TTT: Best So Far in 2018

With the delightful bloggers at The Broke and the Bookish moving on to other things, TTT is now hosted by just one of their contingent, That Artsy Reader Girl .  If you want to quadruple the size of your TBR AND find a bunch of great book blogs to follow head on over and check it out!

The topic this week is:

THE BEST BOOKS I’VE READ IN 2018 (SO FAR!)

There are 29 books I've given 5 stars to so far this year, so I'm going to share with you my top three, then the remaining seven will be those with the fewest ratings/reviews on Goodreads, because they need the love. Do you really need me telling you that Hunger Games and Turtles All the Way Down are worth a look? I'm working on a post about graphic novels, so I didn't add any more after my top three.

1. Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. I love this book about a woman who's dealt with early trauma by shutting herself off completely from the world. It's hilarious and sad and affirming and just one of those books. It's the only one I've rated "all the stars" so far this year.

2. I Am Alfonso Jones by Tony Medina. This is the one I picked for my "everybody should be reading it this summer" book. Timely, grounded in history, emotional. Plus it's an #ownvoices graphic novel. 

3. There There by Tommy Orange. One of those books that provoked so many thoughts, I actually broke down and wrote a review. 

4. Murder on the Red River by Marcie Rendon (160 reviews) An atmospheric study of character, time and place more than an actual murder mystery. Have I ever read a Native American woman protagonist that wasn't written by Louise Erdrich before?

5. Steel Seraglio by Mike, Linda, and Louise Carey (609 reviews) Yes, this was written by parents and their daughter. Yes, it's the most amazing feminist middle Eastern fantasy epic you've never heard of.

6. The Wicker King by Kay Ancrum (1,058 reviews) This is a physically beautiful book but more importantly (coughIlluminaeFilescough) it's a great and unusual story. It's about love and mental illness and bad decisions and loyalty.

7. The Sidekicks by Will Kostakis (1,284 reviews) It's Australian. It has three narrators, all of whom were best friends, in their own way, with a guy who just died. I have a group of four friends that centers around one of us, and it's taken us nearly 40 years to develop parallel friendships, so I get it.

8. Rebound by Kwame Alexander (2,610 reviews) This is a prequel to his Newbery award winning novel in verse, The Crossover. I'd recommend reading that one first, even though it's chronologically later. Knowing the events of the future make this book even more poignant. I love the 80s flavor of this one.

9. Saints and Misfits by S. K. Ali (2,805 reviews) This one made me cry. In a good way.

10. Nest by Esther Ehrlich (3,047) The rare middle grade novel that pulls no punches. Again, I like the '70s setting, even though it reminds me more of the east coast novels I read than of my west coast childhood. 

Wow, what an ORANGE list, and I'm not just talking about the author of There There. Given that it's my least favorite color, you can rest assured I'm recommending books based on their content, not their covers. I hope you discover some new titles, or get the push to read one you've been considering, from this group.