BESTBOOKSof the yearFind a book
Menu

Year archive

Best books of 2018

Books selected by independent literary juries and editorial teams in 2018, gathered into one transparent, source-linked reading list. The chronology uses the award year for prizes and list year for editorial recommendations.

Selections
339
Authors
332
Years
1

Showing 49–96 of 339

2018Nonfiction

Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga Of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Its Purloined Basketball Team, And The Dream Of Becoming A World-Class Metropolis

by Sam Anderson

  • NPR Books We Love

Boom Town: The Fantastical Saga Of Oklahoma City, Its Chaotic Founding, Its Apocalyptic Weather, Its Purloined Basketball Team, And The Dream Of Becoming A World-Class Metropolis by Sam Anderson appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, for history lovers, the states we’re in, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Graphic novels

Born To Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life And Mysterious Genius Of Edward Gorey

by Mark Dery

  • NPR Books We Love

Born To Be Posthumous: The Eccentric Life And Mysterious Genius Of Edward Gorey by Mark Dery appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around comics & graphic novels, nonfiction, biography & memoir, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Poetry

Brown: Poems

by Kevin Young

  • NPR Books We Love

Brown: Poems by Kevin Young appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around short stories, essays & poetry, identity & culture, staff picks, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Poetry

Calypso

by David Sedaris

  • NPR Books We Love

Calypso by David Sedaris appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around biography & memoir, short stories, essays & poetry, family matters, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Science fiction & fantasy

Census

by Jesse Ball

  • NPR Books We Love

Census by Jesse Ball appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction, eye-opening reads, family matters, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Poetry

Cenzontle

by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo

  • NPR Books We Love

Cenzontle by Marcelo Hernandez Castillo appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around short stories, essays & poetry, identity & culture, tales from around the world, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Graphic novels

Che: A Revolutionary Life

by Jon Lee Anderson, illustrated by José Hernández

  • NPR Books We Love

Che: A Revolutionary Life by Jon Lee Anderson, illustrated by José Hernández appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around comics & graphic novels, nonfiction, biography & memoir, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Graphic novels

Check, Please!: Book 1: # Hockey

by Ngozi Ukazu

  • NPR Books We Love

Check, Please!: Book 1: # Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around comics & graphic novels, funny stuff, identity & culture, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Nonfiction

Chesapeake Requiem: A Year With The Watermen Of Vanishing Tangier Island

by Earl Swift

  • NPR Books We Love

Chesapeake Requiem: A Year With The Watermen Of Vanishing Tangier Island by Earl Swift appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, the states we’re in, science!, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Young readers

Children Of Blood And Bone

by Tomi Adeyemi

  • NPR Books We Love

Children Of Blood And Bone by Tomi Adeyemi appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around book club ideas, sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction, rather long, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Science fiction & fantasy

Circe

by Madeline Miller

  • NPR Books We Love

Circe by Madeline Miller appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around historical fiction, sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction, book club ideas, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Poetry

Citizen Illegal

by José Olivarez

  • NPR Books We Love

Citizen Illegal by José Olivarez appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around identity & culture, short stories, essays & poetry, book club ideas, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Mystery & crime

City Of Ash And Red: A Novel

by Hye-young Pyun, translated by Sora Kim-Russell

  • NPR Books We Love

City Of Ash And Red: A Novel by Hye-young Pyun, translated by Sora Kim-Russell appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around mysteries & thrillers, sci fi, fantasy & speculative fiction, the dark side, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Graphic novels

Come Again

by Nate Powell

  • NPR Books We Love

Come Again by Nate Powell appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around comics & graphic novels, the dark side, family matters, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Nonfiction

Comfort In An Instant: 75 Comfort Food Recipes For Your Pressure Cooker, Multicooker, And Instant Pot

by Melissa Clark

  • NPR Books We Love

Comfort In An Instant: 75 Comfort Food Recipes For Your Pressure Cooker, Multicooker, And Instant Pot by Melissa Clark appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around cookbooks & food, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Nonfiction

Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, And The Anatomy Of Intrigue

by Ryan Holiday

  • NPR Books We Love

Conspiracy: Peter Thiel, Hulk Hogan, Gawker, And The Anatomy Of Intrigue by Ryan Holiday appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, eye-opening reads, the dark side, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Nonfiction

Contact High: A Visual History Of Hip-Hop

by Vikki Tobak

  • NPR Books We Love

Contact High: A Visual History Of Hip-Hop by Vikki Tobak appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, for music lovers, for art lovers, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Graphic novels

Coyote Doggirl

by Lisa Hanawalt

  • NPR Books We Love

Coyote Doggirl by Lisa Hanawalt appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around comics & graphic novels, funny stuff, staff picks, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Nonfiction

Cravings: Hungry For More

by Chrissy Teigen

  • NPR Books We Love

Cravings: Hungry For More by Chrissy Teigen appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around cookbooks & food, no biz like show biz, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Nonfiction

Creative Quest

by Questlove

  • NPR Books We Love

Creative Quest by Questlove appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, biography & memoir, for art lovers, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Fiction & literature

Crudo: A Novel

by Olivia Laing

  • NPR Books We Love

Crudo: A Novel by Olivia Laing appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around fiction, rather short, seriously great writing, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Nonfiction

Dancing Bears: True Stories Of People Nostalgic For Life Under Tyranny

by Witold Szablowski, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

  • NPR Books We Love

Dancing Bears: True Stories Of People Nostalgic For Life Under Tyranny by Witold Szablowski, translated by Antonia Lloyd-Jones appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, eye-opening reads, for history lovers, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Nonfiction

Darwin Comes To Town: How The Urban Jungle Drives Evolution

by Menno Schilthuizen

  • NPR Books We Love

Darwin Comes To Town: How The Urban Jungle Drives Evolution by Menno Schilthuizen appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, eye-opening reads, science!, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Young readers

Do Not Lick This Book

by Idan Ben-Barak, illustrated by Julian Frost

  • NPR Books We Love

Do Not Lick This Book by Idan Ben-Barak, illustrated by Julian Frost appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, eye-opening reads, it’s all geek to me, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Nonfiction

Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine And Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, And Sick

by Maya Dusenbery

  • NPR Books We Love

Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine And Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, And Sick by Maya Dusenbery appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, book club ideas, eye-opening reads, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Young readers

Dragons In A Bag

by Zetta Elliott, illustrated by Geneva B

  • NPR Books We Love

Dragons In A Bag by Zetta Elliott, illustrated by Geneva B appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around family matters, funny stuff, kids’ books, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Young readers

Drawn Together

by Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat

  • NPR Books We Love

Drawn Together by Minh Lê, illustrated by Dan Santat appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, identity & culture, family matters, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Young readers

Dreamers

by Yuyi Morales

  • NPR Books We Love

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, family matters, for art lovers, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Nonfiction

Educated

by Tara Westover

  • The New York Times — 10 Best Books

Educated by Tara Westover was selected for The New York Times Book Review’s 2018 Ten Best Books list in nonfiction. The catalog records the selection as bibliographic fact and links readers to the newspaper’s original annual list.

2018Nonfiction

Educated: A Memoir

by Tara Westover

  • NPR Books We Love

Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, biography & memoir, book club ideas, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Nonfiction

Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower

by Brittney Cooper

  • NPR Books We Love

Eloquent Rage: A Black Feminist Discovers Her Superpower by Brittney Cooper appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, book club ideas, eye-opening reads, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Young readers

Emergency Contact

by Mary H.K. Choi

  • NPR Books We Love

Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around young adult, love & romance, family matters, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Nonfiction

Enlightenment Now: The Case For Reason, Science, Humanism, And Progress

by Steven Pinker

  • NPR Books We Love

Enlightenment Now: The Case For Reason, Science, Humanism, And Progress by Steven Pinker appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, book club ideas, eye-opening reads, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Graphic novels

Eternity Girl

by Magdalene Visaggio, illustrated by Sonny Liew

  • NPR Books We Love

Eternity Girl by Magdalene Visaggio, illustrated by Sonny Liew appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around comics & graphic novels, identity & culture, staff picks, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Young readers

Everything You Need For A Treehouse

by Carter Higgins, illustrated by Emily Hughes

  • NPR Books We Love

Everything You Need For A Treehouse by Carter Higgins, illustrated by Emily Hughes appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around kids’ books, staff picks, for art lovers, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Graphic novels

Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles

by Mark Russell, illustrated by Mike Feehan

  • NPR Books We Love

Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles by Mark Russell, illustrated by Mike Feehan appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around comics & graphic novels, the states we’re in, for history lovers, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Nonfiction

Fascism: A Warning

by Madeleine Albright

  • NPR Books We Love

Fascism: A Warning by Madeleine Albright appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, eye-opening reads, for history lovers, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.

2018Nonfiction

Fear: Trump In The White House

by Bob Woodward

  • NPR Books We Love

Fear: Trump In The White House by Bob Woodward appears in NPR’s 2018 Books We Love guide. NPR’s editors categorized the recommendation around nonfiction, eye-opening reads, for history lovers, placing it within the year’s broader reading conversation.