Best Read Books 2015

Steph and Jana have asked us to share our favourite books that we read in 2015.  Looking at my goodreads account, I compiled an initial list.  There were 22 books on that list for "best read".  I didn't think I could keep you folks around long enough for a list of 22 books, so difficult cuts needed to be made.

Then, I read another book that was fantabulous.  Now, I needed to choose from 23 books.

Maybe if I group them by genre...........The following (historical fiction, mystery/crime/thrillers, contemporary fiction, and YA), plus non-fiction too.  I didn't have any superior stand-outs this year that were a "best read", so that genre got skipped.  Hopefully next year...

Seriously.  The title of this post should be I Loved So Many Books This Year I Just Can't Choose.

My Best Read Historical Fiction of 2015 included two books that were set during WWII.  If you read this genre, you are aware that this is a familiar setting.  Both The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (set in France during the German occupation) and Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys (following a Lithuanian family sent to Serbia) examined different lives, experiences, and historical significance than other books I've previously read from this time period.  Both were heart-breaking and beautiful.  As was my third choice, Under a Dark Summer Sky by Vanessa Lafaye (also released as Summertime).  Set in the Florida Keys in the 1930s, this is a story about community, family, race, relationships, and more all set on the backdrop of an impending natural disaster.

(Because I can't control myself) Honorable mentions:  The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom, Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt (which is actually a memoir, so not fiction, but hey...it works with this group), All That I Am by Anna Funder

My Best Read Mystery/Crime of 2015 consists of stories about a school shooting, an abduction, Stockholm Syndrome, and the dangerous, violent world of Mexican drug cartels.  None were necessarily fast-paced thrillers (hence, why I didn't use that description in the genre), but all were gripping, thought-provoking reads:  Stolen by Lucy Christopher, Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (my first book ever read by this uber-popular author), and The Power of the Dog by Don Winslow.

Honorable mentions:  Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto, The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

My Best Read Contemporary Fiction of 2015 all made me laugh, cry, and experience a variety of emotions.  I love books that make me feel and these did just that in enjoyable reads.  After starting, I did not want to put these books down:  The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin (also released as The Collected Works of A.J. Fikry), I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak (also released as The Messenger), Still Alice by Lisa Genova.

Honorable mentions:  Did You Ever Have a Family by Bill Clegg, Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng, The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper

 

My Best Read YA books of 2015 were all very different books from each other...but all gave me lots of feels...all had lessons to learn packed in their pages...all dealt with meaningful relationships:  The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta, Side Effects May Vary by Julie Murphy, and The Sea of Tranquility by Katja Millay.

Honorable mentions:  Everybody Sees the Ants by A.S. King, Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta, My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Varga

I know.  I should have cut and culled more.  But...but...but...I had a really great year of reading.  In 2014, I read 66 books.  I set the goal for 75 books in 2015.  I smashed that.  I read 90 books!!

I'm actually feeling guilty about the ones that did get culled and left off of this post, so I should stop now. 

Are you going to read any of these books?  Or have you read them already??