One of my favorite travel accessories is a good book to keep you company on a flight, bus ride, or on the beach. I have always been an avid book reader and this year I decided to track all of the books that I have read. Below is my 2018 Reading List and thoughts on each book. I am always looking for new book suggestions! What was your favorite book that you read in 2018? What is on your 2019 reading list??
*This post contain affiliate links in which I will earn a small commission. As always, all of the below opinions are my own and I wouldn’t recommend anything that I didn’t enjoy myself.
| Book | Review |
|---|---|
  | This book talked about sexuality and gender with the main character being a mom whose son just left for college and her deciding to take a college course on gender identity . While I liked many of the messages of the book, I found some of the plot lines disturbing. I would skip this one. |
  | I love books with twists and turns and this book certainly has them. Without giving too much away, it is about a couple trying to create a Perfect Day that ends anything but perfectly. It was a quick read but I was never very invested in the characters. I also didn’t love the way the book ended. I have found many books in this genre that I would recommend more such as The Woman in Cabin 10. |
  | This book was written by Jackie Kennedy’s secret service agent and offered a behind the scenes look of the Kennedy’s. That secret service agent was also by her side the day of the assassination and it offers a detailed account of what happened that day. I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it if you like biographies or are interested in the Kennedy’s. |
  | This is the biography of the couple that founded The Lonely Planet. As someone who loves to travel and thinks of travel writing as my dream job this was an interesting read to hear how they started the company and the ups and downs they have had over the years. I did feel like the book was a little on the long side though. For aspiring travel writers, it is an interesting read but most others would want to skip this one. |
  | This is the prequel to Practical Magic. It is the journey of the Owen’s kids discovery that they are witches and have a spell cast on their family that brings disaster if they fall in love. One of the book’s main themes is if they can avoid love or trick the spell. I found it to be a good beach read, light and easy to read. |
  | This book is a memoir about an investigative reporter, James Renner, with an obsession with solving the disappearance of Maura Murray. This book details her case as well as how Renner’s personal life is affected by his investigation. I love shows like Dateline so this book was right up by my alley and I finished it in one day. If you also love Dateline or real life mysteries than I would highly recommend this book! He also has another book called Amy: My Search for Her Killer that is now also on my list to read in 2018. Top 5 book of the year. |
  | Lucy and Gabe meet in college and fall in love. But then Gabe gets his dream job as a photographer in the Middle East while Lucy stays behind in New York. Their love spans over a decade, will they find a way back to each other? A romance novel that had me in tears by the end. I didn’t want to put this book down. |
  | Kate swaps apartments with a cousin that she has never met and upon arrival finds out that her new next door neighbor was murdered. Kate becomes caught up in the mystery of her neighbor’s murder especially since her cousin is a suspect. This book has lots of twists and turns and kept me interested througout. If you like Gone Girl and similar books then I would highly recommend reading Her Every Fear. This author also wrote A Kind Worth Killing which is another book I would highly recommend. |
  | The book starts out with Oliver snapping and beating his wife. As the books goes on, you find out what leads Oliver to snap on his wife. The book tells the history of Oliver’s life. Is this the first time he has done something evil? Is the way he grew up to blame? You see Oliver’s actions through his eyes as well as his and his wife’s friends. I thought it was an interesting story and a quick read. |
  | Josie’s dad was murdered when she was a teenager and her twin sister’s eye witness account of the murder landed the next neighbor’s teenage son in jail. But now, a podcast is reviewing the case in real time and asking listeners to play detective along with them causing Josie to relive all the pain from her father’s murder, The podcast also digs into Josie’s family now, why did her mom run off and join a cult? Why have the twin sister’s not talked for 10 years. If you like the Podcast Serial, then you will love this fiction version. I loved this book and would highly recommended it. |
  | Someone is killing the old ladies in the neighborhood . The book follows 3 of the neighbors - a teenage girl whose mother left her, a wife who is separated from her husband, and old man that lost his wife. It follows their journey to find the murderer. I absolutely hated this book, all the characters had depressing, sad lives and I just kept waiting for it to get better. Spoiler alert, it didn’t !! Don’t read this one! |
  | Everyone that meets Jack and Grace would think they are the perfect couple. But they don’t know what happens Behind Closed Doors. This book was incredibly well written moving between Past and Present and dropping clues along the way to what was really happening Behind Closed Doors. This is in my Top 5 books of the year. |
  | This follows a family moving to the wild of Alaska. It is 1974 and the dad suffers from PTSD, will Alaska finally be the cure? How will his teenage daughter adapt to life in Alaska? You get to follow the emotional journey of the family. It is well written and the author, Kristin Hannah, wrote one of my favorite books ever, The Nightingale. I enjoyed this book and was a good change up from all the psychological thrillers I have been reading. |
  | One day a husband wakes up to find a note from his wife that she left and not to come looking for. Why would she want to leave him? Did she leave willing? Or did the husband hurt her? Someone in the book is lying to you but the question is who. This book reminded me of Gone Girl which is a book I love. This book kept me interested from beginning to end. |
  | This book will have you evaluating the way that you look at life and what is important to you. What do you spend you energy giving a f*ck about? I don’t usually read self help books but I have to think this one is very opposite from the norm. Embrace the negative in your life and learn from it just make sure you giving a f*ck about the right things. It is a quick read and a good book to get you thinking about your life and decisions you make. There is a reason this a best-seller. |
  | This is a historical fiction book based on the true life of a boy from Italy that helped Jews escape to Switzerland and then went on to become a spy and the personal driver of one of the highest ranking officers in the German army. Although it is tagged as a historical fiction book it is based off of true events. I found his story truly incredible. |
  | The book is about a marriage that falls apart and the woman that will become the replacement wife. I thought I had this book figured out from the beginning but it kept finding new ways to surprise me to the end. I dont’ want to write too much for fear of giving it away but didn’t see the ending coming that I almost wanted to reread the book when I finished searching for clues! |
  | This book is about a corrupt Orphanage in the 1930’s that basically steals kids and sells them through adoption to wealthy families. This book follows a set of kids that were stolen from their family and what happened to them. This book was incredibly emotional and sad but I loved it. |
  | Amber is a con artist who befriends Daphne Parrish in a plan to take over her life and steal her husband. Will she be successful? It was an interesting read on how people can be deceiving. As you know, I love this kind of book and this one is worth reading. |
  | Evelyn Hugo, a famous movie star, had 7 husbands but who was the love of her life? This book explores her life decisions with an emphasis on her different relationships and why she had so many marriages. Evelyn’s life was fascinating and this book was an easy, interesting read. Plus a book about love was a nice change from the psychological thrillers. |
  | Bryn is recovering from a car accident where the driver was killed and can’t remember what caused it and then her caterer is brutally murdered. Why are these things happening? The book was an easy idea but I didn’t love it. It didn’t keep me at the edge of my seat and the final twist didn’t seem super crazy. It was okay but not one of my favorites. |
  | This book was a gift from my mom several Christmas’s ago and I finally got around to reading it. It reminded me of the movie, Love Actually. The author intertwined a bunch of different stories together centering around 1 main character over the span of 30 years or so. It took me awhile to get into this book but I really liked it by the end. The author did a great job of wrapping up all the characters and stories. |
  | A book about a Reality TV show (think Real Housewives but younger) where there are two sisters on the show and one of them dies by the end. The secrets of the castmates are much juicier then the show they create. I loved this book. It combined mystery with a reality show setting which are two of my favorite things! I also enjoyed this author’s first book - Luckiest Girl Alive which Reese Witherspoon will be producing that movie. Top 5 book of the year. |
  | This is not your normal love story. The book explores a woman’s first love, current relationship, and relationship with her abusive father. I did love this book but it did make me tear up a bit. It was predictable at times but a good read with an important message. |
  | This novel follows Cora’s journey to escape slavery by using the Underground Railroad. She is following in her mother’s footsteps. Will she find her mom and find out why she left her behind when she escaped? Cora’s journey is fraught with bad luck along the way and details the price she had to pay for freedom. |
  | One of Tana French’s book, and it is the second book in her series with the main character. Cassie’s double turns up dead using an identity she had used when she was undercover. She decides to go undercover once again but this time as the dead girl to solve her death. Will it work or will she get caught?? |
  | A teenage girl, Amelia, commits suicide and her mom is left with so many questions. The main one being “Why??”. Then a couple of weeks later, she receives a chilling text - She didn’t jump. This leads her down a trail to find out the truth about her daughter’s life and death. I loved all of the twists and turns and didn’t see the end coming. |
| This is the third book in a series written by JK Rowlings under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith. I loved the first book, The Cuckoo’s Calling, and hated the second book called The Silkworm. The third book fell somewhere in between. It follows Striker, a private detective, and Robin, his assistant, to track down a killer that sent them a severed leg in the mail. Her book is well written and easy to read. |
  | A true story of a woman who has been stalked for the past 14 years by her boyfriend. A chilling tale of what it does to the psyche to be stalked. I really felt for this woman who did nothing wrong except fall in love with the wrong man. I think I would break down if faced with the same life as her but she has managed to learn how to carry on pretty well. Totally worth reading! |
  | I have loved Nicholas Sparks books before Nicholas Sparks became popular. The Notebook has been my favorite book long before it was made into a blockbuster hit. Nicholas Sparks delivers yet again with another amazing story of romance and love. Nicholas Sparks is one of my favorite authors and this is one of my favorite books of his! Top 5 book of the year. |
  | Bill Browder decides to enter into the Russia Finance World when he sees how much money he can make. One day he tries to enter Russia and is banned from the country. He has pissed off the wrong people and now the Russians after him and his associates leading to murder. Bill crusades to fight for justice for the man who died. I loved the insight to the Russian government and corruption. This book brought me to tears hearing the true story how one man died because he refused to change his morals. A very interesting read! |
  | Why this book was left on my live aboard is beyond me?? But I decided to read this true story about surviving a boat crash in the Antarticas while cruising on a boat in Indonesia. It was an interesting story of the disaster that led to losing their boat and 17 people lives that could have been avoided. Not at the top of my reading list but if you happen to across a paperback version when you are out of books, it will work. |
  | Jill wakes up with no recollection of the past 6 weeks but she finds out that she was in a car accident in Italy and her best friend is dead. The public thinks she killed her best friend over a jealous rage over a boy. She couldn’t possibly have done that or could she?? A very quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed. |
  | Ben is an aspiring screen writer when he meets Tatum, an aspiring actress. At the very beginning of the book, you find out that they are headed for divorce but can they find a way to reconcile??? Their love is told from Tatum’s point of view from 1999 to Present and Ben’s view in reverse chronological order. This unusual way of story telling made the book that much more interesting and it was a quick and easy read. |
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