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Barnes & Noble Best Books of the Year 2018

Barnes & Noble Best Books of the Year 2018 names 30 books across 2 categories. 8 of them also won or were shortlisted for an award.

Best Books

  1. An American Marriage by Tayari Jonessource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” by Zora Neale Hurstonsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Becoming by Michelle Obamasource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Calypso by David Sedarissource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Circe by Madeline Millersource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Educated by Tara Westoversource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Fire & Blood by George R. R. Martinsource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be by Rachel Hollissource (opens in a new tab)
  9. Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwinsource (opens in a new tab)
  10. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannahsource (opens in a new tab)
  11. The President is Missing by Bill Clinton and James Pattersonsource (opens in a new tab)
  12. The Reckoning by John Grishamsource (opens in a new tab)
  13. The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finnsource (opens in a new tab)
  14. There There by Tommy Orangesource (opens in a new tab)
  15. Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolversource (opens in a new tab)

Fiction

  1. A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirzasource (opens in a new tab)
  2. A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoultsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. An American Marriage by Tayari Jonessource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Circe by Madeline Millersource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Clock Dance by Anne Tylersource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Every Breath by Nicholas Sparkssource (opens in a new tab)
  7. The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzersource (opens in a new tab)
  8. The Great Alone by Kristin Hannahsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. The Hellfire Club by Jake Tappersource (opens in a new tab)
  10. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjaminsource (opens in a new tab)
  11. The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albomsource (opens in a new tab)
  12. The Perfect Couple by Elin Hilderbrandsource (opens in a new tab)
  13. There There by Tommy Orangesource (opens in a new tab)
  14. Unsheltered by Barbara Kingsolversource (opens in a new tab)
  15. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owenssource (opens in a new tab)

About the Barnes & Noble Best Books of the Year

Barnes & Noble's year-end Best Books picks, chosen by its booksellers and editors. Category Best Books is B&N's overall top list (15 in 2018, 10 or 11 in 2020-2022). Fiction and Nonfiction are B&N's general fiction and nonfiction lists. Sources: B&N press releases on barnesandnobleinc.com for 2017, 2018 and 2022, and B&N Reads blog posts for 2016 (10 Must-Read Novels of 2016), 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025. The 2021 1619 Project entry lists Nikole Hannah-Jones only; the page also names The New York Times Magazine as editor. Genre and subject lists (mystery, thriller, SF and fantasy, romance, horror, history, biography, science, business, cookbooks, YA, kids, audiobooks, gifts) are left out, as are mid-year 'so far' lists and customer-voted lists. The B&N Book of the Year is its own source (barnes-noble-book-of-the-year) and is not repeated here. Missing years: B&N's year-end lists before 2016 and for 2019 and 2023 lived only on barnesandnoble.com collection pages, which now sit behind a Cloudflare human check, and the Wayback Machine was offline; the 2015 press release uses themed categories (coloring books, celebrity memoirs) and is left out. The 2022 fiction blog post lost half its book links when B&N moved its site, so 2022 has only the overall list. 2024 and 2025 have no general nonfiction list, only subject lists. No list is ranked.

Organization: Barnes & Noble. Official site (opens in a new tab)

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