Since I read primarily fiction, I feel that this category is similar to picking my favourite book of the year. Which is really hard for me and is something I’ve pretty much avoided doing in previous years’ recaps.
When listing the books I’ve read and loved in 2018, I came up with ten so a top ten is an easy place to start. Let’s countdown.
10. Rules of Civility – Amor Towles (Penguin Books, 2011)
9. A Town Like Alice – Nevil Shute (Vintage International, 2010)
8. Brother – David Chariandy (McClelland & Stewart, 2017)
7. A Suitable Boy – Vikram Seth (Little Brown & Company, 1994)
6. Exit West – Mohsin Hamid (Riverhead Books, 2017)
5. Indian Horse – Richard Wagamese (Douglas & McIntyre, 2012)
4. Our Animal Hearts – Dania Tomlinson (Anchor Books Canada, 2018)
3. The Boat People – Sharon Bala (McClelland & Stewart, 2018)
2. Washington Black –Esi Edugyan (Patrick Crean Editions, 2018)
And the Winner:
Warlight – Michael Ondaatje (McClelland & Stewart, 2018)
This took some contemplation. As previously mentioned, Ondaatje is my favourite writer. So was I picking Warlight simply because I like Ondaatje or does Warlight deserve this distinguished award on its own? There are some strong contenders in this top ten and each is a novel I would widely recommend. My conclusion is…it’s both. I love Ondaatje’s work but this stands up with other novels from him that I love.
Karissa Reads Books 
You’ve done some wide-ranging reading this year! I’ve only read a couple of these – Rules of Civility and Brother – both of which I enjoyed (and Washington Black, abandoned, as I’ve already confessed). Okay, I suppose I’ll just have to add Ondaatje to my list – your brainwashing has worked! 😉
I hope you like him! In my experience, readers either love his style or hate him. He’s also a poet and so he has a fairly poetic fiction style.