Happy New Year Tuesday and happy birthday to me! I am officially in my mid-30’s! Gasp!
Top Ten Tuesday was originally created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. Top Ten Tuesday this week consists of the best books of 2018.
1…Save the Date by Morgan Matson
I was highly anticipating this book for a solid 6 months and waited anxiously for my pre-order! I am so happy to say that I absolutely freaking love this book! If you know me then you know Morgan Matson is my contemporary homegirl! Morgan Matson has the ability to bring out those relaxing summer vibes along with the perfect blend of sentimentality! She has a gift of character development and she knows how to show the growth of her characters in a realistic pace. This book brought me to tears and hysterics at the same time which is hard to do! My love for Morgan Matson is real especially since I traveled all the way to Georgia from Miami just to meet her! Read my review about this book here.
2…Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis
This wouldn’t be a Top Ten Tuesday without mentioning the book Girl, Wash Your Face! I cannot begin to tell you how important this book was for me this year. When I turned 34 this year, I had so many goals and I felt like I was in a race due to the fact that I am about to enter the mid 30’s and I was freaking out about not accomplishing my ultimate goal which is to finish my book. My Capricorn self is always making deadlines and I was pushing myself to finish writing my book by the age of 35. Rachel Hollis taught me that accomplishing your goals is not about being on a race and that it’s about working on them every day on a consistent basis. This woman offers real advice in a way that is relatable and feels like your vulnerably talking to that best friend after drinking a bottle of wine. She has taught me to stop the self-doubt and insecurity and to go after my dreams no matter what.
3…The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
If I could sum up this book in two words I would say that it is one of the most authentic and relevant books I have read this year! This book is about the Black Lives Matter movement and it encompasses so many issues that our society is facing today. The Hate You Give should be required reading for high school students because it really touches on issues of race, tolerance and stereotypical attitudes many people hold especially in the times we are living in today.
4…The Thorn Necklace by Francesca Lia Block
The Thorn Necklace is officially my writing bible resource whenever I am stuck on where my novel is going! This year of 2018, I actually took action and began to write my novel. Currently, I am on 13,000 words and wanted to get to 20,000 words by the end of this year but I keep telling myself that I went from writing 0 words to 13,000 words and that is a huge thing. This book has had such an impact on me and if you want to find out why read my book review here.
5…The Poet X
This is one of the most original and touching books I have read in 2018! Now I never planned to read The Poet X this year because I had no idea about this book AT ALL until I met Elizabeth Acevedo when she did a book talk with Tomi Adeyemi of Children of Blood and Bone. The minute I heard Elizabeth Acevedo speak I was completely blown away and I bought her book right on the spot! This is a coming of age story about a Latinx girl written in the form of beat poetry! The writing is FLAWLESS! I read this book and finished the rest of the book on audio since I heard it was highly recommended. The writing of this book filled up my soul and find out why in my book review here.
6…The Sun is Also a Star
Nicola Yoon’s debut novel Everything, Everything was an addicting read for me! Yoon’s lyrical, poetic, and creative writing completely transfixed me! The Sun is Also a Star was just as beautifully written as Everything, Everything and the only regret I have is that I put this book off for far too long! The relationship between Natasha and Daniel is insta-lovey but it is one of the few instances where instant love is written with that exquisite feeling of those first-love butterflies.
7…Analee, in Real Life
Analee, in Real Life, was like coming home to me. This is written by a Cuban writer with a Cuban main character! Analee is the MC and she is your typical awkward teenager who struggles with the growing pains and losing her mother to cancer. She ends up in an unexpected relationship with the popular guy in school and through this relationship, she learns a lot about herself in the process and most importantly learns to accept the beauty within herself. One of the things I loved about this book is her Cuban family and the Cuban elements sprinkled throughout this book that reminded me of my own upbringing. I love the message behind this book and the unexpected ending of this book! This book is like To All the Boys I’ve Loved before with a twist!
I am happy to say that I got to meet this author and I intend to read every single book written by Janelle Milanes! The Victoria in My Head will be my next read for 2019!
8…Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
This book was the ultimate feel-good YA contemporary romance of the year! If this book didn’t give you the warm and gleeful fuzzies than there is something wrong with you! I was fortunate to read this book and then see a private viewing of the movie right after!
I will forever ship the romance between Simon and Blue forever! Read my fangirly review here.
9…The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
I did a buddy read of this book with my mom and I didn’t expect this book to break me the way it did! At first, I thought this was just going to be a fun and gossipy read but I was utterly WRONG! The character of Evelyn Hugo was written in such a realistic fashion that I felt like she was a real person that I could just google and find her whole Wikipedia biography! I finished this book on a plane and I was a sobbing mess after reading it. Read more about all emo feels of Evelyn Hugo here.
10…Warcross
This book is not my typical read because sci-fi is definitely not my go-to read but the plot sucked me in! The book is a virtual reality kind of book and I have always been fascinated with virtual reality. The virtual reality aspect definitely piqued my interest in this book! The world was written in such a fascinating and realistic fashion and let’s just say I had a complete crush on Hideo Tanaka! He gave me the 50 Shades of Grey feels only the writing was ten times better! I want more of Hideo Tanaka and Emika Chen and need to read the sequel Wildcard for the year of 2019!