Year-End Lists

Christian Lorentzen: 10 Best Books of 2018, as published by New York Magazine’s Vulture

[see also 2017]

1. Motherhood
   Sheila Heti
2. The Largesse of the Sea Maiden
   Denis Johnson
3. Kudos
   Rachel Cusk
4. Cherry
   Nico Walker
5. A Handbook of Disappointed Fate
   Anne Boyer
6. A Terrible Country
   Keith Gessen
7. American Histories
   John Edgar Wideman
8. How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
   Alexander Chee
9. Inappropriation
   Lexi Freiman
10. The Earth Dies Streaming
    A.S. Hamrah

Publishers Weekly: 5 Best Poetry Books of 2018

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012 • 2011]

• Be With
  Forrest Gander
• The Carrying
  Ada Limón
• Moon

  Letters, Maps, Poems
  Jennifer S. Cheng
• Real Life

  An Installation
  Julie Carr
• Lo terciario
  Raquel Salas Rivera

NPR Music: 50 Best Albums of 2018

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2012 • 2011]

1. Dirty Computer
   Janelle Monáe
2. Be the Cowboy
   Mitski
3. Golden Hour
   Kacey Musgraves
4. Historian
   Lucy Dacus
5. Room 25
   Noname
6. Invasion of Privacy
   Cardi B
7. Honey
   Robyn
8. El Mal Querer
   Rosalía
9. Isolation
   Kali Uchis
10. Whack World
    Tierra Whack
11. Bark Your Head Off, Dog
    Hop Along
12. boygenius
    boygenius
13. Interstate Gospel
    Pistol Annies
14. Superorganism
    Superorganism
15. Dreamers
    Magos Herrera & Brooklyn Rider
16. Tell Me How You Really Feel
    Courtney Barnett
17. Double Negative
    Low
18. Heaven and Earth
    Kamasi Washington
19. By The Way, I Forgive You
    Brandi Carlile
20. Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa
    Jeremy Dutcher
21. Chris
    Christine and the Queens
22. Sweetener
    Ariana Grande
23. Rifles and Rosary Beads
    Mary Gauthier
24. soil
    serpentwithfeet
25. Con Todo El Mundo
    Khruangbin
26. Care for Me
    Saba
27. Bartók: Violin Concertos Nos. 1 & 2
    Christian Tetzlaff, The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra & Hannu Lintu
28. The Tree of Forgiveness
    John Prine
29. Acrylic
    Leikeli47
30. Universal Beings
    Makaya McCraven
31. Orquesta Akokán
    Orquesta Akokán
32. re:member
    Ólafur Arnalds
33. Siblings
    Colin Self
34. Vibras
    J Balvin
35. ASTROWORLD
    Travis Scott
36. FM!
    Vince Staples
37. Shostakovich: Symphonies Nos. 4 & 11 "The Year 1905"
    Boston Symphony Orchestra & Andris Nelsons
38. Origami Harvest
    Ambrose Akinmusire
39. Maghreb United
    Ammar 808
40. Friends. Lovers. Favorites
    The Hirs Collective
41. Future Me Hates Me
    The Beths
42. The Other Side of Air
    Myra Melford's Snowy Egret
43. Magus
    Thou
44. Blueprint
    Alice Bag
45. Johann Sebastian Bach
    Vikingur Ólafsson
46. Prisma Tropical
    Balún
47. Spa 700
    700 Bliss
48. DiCaprio 2
    JID
49. Lush
    Snail Mail
50. Everything Is Love
    The Carters

K. Austin Collins: 10 Best Movies of 2018, as published by Vanity Fair

[see also 2021 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019 • 2017 • 2016]

Honorable Mentions

• BlacKkKlansman
  Spike Lee
• A Bread Factory
  Patrick Wang
• Burning
  Lee Chang-dong
• The Day After
  Hong Sang-soo
• Happy as Lazzaro
  Alice Rohrwacher
• Let the Sunshine In
  Claire Denis
• Madeline’s Madeline
  Josephine Decker
• Mandy
  Panos Cosmatos
• Mom and Dad
  Brian Taylor
• Isle of Dogs
  Wes Anderson
• The Old Man & the Gun
  David Lowery
• The Rider
  Chloé Zhao
• Roma
  Alfonso Cuaron
• Shirkers
  Sandi Tan
• Shoplifters
  Hirokazu Kore-eda
• Support the Girls
  Andrew Bujalski
• A Star Is Born
  Bradley Cooper
• Thunder Road
  Jim Cummings
• Unfriended: Dark Web
  Stephen Susco
• Unsane
  Steven Soderbergh

1. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
2. Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?
   Travis Wilkerson
3. You Were Never Really Here
   Lynne Ramsay
4. If Beale Street Could Talk
   Barry Jenkins
5. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
   Joel & Ethan Coen
6. The Other Side of the Wind
   Orson Welles
7. Minding the Gap
   Bing Liu
8. Zama
   Lucrecia Martel
9. First Man
   Damien Chazelle
10. Sollers Point
    Matthew Porterfield

Complex: 30 Best TV Shows of 2018

[see also 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019]

1. Atlanta
2. Killing Eve
3. Barry
4. The Good Place
5. Succession
6. Billions
7. Counterpart
8. The End of the F***ing World
9. This Is Us
10. Glow
11. Evil Genius
12. The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
13. The Americans
14. Homecoming
15. Sharp Objects
16. Better Call Saul
17. The Haunting of Hill House
18. The Handmaid’s Tale
19. Maniac
20. Snowfall
21. High Maintenance
22. Brooklyn Nine-Nine
23. Ozark
24. The Deuce
25. Seven Seconds
26. Random Acts of Flyness
27. American Vandal
28. One Day at a Time
29. Insecure
30. Westworld

Ed Gonzalez: Top 10 Films of 2018, as posted to Twitter

[see also 2020 • 2019 • 2017 • 2012 • 2011]

10 Honorable Mentions

• The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
  Joel & Ethan Coen
• Before I Wake
  Mike Flanagan
• Claire’s Camera
  Hong Sang-soo
• Isle of Dogs
  Wes Anderson
• Leave No Trace
  Debra Granik
• The Other Side of the Wind
  Orson Welles
• Unfriended: Dark Web
  Stephen Susco
• Unsane
  Steven Soderbergh
• Western
  Valeska Grisebach
• The Wild Boys
  Bertrand Mandico

1. First Reformed
   Paul Schrader
2. BlacKkKlansman
   Spike Lee
3. Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?
   Travis Wilkerson
4. Bisbee '17
   Robert Greene
5. Monrovia, Indiana
   Frederick Wiseman
6. Paddington 2
   Paul King
7. Bodied
   Joseph Kahn
8. The Day After
   Hong Sang-soo
9. The Green Fog
   Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson
10. Let the Sunshine In
    Claire Denis

Miriam Bale: Best Movies of 2018, as posted to Twitter

[see also 2010s • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2013 • 2012]

1. Beychella [Beyoncé live at Coachella]
2. The Day After
   Hong Sang-soo
3. Black Panther
   Ryan Coogler
4. Leave No Trace
   Debra Granik
5. Support the Girls
   Andrew Bujalski
6. Minding the Gap
   Bing Liu
7. My First Film [live]
   Zia Anger
8. Happy as Lazzaro
   Alice Rohrwacher
9. Kinshasa Makambo
   Dieudo Hamadi
10. Sorry to Bother You
    Boots Riley

Entertainment Weekly: 20 Best Albums of 2018

[see also 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014 • 2011]

1. Golden Hour
   Kacey Musgraves
2. Invasion of Privacy
   Cardi B
3. Sweetener
   Ariana Grande
4. Be the Cowboy
   Mitski
5. Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
   Arctic Monkeys
6. Interstate Gospel
   Pistol Annies
7. Black Panther The Album Music From And Inspired By
   Kendrick Lamar, The Weeknd, SZA
8. Desperate Man
   Eric Church
9. Dirty Computer
   Janelle Monáe
10. Camila
    Camila Cabello
11. By The Way, I Forgive You
    Brandi Carlile
12. Hell-On
    Neko Case
13. Lush
    Snail Mail
14. Daytona
    Pusha T
15. The Tree
    Lori McKenna
16. A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships
    The 1975
17. Isolation
    Kali Uchis
18. Negro Swan
    Blood Orange
19. Look Now
    Elvis Costello & The Imposters
20. ASTROWORLD
    Travis Scott

Darren Franich: Best TV Shows of 2018, as published by Entertainment Weekly

[see also 2022 • 2020 • 2010s • 2019]

1. Atlanta
2. The Good Fight
3. Adventure Time
4. Lodge 49
5. Homecoming
6. Barry
7. Corporate
8. Dear White People
9. The Deuce
10. Superstore

Powell's Books: Best Nonfiction of 2018

[see also Best Nonfiction of 2023 • Best Fiction of 2023 • Best Nonfiction of 2022 • Best Fiction of 2022 • The 14 Best Nonfiction Books of 2021 • The 18 Best Novels of 2021 • Best Fiction of 2020 • Best Nonfiction of 2020 • Best Fiction of 2019 • Best Nonfiction of 2019 • Best Fiction of 2018 • Best Nonfiction of 2017 • Best Fiction of 2017 • Best Fiction of 2016 • Best Nonfiction of 2016 • Best Nonfiction Books of 2015 • Best Fiction Books of 2015 • Best Fiction of 2014 • Best Nonfiction of 2014]

• And Now We Have Everything

  On Motherhood Before I Was Ready
  Meaghan O'Connell
• Dead Girls

  Essays on Surviving an American Obsession
  Alice Bolin
• Fear

  Trump in the White House
  Bob Woodward
• Give People Money

  How a Universal Basic Income Would End Poverty, Revolutionize Work, and Remake the World
  Annie Lowrey
• Heavy

  An American Memoir
  Kiese Laymon
• Heart Berries
  Terese Marie Mailhot
• How to Change Your Mind

  What the New Science of Psychedelics Teaches Us About Consciousness, Dying, Addiction, Depression, and Transcendence
  Michael Pollan
• I’ll Be Gone in the Dark

  One Woman’s Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer
  Michelle McNamara
• Impossible Owls
  Brian Phillips
• I Wrote This Book Because I Love You
  Tim Kreider
• The Line Becomes a River

  Dispatches from the Border
  Francisco Cantú
• On Desperate Ground

  The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War’s Greatest Battle
  Hampton Sides
• Playing Changes

  Jazz for the New Century
  Nate Chinen
• Priestdaddy
  Patricia Lockwood
• Rising Out of Hatred

  The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist
  Eli Saslow
• So You Want to Talk About Race
  Ijeoma Oluo
• The Third Reich

  A History of Nazi Germany
  Thomas Childers
• Vanishing Twins

  A Marriage
  Leah Dieterich
• What Is Real?

  The Unfinished Quest for the Meaning of Quantum Physics
  Adam Becker