Top 5 Wednesday: Best Books You've Read So Far in 2018

I used to hand out 5 stars just because I really liked a book.  Since I started blogging and reviewing books I don't rate things 5 stars as frequently and I'm much more critical of books.  I give out lots of 3 and 4 star ratings, and I really enjoy those books.  In no particular order these are the best books I've read in 2018, and they really were fantastic and I highly recommend them.

I've linked reviews to all of the books I've mentioned below so you can see what I thought about them.

• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
• If you like Trevor Noah's brand of humor and you'd like a lesson in humility you should check this out.  Everyone should read this and I've heard the audio is wonderful as well.  Noah gives a lesson about how you survive in South Africa during a time when it was illegal for you to be born.  He didn't have a great childhood but he made the most of it.  The book is laced with humor, yet makes you think about what is really important.
• Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
• I thought this was wonderful.  I loved the mythology, the romance, and the characters.  I can't wait for book 2.  
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
• This was such and education about how medicine has advanced through the years.  This was heartbreaking and really makes you feel for the Lacks family.  You want them to receive some sort of reparation for the advances made from Henrietta's cells, but unfortunately that just isn't how it works.
• As You Wish by Cary Elwes
• If you love the movie The Princess Bride like I do, you should give this book a go.  I listened to the audio and it is full of the cast speaking about their experience filming.  This is so funny and heartwarming. 
• Sadie by Courtney Summers
• I just finished this and it was awesome!  It is told in mixed media and I loved it.  I couldn't put it down.  If you like YA thrillers go get this as soon as it comes out in September.  There are podcasts live that go with the book and episode 1 was excellent go check it out.

Go check out the Top 5 Wednesday group on Goodreads and see what other people recommended and to check out other topics.  

April Wrap Up

I set out to read a bunch of stuff in April, you can see my TBR post here if you like.  I did pretty well.  I didn't get to everything, but I got to most of the stuff I intended to, plus a couple of things I didn't plan on reading.  I read or listened to 10 books total and started 2 that were on my list to read.  And I reviewed almost all of them, which is more of an accomplishment than actually reading the books.  Reading is the easy part, finding time to post reviews is the hard part.  I have a few more to review, but I'm almost caught up.  I'll update the links when I'm done.

Ebooks/ARCs I did read, I've put their goodreads links and links to all of my reviews below so you can go check them out:

• Born a Crime by Trevor Noah
• My review
• I finished this and it was fantastic.  I highly recommend it.  I hear the audio version is fantastic as well.  
• Unbreakable by Sara Ella
• My review
• This took me almost a month to finish.  I'm sorry to say I didn't enjoy it as much as the first 2 books.  
• Kissing Tolstoy by Penny Reid
• My review
• This popped up randomly as an auto checkout from my library, which means they bought it on recommendation and I was next in line for it on the holds list.  This was really short and cute and I read it in a couple of hours.
• Birthday Girl by Penelope Douglas
• My review
• This was a surprise release by Pen Douglas.  It just came out mid-April, and I was lucky enough to win a copy in a giveaway hosted by The Lovely Books.  I really like her work, and I've read most of her books but I don't think I've reviewed any of them, yet.  I think I read them before I started on this blog journey.  I joined the blog tour so I had to squeeze this in to April's list.

Things I meant to read but will move to May:

• Furyborn by Claire Legrand
• I started this but I haven't finished it.  It is much longer than I anticipated.  It is really good.  There are angels, elemental powers, spies, assassins, prophecies, so there's alot going on.
• Smart but Scattered by Peg Dawson
• I started this, but as I mentioned in my TBR, I didn't plan to finish it in April.  My goal was to start it.  I've read the first few chapters and I've learned quite a bit.  It has already give me some good insights into parenting.  I have 2 very intellegent children, but they both lack what I consider basic human skills.  I'm hoping this book can teach our whole family how work on those things and face the world more effectively.  So far so good.
• Lucky Charm and Charmed by J.A. Armitage
• I need to to get to both of these in May.
• Beard in Mind and Beard Science by Penny Reid
• I know I'm going to love these and I fly through them so they will happen very soon.  The next one in the series is coming out in July and I want to be caught up by then.
• Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi
• I keep extending my hold on this.  I really want to get to it.

Audio Books

I finished all of the books but one.

• The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
• I just checked this out today, so it is next up.
• Timekeeper by Tara Sim
• My review
• I really enjoyed this one.  I was expecting it to be about time travel, but there is no time travel involved.  Time control perhaps, but no travelling.  This has an LGBT male main character who fixes clocks and can feel and see time unlike us regular people.  I liked the premise and I'm anxious to continue.  My library just purchased Chainbreaker, and I'm currently listening to it now.
• One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake
• My review
• This was another random checkout.  I forgot all about this series until I saw the cover in the available now section and I grabbed it.  I really liked the first book, but you know how it goes waiting a year for the next book to come out.  The 2nd book was a great follow up to Three Dark Crowns and I loved being back in the world and getting to know the Queens better.  I put the 2 novellas on hold as soon as I finished but it looks like I'll be waiting a while until we find out what happens to the sisters.
• Every Little Thing by Samantha Young
• My review
• Sam is one of my favorites, but this isn't my favorite book.  I haven't loved her books on audio.  I think I prefer to read them on the page.  It was still good, but the romance in this lost some thing for me in the translation.  I think I'll stick to reading her books in print.  This is still a good hate to love romance, and still recommend it.
•   Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng
• My review
• This isn't my normal type of book but I really did enjoy it.  It hits on just about every problem facing today's society.  I was surprised how much I enjoyed it.  
• Walk on Earth a Stranger, Like a River Glorious, and Into the Bright Unknown by Rae Carson
• My review
• I picked this up randomly because I heard Regan from Peruse Project talk about it and she said it was good.  I needed a new audio book an this was available so I took a chance.  I really ended up liking it and checked out the next 2 books.  The books aren't terribly long, but I really liked the Oregon Trail vibe.  The series follows Leah a girl who can sense gold during the California gold rush.  I really enjoyed the series.

Review: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was fantastic! This is one of the most fantastic books I’ve ever read. I think Trevor Noah is hilarious. His brand of comedy is funny to me, and I wish I had been able to get a hold of the audio version of this because the delivery of his one liners in this are so funny and perfectly placed. I can only imagine how funny it is to hear him narrate the story of his life. He covers some very heavy issues, but he diffuses each situation with comedy so you can pause, catch your breath, and move on. This was a hard read, but it is also important.  He has some great insights to race and how children see the world.  If only some of those things were actually true the world might be a better place.

This is one of those books, where you think “hey that guy is on TV, he has it all”, and then you read about the hardships and terrors he’s faced in his life. Trevor Noah did not have it all, in fact he had very little, and it’s a testament to his survival skills that he made it through his childhood in South Africa during apartheid. You read about some of the things he and this mother survived and it is amazing they both lived through it all. His very birth was a crime and the deck was stacked against him and his family for much of his life. Reading this was hard, but he laces his life story with his brand of comedy such that he takes something awful and he puts a joke in lighten tough situations. I got quite the education on the settling of South Africa, apartheid, and how gender and race are seen in another country.

This is a story about a defiant little boy who tested his mother’s patience as often as possible, a mother who loved him and did her best, a country that had very interesting laws about people of color, and survival. I highly recommend this book.


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