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Smithsonian Magazine Best Books of the Year 2018

Smithsonian Magazine Best Books of the Year 2018 names 50 books across 5 categories. 6 of them also won or were shortlisted for an award.

Children's

  1. A Is for Artichoke by America's Test Kitchen Kidssource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Baby Feminists by Libby Babbott-Kleinsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Drawn Together by Minh Lêsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. El Chupacabras by Adam Rubinsource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Fur, Feather, Fin―All of Us Are Kin by Diane Langsource (opens in a new tab)
  6. How to Build a Hug by Amy Guglielmosource (opens in a new tab)
  7. How to Code a Sandcastle by Josh Funksource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Quiet by Tomie dePaolasource (opens in a new tab)
  9. The Atlas Obscura Explorer’s Guide for the World’s Most Adventurous Kid by Dylan Thurassource (opens in a new tab)
  10. The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynoldssource (opens in a new tab)

Food

  1. Buttermilk Graffiti by Edward Leesource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Catfish Dream by Julian Rankinsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Godforsaken Grapes by Jason Wilsonsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Hippie Food by Jonathan Kauffmansource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Milk! by Mark Kurlanskysource (opens in a new tab)
  6. The Flavor Matrix by James Briscionesource (opens in a new tab)
  7. The Food Explorer by Daniel Stonesource (opens in a new tab)
  8. The Seven Culinary Wonders of the World by Jenny Linfordsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. Why You Eat What You Eat by Rachel Herzsource (opens in a new tab)
  10. You and I Eat the Same by Chris Yingsource (opens in a new tab)

History

  1. Behold, America by Sarah Bartlett Churchwellsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Beneath a Ruthless Sun by Gilbert Kingsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Bringing Down the Colonel by Patricia Millersource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Broken Lives by Konrad Hugo Jarauschsource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Empire of Guns by Priya Satiasource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Set the World on Fire by Keisha N. Blainsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. The Bone and Sinew of the Land by Anna-Lisa Coxsource (opens in a new tab)
  8. The Field of Blood by Joanne B. Freemansource (opens in a new tab)
  9. The Man in the Glass House by Mark Lamstersource (opens in a new tab)
  10. Tyrant by Stephen Greenblattsource (opens in a new tab)

Science

  1. Chasing New Horizons by Alan Sternsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Close Encounters with Humankind by Sang-Hee Leesource (opens in a new tab)
  3. First in Fly by Stephanie Elizabeth Mohrsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Lost in Math by Sabine Hossenfeldersource (opens in a new tab)
  5. She Has Her Mother's Laugh by Carl Zimmersource (opens in a new tab)
  6. The Dinosaur Artist by Paige Williamssource (opens in a new tab)
  7. The Poison Squad by Deborah Blumsource (opens in a new tab)
  8. The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Stephen Brusattesource (opens in a new tab)
  9. What the Future Looks Like by Jim Al-Khalilisource (opens in a new tab)
  10. Wilding by Isabella Treesource (opens in a new tab)

Travel

  1. A Bite-Sized History of France by Stéphane Henautsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Figures In A Landscape by Paul Therouxsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Lost Railway Journeys from Around the World by Anthony Lambertsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Of Love & War by Lynsey Addariosource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Outlander's Scotland by Phoebe Taplinsource (opens in a new tab)
  6. Slab City by Charlie Haileysource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Speakeasy by Maurizio Maestrellisource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Spomeniks by Jonathan Jimenezsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. The Landscapes of Anne of Green Gables by Catherine Reidsource (opens in a new tab)
  10. The Rhine by Ben Coatessource (opens in a new tab)

About the Smithsonian Magazine Best Books of the Year

Smithsonian magazine's year-end "Ten Best" subject lists, one category per list: History, Science, Travel, Food and Children's for 2017-2025, and Photography for 2017 and 2020-2025. Each list has ten books; none is ranked. The 2018 and 2019 best-books hubs link no photography list, so those years have none. robots.txt allows all agents, but Cloudflare blocks scripted fetches of smithsonianmag.com, so pages were read from copies. 2017-2019 lists and all Photography lists come from Wayback Machine copies of the Smithsonian articles. 2020-2025 History, Science, Travel, Food and Children's lists come from booklisti.com, which copies each article's full list and links back to it. 2024 History was checked against the Smithsonian article itself: booklisti adds an 11th book, Jon Grinspan's Wide Awake, which the article only mentions in its intro, so it is left out. 2017-2019 articles name books only through Amazon widgets. Their titles drop Amazon's subtitles and series tags, and their authors are Open Library's first-listed author for the linked ISBN (co-authors and illustrators dropped). Exceptions: two 2019 Science authors come from the article text (both linked to Kindle editions), and three Photography books whose heading names no author use a retailer listing (Sneaker Freaker: Simon Wood) or Open Library (I'm So Happy You Are Here: Pauline Vermare; Life Dances On: Robert Frank). booklisti titles and authors are kept, with corporate credits (Atlas Obscura, Britannica) and degree suffixes dropped and three all-caps entries fixed against Open Library. Not included: 2014-2016, where the Wayback Machine has only scattered lists; the Smithsonian scholars' favorite-books roundups, which are staff picks; and one-off gift guides.

Organization: Smithsonian magazine. Official site (opens in a new tab)

The most recommended books of 2018