Goodreads Staffers' Top Three Books of the Year

Posted by Cybil on December 17, 2018
This post is sponsored by Becoming: An Inspirational Memoir by Michelle Obama.


As we wrap up our 2018 Reading Challenge, we decided to ask our Goodreads coworkers a simple yet tough question: What were the top three books you read this year?

Oh, the angst we caused among our well-read colleagues as they whittled down their lists to just their top few books! But hopefully our picks will inspire additions to your Want to Read Shelf.

You'll notice that our reading habits run the gamut. But if you look carefully, you can see some office favorites emerge, including multiple picks of the true-crime page-turner I'll Be Gone in the Dark; Naomi Novik's fantasy retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin fairy tale, Spinning Silver; and Angie Thomas' bestselling young adult debut, The Hate U Give.

Now it's your turn! What are your top three books of the year? Share them with us in the comments!


Tomas Batalla, Senior Software Development Engineer



Dana Epstein, Ad Sales Executive



Brooke Ginnard, Visual Designer



Marie Pabelonio, Associate Editor



Emily Fortner, Community Manager



Elizabeth Khuri Chandler, Cofounder & Editor in Chief



Mariana Gamboa Aguilar, Goodreads Expert



Jeff Wong, Software Development Engineer



Joseph Soltzberg, Software Development Engineer



William Cline, Senior Software Development Engineer



Brian Percival, Software Architect



Caroline Moeller, Account Executive



Meg McGill, Experts Quality Program Manager



Zoe Wheeler, Software Development Engineer



William DePhillips, Senior Software Development Engineer



Lisset Cruz, Account Management Manager



Sam Julian, UX Designer



Sofia Chavez, Goodreads Expert



Katie Boyer, Account Manager



Danny Feekes, Managing Editor



Carmen Marks, Goodreads Expert



Jaclyn Woods, Community Content Expert



Stephanie Watson, Goodreads Expert



Emily Pardoe-Wessels, Goodreads Expert Lead



Lisa Jablonsky, Sales Director



Cybil Wallace, Senior Editor



Emily Finley, Director of Operations



Alex Lewis, Program Manager



Dan Lopez, Account Manager



Eric Asuncion, Account Manager



Veronica Moss, VP Revenue & Operations



William Siu, Ad Operations



Tristan Leigh, Software Development Engineer



Shaun Ponting, Goodreads Expert



Margo Throckmorton, Senior Account Manager



Heino Colyn, Customer Service Manager



Jamay Lau, Senior Product Manager



Hayley Igarashi, Editor



Nimmy Mathew, Software Development Manager



Monique Galvin, Goodreads Expert



Amy Bickerton, Designer



Karen Bezuidenhout, Goodreads Expert



Corin Carper, Software Development Manager



Bryce Weitzel, Head of Sales Marketing & Development



Joe Thomas, Software Development Engineer



Michael Sewell, VP of Engineering



Lauren Deyce, Experts Learning Coordinator



Aditi Sharma, Software Development Engineer



Dany Avila, Goodreads Community Expert



Otis Chandler, Cofounder & CEO



Justine Wheeler, Goodreads Expert



Roslyn Bristow, Goodreads Expert



Robin-Lee Moos, Goodreads Expert



Rory Crane, Goodreads Expert Manager



Amanda Cooper, Goodreads Quality Specialist



Mimi Chan, Senior Marketing Manager



Brian Colombini, Software Development Engineer



David Wong, Software Development Engineer



Erin-Mari Kelsey, Account Manager



Suzanne Skyvara, VP Communications



Sarah Chang, Program Manager



What are your three favorite books you read in 2018? Share them with us in the comments!

Check out more recent articles:
Catch Up Now: These Big Series All Have Books Coming Out in 2019
Celebrate Your 2018 Year in Books!
The Sci-Fi & Fantasy Trends of 2018

Comments Showing 101-150 of 373 (373 new)


message 101: by June (new)

June Taylor Every Note Played by Lisa Genova, Looking for Alaska by John Green and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith


message 102: by Jan (new)

Jan Buchholz I just finished Mrs. Bridge. Perfect tone, timeframe and tempo. Having lived years ago in Kansas City, the book transported me back to a lovely place in my past.


message 103: by Jerry (new)

Jerry I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Bear Town

Heartland

The Chalk Man


message 104: by Jacob (new)

Jacob Deb wrote: "How does one become a Goodread's Expert. I think that's my dream job."

Yes, sign me up as well!


message 105: by Shelli (new)

Shelli Tooke Ohh,, this is hard. I really like more than 3, but here goes
1) The Hate U Give
2) Educated
3) The Kitchen House


message 106: by Ashley (new)

Ashley Taglieri First off I love that there are older books listed here.

I would say my top three would be:
- The Anomaly (my only 2018 novel)
- The Master and the Margarita
- Fahrenheit 451

Close runner up would be Hitchhikers's Guide to the Galaxy.


message 107: by Mary (new)

Mary In no particular order:
Educated by Tara Westover
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
The One In A Million Boy by Monica Wood


message 108: by Christina (new)

Christina Knecht Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Thurston
Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck
Educated by Tara Westover


message 109: by linda d shaffer (new)

linda d shaffer Lilac Girls
The Wife
Little Fires Everywhere


message 110: by Pam (new)

Pam Edgar and Lucy by Victor Lodato
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
The Outsider by Stephen King


message 111: by Shellie (last edited Dec 20, 2018 09:57AM) (new)

Shellie Taylor Every Note Played by Lisa Genova
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
The Current by Tim Johnston

I also read The Hobbit every year in January and I happened to reread a lot of the Harry Potter series both of which would outrank the three books listed above. So not including them, the three books I read were all excellent reads and highly recommended!


message 113: by Abby (new)


message 114: by MarySue (new)

MarySue Carl The Woman In The Window, Educated, Where the Crawdads Sing.


message 115: by Steven (new)

Steven A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Bearskin by James McLaughlin
Rivers by Michael Farris Smith


message 116: by Lisa (new)

Lisa Out of 109 books (so far)
We were the Lucky Ones
I Am, I Am, I Am
The Color Purple


message 117: by MaryJane (new)

MaryJane Rings Deb wrote: "How does one become a Goodread's Expert. I think that's my dream job."

I agree. That would be a wonderful job and so many wonderful authors and stories.


message 118: by Emily (new)

Emily Blodgett Sing, Unburied Sing
Spoonbenders
News of the World


message 119: by Cris (new)

Cris Bobowsky My 3 favorite are the Tattooist of Auchwitz by Heather Morris, Dark Places and In the Midst of Winter by Isabel Allende and the next two are close too The Fallen by David Baldacci and Number the Stars by Lois Lowry


message 120: by Amanda (last edited Dec 20, 2018 10:34AM) (new)

Amanda I definitely just added a few more to my TBR shelf from this list!

My favorites this year, in no particular order, are:
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan (I've read 5 books by McClellan this year & enjoyed all of them, so I had to pick the one that introduced me to the Powder Mage world).
A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab (I've also read 5 of Schwab's books this year & am a big fan of her writing in general. This is a particularly tough one because Vicious & Vengeful were amazing too).


message 121: by Gayla (new)

Gayla Becoming by Michelle Obama
Shell Game by Sara Paretsky
Kingdom of the Blind by Louise Penny


message 122: by Rosanne (new)

Rosanne Goodwin There There
Little Fires Everywhere
Beartown


message 123: by Rosanne (new)

Rosanne Goodwin Kimberley wrote: "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
The Hate U Give
The Elegance of the Hedgehog"



Absolutely loved The Elegance of the Hedgehog


message 124: by Sherry (new)

Sherry Sharpnack "Being Mortal" Atul Gawande
"Little Fires Everywhere" Celeste Ng
"Lilac Girls" Martha Hall Kelly


message 125: by Melanie (new)


message 126: by Randi (new)

Randi 1. American Marriage by Tayari Jones
2. Beartown by Fredrick Backman
3. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate


message 127: by Laurie (new)

Laurie B The Killers of the Flower Moon
Homegoing
House of Broken Angels
...do I have to stop here?


message 128: by Richard (new)

Richard Bury The Great Alone, The Woman in the Window, and I See You.


message 129: by Carol (new)

Carol Morgan The three top books I read in 2018 are: The Devil in the White City,
Last Hope Island, and a book of poems, The Essential Bukowski


message 130: by Valli (new)

Valli McDougle Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
Where the Crawdads Sing
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine


message 131: by Deb (new)

Deb Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owen
Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz
The Outsider by Stephen King


message 132: by Henry (new)

Henry Where the Crawdads Sing
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell
The Heart is a Lonely Hunter


message 133: by Brandi (new)

Brandi Dalseg I am interested in the Goodreads expert. What is this and how do I become one?


message 134: by Debora (new)

Debora Pinzur Virgil Wander
Sing Unburied Sing
Sweetbitter


message 135: by MaryJane (new)

MaryJane Rings Grace wrote: "Grace __Librarian
Before We Were Yours
Need to Know by Karen Cleveland
Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane"


Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane"
Read 2 of the 3 books that you chose. I was particularly pleased with the Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane. I never knew anything about how tea was grown or harvested. The book in addition to being a love story was very informative in the description of the growing of tea and the steps that are taken to make it to export.
I also read Before we were yous. It was poignant and I thought the oldest girl did an amazing job with keeping her siblings together.


message 136: by Bree (new)

Bree Educated
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
The Overstory


message 137: by Ellyn (new)

Ellyn Lem The Caregiver by Samuel Park (I will remember this compelling mother-daughter saga forever; so sad, the author died right as it came out)

The Friend Sigfried Nunez (?) (I don't even like dogs, but this tale of a mentor leaving his dog to a friend after a suicide had so much insight)

Severance (dystopian in its own way...as a reader, it's hard not to inhabit this world)


message 138: by Penny (new)

Penny The Great Alone
A Gentleman in Moscow
Educated


message 140: by Debbie (new)

Debbie Deb wrote: "How does one become a Goodread's Expert. I think that's my dream job."

me too!!


message 141: by Tanya (new)

Tanya The Overstory by Richard Powers
Circe by Madeline Miller
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler


message 143: by Laurie (last edited Dec 20, 2018 11:28AM) (new)

Laurie The Passage by Justin Cronin
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter


message 144: by Biddy (new)

Biddy Soutar 1. The Lost flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland
2. Happiness by Aminatta Forme
3. The Woman in the Window by A.J.Finn


message 145: by Robert (new)

Robert Kapanjie A History of France John Julius Norwich
Titans of History Simon Sebag Montefiore
The Pope and Mussolini David Kertzer


message 146: by Jeff Roberts (last edited Dec 20, 2018 11:44AM) (new)

Jeff Roberts Camino Sunrise-Walking With My Shadows One reluctant pilgrim packs a weighty load on a 500-mile path by Reginald Spittle Camino Sunrise-Walking With My Shadows
Chemistry by Weike Wang Chemistry
Sapiens A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari Sapiens


message 147: by Sonia (new)

Sonia Thank you for this post! Just in time for the holidays. :-)

My three favourites of 2018:

Educated by Tara Westover
The Great Alone by Kristen Hannah
Becoming by Michelle Obama


message 148: by Peg (new)

Peg My three favorite include Spark of Light (Picoult), Every Note Played (Genova) and Great Alone (Hannah), and many more!!


message 149: by Mary (new)

Mary Brown A Gentleman in Moscow
The Alice Network
The Rent Collector


message 150: by Pam (new)

Pam Educated, Woman in the Window & Small Great Things were the 3 that left me thinking about them when I finished!


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