Mysteries and thrillers
The one mystery on my top 10 list for 2018 was Force of Nature by Jane Harper. I read a lot of bad and over-hyped mystery/thrillers in 2018, but luckily there were some still some really good ones that I actually would recommend. Some are more on the mystery side, some are more on the psychological thriller side, and the latter two are closer to regular contemporary fiction with an undercurrent of mystery.
The Broken Girls - Simone St. James
The Last Day of Emily Lindsay - Nic Joseph
The Witch Elm - Tana French
The Death of Mrs. Westaway - Ruth Ware
The Favorite Sister - Jessica Knoll
The Good Liar - Catherine McKenzie
The Tiger in the House - Jacqueline Sheehan
Science Fiction/Fantasy with a Historical Element
I know this seems like a randomly specific sub-category, but they all kind of defy categorization in any other way. Valley of the Moon and Into the Dim both involve time travel. The Philosopher's Flight is fantasy in a historical setting, and How to Stop Time involves someone who is at least semi-immortal so takes place over a long period of time including quite a bit of historical setting. And 7 & 1/2 Deaths really defies categorization in that is a mystery set in a historical setting, but with a dash of Groundhog's Day and/or the movie Clue as the main character keeps waking up each morning re-living the same day over and over again, but from different perspectives. I really enjoyed these books, especially the first two below which were very unique.
The Philosopher's Flight - Tom Miller
The 7 & 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle - Stuart Turton
Valley of the Moon - Melanie Gideon
How to Stop Time - Matt Haig
Into the Dim - Janet B. Taylor
Science Fiction/Dystopian
Of the books below, Artemis and The Wrong Stars are recent science fiction books but in the classic mold - set in the future in space. Severance and The Power are two very different variations on dystopian/post-apocalyptic books. And Waking Gods is the second in a series set in a world just like our own but where humans have discovered a giant robot seemingly created by aliens.
Artemis - Andy Weir
Severance - Ling Ma
Waking Gods - Sylvain Neuvel
The Wrong Stars - Tim Pratt
The Power - Naomi Alderman
Fantasy/Young Adult Fantasy
As I mentioned in my top 10 of 2018 post, I read most of the "Throne of Glass" series by Sarah J. Maas in 2018 (after starting reading it in 2017), and I just loved it so much! So I highly recommend all the books in the series, including the one I included on my top 10 list.
I've already mentioned Into the Dim and The Philosopher's Flight above. So the only additional fantasy book that I'd recommend on top of those is Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman. It's theoretically a stand alone novel, but since it's set in the same world as her books Seraphina and Shadowscale and most of the world-building went on in those books, I'd recommend reading those first.
Memoirs
I am usually not much of a non-fiction reader, but part of the way I upped my reading total in 2018 is that I started usually having a second book going on my phone for those times when I was out and about - or just too lazy to go upstairs and grab my book or kindle. And I found that memoirs are great as a second book! So the following are the memoirs I would recommend that I read in 2018, roughly in the order of my preference. Educated is a knock out truth is stranger than fiction memoir, Find Me Unafraid is an inspiring true story set in Africa, the Ellie Kemper and Amy Schumer books are comedic memoirs (one very sweet and innocent and one rather crass and raunchy), and Jennifer Weiner is a fiction writer who wrote a memoir.
Educated - Tara Westover
Hungry Heart - Jennifer Weiner
My Squirrel Days - Ellie Kemper
Find Me Unafraid - Kennedy Odede and Jessica Posner
The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo - Amy Schumer
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