My Favorite Fiction of 2018

I’m closing out 2018 on the blog with a look back at my favorite fiction of the year. As of writing this post I’m at 112 books finished, which should be a solid number since I won’t have time to complete another book before the clock strikes midnight.

Of the 112 books I finished, exactly half were fiction – a slightly higher percentage than I’ve read in the past, but I’m pretty happy with that split. As I looked through all the titles, the ones that stuck out to me as favorites were books that featured interesting structures, interesting characters, and interesting ways of bringing fantastical elements into real-world settings. Here are my 10 favorites of the year:

The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin

In 1969, the four Gold adolescent siblings visit a traveling psychic who claims she can tell them the exact day they’ll die. Each of the siblings take this news in a different way, and having an idea of when they might die informs their choices in big and small ways for decades to come. I thought this book was absolutely stunning. The writing is beautiful, the characters are sympathetic and real, and the premise plays out in some really surprising, touching ways. It was really moving.

Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore

I think one of the themes of my fiction reading this year is books with a creative format or fantasy that takes places in the real world. This one had a bit of both, and I totally loved it. After her aunt dies, Jane is feeling lost and, on a whim, accepts an invitation to go to a gala at an island mansion, Tu Reviens. But the mansion is not what it seems, leading Jane to make five different choices that will affect what she can do next. The fantastical elements of this book were so weird, but the grounded parts about grief and loss and life after death were what sold me.

The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley by Hannah Tinti

This is another book with an intriguing structure that explores ideas of storytelling and adventure. Samuel Hawley has a checkered past, but has settled in a small town hoping to give his daughter, Loo, a relatively normal life. But Loo has other ideas, including trying to understand the mother she never knew. The book is told in alternating chapters, showing up episodes in Hawley’s past explain present-day threads. The characters were great, and the alternating chapters really worked for the story being told.

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

I love a good YA fantasy series, especially when the first book can surprise me in the ways that this one did. The plot is pretty straightforward, but the characters and West African-inspired locations and imagery take this one to the next level. It has smart political commentary that makes sense in the context of the book, and the ending left me with no real idea of where this series might go next. It was so, so excellent!

Circe by Madeline Miller

This book is a reimagining of the story of Circe, the witch in Greek mythology who is probably best known as one of the reasons Odysseus and his crew took so long to make it home in The Odyssey. This book give her a complicated life, an appealing sense of humor, and dreams of her own that she can make happen through her own hard work and diligence. I loved Greek myths as a kid, and so any chance I get to revisit them in such an interesting way is a treat. Lots of people loved this one, and I did too!

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

This book was like a big, warm hug for my soul. Eleanor Oliphant has a very structured life, centered around her boring job as an accountant and her weekends along drinking vodka and eating frozen pizza. But she’s fine, really, until a chance meeting with an man in her company’s IT department and a run-in with an elderly man on the street changes her course. This one is so smart in the way it reveals all the ways Eleanor is unreliable and dysfunctional, and in building a hopeful story amid a ton of loss.

An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard

There are not enough good standalone fantasy novels, so I always seek them out when I find one. In this one, a magicna outsider finds her way into an epic magical competition that will change the balance of power in New York City’s secret wizarding community. The world of this book was so good, the magicians at the heart of the story were full, curious, interesting people, and the plot moved along in a satisfying way. It was a good read!

Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl

This is another book that brings elements of the fantastic into the real world, this time in a “psychological suspense thriller in which fears are physical and memories come alive.” I can’t really sum op the plot, so I’ll just say that it’s one of those books that straddles the line between realistic and genre fiction almost perfectly. The characters were great, the mystery was intriguing, and the fantastical elements were just weird enough to work. I tore through this one in one afternoon while on vacation this summer, which also felt like a great way to read it. 

Warcross / Wildcard by Marie Lu

I read this duology back-to-back on a quiet Saturday, so I don’t think I could pick just one for this list. The premise of the pair is that a virtual reality game, Warcross, has become a way of life. While hacking to make some extra cash, Emika Chen, a teenage bounty hunter, finds herself accidentally into the middle of the international Warcross Championships. Quickly, she find herself befriending the game’s creator, recruited to a Warcross team, and investigating a sinister plot with life-and-death consequences. I had so much fun reading these books, which managed to surprise me in some really cool ways.  

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik

And finally, some fantasy to round out the year. I just finished this one a few days ago over my Christmas break and could hardly put it down. The book is a loose retelling of Rumpelstiltskin, featuring three unique young women trying to save themselves and their families. I think the way this book comes together is part of the delight, so I won’t say more than that, other than that, once it got going, I could hardly turn the pages fast enough to finish it. I thought it was so great!  

And that’s a wrap on 2018! And if you missed it, here’s my favorite nonfiction of the year. I’ll be back later in the week with some other bookish stats from 2018 and bookish goals for 2019. Happy reading!