The above paragraph is basically my long-winded way of saying I don’t have a traditional TILF post scheduled for today but I DO have a roundup of some awesome book recommendations for you!
I often include shout outs to great books I’ve recently read in my Friday blog posts but it wasn’t until I had a blog reader reach out to me to ask if I could share a “master list” of my current favorite reads that I realized it might be helpful to have all of these recommendations in ONE post. Today’s post features my favorite reads from this year (so far!) and I am planning to share a follow up to this post at the very end of the year with my favorite books from the second half of 2018 as well. If you have any recommendations for books you’ve absolutely loved recently, please feel free to let me know in the comments section of this post.
And just FYI, you can always find a constantly updated list of books I’ve read and loved on the Books page of my blog. I hope one of the books mentioned below catches your eye and makes it on your summer reading list!
Best Books I’ve Read in 2018 So Far
- Final Girls by Riley Sager
This book came highly recommended to me by two blog readers who said they both finished it in two days because it was so gripping. Apparently this book has a two-day reading window because Final Girls kept me on the edge of my seat (errr… bed) for the two nights it took me to devour every last word. Final Girls is a suspenseful thriller that follows the life if Quincy Carpenter, a woman who managed to survive a brutal massacre that killed five of her friends when she was on a weekend trip to a cabin in the woods in college. Dubbed one of three “Final Girls,” one of three women who survived horrific killings when others did not, Quincy is trying her best to lead a normal life. Then Lisa, one of the three Final Girls and the only one of 10 sorority sisters to survive a sorority house murder massacre in college, is found dead and Sam, the other Final Girl, shows up on Quincy’s doorstep. Quincy’s life is turned upside down again. This book includes twist after twist and there was not one dull moment in the whole thing. If you’re in the market for a new thriller, definitely check it out!
- Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
There’s a reason this book received a lot of hype in the past year. (It is a New York Times bestseller and was Amazon’s Book of 2017.) Little Fires Everywhere was an engrossing read from the beginning and the author writes about the characters in this novel in a way that feels believable and authentic. The book takes place in Shaker Heights, a near-perfect suburb of Cleveland, and follows the Richardson family, a wealthy family who seems to have it all together, and Mia and Pearl, a mysterious mother and daughter who arrive in town and rent a small house from the Richardsons. Family friends of the Richardsons attempt to adopt a Chinese-American baby, erupting a custody battle that divides not only Shaker Heights but the Richardsons and Mia and Pearl as well.
As the two families’ lives become intertwined and the custody battle intensifies, secrets from the past and present are revealed. A theme of this book is motherhood, a mother’s love and what it truly means to be a mother. Little Fires Everywhere felt different from other books I’ve read in some way – perhaps because of the author’s incredible talent for writing about such different characters in believable and intriguing ways – and the book made me feel invested in the characters and their stories from the beginning.
- An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
If there is one book I’ve seen popping up all over the internet as a “must read” recommendation this year, it’s An American Marriage. For some reason I kept skipping over it when I was looking for a new book to read but when I finally curled up with this book at the end of a long day, it immediately roped me in and I understood the hype. The author is a very talented writer and believably writes from the perspective of three different characters as we follow the lives of Celestial, Roy and Andre.
An American Marriage begins by giving us a glimpse into the relationship of Celestial and Roy, successful newlyweds living in Atlanta, whose lives are ripped apart when Roy is falsely accused of a crime and sent to prison. The book follows their relationship as they struggle to keep their marriage in tact through Roy’s incarceration and Celestial’s desire to continue to live her life. Seeking solace and support from her childhood best friend, Andre, Celestial is more conflicted than ever while Roy struggles with his own battles both inside of prison and out once he is released and finds himself longing for the comforts of his old life with Celestial.
- Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
This book was recommended to me by a handful of you guys in the past and when I initially read the description I admittedly thought the book sounded kind of boring. Fast forward a few months and I found myself wanting a break from some of the suspenseful books I’ve been reading lately and I turned to Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Now I’m just kicking myself for not reading this one sooner! I loved the author’s writing style and despite the lack of suspense I was used to in many of my recent book selections, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine proved to be a page-turner for me. Eleanor is an intriguing main character. She’s extremely quirky, completely unaware of her lack of social skills and somehow incredibly engaging to read about. I quickly found myself rooting for Eleanor as I learned more about her past and the person she is and who she is becoming.
- Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
I thought Lilac Girls was an incredibly moving book and while I would absolutely recommend it, I do so with a warning that this book is heavy and hard to read. It’s a WWII historical fiction novel that follows the lives of three women (two of whom the author based on real women). Caroline is a former Broadway actress know in New York City’s social scene with a heart for helping French children and families through her job at the French consulate. Kasia is an energetic Polish teenager drawn into the underground resistance movement. Herta is a determined and ambitious German doctor hired to work at a Nazi concentration camp. As the novel progresses and the lives of Caroline, Kasia and Herta begin to intertwine, the story becomes more and more gripping and horrifying. Lilac Girls is well-written, moving, vivid, extremely unsettling and memorable.
- Say You’re Sorry by Melinda Leigh
Say You’re Sorry popped up as a recommended read for me on my Kindle and after reading the description and 900+ positive reviews, I downloaded it and began reading. I liked the main character almost instantly and the book piqued my interest from the very first page. Say You’re Sorry follows Morgan Dane, a recently widowed lawyer and a mother of three, as she’s settling back into her childhood hometown and accepting a new career opportunity. Everything changes when Morgan’s babysitter is murdered and her neighbor, Nick, whom she’s known all her life, is accused of the crime. Morgan fervently believes Nick is innocent and agrees to represent him as his lawyer, turning her community against her, with the exception of an ex-police officer turned private detective she dated in high school, Lance Kruger. As Morgan and Lance set out to prove Nick’s innocence, their potential list of suspects increases and so does the risk surrounding their personal safety.
- The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
The Alice Network was easily one of my favorite reads of the year so far. It hops back and forth between 1915 and 1947 and follows the lives of Eve Gardinier, a bright but unassuming woman recruited to be a spy during World War I, and Charlie St. Clair, a pregnant college student holding onto hope that her beloved cousin Rose, who disappeared from Nazi-occupied France during World War II, might still be alive. The writing is fantastic and the story moves along quickly with plenty of intrigue, as the lives of Charlie and Eve collide and troubled pasts and secrets are revealed. While this novel is historical fiction, The Alice Network was very real and I was fascinated to learn more about the lives of women spies and their incredible bravery during World War I.
- A Death in Live Oak by James Grippando
A Death in Live Oak is actually part of an ongoing series that follows criminal defense attorney Jack Swykeck but I didn’t realize this going into the novel, nor did it matter since I never felt lost or confused and think the book stands well on its own. My mom actually recommended A Death in Live Oak to me when she was about halfway through this novel and we really enjoyed reading it at the same time and discussing all of the twists and turns.
The book begins after the body of Jamal Cousin, the president of Alpha, the preeminent black fraternity at the University of Florida, is found lynched and hogtied over the swamps of the Suwanee River Valley. Mark Towson, the president of a prominent white fraternity, is quickly accused of the crime after an incriminating text message he supposedly sent is discovered on Jamal’s phone. Defense attorney Jack Swyteck agrees to represent Towson and what follows is a a page-turning story that centers around racial unrest, political ambitions and the mystery surrounding Jamal’s murder. I flew through this novel and while parts of it were very hard to read (truthfully the prolog was one of the hardest parts to get through), the author included so many twists and turns that the story flew by and kept me completely engaged until the very last page.
Question of the Day
What is the last great book you read?
Any novels you highly recommend I add to my summer reading list this year?
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This is such a great roundup! I am just getting back into reading and adding all of these to my library!
This was really a great list of books. I might try reading few of them.
I read this book called ‘A Little Life’ by Hanya. It is really a good read. The story, the characters, and the flow is just amazing. It is not a typical read. This book will mess with your head and emotions. I recommend you to read this once.
I loved Eleanor Oliphant; I’m glad you did, too! My favorite so far this year is The Breakdown by B. A. Paris. I couldn’t put it down! I also love The Husband’s Secret and Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty.
It was such a good one! And Liane Moriarty’s books are some of my favs as well!
Have you read The Nightingale? If not, I think you would love it as you enjoyed the Alice network and Lilac girls. A book that I have read in the last year that I have absolutely loved is the heart’s invisible furies. Another great recent read is Educated. So many great books, so little time to read them all!
I STILL haven’t read that one even though people highly recommend it all the time! I really need to esp since I really do enjoy WWII historical fiction. I just have to space out books from that genre since they can be so sad and hard to read. I’ll keep this one on my list!
I LOVED The Nightingale! I also enjoyed Kristen Hanna’s other book The Great Alone!
I agree if you loved Lilac Girls please read The Nightingale! It’s amazing!!!
I LOVED Final Girls!!! Definitely finished that one in only a couple of days. I also really enjoyed The Wife Between Us. That one kept me reading and I finished it in a couple of days as well!
The Wife Between Us keeps popping up on Amazon as a recommended read for me. It definitely looks intriguing!!
The great alone by Kristin Hannah was fabulous.
I just read Only Child by Rhiannon Navin. It was INCREDIBLY moving and fascinating. It is the story narrated by a 6 year old boy who has survived a school shooting. This book walks us through all the different feelings and thoughts and experiences that happen to a family and a community after this happened. I couldn’t put it down!
Wow that sounds so interesting and different from so many other novels out there. Thank you for the recommendation!
Thanks for the list! I too am an avid reader and have read many of these. I recommend ‘The Great Alone’ by Kristin Hannah, ‘The Perfect Morher’ by Aimee Molloy, ‘The Woman in the Window’ by AJ Finn, and the ‘Me Before You’ trilogy by Jojo Moyes. Happy reading! I too am in the thick of newborn and toddler life but manage to read a few pages of something everyday. Keeps me grounded!
I love a good book list! I recently read Final Girls, Lilac Girls, and The Alice Network and they’re great reads. I’m in the middle of The Tuscan Child by Rhys Bowen (I think you also read that recently?). I love it and I’m deliberately taking it slow because her books always go so fast.
Other recent good reads: The Good House by Ann Leary and The Lying Game by Ruth Ware.
Yes!! The Tuscan Child was another good one!!
I’m a teacher on summer break so that means a lot of reading! This week I have read The Wife by Alafair Burke and Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell and really enjoyed them both! I would also recommend The Mars Room by Rachel Kushner!
I’ve read the bottom 4 books in your collage and they top my list of best books of the year, too!
For a good thriller, I recently read The Flight Attendant and devoured it. It was gripping and kept me turning the pages to find out what really happened.
Next up for me is The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah – I’ve heard great things so I’ll see!
So many good books on this list!! I’ve said it before but we have very similar reading tastes so I recommend The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Before We Were Yours and Orphan Train. I actually just bought Eleanor Oliphant even though I’ve already read it because I loved it so much I want a physical copy (I read it from my library).
I LOVED The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo!
Loved reading about all of these books! Can’t wait to try a few. The best book I’ve read this year HANDS DOWN is “The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah. Oh my goodness. Absolutely fantastic. I can’t even begin to explain my adoration for it but I highly recommend 🙂 And a huge congratulations to you and your family on that beautiful baby boy.
I’m so impressed you are even doing posts! I had my second baby in February and those first 8 weeks I felt like a bumbling loony toon! It took some time to get used to two. An active 3.5 year old and a newborn. I was of course going on little sleep, recovering from childbirth and trying to keep my house from looking like a bomb went off. It gets better! Trust me. It is so true when they say the days are long but the years are short. Well those first 8 weeks, the days felt like 10 years each. 🙂
I always love your book recommendations! I just read the Alice Network and absolutely loved it. So many interesting characters and stories, and I loved learning the bits and pieces of the real life Alice Network. I have An American Marriage, Lilac Girls, and Little Fires Everywhere loaded on my kindle for a long beach weekend, though I appreciate the warning about Lilac Girls. Doesn’t sound like such a good beach read, but I will definitely save it for after!
I always look out for Reese’s and Oprah’s book club recommendations, they know what they’re talking about!
Hope you have a great weekend with your family Julie!
If you’re looking for a good thriller, any of the books by Ruth Ware are fantastic! The Woman in Cabin 10 and The Lying Game were super good and reminded me of Final Girls a little.
I agree! I’m reading The Lying Game right now and it’s really good.
Some good summer reads:
The Great Alone by Kristin hannah
The queen of hearts by Kimberly Martin
Small Great things by Jodi Picault
Sunburn by Laura Lippman
Check out the summer reading guide on http://www.modernmrsdarcy.com for more recommendations!
I just picked up ‘Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine’ to read next! I too thought it sounded a bit ‘eh’ when I first read the description, but I wanted a break from the thriller types I’ve been reading as well. Happy to hear it was much better than you expected! Have a wonderful weekend 🙂
I really liked Little Fires Everywhere! I can’t say I loved an American Marriage. I didn’t hate it, I just didn’t love it. One of my favorite books I’ve read so far this year is All The Missing Girls. It’s fantastic. I already have a few of these books on my reading list, but I added the Final Girls one. I’m reading The Last Miss Parrish now and I’m intrigued!
All the Missing Girls was a good one!! I also liked The Last Mrs. Parrish. And you will LOVE Final Girls — be prepared to get sucked in!!
Great assortment of books! I’ve read a bunch of good ones this year, as well. I’m currently reading The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll – it’s so suspenseful and leaves me with building curiosity with every page turned!
If you liked “Water for Elephants” and obviously you like WWII era historical fiction, I would recommend “The Orphan’s Tale” by Pam Jenoff. I read it a month or so ago and it really drew me in! Thanks for these lists…I always end up adding a bunch to my library list!
I loved Water for Elephants — I’ll def look into this one. Thanks!!
I recently read “Girl, Wash Your Face” by Rachel Hollis and it was awesome! Perfect for any female in any area of life! A definite must read! Thanks for your recommendations, can’t wait to check some out.
I’ve seen this book popping up all over the place lately! I need to check it out!
Just finished Educated by Tara Westover and it was wholly complicated but definitely worth the read. . I second Seven Husbands, quick read. There’s so much to read this Summer!
I just read Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow. I typically read suspenseful novels like you, but this was on my library’s staff recommendation list, and it was a true heart-wrencher. It’s not the easiest story to read as it is about a young girl trying to find a way to deal with her emotions without cutting and there are some dark parts to her story. Nonetheless, the ending had me sobbing and I truly loved this book!
I just filled up my library holds list! Thanks for such a useful post! Enjoy all the baby snuggles. <3
Awesome list, thanks! The most recent book I’ve read that I love to recommend is “The Great Alone” by Kristin Hannah. Its a longer book, but it kept my interest the whole time. Its got a lot of different themes, but the basic premise is a troubled Vietnam vet convinces his wife and young daughter to move to Alaska with him in the late 1970’s to “live off the land.” The story is told through the daughter Leni’s eyes. I couldn’t put it down!
I’ve been reading Coffee + Crumbs The Magic of Motherhood and it’s great! It’s not a novel, but more so a roundup of essays from their blog. It’s really good!
I love this post and can’t wait to choose one of your recommendations to read next!
I looooove your book round-up posts (as well as book recommendations in general!) Reading is my favorite. “I like smiling. Smiling’s my favorite!” – Buddy the Elf.
Thanks for putting this together. I’m in the middle of An American Marriage right now and man am I glad I picked it up!
Hoping your doing well mama, you seem super happy, and I’m happy for you! Happy weekend!
Such a good post, love it! You always have the best book recommendations. I will be adding these to my must read list 🙂
Hope you are all doing well!! Happy Friday! Have a great weekend! Xoxo
YES! Love this post. I loved Final Girls – so twisty!!! I have a bunch of these on my list. I love, love the Morgan Dane series – I think I read at least 3 or 4 of them – you should check out the others if you liked this one. They are twisty, without being TOO upsetting before bed, which is a good departure from my typical creepy, unsettling ones!
Also, if you like the Morgan Dane series, you’d like The Tracy Crosswhite Series — the first one is my Sister’s Grave, and I believe it goes up to 6 (the newest one was just released). Very similar and good series!! Very likeable characters.
Other recos: The Woman in the Window, The Lying Game, The Secret Mother.
I also recently downloaded for my upcoming vacation: The Thinnest Air, The Good Daughter, and The President is Missing (Bill Clinton’s fiction book!).
Thank you for sharing! I have new books for my list!
I loved The Selection series by Kiera Cass. All the feels!
I am also reading the super convicting The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace.
Hi Julie!
Does The Final Girls have cursing in it? It sounds very intriguing; however, I am just not into books that use foul language throughout. Thanks!
Totally understand! I’d encourage you to steer clear of this one! 🙂
The best suspenseful read I’ve had in a long time was Into the Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Raynes. I’ve recommended it to everyone since I’ve read it, and I always enjoy texts from friends as they’re flying through the book. I don’t want to give anything away, but I cannot recommend it enough!
I just finished reading The Address by Fiona Davis and I really enjoyed it. It follows the story of two women but 100 years apart. The Address is the apartment building The Dakota in NYC (where John Lennon lived and was killed) and is the central setting of the book. It had a lot of twists and turns about how the two women’s lives are connected.
I have so many of those on my TBR list! I tried reading “An American Marriage,” but it just got a little long for me 🙁
My favorite books I’ve read this year have been The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo. I loved the way this book was written. Much different than other books I’ve read before.
The Marriage Lie by Kimberly Belle had me guessing at every corner. I didn’t see the end coming at all and it completely sucked me in!
The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena was a page turner with a semi predictable middle but the ending totally caught me off guard!
Happy Reading! 🙂
You posted this list at the perfect time! I just finished The Alice Network and loved it. I’m at a loss for new book recos and will def be checking out one of these. Enjoy your weekend with your guys!
I just finished a really cute and light book today called Cactus by Sarah Haywood. I enjoyed it a lot, and it was a very easy listen (I listened to it on Audible, and if you go that route, the narrator was AMAZING! She navigated several characters without ever sounding like she was doing “a voice”. Very, very good.).
Yay for books!! I’ve been reading a lot of non-fiction this year, but I’m currently reading the Alice Network and I’m enjoying it a lot! I’m also reading The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story, which is so interesting.
My favorite books from this year have been:
* Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America
* State of Wonder
* Pandemic (The Extinction Files #1) by A.G. Riddle
*A Train in Winter: An Extraordinary Story of Women, Friendship, and Resistance in Occupied France
* Molly’s Game
* The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit
Thanks for the reading list! I’ve definately added a few of those to mine!! Can’t wait to get started!
Congrats on new mommyhood again!!! Ryder is so beautiful! Has your mom been able to come help this time around again?! Moms can be such a help….especially with 2 in the mix now! Good luck and can’t wait to read all the new stories with a chase and Ryder!
Since you like suspenseful books, you might like “Something in the Water” by Catherine Steadman. I just read it and it kept me guessing.
Thank you for the great recs!
I loved the Woman in the window by AJ Finn and The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo as well. I read them both in 2 days. I think you would also love Kristy Harvey’s books. She’s a blonde beauty from North Carolina like you and I especially loved her peach tree bluff series both Slightly South of Simple and The Secret Of Southern Charm. I also can’t wait to read Emily Giffin’s new book All We Ever Wanted.
Congrats on Ryder. I’ve been a nicu nurse for many years and you handled a difficult situation with grace! Enjoy your beautiful boys Mama!
Caitlin, you are so sweet! I am so happy you enjoyed the Peachtree Bluff series and I appreciate your recommendation! Happy summer! xo Kristy
I just finished Before We Were Yours and think you’d like it based on other books you like! It was a tear jerker and so great!
I really liked Final Girls! But every time I explained it to people, they thought I was crazy that I would like something like that, haha, but I just love thriller type novels! I enjoyed Little Fires Everywhere and I’m loving her other novel, Everything I Never Told You right now and its really good, too! A few others I’ve liked recently are Then She Was Gone, The Good Daughter and The Wife Between Us.
I loved Lilac Girls so I decided to give The Nightingale a try next since it was on so many lists, but I’m definitely having a hard time getting into it. Hopefully it gets better!
This is awesome; thank you so much for putting this together! Just added a bunch more to my Good Reads app 🙂 Have you read “The Untelling” by Tayari Jones? My library didn’t have “An American Marriage” so I picked that up instead and it was SO good. Highly recommend!
I love your book roundup and suggestions, Goodreads and PBF are my main stops to check what to read next, so thank you for another great list! As a warning they are all a little heavy but three books I read recently and absolutely loved are:
Before We Were Yours, by Lisa Wingate
Etched in Sand, by Regina Calcaterra
Beneath a Scarlet Sky, by Mark Sullivan
Girl, you are one supermama! Keeping up with blogging while taking care of a newborn and a toddler. We are just coming out of the “fourth trimester” over here and I’m ready to get back into reading at night after the kiddos go to bed, so this post came at a perfect time. Thanks for all the wonderful suggestions!
Thanks for posting this Julie! I was in need of some good old book Recs rec! The last reallllly good (but heavy) book i read was Beneath A Scarlett SKy.
Great list! Thanks for sharing. Had heard about “Little Fires Everywhere”, and have been looking for my next summer read. Will grab that one. Here is my list of 2018 so far: Best reads of 2018 so far (https://therapywithbooks.clinic/2018/06/24/best-reads-of-2018-so-far/)