Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! This week, we’re looking at our top ten reads of the year so far now that the year is a little over halfway over. I usually try to restrict my year-end list to year-of releases, but for this one (since I haven’t even read ten 2018 releases yet), I’m just going to talk about the best things I’ve read this year without including the 2018 releases, only a couple of which would have made my list anyways.
Exit West: I chose this as a Book of the Month selection last year, but hadn’t gotten around to reading it by the time my book club moderator chose it for us a couple months ago and holy smokes did I love it. Spare, lyrical, and powerful (and I didn’t even hate the magical realism).
Good Omens: If you enjoy British humor, this tale of two angels (one fallen, one not) trying to deal with the pending rise of the Antichrist and associated end of the world will delight you. Both funny and clever.
Stiff: Mary Roach examines some of less conventional ways to deal with dead bodies with her trademark warm curiosity and it’s fascinating.
The Girl With All The Gifts: I don’t usually read heavily in the horror genre, so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I really did enjoy this twist on a zombie story.
Possession: I can already tell that I’m going to want to read this deeply-layered, parallel-storylined book again to appreciate more of its subtleties and richness.
An Untamed State: I’d never actually read one of Roxane Gay’s books before this year, despite knowing I liked her Twitter presence and editorial pieces and the raw power of her talent and skill, despite an extremely difficult subject matter, blew me away.
Thank You For Smoking: I watched the (excellent) movie version of this in college, but now that I myself work in the general public affairs arena, the sharpness of the satire was something I appreciated even more.
Far From The Madding Crowd: I’ll be honest, I thought Tess of the d’Urbervilles was a stronger work from Hardy. But this beautifully told tale of romantic misadventure in the countryside is still a very good book with an indelible heroine.
The Color of Water: I’m not always big into memoirs, but when they’re done right they can be profoundly moving and this one about a mother told by her son is definitely done right.
Mansfield Park: Fanny Price isn’t the lively, spunky heroine many of us expect from Jane Austen, but that doesn’t mean Austen’s sharp wit and keen observations are any less enjoyable.