It’s that time of year again, so here are my favorite books from 2018. (Some were published in late 2017 but I read them this year.)

Of course, this list is totally random because there are thousands of books that I didn’t read. And I still have a huge TBR list of 2018 books, some of which would probably be included here if I had gotten around to reading them. But I can recommend these books for a good read or a fine Christmas gift.

(And yes, you might notice a couple books by male authors. I do manage to squeeze in books by men occasionally, and the Urrea and Womersley books were great reads. You should also read Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World — and Why Things Are Better Than You Think by Hans Rosling, published by Flatiron Books.)