2018 has been just like any other year, full of drama, mystery and unrest – and that’s just in the real world.

2018 was also a huge year in the world of books, in case you missed this year’s greatest releases, we’re here to give you our rundown of the top 5 best:

Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich

The hit Broadway show, created by the masterminds behind The Greatest Showman and La La Land, won 6 Tony awards in 2017 and praised for its groundbreaking focus on issues like social anxiety and teenage suicide. Ahead of its 2019 arrival in London, the hit show received a novelisation this year, written by Val Emmich.

Told from the perspective of Evan Hansen, a high schooler’s life is turned upside down after the suicide of his classmate Connor Murphy. This coming-of-age story accurately takes all the best parts of the show, including the songs, and adapts them into a heartfelt and relevant story, tactfully covering heavy topics like grief and mental health.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

A book slowly taking the world by storm is the autobiographical memoir of the former First Lady, Michelle Obama. Published in November, it intimately broke sales records in the US and Canada after just 15 days on sale and quickly became the biggest selling book of the year, selling over 2 million copies upon release.

The book details the problems that Michelle and Barack Obama suffered from in their marriage, and the effects her husband’s presidency had on the family, providing an insight into the personal life prior to and during the Obama’s time in office.

Michelle has become one of the most influential women in our society today and often uses her platform to spread positive messages about nutrition and empowering young girls, and her book is no different.

The Woman in the Window by A.J. Finn

Crime and thriller novels seem to be increasing in popularity even more, so it’s no surprise that this year’s most popular book on Goodreads was this thriller by A.J. Finn.

It tells the story of a psychologist who makes a habit of spying on her neighbours before she ultimately witnesses something she shouldn’t. Complete with an unreliable narrator, this thriller is the 2018 edition to the psychological thriller subgenre that you’re bound to enjoy if you liked The Girl on the Train and Before I Go to Sleep.

Educated by Tara Westover

Another memoir has made our list, and that’s because this book has been almost everywhere since its publication in February.

This book tells the coming-of-age story of Tara, born in Idaho, to Mormon and self-sufficient parents. She describes how her rebellion against her upbringing and relatives was her only option as her family mistrusted modern medicines and schools. Westover details her determination to gain formal education and the effects that had on her family, some of whom cut her off completely before she found refuge in literacy and books.

Westover’s memoir gives us a unique and surprisingly positive view of the life she lived in Idaho, providing us with an insight into the often forgotten and ignored communities of the prosperous regions of the US.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

The pressure was surely on for Hank Green when he was writing his debut novel, with his brother John Green, best known for ‘The Fault in our Stars’, already having several commercial successes and two movie adaptations to his name; but Hank’s debut did not disappoint.

The novel tells the story of a viral sensation, April, who becomes the first person to document a 10-foot-tall metal sculpture that appears out of nowhere, and is therefore pushed into the spotlight.

However, Green’s book details the darker side of Internet fame, and the dangers it can have, a world in which he knows all too well, being one half of the ‘Vlogbrothers,’ with over three million subscribers. The Green brothers know these dangers all too well, which makes Hank’s debut novel all the more authentic and real.

By Faith Pring

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