My Top Ten Best Books of All Time – 2018 Edition

You’re probably thinking to yourself “well this is an ambitious list” and you’re completely right. Whenever someone asks me what my favourite book is I immediately freeze up, and my brain goes “error 404: not found”.  Do I give them my favourite book by genre? By author? By year? Do I just say what I’m currently reading? I DON’T KNOW JAN. Go ask someone else these difficult questions.

How can you pick a favourite book? There are millions of books out there, maybe I haven’t met my all-time favourite book yet. That’s why this list is titled the 2018 edition. By this time next year I might feel like updating this list, but as of this moment in time, here are my all-time favourite books.

10. Twilight

Okay, before you start throwing stones at me or coming after me with a stake, hear me out. Let’s not pretend that all of us were not COMPLETELY OBSESSED with this book when it first came out. This book came out in 2007 but I didn’t read it until 2009. I was 13 in 2009, with no concept of what a healthy relationship was. The book had super hot vampires, I mean what more could a 13-year-old ask for? This book brought vampires back into the mainstream, and it was the book that ultimately sparked my love for reading YA fiction.

I was a Twilight superfan, I’m not going to lie. I wrote fanfiction, attended the midnight movie premiers of ALL 5 the movies (sorry mom and dad) and had merch for days. I loved this series, and 13-year-old me still loves it. Now at 22 I can look back and realise that Edward was a creep and the concept of sparkly vampires was ridiculous. I grew up, but I’ll never forget my roots.

9. City of Bones

Let’s get one thing straight, I hated the movie and I hated the TV show, but I LOVED the book. It was the first major series I read after Twilight, and to be honest, Stephenie Meyer’s comment on the cover made me buy the book. I was not disappointed. Cassandra Clare had a beautiful writing style, created a world I lived in for most of high school and wrote the best witty dialogue ever. I loved Jace, Clary, Magnus, Isabelle, Simon, Alec and all the other characters. I loved the world she created. I do think the series should have stopped at the third book, but what do I know? It’s still a good book and I still love it.

8. Blue Bloods

This book does not get enough praise. Vampires and Fallen Angels? Reincarnation and New York’s elite? This series was Supernatural meets Gossip Girl and it WORKS. This series sparked my love for Muse. I bought the first one, read it in a few hours and then went back to the bookstore to buy the rest of the series. I also read this book in my youth, so it shaped a lot of what I read today. I totally recommend checking these books out if you haven’t read them already.

7. The Vampire Diaries

I didn’t know these books existed until the TV show debuted. The show is entirely different from the books, so I recommend reading the books as well. I gobbled up the first six books in the series in one weekend. What I love about the books is the character development, especially Elena’s character development. L.J Smith wrote about vampires before they were cool, and wrote one of my favourite, bad-ass female heroines ever; Meredith Sulez. I’m still salty that they cut her out of the show. She was slaying vampires and being a general badass before Buffy even existed. SLAY QUEEN.

6. Dragonfly in Amber (Outlander)

Once again, I didn’t know these books existed until the TV show debuted. I decided to order the books after finishing the third season of Outlander because I COULDN’T WAIT FOR THE FOURTH ONE. I’m honestly glad I found these books when I was already in my 20’s. They are mammoth sized, and the story is very “grown-up”. I struggled to get through the first book, but I pushed on, and I was not disappointed. The second book is by far my favourite because it deals with loss and pain in a beautiful way. I also love the setting of 18th century France and it was great watching Jamie and Claire’s relationship grow further.

5. Snow Like Ashes

I bought this book at Waterstones in Amsterdam. It was wrapped up, so I couldn’t see the cover. I had a blind date with this book and I was absolutely hooked. This book kicked my love for YA fantasy into gear, and I knew once I was finished with the series that I would have to read more fantasy. I’ve always liked fantasy, but I wasn’t a fan of high fantasy. I loved the premise of this book, the magic system, the characters, everything was perfect.

4. Queen of The Tearling

This was the first fantasy book I read that didn’t involve a love story or a beautiful protagonist and I absolutely LOVED it. The story was more important than some silly love story and the stakes were higher. This book didn’t need a love story, and I am all for it. The protagonist also wasn’t beautiful, she had issues with how she looked and that made her relatable to me.

I mean, she was the QUEEN of a fantasy realm, she had all the power, yet she was self-conscious about how she looked. She wasn’t beautiful, but she was smart and capable and she used those things. She valued books and education above all else and cared for her people. The premise of this story also blew me away, the history of the Tearling and the mythology of the world was stunning. I could go on about this book all day.

3. Rebel of The Sands

This book had my attention from the first chapter. The book is set in a desert world where monsters and gods roam the dunes and Sultans rule with iron fists. The worldbuilding is exceptional and so different from all the other books I’ve read. The mythology is beautifully woven into the lives of our characters and I love the strong female protagonist this book gives us. Amari grows up so much during the course of the series, to the point where she’s running the resistance. I love everything about this series.

2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

Do I really have to explain this one? Harry Potter taught a generation of kids what the true meaning of love, friendship and bravery are. Harry Potter taught us that in the darkest of times there is always hope. I could write a book about why I love this book. This book was my childhood, and I will forever be grateful to JK Rowling for bringing the wizarding world to life.

1. Six of Crows

Inhales.

THIS IS THE BEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ. Seriously, Leigh Bardugo is a genius. She’s the master. I would sell my soul to her for the third book. The way she writes is phenomenal, her world building is phenomenal. I wish I had written this book. Each of her characters has a detailed and fleshed out backstory that drips into the story without making you realise you’re reading exposition. Can we just take a moment to talk about Kaz Brekker? I mean did anyone else feel slightly light-headed when he straight up MURDERED someone for hurting Inej? And I’m still sobbing over Matthias. HE DESERVED HIS LIFE WITH NINA. This book gives me all the feels. I could go on for days.

Read it. Right now.

And there you have it, folks! What are your thoughts on my list? Tell me in the comments! You can also pin the image below!

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