Presenting Book Marks Best Reviewed Books of 2018
Let the Critics Help You Pick That Last-Minute Gift (Bonus Award-Winner Content)
Our beloved fellow books site—Book Marks—spends most of December asking itself a lot of questions:
Of the thousands of books published this year, which one received more rave reviews than any other?
Who wrote the most interesting reviews of the last 12 months?
What about the most scathing pans?
What novels took home the Pulitzer and the National Book Award?
What should we get Lit Hub for Christmas?
You’ll find answers to these burning questions (and many more) below, as we recap Book Marks’ month-long look back at the best of 2018.
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The Best Reviewed Fiction of 2018
Featuring Denis Johnson, Ottessa Moshfegh, Rachel Kushner, and Tommy Orange.
The Best Reviewed Nonfiction of 2018
Featuring Zadie Smith, Frederick Douglass, Alexander Chee, and Leslie Jamison.
The Best Reviewed Memoirs and Biographies of 2018
Featuring Frederick Douglass, Babe Ruth, Leslie Jamison, and Kiese Laymon.
The Best Reviewed Sci-Fi and Fantasy Novels of 2018
Featuring Friday Black, Red Clocks, Gnomon, and Spinning Silver.
The Best Reviewed Essay Collections of 2018
Featuring Zadie Smith, Alexander Chee, Lorrie Moore, and David Sedaris.
The Best Reviewed Short Story Collections of 2018
Featuring Denis Johnson, Lucia Berlin, Jamel Brinkley, and William Trevor.
The Best Reviewed Graphic Literature of 2018
Featuring Nick Drnaso, Yvan Alagbé, Tillie Walden, and Liana Finck.
The Best Reviewed Literature in Translation of 2018
Featuring Dorthe Nors, Edouard Louis, Ismail Kadare, and Karl Ove Knausgaard.
The Best Reviewed Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Novels of 2018
featuring Tana French, Megan Abbot, Philip Kerr, and Michelle McNamara.
The Best Reviewed Poetry of 2018
Featuring Tracy K. Smith, Terrance Hayes, Max Ritvo, and Ada Limón.
The Most Scathing Reviews of 2018
“It’s physically impossible to dunk on a novel that is already dunking on itself so hard.”
The Award-Winning Novels of 2018
The books that took home the year’s biggest literary prizes.
The 10 Best Book Reviews of 2018
Patricia Lockwood on Lucia Berlin’s stories, Hanif Abdurraqib on Kiese Laymon’s memoir, Charles Finch on the end of Knausgaard’s struggle, and more.
