The best books of 2018

Ayesha at Last

This modern Muslim retelling of Pride & Prejudice is a sweet confection of a book that had me smiling for days. Set in Toronto, the novel features Ayesha, an aspiring poet who has more serious things on her mind than boys, and that includes her handsome (and conservative) neighbour Khalid. She has a so-so job as a teacher, some hefty student debt she owes her uncle, and a scatterbrained cousin who loves to reject marriage proposals. Khalid, for his part, has his own stuff going on, but is utterly bewitched by the beautiful and forthright Ayesha. Enter a screwball mixup of identities and ideologies and you have a couple to be cheering for. - Suzanne Moutis, executive editor

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Circe

Since I basically majored in Greek Mythology in university (what’s a Classics degree good for, anyway!?), I was ready to be disappointed, but this book is so compelling, well researched and imaginative, I would say it was easily my favourite read this year. You’ll likely know Odysseus, Helios, Hemes and the rich cast of supporting characters, but you definitely don’t know this much about Circe—and I guarantee you’ll want to know more. (Side note: I bought this for three people on my Christmas list and all three loved it!) - Sara Cation, senior features editor

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Educated

This isn’t just a memoir about an off-the-grid childhood, but a reflection on education itself as a process of storytelling. - Amanda Etty, health and fitness editor

Florida

Lauren Groff’s brilliant collection of short stories takes place in, you guessed it, Florida, where things are not always sunny. - AE

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French Exit

Patrick deWitt, master of the dark comedy returned with this mother-and-son tale about New York City-based widow Frances Price and her man-child son, Malcolm (and an old cat that Frances believes embodies the spirit of her late husband). - AE

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Good and Mad

This exploration of the power of women’s anger and its ability to effect change and alter the course of history will fire you up, leaving you educated and resolved to put your rage to good use in 2019. - AE

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Heartbreaker

This was, hands down, my favourite novel of the year. I've already read it twice and aim to read it again in 2019. From the interesting mystery at the heart of the story to the myriad pop culture references to the interior lives of characters that said very little, it was all a dreamy and otherworldly tale about damaged people looking for a sliver of connection. - Alexandra Donaldson, fashion and beauty editor

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Lake Success

One of my all-time favourite authors this year returned with a brutal satire on Trump-age America, which was at once hilarious and hauntingly sad. Gary Shteyngart is a literary master who seems to see through society and skewer it with razor-sharp wit, and I’m a forever fan. - SC

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My Year of Rest and Relaxation

This weirdly cool novel is about what happens when the 24-year-old narrator becomes intentionally addicted to antidepressants and other meds and goes into a self-imposed hibernation. - AE

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Nobody Cares

This book was doubly important for me this year because its author is my close friend Anne T. Donahue. Seeing her accomplish the feat of writing her first book was amazing enough, but then I got to read it. Anne doesn't shy away from the tough stuff of life in this series of essays that are informed by her personal experiences, but she manages to do so in a way that is equal parts funny, insightful and hopeful. Which, honestly, is just what we need for 2019. - AD

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Our Animal Hearts

This is a novel that combines myth and history in such a beautifully written way. Add a touch of nature, some intriguing and mysterious characters and a can't-end-well love story and you've got the makings of a perfect gloomy-day read. - AD

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Pandora's Boy

There’s something about the books of Lindsey Davis that draw me in and stay with me for a long period of time after I’ve finished reading. Pandora’s Boy, the latest in the Flavia Albia series set in 1st century Rome, was no exception. Davis is such a talented writer—she makes the ancient seem relatably modern, the romance feel inevitably destined and the historical facts easily digestible. She can seamlessly bridge the gap between tension, drama, comedy and everyday life’s pedestrian details, in addition to writing a damn good mystery. Her storytelling skill is rare and I treasure each new book she produces. - SM

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Split Tooth

From Inuit writer Tanya Talaq comes this pastiche of forms—which jumps from narrative to poetry—in a stream-of-consciousness tale about a young girl growing up in Nunavut. If it sounds like a lot, that's because it is—in the best possible way. It's moving and lyrical, painful at times but also resilient. It was one of the best things I read this year. - AD

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That Tiny Life

For short story lovers who aren't particular about topic, this is a great book to pick up from a Canadian author. I especially loved the attention to detail, which engrossed and fascinated me, despite my assumption that I didn't care about falconry (and other equally off-beat topics). - AD

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The Broken Girls

Supernatural stories are not entirely in my wheelhouse, but I find Canadian Simone St. James to be a writer that delivers so much more than just heebie-jeebies. Her previous novels—all of which I’ve eagerly read—have been set in post-First World War England, but this one moves between 2014 and 1950s Vermont, centring on two tragedies at a girls’ boarding school—and I mean, could you ask for a more perfect creepy setting? The modern-day action involves journalist Fiona Sheridan and her search for answers about the death of her older sister on the school’s grounds. Full of secrets and revelations, as well as a ghost or two, this book satisfied all my literary cravings. - SM

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The Cult on Fog Island

If you know me, you know that I LOVE cults. Moonies, Jonestown, Scientology—show me a book, article or movie about it, and I’ll devour it in a day or so. This book, though purely fictional and a pulpy page-turner, was no different. It piqued my interest in the first paragraph, and I carried this book everywhere I went until I read the last. Interestingly, I read afterwards that author Mariette Lindstein was a devout Scientologist for 20 years. I like to imagine that her experience there informed the narrative.  - SC

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The Female Persuasion

The story of a college freshman and her mentor that nails dominant cultural themes of 21st-century womanhood and the shift in modern feminism. - AE

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There There

Interconnected stories about the lives of indigenous Americans living in Oakland. The stories come together in one of the most intense, heart-wrenching conclusions I’ve ever read. - AE

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The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

It's actually pretty rare for a murder mystery to make my top books list. Though I enjoy reading them enough, I often find them formulaic to make my must-read lists and instead, I save them for when I need a bit of a palette cleanse. But, this one had me hooked and the combination of creativity and good writing kept me enthralled. Imagine having to solve a murder in a Groundhog Day-like scenario. Now imagine having to do it by switching bodies every morning of that same day. Having trouble following? My best advice is just start reading this one. It's unlike any other whodunnit I've ever read. - AD

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The Word is Murder

I might sound like a broken record, but I have a huge talent crush on Anthony Horowitz. He can effortlessly go from creating BAFTA-award nominated Foyle’s War to writing YA spy fiction to carrying the torch of venerable literary series featuring Sherlock Holmes and James Bond in new novels under their respective umbrellas with aplomb. The Word is Murder, though, is something different, and I loved it. It’s fiction, and yet the main character is a version of Anthony Horowitz himself, working with a down-on-his-luck policeman to investigate the death of woman found dead after visiting a funeral parlor hours earlier. It’s original, twisty and quite simply irresistible. - SM

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Washington Black

This novel by Esi Edugyan won the Scotiabank Giller prize in 2018, so it makes sense that it's on a few best of lists. It's descriptive and wonderfully imaginative—and that's saying a lot for a tale about a man born into slavery who must reconcile his circumstances with his desires and ambition. I love that it combined science and art and that it didn't shy away from heavy-hearted and haunting scenes. This is required reading. - AD

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When We Were Birds

I love a good fairy tale, and this collection of stories from Maria Mutch takes the genre and runs with it in a modern and magical way. My favourite story was a retelling of the classic Bluebeard tale, but you'll find no shortage of highly original and thoughtful tales that at once harken back to childhood stories while being undeniably dark (and definitely not for children). - AD

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Travelling Cat Chronicles

Oh, I wept. Like, really, really wept. Satoru is taking his cat, Nana, on an epic road trip across Japan. Together, they visit Satoru’s oldest friends and marvel at the landscape, forming that impenetrable bond that only pet lovers understand. A story of love, loyalty and loss, this book both warmed and broke my heart—and is something this bonafide cat lady plans to read more than once. (And you should too!) - SC

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Why Mommy Drinks

For those of us who take motherhood with a grain of salt (…or do I mean a glass of wine?), this is a brilliant novel  from the U.K. author of the Peter and Jane blog. Told in diary entries over the course of a year, we get to know Mummy, Daddy, son Peter and daughter Jane, as well as friends and hangers-on through a variety of domestic adventures. What I loved most was, instead of being scathing and sarcastic, Sims writes her mummy character, Ellen, as a kind-natured, well-intentioned, exhausted woman who  loves her kids and her husband. And is also completely hilarious. - SM

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