Introducing NYPL's Best Books of 2018
The New York Public Library is thrilled to announce our Best Books of 2018, a curated selection of recommended reads for kids, teens, and adults, selected by our expert librarians!
These books encompass an array of genre and feature compelling characters, diverse stories, and inspiring ideas. Whether you’re in search of picture books or YA novels, page-turners or love stories, you’re sure to find a title that will delight or surprise you.
Explore the top 10 titles for kids, teens, and adults below, or explore the full lists for kids, teens, and adults. Happy reading!
Best Books for Kids: Top 10
This list is a century-old tradition in which the New York Public Library’s librarians and other book experts select 100 noteworthy children's titles from several categories, ranging from picture books to middle-grade fiction, graphic novels, folklore & fairy tales, poetry, and nonfiction. The committee read every children's book, published in the United States in 2018, that they could get their hands on.
Below are their top 10 showstopper favorites, but be sure to check out the whole list at nypl.org/kids2018. And let us know what you think in the comments below, or on social media with the hashtag #BestBooks!
Be Prepared by Vera Brosgol
Stella Diaz Has Something to Say by Angela Dominguez
Water Land: Land and Water Forms Around the World by Christy Hale
Jabberwalking by Juan Felipe Herrera
The Funeral by Matt James
The Parker Inheritance by Varian Johnson
Night Job by Karen Hesse, art by G. Brian Karas
Inkling by Kenneth Oppel, art by Sydney Smith
Old Misery by James Sage, art by Russell Ayto
The Girl Who Drew Butterflies: How Maria Merian's Art Changed Science by Joyce Sidman
Check out the whole list at nypl.org/kids2018.
Best Books for Teens: Top 10
A committee of 20 dedicated library staff members read (and read and read) all the young-adult books published in 2018 that we could get our hands on. Then we debated, voted, and came up with our 50 favorite books of the year—fiction, nonfiction, graphic novels, comic books, fantasy, history, romance, sports, and more.
Check out the full list at nypl.org/teens2018. And let us know what you think in the comments below, or on social media with the hashtag #BestBooks.
The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Fatal Throne by M.T. Anderson, et. al.
Heretics Anonymous by Katie Henry
Darius the Great Is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
Dear Rachel Maddow by Adrienne Kisner
X-Men: Grand Design by Ed Piskor
Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman
Check, Please! #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu
Pride by Ibi Zoboi
Check out the whole list at nypl.org/teens2018.
Best Books for Adults: Top 10
We asked our staff to send us titles that were published between January and December 2018, and that they felt deserve a place on best-of-the-year list. The results were as broad and diverse as our collections.
Without further ado, NYPL's top 10 books of 2018 are below, and the full list of our top 100 books is available at nypl.org/adults2018.
If They Come for Us: Poems by Fatimah Asghar
French Exit by Patrick deWitt
Woman World by Aminder Dhaliwal
Barracoon: The Story of the Last ‘Black Cargo’ by Zora Neale Hurston
Heart Berries by Terese Marie Mailhot
I'll Be Gone In the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
Circe by Madeline Miller
A State of Freedom by Neel Mukherjee
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
There There by Tommy Orange
Check out the whole list at nypl.org/adults2018.
About the Best Books of 2018
Explore the Best Books lists for kids, teens, and adults, or explore the Best Books lists from previous years.
Check out the library staff members behind the lists.
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Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.
Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations.