Favourite Books of 2018
December 30, 2018
It is the time of the year to talk about my favourite book that I read this year whOSHHHH
2018 has been a GREAT reading year for me. [I mean, REALLY GREAT]
The last time I read this avidly was back in 2013.
I initially set to read only 20 books for 2018.
But by the time I reached 20, I amended to 30 books.
I read in a total of 35 books this year [exclude school readings]
I initially set to read only 20 books for 2018.
But by the time I reached 20, I amended to 30 books.
I read in a total of 35 books this year [exclude school readings]
Honourable Mentions
The re-reads:
VICIOUS
Cruel Beauty
House of Hades
The Wraith and The Dawn
Anna Dressed in Blood
Eleanor & Park
Anna Dressed in Blood
Eleanor & Park
That not make it on the list but I love you still:
Reaper at The Gates
War Strom
Female of the Species
One of Us is Lying
THESE ARE MY TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2018!!!!!!
[Click the book picture for Goodreads link]
I'm gonna start with this one romance book;
Josh and Hazels' Guide to Not Dating
I love watching romcom and kdramas. But I love watching them. Reading has always been private to me; me and imaginations. Most of the time romance [contemporary romance especially] gave me so much secondhand embarrassments that I can't finish it and would eventually not reading them.
Most of the romance books I encountered are prone to night one-night stand plots, quick attractions and stuff. And I, as an asexual, don't get that and would never to. I don't get plots like that. That is why I tend to avoid romance books altogether.
This book, in particular, came from many many romance book recommendations by Booktubers that I trust.
This book is endearing.
It's about college acquaintances, turned to friends when they met again, who understand each other and turned to love. Slow burn at its finest.
Josh and Hazel's relationship are matured [sometimes stupid], they respect and understand each other. They're both different in personalities and lifestyle, but they click.
I swear, my personality is so close to Josh its funny.
I didn't want to bury myself in the sand while reading it out of second-hand embarrassment and it says a lot.
Lee Jun Hyuk IS Josh Im thank you for coming to my TedTalk.
Wintersong
Goblin King. Ancient Curse. And a lot of music.
Really, I wanted to read this because I still missed the kdrama Goblin and like... Bowie's Jareth. Might as well I picked it up when I found in Borders.
I didn't expect much going into it because I just wanted to read about a woman who breaks an ancient curse and feels. I just wanted to read a familiar story about a cursed Goblin King.
At the end of it, I got a huge amount of music knowledge (The girl's family are musicians and they lived in the 17th century? Germany and the second book sets in France), emotional baggage, SLOW BURN romance.
I actually cried reading this because it was so in depth. In my head, I kept imagining a small village that has a constant fog and beautiful woods.
If you love the folklore of Goblin King, you will love this. Because I found it entertaining and quite accurate; on the peaches; siblings get missing and music associating to the folklore while reading it.
Also, there is poetry about the Goblin King that EXISTS written in the 18th century:
Erlkönig
The Wicker King
This is the last book I read in 2018. The 35th.
It broke me, it made me think, it made me feel, It made me reminiscent my teenhood in a way that it is psychologically eye-opening.
I knew of this book because somebody tweeted that this is the book he/she still thinking about it after months of finishing it.
It happened to me too. There is a book you love and enjoy and there is a book that when at night you can't sleep, your mind would think about it; The Wicker King is that book to me.
About two friends, August and Jack as Jack started to hallucinate things and is so scared because a king in his hallucinations is after him. August, as his friend, decided to believe him and follow Jack on a quest to defeat that said king.
This is magical realism and psychological. Its super fascinating. Most of the chapters end in one page and the books have arts, pictures and playlists. It just sucks you in, hovering August and Jack as their facing their problems.
I would definitely read it again.
Also, don't miss the Author's Note at the end, it will make you cry.
Receiver of Many
Blessed me for searching 'Hades and Persephone retellings' out of the blue in the middle of the night.
I feel like you need to know about Greek Myth and its Patheon-They are assholes, rapey and sexually active and frustrating- to understand that this mere fiction and the author reflects the exact characterization of the characters.
I like the Hades/Underworld; we always saw the place as dark and evil and basically hell. But people forget that Hades is the richest Greek God because Underworld has gold and gemstones, and this book reflects Underworld looks like; full of gems and gold and crystals.
I like both Hades and Persephone too. This book is a traditional retelling of the myth. So Zeus and Apolo are the iconic assholes. Hades is not that brooding and there're full of stories how he develops from being upset to take care of the Underworld to fully accepted his duty as king.
But, no one, NO ONE mentions this book is erotica and I READ IT DURING RAMADAN HOLY CRAP.
Don't read this during Ramadan.
Make sure you're 18+ because there are a lot of explicit scenes.
Enjoyable book. I like how the author 'consented' the whole story because Greek Myths are messed up dude.
Also, sTOP villainise Hades!
The Cruel Prince
I read this because of the societal pressure of people kept talking about it and seeing this in bookstores everywhere that led me to decide to read it as a form of an ebook.
Holly Black's writing is not for me usually. However, The Cruel Prince WORKS.
I'm still surprised by how much I enjoy it honestly.
The world of urban fantasy London is lush. The politics of the fea world is intricate and intriguing. All the characters are GREY. I love my child, Jude, so much and I hope she succeeds in her plan. Jude's adoptive dad is SO interesting.
I expect Cardan [The prince] to have a redemption arc cause I don't like him. There is a difference between an asshole character and an asshole character that bullies people. Cardan is not cruel, he's just a bully and I want to slap him. He pissed me off a lot and I really do want to like him. I just need a reason to.
I'm so excited for the second book!!!
Restore Me
Terrified.
I was terrified to start this book because it has been three years since Ignite Me. I was mostly scared of not enjoying it as much as I used to because of growing up.
Hey, but I love it. Tehereh Mafi is truly a great writer.
The plot truly thickens.
Warner Anderson is still my favourite boy.
Cannot talk more cause this is the fourth book~
Thunderhead
The first book was magnificent at best. I agreed why they got shortlisted for a Pulitzer.
The Arc of Scythe Trilogy are books that NEEDED to be books that get discussed in literature classes. They have so many arguments, opinions, and discussions could surface while reading both Scythe and Thunderhead.
The only issue I had after finishing Scythe is that I was not attached to any character to be invested. But however, it is still a good book so I decided to read Thunderhead and wow, I was so into it.
I'm surprised that how much I like the cloud/computer system of the story [Thunderhead] more than I could let an AI get into my head to brainwashed me.
I'm SO SO SO SO excited for the last book.
Such a great Sci-fi book on the Utopia society and us humans would ruin anything because we are the species who crave power and are greedy.
Now, thinking of it, the books are creepy haha.
Stolen Songbird
Trolls. A Cursed Kingdom.
And only a human girl and the Troll Prince could save them.
I mean like in a literal sense.
The girl, Cecile was captured by a human bounty hunter and he took her to this hidden, underground troll kingdom to save the Trolls because she matches the descriptions of the prophecy.
And ohhhh, its good.
It's SUCH A FUN, AND QUICK READ.
I found this trilogy purely from coincidence. Goodreads like;
'Hey, Amni! You like fantasy and retellings and curses stories that bound two people and they have to work together to achieve their goals right?
This is the book for you!'
I spent four whole nights staying up and read them. My sleeping schedule is screwed now.
It's somehow a story of love and more also the story of politics. It's about a young Troll Prince who's trying to save his people from a curse that bestowed upon his kingdom and the discrimination or pure trolls and half-trolls conflict. It's about a young politician who's trying to be fair in the midst of an old curse and people who are so used of their statuses and privileges.
It's SO ADDICTING. THE VILLAINS especially the first we encountered are so complex. AND every character faced the consequences of their actions!!!!
Cecile and the Troll Prince's relationship are not based on attraction; they grow to respect each other and understand each other from where they came from; Cecile from above and Prince from below. Their relationship is based on respect and slowly becomes trust and love, it's so good.
It's honestly a great trilogy to binged in the middle of the night and cried at 5AM [I did it.]
Darker Shade of Magic
A . D . S . O . M
This year has been me reading V.E. Schwab's books honestly.
Seriously, Vicious still owns my heart but ADSOM surprised me.
The more I love the book, the harder it became to write about how much I love the book.
ADSOM is a pretty simple story: There are 4 different Londons and only an Antari, in this case, Kell, can travel to every one of them by a token.
Kell is a messenger for the kingdom of Arnes, Red London, and one day an artifact came into his hands; an object from Black London aka the ONLY London no Antari would visit. He has to go to Black London to get rid of this object, but powerful people are trying to kill him, and he also needs to find out why.
The book is so exciting, quick, my head vividly imagined all the scenes and what a great fantasy book to start if you're new to reading.
I genuinely so in love with this trilogy like; I CANT fathom words ahhhhhhh.
EVERY main character in this trilogy are my children; Kell, Lila, Rhy, Alucard, Holland are my kids I WOULD FIGHT ANYONE WHO TRIES TO HARM-
Okay, okay, great trilogy.
I'm both so scared and excited for the movie adaptation.
Don't know when it would come out though.
Vengeful
I'm forever gonna claiming this:
Victor Vale is Vicious's fandom official Foster Father.
I waited for TWO months to read this because no local bookstores have it. It was like getting a million dollars when I finally got it.
One of the rare books that EVERY character are villains.
Every character are complex [ESPECIALLY our OG arch nemesis; Victor and Eli]
I cannot say much but Vicious is forever my favourite book of all times. And I wish V.E. Schwab would write the third book because I need more Victor and his group of foster family.
And him being canon asexual is a big thing for me because I finally have a character that is similar to me. However, the best thing is that the plot doesn't focus on it and are about revenge and being evil.
I really want these books to be a tv show so badddddd.
Long live Victor Vale [and his coat]!
I guess that's it.
I don't think I could read this much in 2019 since it's my final year in uni.
However so, the more stress I am the more I read.
A reminder;
Becoming a reader is a process.
Different people have different taste and a different pace of reading.
Be proud if you read 100 books.
Be proud if you only read one.
Everyone has a book waiting for them, you just gonna have to find it.
It will come to you eventually.
Also, can books be cheaper?
- Amni
Female of the Species
One of Us is Lying
THESE ARE MY TOP 10 BOOKS OF 2018!!!!!!
[Click the book picture for Goodreads link]
I'm gonna start with this one romance book;
Josh and Hazels' Guide to Not Dating
I love watching romcom and kdramas. But I love watching them. Reading has always been private to me; me and imaginations. Most of the time romance [contemporary romance especially] gave me so much secondhand embarrassments that I can't finish it and would eventually not reading them.
Most of the romance books I encountered are prone to night one-night stand plots, quick attractions and stuff. And I, as an asexual, don't get that and would never to. I don't get plots like that. That is why I tend to avoid romance books altogether.
This book, in particular, came from many many romance book recommendations by Booktubers that I trust.
This book is endearing.
It's about college acquaintances, turned to friends when they met again, who understand each other and turned to love. Slow burn at its finest.
Josh and Hazel's relationship are matured [sometimes stupid], they respect and understand each other. They're both different in personalities and lifestyle, but they click.
I swear, my personality is so close to Josh its funny.
I didn't want to bury myself in the sand while reading it out of second-hand embarrassment and it says a lot.
Lee Jun Hyuk IS Josh Im thank you for coming to my TedTalk.
Wintersong
Goblin King. Ancient Curse. And a lot of music.
Really, I wanted to read this because I still missed the kdrama Goblin and like... Bowie's Jareth. Might as well I picked it up when I found in Borders.
I didn't expect much going into it because I just wanted to read about a woman who breaks an ancient curse and feels. I just wanted to read a familiar story about a cursed Goblin King.
At the end of it, I got a huge amount of music knowledge (The girl's family are musicians and they lived in the 17th century? Germany and the second book sets in France), emotional baggage, SLOW BURN romance.
I actually cried reading this because it was so in depth. In my head, I kept imagining a small village that has a constant fog and beautiful woods.
If you love the folklore of Goblin King, you will love this. Because I found it entertaining and quite accurate; on the peaches; siblings get missing and music associating to the folklore while reading it.
Also, there is poetry about the Goblin King that EXISTS written in the 18th century:
Erlkönig
The Wicker King
This is the last book I read in 2018. The 35th.
It broke me, it made me think, it made me feel, It made me reminiscent my teenhood in a way that it is psychologically eye-opening.
I knew of this book because somebody tweeted that this is the book he/she still thinking about it after months of finishing it.
It happened to me too. There is a book you love and enjoy and there is a book that when at night you can't sleep, your mind would think about it; The Wicker King is that book to me.
About two friends, August and Jack as Jack started to hallucinate things and is so scared because a king in his hallucinations is after him. August, as his friend, decided to believe him and follow Jack on a quest to defeat that said king.
This is magical realism and psychological. Its super fascinating. Most of the chapters end in one page and the books have arts, pictures and playlists. It just sucks you in, hovering August and Jack as their facing their problems.
I would definitely read it again.
Also, don't miss the Author's Note at the end, it will make you cry.
Receiver of Many
Blessed me for searching 'Hades and Persephone retellings' out of the blue in the middle of the night.
I feel like you need to know about Greek Myth and its Patheon-They are assholes, rapey and sexually active and frustrating- to understand that this mere fiction and the author reflects the exact characterization of the characters.
I like the Hades/Underworld; we always saw the place as dark and evil and basically hell. But people forget that Hades is the richest Greek God because Underworld has gold and gemstones, and this book reflects Underworld looks like; full of gems and gold and crystals.
I like both Hades and Persephone too. This book is a traditional retelling of the myth. So Zeus and Apolo are the iconic assholes. Hades is not that brooding and there're full of stories how he develops from being upset to take care of the Underworld to fully accepted his duty as king.
But, no one, NO ONE mentions this book is erotica and I READ IT DURING RAMADAN HOLY CRAP.
Don't read this during Ramadan.
Make sure you're 18+ because there are a lot of explicit scenes.
Enjoyable book. I like how the author 'consented' the whole story because Greek Myths are messed up dude.
Also, sTOP villainise Hades!
The Cruel Prince
I read this because of the societal pressure of people kept talking about it and seeing this in bookstores everywhere that led me to decide to read it as a form of an ebook.
Holly Black's writing is not for me usually. However, The Cruel Prince WORKS.
I'm still surprised by how much I enjoy it honestly.
The world of urban fantasy London is lush. The politics of the fea world is intricate and intriguing. All the characters are GREY. I love my child, Jude, so much and I hope she succeeds in her plan. Jude's adoptive dad is SO interesting.
I expect Cardan [The prince] to have a redemption arc cause I don't like him. There is a difference between an asshole character and an asshole character that bullies people. Cardan is not cruel, he's just a bully and I want to slap him. He pissed me off a lot and I really do want to like him. I just need a reason to.
I'm so excited for the second book!!!
Restore Me
Terrified.
I was terrified to start this book because it has been three years since Ignite Me. I was mostly scared of not enjoying it as much as I used to because of growing up.
Hey, but I love it. Tehereh Mafi is truly a great writer.
The plot truly thickens.
Warner Anderson is still my favourite boy.
Cannot talk more cause this is the fourth book~
Thunderhead
The first book was magnificent at best. I agreed why they got shortlisted for a Pulitzer.
The Arc of Scythe Trilogy are books that NEEDED to be books that get discussed in literature classes. They have so many arguments, opinions, and discussions could surface while reading both Scythe and Thunderhead.
The only issue I had after finishing Scythe is that I was not attached to any character to be invested. But however, it is still a good book so I decided to read Thunderhead and wow, I was so into it.
I'm surprised that how much I like the cloud/computer system of the story [Thunderhead] more than I could let an AI get into my head to brainwashed me.
I'm SO SO SO SO excited for the last book.
Such a great Sci-fi book on the Utopia society and us humans would ruin anything because we are the species who crave power and are greedy.
Now, thinking of it, the books are creepy haha.
Stolen Songbird
Trolls. A Cursed Kingdom.
And only a human girl and the Troll Prince could save them.
I mean like in a literal sense.
The girl, Cecile was captured by a human bounty hunter and he took her to this hidden, underground troll kingdom to save the Trolls because she matches the descriptions of the prophecy.
And ohhhh, its good.
It's SUCH A FUN, AND QUICK READ.
I found this trilogy purely from coincidence. Goodreads like;
'Hey, Amni! You like fantasy and retellings and curses stories that bound two people and they have to work together to achieve their goals right?
This is the book for you!'
I spent four whole nights staying up and read them. My sleeping schedule is screwed now.
It's somehow a story of love and more also the story of politics. It's about a young Troll Prince who's trying to save his people from a curse that bestowed upon his kingdom and the discrimination or pure trolls and half-trolls conflict. It's about a young politician who's trying to be fair in the midst of an old curse and people who are so used of their statuses and privileges.
It's SO ADDICTING. THE VILLAINS especially the first we encountered are so complex. AND every character faced the consequences of their actions!!!!
Cecile and the Troll Prince's relationship are not based on attraction; they grow to respect each other and understand each other from where they came from; Cecile from above and Prince from below. Their relationship is based on respect and slowly becomes trust and love, it's so good.
It's honestly a great trilogy to binged in the middle of the night and cried at 5AM [I did it.]
Darker Shade of Magic
A . D . S . O . M
This year has been me reading V.E. Schwab's books honestly.
Seriously, Vicious still owns my heart but ADSOM surprised me.
The more I love the book, the harder it became to write about how much I love the book.
ADSOM is a pretty simple story: There are 4 different Londons and only an Antari, in this case, Kell, can travel to every one of them by a token.
Kell is a messenger for the kingdom of Arnes, Red London, and one day an artifact came into his hands; an object from Black London aka the ONLY London no Antari would visit. He has to go to Black London to get rid of this object, but powerful people are trying to kill him, and he also needs to find out why.
The book is so exciting, quick, my head vividly imagined all the scenes and what a great fantasy book to start if you're new to reading.
I genuinely so in love with this trilogy like; I CANT fathom words ahhhhhhh.
EVERY main character in this trilogy are my children; Kell, Lila, Rhy, Alucard, Holland are my kids I WOULD FIGHT ANYONE WHO TRIES TO HARM-
Okay, okay, great trilogy.
I'm both so scared and excited for the movie adaptation.
Don't know when it would come out though.
Vengeful
I'm forever gonna claiming this:
Victor Vale is Vicious's fandom official Foster Father.
I waited for TWO months to read this because no local bookstores have it. It was like getting a million dollars when I finally got it.
One of the rare books that EVERY character are villains.
Every character are complex [ESPECIALLY our OG arch nemesis; Victor and Eli]
I cannot say much but Vicious is forever my favourite book of all times. And I wish V.E. Schwab would write the third book because I need more Victor and his group of foster family.
And him being canon asexual is a big thing for me because I finally have a character that is similar to me. However, the best thing is that the plot doesn't focus on it and are about revenge and being evil.
I really want these books to be a tv show so badddddd.
Long live Victor Vale [and his coat]!
I guess that's it.
I don't think I could read this much in 2019 since it's my final year in uni.
However so, the more stress I am the more I read.
A reminder;
Becoming a reader is a process.
Different people have different taste and a different pace of reading.
Be proud if you read 100 books.
Be proud if you only read one.
Everyone has a book waiting for them, you just gonna have to find it.
It will come to you eventually.
Also, can books be cheaper?
- Amni
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