sweet Little Lies by Caz Frear
- Dead Princess Walking by L.M. Schukraft
- New Hampshire Book of the Dead:: Graveyard Legends and Lore by Roxie J. Zwicker
- Soul Shade (Soul Stones #2) by T.L. Branson
- Vicious by V.E. Schwab
- Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody by Michael Rex
- Night Night, Groot by Brendan Deneen, Cale Atkinson
- Bone Soup by Cambria Evans
- Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda & Jonny Sun
- The Creeps by Fran Krause
- Don’t Push the Button! by Bill Cotter
- Supernova (Amulet #8) by Kazu Kibuishi
- Flying Broomsticks and Buns (The Crooked Halos Series #.05) by L.M. Schukraft
- Star Wars: Are You Scared, Darth Vader? by Adam Rex
- Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- The Cabin in the Woods: The Official Movie Novelization by Tim Lebbon
- A Little Tea Book: All the Essentials from Leaf to Cup by Sebastian Beckwith, Caroline Paul, Wendy MacNaughton (Illustrations)
- The Broken Girls by Simone St. James
- Collected Christmas Horror Shorts 2 by Kevin J. Kennedy
- Weight Of Ashes by Rook Winter
- Twelve Slays of Christmas by Jacqueline Frost
- Krampus: The Yule Lord by Brom
- The Stark Divide by J. Scott Coatsworth
- Christmas Eve, 1914 by Charles Olivier
- NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
To read my reviews for any of these books, feel free to check out my Review Archive page.
Thanks for checking out this list!
Do you see any of your favorites on this list?
Wow, 54 5-star reads is impressive! Several of those are still on my TBR too so good to know they should be excellent reads for me. I still need to go back and look at mine for this week's TTT post but I'll be curious to see how many I had since I feel like I had a great reading year too.
Right?! I still can't believe it! I can't wait to see your top ten list! It was SO hard to narrow my list down for that prompt… 🙂
The Chalk Man is on my list to read in January and I'm looking forward to it despite mixed reviews from blogger friends. I hope to read Certain Dark Things as well next year.
I hope both of those books are a hit for you! 🙂
Wow, that is a lot of 5-star reads!! I think I had one true 5-star read this year, and several that came close.
It's crazy!! I really lucked out! 🙂
Oooh, yes. I love how long your list is!! I'm hoping to read The Bear and the Nightingale in January.
YAY!!! Enjoy!! I can't wait to read your review!
Two of my books made the list!! Happy author dance!! Thank you so much reading, reviewing, and sharing them with your followers!!!
<3 <3 I'm so happy to help spread the word!!
54 five star reads in a single year is amazing! I hope you have a great year of reading in 2019!
Right?! I'm so grateful!! Thank you 🙂
Wow!! That is awesome to have so many great reads in a year. I spy some I enjoyed too.
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Wow 54! It does sound like DNFing has worked great for you! Glad you found so many great books!
Right?! It's crazy! I'm so grateful for all of these reads!
I really loved The Chalk Man, Vicious, and I'll Be Gone in the Dark too. And I see some others I need to read as well!
-Lauren
http://www.shootingstarsmag.net
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54- that is awesome. Come to think of it I had a lot of really good reads this year too. I liked The Woman in the Window a LOT, and ooh Molly Southbourne- I wanted to read that one. I need to read Riley Sager's too.
Happy New Year!
Molly Southbourne is such a creepy one!! That story is still so vivid in my memory!! Enjoy!!
How awesome to have so many 5 star reads! I *really* wanted to love The Bear and the Nightingale but sadly it didn't work for me and it was one of my few DNF's this year. 🙁
Aw darn! I hate when that happens.
That’s a crazy amount of 5 stars book list! Glad you enjoyed so many 😀
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That's sooo many five star reads; I had five this year!
I got very lucky with my picks! 🙂
What a great reading year. Of course you know Space Dumplins and Certain Dark Things were 5/5 for me as well. I see a few here I didn't love so much but that's the great thing about reading – there's something for everyone. Hope we both have awesome years in 2019!
😀 For sure!!
You had that many five-star reads?! That's amazing. I hope you have just as many stellar reads in 2019!
Right!? It's crazy!! Thank you!
I Love You Stinky Face is such a sweet story. I loved it as a kid. I also really enjoyed Vicious when I read it last year.
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I really enjoyed The Chalk Man! Looks like there are quite a few thrillers and dark fiction titles on this list I should be checking out.
~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum
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Wow, you did have a good reading year. I’m glad that a lot of these are on my TBR list. Happy 2019!
Aj @ Read All The Things!
😀 I hope you have a wonderful 2019!! 🙂
wow, that's a lot of books! So glad to see Certain Dark Things included. 🙂
Deanna Reads Books
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I knew there was a reason Alicia has you as a friend. So many of the names on your favorite list suggest a diverse set of authors. I love that you're into Christmas horror. May I recommend Santa's Little Helper by H.D. Gordon? I couldn't put it down! Here is my review: https://grabthelapels.com/2015/10/01/santas-little-helper/
I look forward to getting to know you better in 2019!
😀 I certainly try to read a bit of everything! And yes please! I’ll take any recommendations! I’ll check Santa’s Little Helper out! Thank you for popping by!
Looks like you got some great reading in! 😀
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The Bear and the Nightingale and Vicious are the only ones I've read from your list. What a selection! Thanks for stopping by our page and Happy New Year!
Happy New Year!! And thank you for stopping by here as well! 🙂
54 5 star books is crazy amazing E!! <3
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Great list! I have Certain Dark Things and Vicious on my wishlist. I am just so glad you could love so many five star reads!
Wahoo!! Enjoy!