What were some of your favorite books of 2015?
If you have to pick just 5, what would they be?
I'm hoping to take advantage of Kindle end of year deals and add a few books to my reading list.
What were some of your favorite books of 2015?
If you have to pick just 5, what would they be?
I'm hoping to take advantage of Kindle end of year deals and add a few books to my reading list.
pomegranate / 3921 posts
These aren't all 2015 books, but here are a couple I really enjoyed this year:
In the Unlikely Event by Judy Blume
So Much a Part of You by Polly Dugan
I didn't read a ton this year, but those two really stand out.
coconut / 8234 posts
@regberadaisy: I can't pick just 5! (I picked 6) And I'm a book dork so, here goes:
My favorite book of the year is:
The Small Backs of Children by Lidia Yuknavitch--but this is not for everyone. It's not in the usual novel format, it's kind of brutal and triggering, but it was the most beautiful brutal book I've read and at the core it is about how art can save people. More about it: basically a war photographer takes a picture of a girl who survives a blast to her house. The girl's family is killed. The photographer wins a Pulitzer but her friend (I think a poet) becomes obsessed with the girl in the photo and wants to go find her and save her.
The Golem & the Jinni by Helene Wecker--this one was a surprise to me. About a jinni (genie) and a golem (this is a creature made of clay--I'm not giving anything away writing this)--it's magical and real. Set in NY in 1899. I loved the descriptions of old Manhattan.
None of the Above by I.W. Gregorio--YA book about a teenage girl who finds out she is intersex. Set in Utica, NY (which I loved because I used to live there) and I learned so much about what it means to be intersex.
Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng--Beautifully written book about a mixed-race family in Ohio in the 70s. The dad is Chinese American and the mom is white (don't remember her family background) American. One of their three children dies and it's about the family all dealing with this death.
Bright Lines by Tanwi Nandini Islam--about a Bangladeshi family living in Brooklyn. The family includes mom, dad, daughter, and the adopted daughter (niece of the mother, her parents were killed in Bangladesh when she was young). It's sort of a coming of age story of the two girls over a summer. I didn't like the ending but overall the book was awesome and great to see the immigrant experience in NYC. If I didn't live in Bk, I'd definitely want to visit.
Boy, Snow, Bird by Helen Oyeyemi--a weird reenvisioning of Snow White that has to do with Blackness, and African Americans who pass as white. Beautiful and moving but could be a bit weird for people. This was my second favorite book of the year. I like weird.
nectarine / 2132 posts
@mrsjazz: just finished None of the Above because of your suggestion here. SO good!
Bumping for more suggestions!
persimmon / 1273 posts
Mosquitoland by David Arnold - YA sorta in the same vein as John Green. Overly wise teens, but I loved it.
All the Light We Cannot See - Same reasons as everyone.
The Martian - some of the science stuff was tough for me to get through, but a super fun read.
and then...I don't know. A few others I read recently and liked but wouldn't necessarily call my top five: The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson; Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline (I didn't know this was a thing! So it was interesting to read about); The Invention of Wings (this was an audible audiobook for me; really enjoyed it); Being Mortal by Atul Gawande (the second half, mostly); Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella; Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari.
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21616 posts
@gilmoregirl: I second the Invention of Wings - very good book
I didn't get to read very many books in 2015 (do textbooks count ), so this is a limited list:
1. The Invention of Wings
2. The Book Thief - I love novels set in the WWII era, and this was an interesting twist. Really enjoyed it.
3. Brain on Fire: my month of madness - autobiography about a perceived mental illness, and the quest for a diagnosis. Especially as an aspiring nurse - this was so intriguing to me.
4. The Spirit catches you and you fall down - actually a book I had to read for my medical ethics class and I'm glad I did. I got through it very quickly because it was so interesting. It's about a Hmong refugee family and the clash of cultures (medically and socially) when their daughter develops epilepsy.
5. All the light we cannot see - admittedly I did not finish this book. I was on the waitlist for it the entire summer, and didn't get it until school started in August. I got about a quarter of the way through before I had to return it to the library. I want to get it again and finish it.
pomegranate / 3604 posts
books i gave 5 stars to in 2015:
Everything I Never Told You
Lies We Tell Ourselves
A Darker Shade of Magic
Books I gave 4 stars to:
The Lie Tree
Big Little Lies
Astor Place Vintage
The Young Elites
Red Rising
Pointe
Heir of Fire
City of Savages
This Shattered World
Station Eleven
Sabriel, Lirael & Abhorsen (first three of the Abhorsen Series)
Red Queen
All the Light We Cannot See
My Heart & Other Black Holes
As You Wish: Inconceivable Tales from the Making of Princess Bride
The Husband's Secret
Orphan Train
Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore
Undertow
End of Days
How to Be a Good Wife
Cruel Beauty
The Invasion of the Tearling
The Winner's Crime
A Court of Thorn & Roses
Uprooted
Nine Days
The 5th Wave
Orbiting Jupiter
George (this is a really young book though)
The Golden Specific & The Glass Sentence (Mapmakers Trilogy 1&2)
Six of Crows
pomegranate / 3212 posts
I'll second Boy, Snow, Bird! Fantastic.
I enjoyed Me Before You and also Station Eleven as well
persimmon / 1436 posts
Station Eleven and Girl on a Train were two of my favorites last year.
coconut / 8234 posts
@jmarionsmith: Glad you liked it!
I fourth Station Eleven! Would have been on my list but I read it in 2014.
pear / 1547 posts
Following! I lost my avid reading habit when LO was born...15 mo ago, whoops. New Years resolution 1 book per month!
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