As 2018 draws to a close, bookish retailers and outlets are looking back fondly on the year's releases. Amazon just revealed its Top 10 Best Books of the Year, and you've probably already read a few.
The books on the list below represent the Amazon editors' picks for 2018's best titles from across all genres and age ranges. In the Top 10 alone, you'll find memoir and microhistory mingling with adult and YA novels. And this is only a small sampling of what the Amazon editors have put together. You can view the Top 100 choices by heading over to Amazon's website.
Amazon's editors did a great job of compiling a pretty diverse list. Six of the 11 authors represented below are women, and two of them are women of color. Two additional male authors of color round out the list, with the remaining three books — Elevation, The Woman in the Window, Virgil Wander — written by white men.
The end of the year is the perfect time to catch up on reading all the books you missed out on in 2018, so be sure you check out all of Amazon's picks to make sure you haven't overlooked any great reads this year.
1
'Educated' by Tara Westover
Raised by her survivalist parents in rural Idaho, Tara Westover escaped an abusive upbringing and fled to Cambridge, where she earned a PhD and wrote this memoir.
2
'Washington Black' by Esi Edugyan
The enslaved, eponymous hero of Esi Edugyan's novel finds more than he ever bargained for when he becomes the manservant and companion of a naturalist and explorer, who will go to any lengths to save his life.
3
'Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man' by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic
In 1945, a U.S. Navy vessel went down after being struck by two Japanese torpedoes. The 316 men who survived the wreck of the U.S.S. Indianapolis spent the next 50 years trying to restore the reputation of their skipper, Captain Charles McVay III, who was court-martialed over the ship's sinking.
4
'Elevation' by Stephen King
Set in Castle Rock, Elevation tells the story of Scott Carey, a man whose life changes forever when he suddenly begins losing weight.
5
'The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border' by Francisco Cantú
Written by a former U.S. Border Patrol agent, The Line Becomes a River details the reasons behind Francisco Cantú's decision to leave the Patrol, and the reasons why he went back in search of a friend.
6
'The Woman in the Window' by A.J. Finn
A new take on the classic voyeur thriller, The Woman in the Window centers on Anna, a divorcée who amuses herself by watching the family that lives in the apartment across the way. But when Anna witnesses something dreadful in that other home, she begins to question her own sanity.
7
'Once Upon a River' by Diane Setterfield
Against the backdrop of 19th century England, a drowned child comes back to life in this work of historical fiction from The Thirteenth Tale author Diane Setterfield.
8
'Children of Blood and Bone' by Tomi Adeyemi
Zélie is the inheritor to an ancient, magical lineage that the rulers of Orïsha once tried to eradicate. Now, with her powers awakening, Zélie is thrown on a fateful path, one that will only end when she saves the world . . . or dies trying.
9
'Virgil Wander' by Leif Enger
Living with amnesia since a car wreck nearly claimed his life, Virgil Wander tries to restructure his life with the help of a few new friends, many of whom are piecing themselves together in the exact same way.
10
'There There' by Tommy Orange
Spread out over the lives of 12 characters, Tommy Orange's There There revolves around their shared destination: the Big Oakland Powwow.
