【Eric Falk】

Good thing summer vacation is Eric Falkhere because your reading list is about to get a whole lot longer.

On Tuesday, Amazon Books announced its selections for the Best Books of the Year, So Far. In the feature, Amazon Books editors pulled out some of their favorite breakout titles published in 2018, and offered them as reading recommendations for this summer.

SEE ALSO: 16 book recommendations for when you have absolutely no clue what you want to read

The selections are a mix of fiction and nonfiction, introspective memoirs and page-turning mysteries, thoughtful looks at our social landscape and inspired fantasy adventures through new worlds.

But no matter what, these are the books Amazon Books hopes won't go under the radar this 2018.

"Many of our editorial picks are also customer favorites and bestsellers, but we strive to spotlight the best books you might not otherwise hear about, too.”

And while Amazon does use Amazon data for some recommendations (including recommendations in Amazon Books' IRL stores), for the list of Best Books of the Year So Far, all choices picks were made from Amazon Books' editorial team.

"For the Best Books of the Year (So Far), the team looks back over our favorite books from the past six months to give our customers a list of must-reads heading into summer," Amazon Books told Mashable. "The books are purely editorial selections, there’s no algorithm involved, and the ones that make the final Best of the Year (So Far) cut are the books we couldn’t forget."

So, if you are looking for a bit of summer reading, here are the best books of 2018 so far, according to Amazon and what Amazon Books says about each title.

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Educated: A Memoir

Tara Westover

"Tara Westover didn't see the inside of a classroom until she was seventeen, but it was an experience that dramatically changed the trajectory of her life. This stirring memoir chronicles how she survived her survivalist upbringing, eventually earning a PhD from Cambridge University. It’s a rousing reminder that knowledge is, indeed, power." 

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The Great Alone

Kristin Hannah

"In this pressure cooker of a page-turner, a damaged Vietnam vet moves his family to the wilds of Alaska. Initially it's a welcome change, but as winter approaches, and his mental state deteriorates, his wife and daughter find themselves in an increasingly precarious position. Like her mega-bestselling The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah’s The Great Alonehighlights the heroics of everyday people, especially women."

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The Feather Thief

Kirk Wallace Johnson

"Clever, informative, and sometimes endearingly bumbling, this mix of natural history and crime opens up new worlds. Readers will never look at an old stuffed bird or an elaborately tied fishing fly the same way again."

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The Woman in the Window

A.J. Finn

"The Woman in the Windowis a seductive and unpredictable novel about an agoraphobic woman with a tricky past who witnesses a murder. Or does she? With twists that will have you gasping out loud, this Hitchcockian noir thriller is the book to read if you’ve been waiting (too long) for the next Gone Girl."

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Girls Burn Brighter

Shobha Rao

"This emotionally ungentle novel of two very different young women in modern-day India will prompt both outrage and hope as the girls separately traverse perilous paths to find each other again."

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The Line Becomes A River: Dispatches from the Border

Francisco Cantú

"The son of a park ranger, Francisco Cantú grew up in the southwest. When he joined the Border Patrol, he became witness to the stark realities of illegal immigration, and the obligations of his job weighed heavy against his sense of humanity. With its direct, stoic prose, The Line Becomes a Riveris a weighty and timely document on one of our most divisive arguments."

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The Electric Woman: A Memoir

Tessa Fontaine

"Many people say they’d like to join the circus, not many people actually do. Having difficulty coming to terms with her mother’s imminent passing, Tessa Fontaine joined The World of Wonders, the last touring sideshow in America. The Electric Womanis a fascinating behind-the-scenes peek at carnival life, and an ode to unconditional love." 

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Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha)

Tomi Adeyemi

"Here is a fresh take on young adult fantasy. With West African-inspired characters, magic, and setting, Children of Blood and Boneis non-stop action, enriched with themes that resonate in today’s social and political landscape: injustice, discrimination, and a struggle for change. Author Tomi Adeyemi’s debut novel is the start of what promises to be an epic, addictive new series."

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The Immportalists

Chloe Benjamin

"In this ambitious and deeply moving novel, Chloe Benjamin imagines how the lives of four siblings might be warped by a fortuneteller’s prediction of the dates of their deaths. While recounting their stories, Benjamin poses intriguing questions about the value of longevity and whether we are victims, or perpetrators, of our own fates."

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There There

Tommy Orange

"What does it really mean to be an Indian/Native American/American Indian/Native? Orange's vivid debut novel allows a unique cast of characters—ranging from teenagers to elders living in Oakland, California—to pull this question apart for themselves as they live within an urban ecosystem."

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