More Best Lists Worth Your Time: BookRiot and Book Marks

Today I have 2 more best lists you can use confidently with a wide range of readers all year long.

First is the more traditional of the two-- BookRiot's Best Books 2018. This list contains books that you have seen other places but there are also some great hidden gems. And the list is broken up into genres if you want/need that [although, no horror :( ]. Overall it is a good one because the fact that it has many of the books you have seen elsewhere gives you more confidence to try to suggest the ones you are less familiar with. If the list was all wacky things that you had never heard, no one would trust it. I like this approach.

I also wanted to remind you of another "Best" list Book Riot has: their Best Books I Read in [fill in the month].  Every month Rioters [what they call contributors to their site] submit the best book they read in that month, but it doesn't matter when it came out. I love this list because it is a great one to use to suggest books to readers-- the books aren't all brand new so there is a better chance they will be on the shelf, the list is made by a wide variety of readers so the list is varied and inclusive by default, and the annotations are written in a colloquial style that focuses on the feel of the book. You can also use any of the lists at any time. Here is a link to pull them all up at any time.

Second, is a list that you can also use throughout the year-- Book Marks: The Book Review Aggregator's Best Books of 2018 via Lit Hub. It is what it sounds like, they take reviews from major sources and then assign a rating of RAVE, POSITIVE, MIXED, or PAN. So this is the list of the best reviewed books of the year, but they do this all of the time, updating the site every day.

Click here to see the main site which has rotating features but generally always has easy access to the newest releases, genre titles, and even a category of current best reviewed books. Basically it's like Rotten Tomatoes, but for books. And I am happy to see they have included my reviews of horror in Booklist and even quote me by name.  Here is an example.

Again, a reminder to my readers as I wrap this post up. I do not try to post every best list here on the blog, but I do make it a priority to point out the ones I like to use as a resource all year long. Best lists are a treasure trove of information and suggestions for us to use every day, not just during the waning days of each year. I hope these posts have been reminding you of that without hounding you.

Now get out there and place a "Best" book in a reader's hand. Just remember, it doesn't have to have been deemed best this month or year. Any "Best" destination can be a valuable suggestion resource.