Staff Favorites of 2018!

As 2018 draws to a close, we thought we'd round up a list of the WAPL staff's favorite reads from 2018!  Below you'll find our favorite Fiction, Non-Fiction, Teen, and Children's books of the year. Each list is sorted by the author's last name. Click on the book title to reserve a copy at the library!

Favorite Fiction Books of 2018 

1. The Banker's Wife by Christina Alger: A page turner for me! It felt frighteningly timely and a little too real, but it was a fun fast read. 
2. The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker: A beautifully written, strongly feminist retelling of the Odyssey.
3. The Immortalists by Chloe Benjamin: A page turner that covered tough topics in a respectful and intriguing way. It makes you think about the mystical thing that is fate.
4. Bitter Orange by Claire Fuller
5. Time’s Convert by Deborah Harkness: A continuation of the world encaptured in her earlier trilogy, this story explores the Revolutionary War through the point of view of a vampire who has lived through it all.
6. Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger: The main character reflects on the tragic deaths that occurred the summer when he was thirteen and the impact on his rural Minnesota community.
7. I Was Anastasia by Ariel Lawhon: There were interesting twists and turns and the story ‘stuck’ with me long after I read it!
8. Severance by Ling Ma: A story about the apocalypse, millennials, and the things people choose to value.
9. You Think It, I'll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld: A near perfect collection of short stories!
10. Eight Simple Rules for Dating a Dragon by Kerrelyn Sparks: Dragon shifters, magic, elves, kidnapping and romance this book is the  perfect read for those who love paranormal romance and works well a standalone read despite being book 3 in the Embraced series.
11. The Death of Mrs. Westaway by Ruth Ware: A nice, suspenseful book full of the twists and turns you expect in a Ware novel.

Favorite Non-Fiction Books of 2018

1. WorkParty: How to Create & Cultivate the Career of Your Dreams by Jaclyn Johnson: Part memoir, part career/work path advice, WorkParty contains enough inspiration and ideas to help you reach your goals in 2019.
2. Prep-Ahead Breakfasts & Lunches: 75 No-Fuss Recipes to Save You Time & Money by Alea Milham: This awesome book contains recipes that will help you not feel guilty about hitting the snooze button in the morning! The recipes make several portions that you can stash in the fridge or freezer for those days when you're running out of the house. I highly recommend the Peanut-Butter Chocolate Overnight Oats and the Apple Baked Oatmeal, they are simple to prep and delicious!
3. G’Morning, G’night! Little Pep Talks for Me & You by Lin-Manuel Miranda: A collection of tweets written by the author of the hit musical Hamilton, this book offers the perfect inspiration to turn around a rough day.
4. The Lives of the Surrealists by Desmond Morris: Bite-sized biographies of some of the wildest characters of the early 20th century-written by someone who knew many of them personally. 
5. Becoming by Michelle Obama: A glimpse into former First Lady Michelle Obama's life, before, during and after Barack Obama's presidency. It was especially interesting to read the passages of how she managed work-life balance and keeping her children leading as normal lives as possible considering their heavy security detail. 
6. This Will Only Hurt a Little by Busy Phillips: This book was exactly what I wanted it to be—an honest, frothy story of Hollywood.
7. Educated by Tara Westover: A great memoir about discovering that the world isn’t always what you’re told about it, and learning how to form your own opinions instead of just adopting those of others around you.

Favorite Teen Books of 2018

1. Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli: A great YA story depicting the struggle of coming out as bisexual in a warmhearted narrative that follows the events of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda.
2. The Fates Divide by Veronica Roth: The second and concluding book in a story that explores the living within the fates that the world presents to us… and creating and re-writing our own fates through the choices we make in those very circumstances.
3. Muse of Nightmares by Laini Taylor: After the shocking end of Strange the Dreamer, the story of Lazlo and Sarai comes to an end as both the people of Weep and the godspawn above learn where they came from and who they are. 
4. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Favorite Children's Books of 2018

1. The Truth as Told by Mason Buttle by Leslie Connor: Mason grieves his best friend’s death as the adults around him try to understand the circumstances of the accident.
2. Just Add Glitter by Angela DiTerlizzi: The illustrations are gorgeous, and the story is a great read aloud!
3. We Don’t Eat Our Classmates! by Ryan T. Higgins: A hilarious story for all ages that teaches us we can’t eat our peers, even if they are delicious. 
4. The Book of Boy by Catherine Gilbert Murdock: A lovely tale of a boy on a quest that pulled me in as each character’s depth and complexity grew.
5. Interrupting Chicken and the Elephant of Surprise by David Ezra Stein: In this follow up to Interrupting Chicken, Chicken and Papa work on her homework, dealing with the element of surprise, and how yes an elephant in the story would be exciting.