Favorite Books of 2015

Success!

We did it!  Over 20 people contributed ideas for my monster book list, and now we have over 40 book suggestions to use for gift ideas or pleasure reading.  I’m so excited!  Thanks to everyone who offered titles.

And the winner is…

As promised, everyone who contributed a book suggestion entered a giveaway to win the book of his/her choice.  Randomnumbergenerator.com chose for me, and congrats to Sally James! 

The Monster List

I know what you really want… the books!  Here they are, somewhat organized, (it’s December 14th, people, and I still have presents to shop for…), including the reasons why readers loved them.

Adult

• All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr: WWII historical fiction: beautiful writing, compelling characters, interweaving story lines.  (a fave of multiple readers)
• The City, Dean Koontz
• The Children’s Crusade, Ann Packer: family drama, fascinating characters
• The Sound of Glass, Karen White: successfully weaves the stories of three women
• The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho: while it is the story of a shepherd, it has larger life lessons
• Fates and Furies, Lauren Groff: astonishing prose, true and believable insights into characters, cool structural trick
• The Husband’s Secret, Liane Moriarty
• What Alice Forgot, Liane Moriarty: kept interest from the start
• A Beautiful Truth, Colin McAdam: knock out story that haunts
• The Shoemaker’s Wife, Adriana Trigiani
• Five Days Left, Julie Lawson Timmer: unusual topic, well written, unexpected ending, easy read
• The Martian, Andy Weir: a witty and engaging narrator (a fave of multiple readers)
• The Round House, Louise Erdrich: great character building, especially 14 y.o. boy character
• Garden Spells (Waverly Family #1), First Frost (Waverly Family #2), Sarah Addison Allen: for readers who would enjoy a little bit of magic and an apple tree that throws its apples at people it doesn’t like
• The Rosie Project, Graeme Simsion: witty, clever, engaging
• Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See: Chinese culture
• Go Set a Watchman, Harper Lee
• Skipping Christmas, John Grisham: fun read during the holidays
• Glitter and Glue, Kelly Corrigan 

Adult Mystery/Suspense

• Keep Quiet, Lisa Scottolini
• The Guilty One, Lisa Ballantyne: great suspense, keeps reader guessing; Recommended for those who like dark suspense.
• Still Life, Louise Penny: The main character, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache is well drawn and so are the towns folk.  An 11 book series.
• Quicksand, Gigi Pandian: A treasure hunt mystery, like Indiana Jones, but with Jaya Jones as lead.

Adult Non-fiction

• Five Editors Tackle the 12 Fatal Flaws of Fiction Writing, C.S. Lakin, Linda S. Clare, Christy Distler, Robin Patchen, Rachel Starr Thomson: fun, instructional book on writing with lots of examples
• Concussion, Jeanne Marie Laskas: the riveting story of pathologist Bennet Omaula and his decision to stand up to the NFL and tell the world the truth about concussions.
• The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up, Marie Kondo

Adult Poetry/ Short Story

• Crosscurrent and Other Stories, Gerry Wilson: beautiful and profound stories
• Under the Keel, Michael Crummey: gorgeous narrative poetry

Adult Classics

• Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan
• Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison: gripping page turner with beautiful prose.  Masterful connections linking different parts of the story and startling parallels to modern events.
• The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Kid Lit: Middle Grade (9-12 year olds)

• All the Wrong Questions series, Lemony Snicket: smart mystery with word play
• All Four Stars, Tara Dairman: well written, good pacing “even for realistic fiction”
• Greenglass House, Kate Milford

Kid Lit: YA (12 and up)

• The Book Thief, Marcus Zusak: WWII historical fiction, the power of books
• The Kidney Hypothetical, Lisa Yee: fun take on high school life
• Dragonfly Dreams, Jennifer J. Chow
• Twerp, Mark Goldblatt (young middle school)
• The Proxy, Alex London
• The Finisher (Vega Jane #1),  The Keeper (#2), David Baldacci: fantasy/ adventure
• Let It Snow, John Green, Maureen Johnson, Lauren Myracle: three fun, light short stories that interconnect
• The Madman’s Daughter, Megan Shepherd: Gothic thriller with just enough gore and science
• Just Listen, Sarah Dessen: learning to speak up
• Every Day, David Levithan: haunting and intriguing

Whew, my Goodreads “to read” list just grew exponentially.

Happy reading and gifting everyone!  I’ll be taking a holiday break for the next two weeks, but the Word Nerd will be back in January with more helpful tips about reading!  Enjoy the holidays. 🙂

Do you see anything here that looks good?  Would you like to add something… we’ll take it!

Thanks for stopping by!

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