It has been, for me anyway, another excellent reading year. According to my lists here, I got through 70 books in 2018. As always, these are the books I read in 2018, that doesn’t necessarily mean they were published in 2018 (though some were), they’re just the books I read last year, and here they are in the order I read them.
*Clicking on each cover, will take you to the relevant review on Speesh Reads. In the review, there will be a link to buy the book, should you wish. I’m just short the bottom line at the time of writing, I’ll update the links as I get the review done
Best is just so subjective, don’t you find? But that’s what most people think when you single one out from a whole year’s worth of reading. I’m going with choosing the book that has impressed me, for whatever reason(s), the most this last year.
The way I read my books also means that the top book, or two, aren’t necessarily books that were released in 2018, just books that I read this last year
Well yes, it’s got to be ‘books,’ as I find I really can’t get a cigarette paper in between the three that impressed me most in 2018.
So, in purely alphabetical order, they are:
Bloodaxe by C.R. May
Bloodaxe is the first volume in a trilogy which will tells the story of one of the Viking Age’s legendary kings. The second in the series, The Raven and the Cross is out now.
I hope by now you have, like me, read and enjoyed several of the esteemed Rev. Dr. May’s works. If you have, you’ll know that opening one is opening a Pandora’s box of cliche-free Historical Fiction, historically accurate, pleasure!
The Centurion’s Son by Adam Lofthouse
Completely out of the blue – for me perhaps more than for Adam Lofthouse – came this book. Debuts really don’t come much more accomplished and read-worthy than The Centurion’s Son. If he can get his ass in gear long enough, Historical Fiction greatness could surely only be a few more chapters away.
The Druid by Steven A. McKay
After moving on from his origins in Sherwood…Steven A. McKay took a new plunge into the Historical Fiction deep end and produced his best work yet, in my opinion and I am sure, yours’ too. It is a jaw-dropping exercise in appetite-whetting for a brand new, bestselling Historical Fiction series.
Well, all three Historical Fiction of the absolute best calibre. And, as you may have noticed too, all three from independently published writers. That speaks volumes (!) for the state of writing today and going into 2019 – it’s in great shape!
Philip Kerr has to get a special mention. His books have towered above just about anyone else you care to mention. Choosing a favourite is, as I’ve said before, like choosing which is your favourite cake child. As you see, I’ve come up to speed with his Bernie Gunther series, and there is only one left, which he seems to have finished before he died. His loss will be felt deep in many hearts, mine included.
Well, that’s me for 2018, I hope your reading year was equally enjoyable. I’ve got some excellent looking books lined up already for 2019 and I hope you have too. Thank you very much indeed for reading my musings and ramblings.
Just to restate: I’m not doing this for money, I don’t earn anything from the blog. The website costs me money. I sometimes get sent books by authors who have checked the blog out and think I might like their stuff. That’s fine by me. Though some do fall by the wayside when they find they have to send to Denmark…
You can also find Speesh Reads on:
speeshreads.com 
Reblogged this on STEVEN A. McKAY – Historical Fiction Author and commented:
Book of the Year for THE DRUID? Why thank you sir (even if the honour is shared)! Check out Speesh’s favourite reads of 2018.
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