As the year is about to end, we reached out to some bookstagrammers and asked them to pick their top 5 reads of the year. In the first of the series, Aayushi Jain, a popular blogger from Delhi, picks her favorite reads. You may read more articles from this series here
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What a wonderful reading year 2018 has been. I’m still reading my last novel of the year-Anna Karenina. I lost count of the number of books I’ve read by the end of April so I went with the flow and kept reading. But to pick Top 5 reads among them was a tedious task. Anyway, here I am with the best 5 books I read in 2018. Please note that these are not ranked but random.
- The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
This book is not only in my Top 5 reads of 2018 but also in my Top 5 favorite Classics too. The reason being the author’s harsh symbolism on the 17th century American Puritan Society. In the story, a woman was subjected to public trials for committing the sin of adultery while no one was asking for the person who was also equally responsible with her in this.
- Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
This book too is in my Top 5 favorite Classics and whilst its a novella it talks vastly about the aftermaths of World War 1, mainly people suffering from schizophrenia. Basically, The Hulk is the modern adaptation of this book and you’ll understand when you’ll read it.
- The English Patient by Michael Ondatje
I had a hard time to come out of the disturbance this book had caused on me during and after reading it. When this book won Golden Man Booker Award, I prepared myself to finally read this book and it’s few of those books that stay with you. I still feel disturbed while writing this blog in here so I’ll ask you toi read my review directly.
- A Place For Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza
This is another book which I am sure will stay with me forever. This is the first book which made me teary eyed and I can’t thank enough the publishers for sending this my way. This is a story of a Muslim family living in foreign trying to manage their lives with/without each other. The characterization is so brilliant that you’ll feel like you’re living with them.
- Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Muarakami
This was my first Murakami and though I have two Murakamis in my Top 10, I chose this because if it wasn’t this book, I’d have never read Killing Commendatore. I fell in love with every character of this book. EVERY! I love magic realism and had no idea about Murakami’s existence till the beginning of this year and here I’m with Kafka on the Shore in my Top 5!
Thanks to the team of The Bookoholics for asking me to put forth my Top 5 reads. I had a great time contemplating them and you can find full reviews of these books on my Instagram.
