We’re about halfway through July, and I’ve read 56 books. I’ve read a lot of good books that I’ve enjoyed, but I would say that my overall reading year has been pretty lackluster in general. There are certainly a few standouts, but most of the books I’ve read have been forgettable, even if they were super enjoyable. I gave a lot of books five stars because I loved them in the moment, but as I think back, I find that I’m not as attached to them as I thought I would be. But as I said, there are a few books that stand out, and those are the books I’m going to talk about here!
I’ve never done a best books so far type of post before, but I’ve been seeing it going around here and on Booktube. I suppose it would be interesting to see which of these books makes it to my Top 10 Books of 2018 list and which are knocked off. To make things easier on myself, I’m going to order them first read to last read, no rankings involved.
So, without further ado, here are the best books I’ve read so far in 2018!
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
This books stands out because of its subversion of normative expectations, its heady atmosphere, and its gorgeous prose. Somewhat similar in plot to The Secret History, it is about a group of theater students who are rather close-knit until one of their number is killed.
Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
I finished this book in a few hours, then a month later I bought it, and now I’m strongly considering re-reading it. It was just so fantastic on so many levels. It’s hilarious, with witty dialogue and standout characters, and it’s fast-paced and fluffy and sweet.
A Girl Like That by Tanaz Bhathena
This book has its problems, but I loved it all the same. It’s about a Parsi girl living in Saudi Arabia and struggling with its misogynistic norms and religious guidelines. It’s tragic and nuanced and made me feel very deeply. Having lived in Egypt for three years as a teenager, I related to it on a very personal level.
Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi
This book was a revelation told in gorgeous, profound prose. It’s about a young Nigerian woman who is mentally ill – or is she? Her mental illness seems to be a group of gods possessing her – but is it? At its core this book interrogates our perceptions and interpretations about the self and mental health. It was absolutely mindblowing.
Policing Egyptian Women by Liat Kozma
The only non-fiction book on this list, this is a book that discusses various groups of Egyptian women’s relationships to the burgeoning state in 19th century Egypt. It might sound dry, but it’s because of this book that I learned 19th century Cairo had a school for training female physicians that recruited mainly slave girls and street orphans.
Nevernight Series by Jay Kristoff
Because of this series, I was reminded of my love for adult fantasy. The richness of Kristoff’s worldbuilding is astonishing, but so are his characters, the relationships he crafts, and the twisty plots he seems to pull out of thin air. Reading these two books was a genuinely thrilling experience.
Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie
I did not expect to absolutely love this modern-day retelling of Antigone with an all-Muslim cast of characters. But it won me over quickly; I read it in one sitting. I was drawn in by the characters, the steadily rising tension, the quietly beautiful prose, and the immensely tragic ending.
The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang
Based heavily on the second Sino-Japanese War, it’s about a young girl who fights to be taken seriously in the military academy she has gained entrance to. Soon enough her country is embroiled in a violent, vicious war. The magic system here is fantastic – you get high, summon gods, and use their powers. But it comes at a cost. It is so damn cool.
Not the Girls You’re Looking For by Aaminah Mae Safi
This is a very slow, character-driven book, and it took me some time to get through it. And yet there’s something about it. It’s about a half-Iraqi, half-white girl living in Texas. It’s about her relationships with her family and her female friends. It’s about her coming to terms with herself and her heritage. It is incredibly clever and witty, and I connected to it on a personal level.
The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne
This is the seventy-year long saga of a gay man growing up in Ireland. It’s a dark comedy, taking us through heartbreaks, similarities, madcap coincidences, surreal happenings. Despite its length and lack of coherent plot, I couldn’t put it down, and it affected me deeply.
Well, that’s it! What are some of your favorite books of the year so far?
The Sweep Series by Cate Tiernan: Choosing a single favorite book is really difficult for me. There’s so many different criteria one could go by! In the end, I decided to choose my comfort series, the one that I go to when I just want to sink into a world and not think. Obviously, that’s Harry Potter, but I didn’t want to go with Harry Poter, because, what a formulaic answer! So, I decided to go with my second favorite series: Sweep.
When the Sea is Rising Red & House of Sand and Secrets by Cat Hellisen: Felicita Pelim comes from wealth and privilege – but when her best friend commits suicide to escape an arranged marriage, Felicita decides to trade privilege for freedom. She takes to the streets, joins up with a gang, and gets caught up in a plot to destroy the city. In the first book, Felicita isn’t badass so much as resilient, but in the second book, after her marriage and move to another city, her prowess grows. She is every bit a lady, with all the selfishness and pride and willfulness that comes with growing up privileged, but she’s also compassionate, sharp, and snarky as hell. In a city where her family name means little, Felicita fights fiercely to bring justice to members of an oppressed caste who are being murdered and whose human rights are soon to be stripped.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin: This was Jemisin’s debut as well as my introduction to her. I remember picking this book up at a time when I was just so, so tired of all the generic white male fantasy being recommended to me. I don’t recall how I stumbled upon Jemisin’s book, but I do remember reading that it was unusual in many ways for a fantasy novel, particularly a debut. I loved it completely – it was a totally original world, and the narrative style – though not everyone’s piece of cake – was fantastic. In this book Jemisin explored Gods and creation myths all though the first-person perspective of a young black woman, and it was mind-blowing.
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander: As a nerd who reads a ton of non-fiction, narrowing this down to one book was tough. Eventually, though, it came down to The New Jim Crow. Michelle Alexander’s book is incredible not only because it is written in accessible language and puts forth a resonant thesis, but also because of the sheer amount of eye-opening information it provides. If you think the United States justice system is at all fair to those who aren’t wealthy and white, read The New Jim Crow. This book will completely overturn any false narratives you hold about the United States as a champion of justice.
Truthwitch by Susan Dennard: Okay, as a YA high fantasy, I don’t know if this book is necessarily for everyone, but I absolutely love it, so I’m including it on here. Not only is Truthwitch is an absolute achievement in worldbuilding, it features two fully fleshed out female leads who love each other more than anything else in the world. Their friendship is the thread that binds the plot together, even as they struggle against coups and political machinations. The magic system is intricate and incredible, and Dennard can write action scenes like nobody’s business.
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson: I’ve read some of Dickinson’s short stories, and he seems to be fascinated by the concept of extremely difficult choices. A Sophie’s Choice, if you will. This whole novel is one big Sophie’s Choice, but you don’t really find out until the very end, in one of the most shocking, heart-breaking twists I’ve ever come across in literature. The main character, Baru, is an accountant who has had her home colonized by a brutal empire. She grows up with the goal of dismantling said empire and winning her home back, but the choices she has to make to achieve that goal may just break her. This book is utterly devastating. It’s a truly horrifying portrait of the brutal effects imperialism and colonialism has on people.
The Shadowed Sun by N.K. Jemisin: I read a lot of YA, Genre of the Beautiful Covers, so of course I come to you with…a non-YA book cover. It’s another Jemisin book (she’s my favorite author, of course she features twice), from her oft-ignored second series. Most people nowadays praise The Fifth Season (rightly so) or her debut, but her middle series tends to be forgotten, which is such a shame. The Shadowed Sun (and its prequel) feature some truly fantastic and hella creative worldbuilding based on North African myth and culture. As a North African myself, you can bet I loved that. But The Shadowed Sun also includes one of my favorite romances ever, because it is real and raw and unexpected.
Authority by Jeff VanderMeer: I read the first book in this series and liked it well enough. I thought the second book would begin to answer some of the question posed in the first book. How wrong I was. Basically, Authority is a literary rendering of bureaucratic routine with some occasional weirdness thrown in. Pretty much nothing happens throughout this book; there’s a lot of meandering and asking questions, but nothing is answered or revealed. By the last third of the book I was truly struggling, and I began to skip significant chunks just to get to the end.
Everything You Want Me To Be by Mindy Mejia: I finished this book in a day and a half. I remember very clearly that I did not sleep until nearly four am the day I started reading this book, and probably would not have slept if I didn’t have to get up for work in the morning. This book is a murder mystery/thriller, told in alternating perspectives and using flashbacks. It also features one of my favorite tropes, but I won’t say what that is so I don’t spoil the book!
Hadeer Elsbai 