According to Goodreads I read 64 books in 2015. Here’s my Goodreads link.
It was a strange year of reading, where I read some stellar books in January and then again in December and a real mixed bag in between. If you told me that among my favorites would be an 800-plus Stephen King book that I started with two days left to go in the year, I would have laughed. But there I was, 3 a.m., finishing up what I’ll put at the top of my favorite books of the year (Trying to arrow it down to just five)
11/22/63 (read in December, published in 2011) I was into a big time travel kick. Prisoners of Azkaban has long been my favorite Harry Potter novel because of Hermione’s Time Turner as part of the plot. I did also read and enjoy “The Chronos File” series, and as a result of some other books I picked up (but didn’t love), Amazon recommended a Stephen King novel to me. Wha? Really? I hate horror, but well, okay. I got on the wait list at the library and a few short days before we left for our Colorado Christmas, I got it. I started it on the plane ride home. 2 days and more than 800 pages later, I finished it. I haven’t read a Stephen King novel since I picked up The Stand (in an airport, for a trip home during college). I can only read the non-horror King, and this was such an easy read, with a surprising love story alongside a fanatastical historical fiction around a time traveler who goes back to the the 50s/60s to stop Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating JFK. Much of the time I was more enamored with the Jodie, TX storyline than the following Lee around DFW, but both were compelling and a supremely easy read from an old hand. Great timing to finish this one, as the TV mini series will be coming out in February on Hulu.
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell (read in December, published in 2015) Just before picking up the above, I finished this story, which I found incredibly clever from my favorite writer of last year. Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl featured Cath, a young college student who spent her younger years writing fan fiction for a Harry Potter-type series. Carry On is, in my imagination, the fan fiction that Cath wrote (or perhaps Rowell intended it to be the actual book and not the fan fiction?). Rowell is another writer who I feel like just gets into a rhythm and writes with such a great flow that it’s tough to put down. I also love that she has made a career of being so versatile. I was hooked with the first YA novel i read by her and was delighted to find she also wrote adult novels. I read a lot of series and following several authors and many have a formula that they don’t stray from. This was so fun to read, a great magical break.
All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (read in January, published in 2014). I’m not one to jump on the prizewinner bandwagon. Often my taste is a little bit less cultured. After reading and hating The Goldfinch I wasn’t sure if I should pick up another Pulitzer Prize winner, but I did pick up ATLWCS and I’m so glad I did. Historical fiction that has a lot of history and a fantastical connection between a young soldier within the Hitler’s army and a young blind girl struggling to make it through the war alive. Another long one, engrossing and heartbreaking, even suspenseful at times. Sometimes the award winners are worth it.
We Are Not Ourselves by Matthew Thomas (read in February, published in 2014). This I picked up because I discovered I knew the author from college. It started somewhat slow for me, which was concerning because of its length (I’m more of a quick read kind of gal, which might be obvious based on the sheer quantity of books I go through every year). But it bloomed into an incredible story of one family’s struggle with early onset Alzheimer’s.
If You Only Knew. I mentioned earlier that I have a small number of authors that I always read, often because they are formulaic and I know what to expect. But reading something new from them can be like a burst of fresh air in a stale hot yoga room (seriously, Rose from Modo Yoga does this and it’s A-MA-ZING). IYOK is that from Kristan Higgins. It’s like a transition piece, actually. Part of the books is typical slapstick/girl-meets-boy stuff, and the other part is heartbreak/angry woman finds out husband is cheating sadness. It was just different enough that I have to say, having read all of her novels, this stood out to be my favorite by far.
Some favorite passages, as I feared I’d not have enough to write about a rom-com (though apparently I do). You’ll see KH is just a funny kinda gal. Not to get too stalky, but I’d like to have coffee with her some day. I think she’d be hilarious.
I clear my throat. “So my ex-husband and his perfect wife have invited me to a dinner party in the city, in the same apartment where I used to live with him. Want to come? Should be a fun little freak show.”
“Hell, yes.” Leo smiles, and his face goes from tragic empathy to wicked, and I’m filled with relief. Back on safe land. “When is it? Doesn’t matter. I’ll clear my schedule. I’d miss dinner at the White House for this.”
Also this:
“Classical piano?” His voice implies that an unstable woman such as myself has never heard classical piano. He’s almost right; aside from what I hear at weddings, I tend to veer towards things written in this century.
“As a matter of fact, yes,” I lie. “I love classical piano. Beethoven, and uh … those other guys.”
“He cocks an eyebrow. “Name two pieces.”
“Um … ‘Piano Man’ by Billy Joel.”
“Oh, God.”
“And ‘Tiny Dancer’ by Elton John,”
Anyhoo. My goals for 2016 … is not to read more books. If anything, my new commute has made it harder for me to read, believe it or not. The Firm shuttles me back and forth to work in a bus that has wi-fi and I find myself cramming in a few more minutes of work instead of reading like I did when I took the good ol’ city bus. Except today. Today I’m finishing this blog post.
So my goal is not to read more books, but to write a review of every (okay, most) books I read. I’m already behind on that one. (KH released another book that I finished New Year’s Day). But I’m gonna give it a shot.
Cheers.