Books to Read in 2018

I don’t know about you, but reading used to be my everything. Seriously. In elementary school, I started reading “real” books and by middle and high school I could not be stopped. You know how when most people go on vacation they bring a book to read throughout the week? Each time I went on vacation, I had to bring at least five. It was insane. When I reached junior/senior year of high school, I got “too busy” to read, but when I started college, I read all eight Harry Potter books in about one month during freshman year. In fact, I read the first book in one night. I’m telling you – I devour books. However, as I kept getting older, I stopped. I fell more in love with Netflix and more in love with social media, and boom!, reading went bye-bye.

Recently, though, I read a book that brought it right back, and now I can’t stop buying books. (I don’t like e-readers. I like real books where you can smell the fresh ink and turn the page in a hurry when you’re wondering oh my GOD WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?!?!)

That book awakened the force in me once again, and I am SO SO excited to be back into reading. I thought it was a great resolution to make for 2018: read more. So I am going to! And I thought I would do a post with a list of book suggestions for y’all to read, so you can join me! Even if you don’t looovvvee reading, you could pick one that sounds interesting to you on this list, and just give it a try! You never know what could happen. I just want to encourage each and every one of you to give reading a chance [again], because I feel like it’s something our society is losing and it breaks my heart. So, without further ado, here is a list of books to read in 2018!

1. Sweetbitter, Stephanie Danler

This is it. THE book. This book woke up the reader in me after years of neglect and said “Start reading again! See how good it can be?” I have no words for how good this book is. I hate using the term “shook” unless I’m using it ironically or about Demi Lovato hahaha but WOW was I shook. So, this book was really popular last year around Christmas time, but it took me FOREVER to get it off my sister’s hands haha. She had it for a bit, but that’s okay, because this is the only book I’ve ever read for fun that I didn’t FLY through. I’m an extremely fast reader, but this book challenged me to take my time, and I’m so glad I did. Sweetbitter is about a 22 year old girl named Tess, who moves to New York City and gets a job working at an extremely famous restaurant in Manhattan. It’s wildly fancy, I mean the servers are paid salary, they’re not paid hourly. It’s that big of a job. SO much goes into the food industry that I had no idea about. The book is basically just about Tess getting acclimated to the job, making friends, exploring the city, growing up, coming-of-age, drinking, trying drugs, all of that crazy stuff. It’s SO good…I think mainly too, because Danler’s writing style is mind-blowingly amazing. I sometimes had to re-read sections because they were that good. Give this book a try, you will not regret it!!

2. We All Looked Up, Tommy Wallach

I needed books for my flights to and from Montana, so I popped into Barnes and Noble and grabbed this one! The best way I can think to describe it is as a post-apocalyptic Breakfast Club. A lot of dry humor, and relationship exploring, but mainly, it’s just thought provoking. Think along the lines of, “What would you do with your last two months on Earth?”

3. Any book by Liane Moriarty

Truly. Anything by her. Have you seen the show Big Little Lies? If not, read the book first. The Husband’s Secret, Truly, Madly, Guilty… all of them! Read, read, read! She has a very easy to read tone, that is still hauntingly good. Each book is RIDDLED with secrets and lies and it’s so much fun to figure them out along the way.

4. The Wife Between Us, Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

Full disclosure, I haven’t finished this book yet. I’m not even halfway through it actually, but 10/10 would recommend. My roommate and I were at the store and we read the description of the book on the inside cover and we both knew we were buying it. It read: “When you read this book, you will make many assumptions. You will assume you are reading about a jealous ex-wife. You will assume she is obsessed with her replacement – a beautiful, younger woman who about to marry the man they both love. You will assume you know the anatomy of this tangled love triangle. Assume nothing. // Twisted and deliciously chilling, The Wife Between Us deftly explores the hidden complexities of marriage and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.”  Now you want to read it too, don’t you? 😉

5. How I Lost You, Jenny Blackhurst

I haven’t read this book yet, but my roommate has. She read it over Christmas break and when we got back to school she gave it to me, and told me I had to read it! It’s about a woman who is released from psychiatric treatment after murdering her toddler son, but soon receives a letter and starts to think what her doctors, police officers, and loved ones have told her is not true… Definitely sounds gripping!! I can’t wait to read. I love crime novels.

So, there are my top five, but I also wanted to include my (ever growing) list of books I want to read soon!

The Storyteller – Jodi Picoult (my favorite author. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ NINETEEN MINUTES BY HER, DO SO IMMEDIATELY!)

Behind Closed Doors – B.A Paris

The Girls in the Garden – Lisa Jewell

The Party – Robyn Harding

The Daughter – Jane Shemilt

The Perfect Stranger – Megan Miranda

This list is sure to keep growing. If you guys are interested in books more, I will probably start posting about them on my IG stories more often as I finish them, with ratings and such! I hope this post sparked an inspiration for you to read, and I hope you read one of these books, but if not, I’m just glad you’re reading! If you do read one on this list, please please reach out to me on social media, email me, or comment on this post bc I want to discuss with you!!!! Happy Reading!♡