I was going to post this on Christmas Eve but I think you might all be busy so here goes:

Each year that I have tried to put together my top reads I have struggled to decide which books to include so I came up with a plan for 2018.

I don’t like star ratings as a 5* on Amazon could be a 4* or 5* on Goodreads and my 5* may not equate to anyone else’s. Consequently, I decided to award marks out of 100 so that I would then easily be able to select my favourite books of 2018, including all those scoring 90% or more and I’d end up with around a dozen to make a post without it becoming like War and Peace in length.

How wrong can you be! As the year progressed and I read more and more utterly stunning books that touched me heart and soul, I decided I’d narrow down my books of the year to those achieving 95% or above.

Yes. Well. That didn’t work.

I honestly have been privileged to read some absolute scorchers this year, some of which aren’t out until 2019. According to Goodreads, I have read 163 books in 2018 but as not all of them were on Goodreads I’m not quite sure how many I have actually read. Narrowing down my choices for an end of year post became impossible.

However, I have three books that scored 100% from me and that I simply couldn’t fault. So instead of a ‘book of the year’ or a list of 10 or 20 books, I’m returning to the three I loved equally and unequivocally, calling them my top reads. Here they are in the order I read them:

You, Me, Everything by Catherine Isaac

You and me, we have history.
We have a child together.
We have kept secrets from each other for far too long.
This summer, in the beautiful hills of the Dordogne, it is time for everything to change.

You, Me, Everything was published by Simon and Schuster on 19th April 2018 and is available for purchase through these links.

You can read my review here and an interview with Catherine Isaac here.

Peace Lily by Hilary Robinson and illustrated by Martin Impey

Ever since she was small, Lily wanted to be a nurse. Her dream becomes real when she takes the brave decision to follow her childhood friends, soldiers Ben and Ray, to the dangerous battlefields of Western France. Will she ever see them again?

Peace Lily is the fourth story in the award-winning series by Hilary Robinson and Martin Impey, set during World War 1. It not only pays tribute to the valuable contribution of women to the war effort but also shows how, after the chaos and distress of the long and painful battle, peace is eventually found both on land and in hearts.

The final book in this delightful and moving series brings all four stories together in a celebration of life and in the eternal hope of a new beginning.

Peace Lily is available for purchase here.

There’s a lovely trailer for Peace Lily that you can watch here. Peace Lily is a children’s book and you can read my review here.

The Book of Love by Fionnuala Kearney

One love. Two people. Twenty Years.

From the moment they met, Erin and Dom loved each other too much, too quickly. Everyone said it wouldn’t last. But they knew differently.

A wedding present, a notebook, brings them together through the good times and the bad. On the blank pages of their love story, they write down everything they can’t always say – the secrets, the heartbreak, the highs and lows. It’s where they see the best and worst of each other.

Falling in love is easy but staying in love is where the story begins…

This is The Book of Love.

Published by Harper Collins on 25th October 2018, The Book of Love is available through these links.

You can read my review of The Book of Love here.

Previous Years

Although it seems as if I’ve been blogging forever it will actually only be four years in February. If you’d like to see how the blog has evolved and the books I have enjoyed most in the previous years I’ve been blogging, here are the links:

2015

2016

2017

The three books aside which I adored and have featured above, I genuinely have read some beautiful, disturbing, moving and entertaining books this year and I’d like to thank every author who has appeared on the blog and all of those whose books are still awaiting reading. Being a blogger is a real privilege and I appreciate every moment each writer has spent agonising over their books. You all bring such joy to readers. Thank you.