What I Read in 2018, Ranked by Genre

I’ve already put together my books of 2018 on this blog post here, but I saw this post on The Stripe and it inspired me to take a look at my own list with my own genre breakdown. 

People ask me quite frequently about suggestions, and I’m rarely any help. I’m hoping this can serve as a resource for this, as well as a way to help you quickly find a book you can dig your teeth into.

Below (as suggested by the title) is every book I read in 2018, ranked by genre. This was especially hard because over the course of a year it is hard to judge books read so far apart, but I’ve done my best!

I took a different spin on “genre” than the standard Fiction, Non-Fiction, etc. because if I’m in a particular mood I’m interested in what something is actually about, not just if it is rooted in “fact” or not.

Most of the books are fiction, but I’ve denoted the ones that are non-fiction.

Books (Mainly) About Families

I can’t say I typically like books about families, but there were some good ones I read this year! Oddly enough, there wasn’t a book out of this bunch I wouldn’t recommend.

1. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover (Nonfiction, Autobiography)
2. Calypso by David Sedaris (Nonfiction, Essays)
3. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris (Nonfiction, Essays)
4. This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
5. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
6. Little Fires Everywhere by Celest Ng
7. The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis (the first in the Chronicles of Narnia series)

Books (Mostly) Related to Coming of Age

These books have a little bit of romance, but I wouldn’t strictly label them that; they’re sort of a sub-genre of Young Adult Fiction.

1. Turtles All the Way Down by John Green
2. Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian
3. Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
4. The Last True Love Story by Brendan Kiely

Books About Mysteries

Mysteries and thrillers are fun to me because (if they’re good) they make you keep turning the pages to figure out what is going on.

I learned through this ranking that most of my decision is based upon the ending (no spoilers, of course).

1. The Broken Girls by Simone St. James (also featured in this blog post)
2. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
3. The Woman in the Window by A. J. Finn
4. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
5. Bonfire by Krysten Ritter (also featured in this blog post)
6. Fragments of the Lost by Megan Miranda
7. I’ll Be Gone In The Dark by Michelle McNamara
8. The Safest Lies by Megan Miranda
9. The Lying Game by Ruth Ware (one of our Book Club books)
10. Helter Skelter by Vincent Bugliosi and Curt Gentry (Nonfiction)
11. The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (Nonfiction)
12. Baby Teeth by Zojo Stage

General Fiction

This is sort of a “miscellaneous” category because they’re all so different. A category with one book listed would be no fun for anyone so I’ve done my best to turn apples into oranges.

This is another category where I would recommend any of these books.

1. The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
2. Dragon Teeth by Michael Crichton
3. The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
4. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Books (Mainly) About Romance

I read a lot of Young Adult Fiction this year. While I don’t need to justify it because I’m allowed to read what I want, I will say that I love this genre because while they are romances by a label, most of them touch on other hard-hitting topics as well.

I read quite a few books by the same (or similar authors) because I’ve found that YA Fiction can be either really good or really bad. If I know I’ve enjoyed an author before, I typically will like them again.

1. What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
2. Meant to Be by Lauren Morrill
3. From Twinkle, With Love by Sandhya Menon
4. Save the Date by Morgan Matson
5. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
6. Love and Luck by Jenna Evans Welch
7. Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West
8. Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett
9. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen
10. Begin, End, Begin by Numerous Authors all from Australian YA Fiction authors
11. Lucky in Love by Kasie West
12. Meet Cute by Numerous Authors all variations on the “Meet Cute”
13. Listen to Your Heart by Kasie West
14. The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
15. The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord
16. It Started with Goodbye by Christina June
17. Three Sides of a Heart by Numerous Authors all variations on the “love triangle”
18. Love and Other Train Wrecks by Leah Konen
19. Here, There, Everywhere by Julia Durango and Tyler Terrones
20. Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari (Nonfiction)
21. Top Ten by Katie Cotugno
22. The Love Letters of Abelard and Lily by Laura Creedle
23. For the Record by Charlotte Huang 

Books About Faith

All great reads, hard to compare! I’d recommend them all.

1. Everybody Always by Bob Goff (Nonfiction)
2. Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis (Nonfiction)
3. Uninvited by Lysa TerKeurst (Nonfiction)
4. Come Thou Long Expected Jesus by Numerous Authors an Advent series leading up to Christmas (Nonfiction)
5. 30 Days to Understanding the Bible by Max Anders (Nonfiction)

Books People Wrote About Their Experiences

I originally had all of these books under Non-Fiction but figured it would be helpful to pull out the books where the authors are talking about their own experiences (vs. their studies).On Writing by Stephen King

1. Clay Water Brick by Jessica Jackley (Nonfiction)
2. My Lobotomy by Howard Dully (Nonfiction)
3. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling (Nonfiction)

Check out more Reading Challenges Here —