My Favourite books of 2018

Happy New Year!!!

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and a great new year.

I need to begin this post by telling you all I am rubbish at book reviews. I am particularly rubbish at book reviews of books I really like….and I really like books remember when i wrote about how I’d rather share my bed with a book than a bloke….

The thing is when I read a book that I truly love I want to tell people every plot detail , every character quirk , every twist and turn and that’s certainly going to spoil your enjoyment of the books.

That said , knowing my bookworm tendencies I am often asked for book recommendations. I also really like to share the book love . I’m also thinking some of you lucky people may have gotten book tokens for Christmas and looking for something to spend them on. So I’m just going to tell you my fave books I read last year , provide you with a spoiler free blurb and then add my thoughts with my finger placed firmly on my lip! That seem sensible ?

OK let’s go – my top 5 of 2018

5 Years From Now – by Paige Toon

What if you met the right person at the wrong time?

Nell and Van meet as children when their parents fall in love, but soon they are forced worlds apart.

Five years later, they find each other. Their bond is rekindled and new feelings take hold, but once again they must separate.

For the next two decades, fate brings Nell and Van together every five years, as life and circumstance continue to divide them. Will they ever find true happiness? And will it be together?

‘One day, maybe five years from now, you’ll look back and understand why this happened…’

My Thoughts

I love a book with a twist , being a bookworm though if the twists aren’t a bit clever you spot them from a mile. I did not for a second expect the journey this book would take me on. I am not exaggerating to say I felt a whole range of emotions from elation to absolute heartbreak , and if a book can make you feel like that ..I’d say it’s a good read.

Feminists Don’t Wear Pink (and other lies ) by Scarlett Curtis

Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and Other Lies is a collection of writing from extraordinary women, from Hollywood actresses to teenage activists, each telling the story of her personal relationship with feminism. Often funny, sometimes surprising, and always inspiring, this book aims to bridge the gap between the feminist hashtag and the scholarly text by giving women the space to explain how they actually feel about feminism.

Published in partnership with Girl Up, a campaign of the United Nations Foundation, and curated by writer and Pink Protest founder Scarlett Curtis, this book’s contributors include:

Bridget Jones (by Helen Fielding) • Saoirse Ronan • Emma Watson • Jameela Jamil • Kat Dennings • Keira Knightley • Alicia Garza • Jodie Whittaker • Whitney Wolfe Herd • Beanie Feldstein • Zoe Sugg • Angela Yee • Akilah Hughes • Evanna Lynch • Chimwemwe Chiweza • Alison Sudol • Lolly Adefope • Elyse Fox • Charlie Craggs • Charlotte Elizabeth • Alaa Murabit • Trisha Shetty • Tapiwa Maoni • Lydia Wilson • Amy Trigg • Tanya Burr • Karen Gillan • Swati Sharma • Bronwen Brenner • Emily Odesser • Emi Mahmoud • Gemma Arterton • Lauren Woodhouse-Laskonis • Tasha Bishop • Skai Jackson • Maryam and Nivaal Rehman • Nimco Ali • Amika George • Jordan Hewson • Alice Wroe • Claire Horn • Dolly Alderton • Rhyannon Styles • Grace Campbell • Liv Little • Olivia Perez

My thoughts

Just wow .

I can say in all honesty I have never felt more empowered by a book.

As it’s a collection of pieces from a wide range of women you can pick and put down this book to suit , which makes it handy for the modern busy woman I guess.

Keira Knightley’s piece of childbirth made me shiver and seeth and feel like a total kickass in the space of a few hundred words.

The Cows by Dawn O’ Porter

Fearlessly frank and funny, the debut adult novel from Dawn O’Porter needs to be talked about.

COW n.
/ka /

A piece of meat; born to breed; past its sell-by-date; one of the herd.

Women don’t have to fall into a stereotype.

Tara, Cam and Stella are strangers living their own lives as best they can though when society’s screaming you should live life one way, it can be hard to like what you see in the mirror.

When an extraordinary event ties invisible bonds of friendship between them, one woman’s catastrophe becomes another’s inspiration, and a life lesson to all.

Sometimes it’s ok not to follow the herd.

The Cows is a powerful novel about three women judging each other, but also themselves. In all the noise of modern life, they need to find their own voice.

My Thoughts

This was the last book I read in 2018 (I know , where had I been?) my goodness though it was a ‘pause your life and just finish the book’ kind of a read. Small girl says you should never travel anywhere without an emergency book and with this one I took her advice. Always about my person to whip out on the train or at the busstop. Really enjoyed it , the characters are stunningly written and…..see I’m doing it , I’m about to spoil it . Trust me on this one !!!

How to Survive the End of the World (when it’s in your own head) – by Aaron Gillies

There are plenty of books out there on how to survive a zombie apocalypse, all-out nuclear war, or Armageddon. But what happens when it feels like the world is ending every single time you wake up? That’s what having anxiety is like – and How to Survive the End of the World is here to help. Or at least make you feel like you’re not so alone.

From helping readers identify the enemy, to safeguarding the vulnerable areas of their lives, Aaron Gillies will examine the impact of anxiety, and give readers some tools to fight back – whether with medication, therapy, CBT, coping techniques, or simply with a dark sense of humour.

My thoughts

I found this book when I was going through a mental health wobble and it was a revelation. It wasn’t just me who felt like this , who thought like this , whose brain was on a self destruct mission.

For anyone who has dealt with or has to deal with the horrors of anxiety I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Not only is it comfortingly relatable it is also really really funny , i found myself bursting into giggles in public reading it.

The Man Who Didn’t Call – Rosie Blake

The “OMG” romance of the year, The Man Who Didn’t Call by Rosie Walsh is a heart-wrenching love story with a dark secret at its heart, for anyone who’s waited for a phone call that didn’t come.

Imagine you meet a man, spend seven glorious days together, and fall in love. And it’s mutual: you’ve never been so certain of anything.

So when he leaves for a long-booked holiday and promises to call from the airport, you have no cause to doubt him.

But he doesn’t call.

Your friends tell you to forget him, but you know they’re wrong: something must have happened; there must be a reason for his silence.

What do you do when you finally discover you’re right? That there is a reason – and that reason is the one thing you didn’t share with each other?

The truth.

My Thoughts

Oh….now I have to keep my blabbermouth words brief on this one.

All I’ll say is this isn’t just a favourite book of last year , it’s a favourite book ever.

You know when you’re enjoying a book so much you start to ration chapters because you just can’t stand for it to end …though you also need to know what happens RIGHT NOW?

That’s this book.

Now I am backing away before I ruin this delight for you all.

So there we are my recommendatiions for anyone fancying a good read and also thinks my book picks are any good (the two generally don’t go together!)

Here’s to plenty more amazing books this year.

What were your favourites that you read in 2018?

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