My year in books and My top ten books of 2018!

It was about time....! 
This kind of posts are my favorite! It's all about my reading year so if you are interested keep reading!!!
And if you are curious for previous years visit my post about 2017, 2016 and 2015!


So... this year I read 40 books, which is the best I've done so far!And I also set my goals on Goodreads to 40 books again for 2019!



My best reading month was October, when I read 6 books! I remember being sick and I was only reading for a few days!! Haha!!! And my worst reading month was September, when I only read one book, even though that book was Voyager, which is huge!!! However, I read the least pages in May, even though I had read two books. They were pretty short both of them...haha!!



From those 40 books, 22 were fantasy (55%), 8 were historical fiction (20%) and the rest were other different genres! As a huge fantasy lover I expected that kind of percentage to be even higher to be honest so I am quite satisfied! I would like to read more historical fiction though, as it is my second favorite genre! It is also the first time that I read a classic book (Dracula) and my first poetry book (Love Her Wild)!

Also, 12 books out of the 40 were 2018 releases (30%). I am also satisfied with that as previous years that percentage was quite lower!

My most read authors this year (aka I read or re-read more than one book written by them) were the following four:
4. Richelle Mead : I read Midnight Jewel and The Emerald Sea
3. Alisha Klapheke : I read the whole Edinburgh Seer trilogy
2. Philippa Gregory : I read the next four books on her Plantagenet and Tudor Novels; The Constant Princess, The King's Curse, Three Sisters Three Queens and The Other Boleyn Girl
1. Sarah J. Maas of course! I read Catwoman and A Court of Frost and Starlight, I re-read Empire of Storms and I finally read Kingdom of Ash!

I read many great books this year and for the first time ever I re-read a few of my most favorites too! For obvious reasons, I won't be counting those to my top ten list below!
p.s. I haven't read Queen of Air and Darkness yet!!

10. Love Her Wild by Atticus
I kept seeing this poetry book everywhere!!!! And I really wanting to see what all this fuss was about! Well, I am not a poetry expert by any means but I loved these poems! And the awesome photography that accompanies them makes it a unique experience and really speaks to the reader's heart!



9. Cress by Marissa Meyer
The third book in the Lunar Chronicles series.Oh such a cute read! I've saving the last book, Winter, to read it this winter and I really don't want this series to end! I love fairy tale re-tellings and Marissa Meyer does an amazing job! I love every character in this series and I am so sad that I am about to say goodbye to them! I just hope to get the ending I want! You know, that happily ever after as it still is a fairy tale!!!


8. Sightwitch by Susan Dennard
The prequel to The Witchlands series.To be completely honest, if this was a longer read it would be higher on this list!!! I loved Eridysi's story and I hope we meet Ryber on Bloodwitch, which I CAN'T WAIT TO READ as you know if you have read my most anticipated 2019 releases!!! I also plan on re-reading all three books that are out before moving on, so send me a dm on @booksreadbyjoan if you want to buddy read them!!


7. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
The 9th book in the Plantagenet and Tudor novels. A historical fiction series that you actually don't have to read the books by order as they follow different main characters and timelines. I love this series as you probably already know too! I also highly recommend watching the TV mini series White Queen and White Princess!!!!  
The Other Boleyn Girl was also made into a movie starring Eric Bana, Natalie Portman and Scarlet Johanson!Yes, THAT ONE!

6. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
One of my most loved TV and book series! This is the 3rd book in the Outlander series. To be honest, I believe the book was a bit better than the TV adaptation! I am currently watching season 4, which is the best so far!!! I can't believe there are only two episodes left.... Only two!!



5. All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
I cannnot believe I haven't posted a review about this one! Well, it was obviously a 5 star read! And it is a historical fiction novel set in France and Germany of WW2. It follows a french girl and a german boy and how their lives changed due to warfare. Such a powerful read! I highly, highly recommend it!


4. Origin by Dan Brown
That was the first book I read in 2018! Usually, my first read of the year ends in my top ten list! But that won't happen this year as my first read for 2019 was a re-read! Hahah! I loved every book by Dan Brown and this is my favorite of his! I was so curious throughout the whole book to reach the ending!!! He researched and worked so hard for this novels, and that is quite obvious!! I kept stop reading to make a mini-research of my own and google the places that Langdon (the main character) visited and the things he saw! 

3. The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
The 6th book in the Plantagenet and Tudor Novels series. It is about Katherine of Aragon and her life in England. make sure to read it soon as the TV adaptation series is already on production!






2. City Of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty
I feel that I have been talking about this book all the time!!!!!!!!! Well, I love Egyptian settings and all that eastern mythology makes it sooo interesting! So much political intrigue, an angsty romance, magic... What else? I can't wait for Kingdom Of Copper!!!






And you have probably guessed it by now.....





1. Kingdom of Ash by Sarah J. Maas
The finale to the Throne Of Glass series. Celaena's Sardothien adventures come to an end! So many bittersweet feelings! I've been reading this series for so many years that I still can't believe it's over! I LOVED the cast of characters and this series has grown so much with each book!! And that plot... OMG!! Sarah J. Maas is my fantasy queen!!!

I just realized that in this top 10 list, 4 books are fantasy, 4 are historical fiction, 1 is mystery and 1 poetry. Pretty good!!! I am happy that there aren't all 10 fantasy books!!! Hahaha!!!

Which are your favorite books that you read in 2018?
Leave a comment down below!!!
That's all for now!
See you next time!
xoxo
Joan!

*Also follow @booksreadbyjoan on Instagram!

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