The best books you read in 2015?

Life After Life - Kate Atkinson
& sequel (ish) A God In Ruins

All Involved - Ryan Gatiss (probably my favourite, esp as so unexpected)

Fun Home by Alison Bechdel

Maus by Art Spiegelman

Harriet - Elizabeth Jenkins

The First Bad Man -Miranda July

The Children Act - Ian McEwan

A Place Called Winter - Patrick Gale

Pilgrim. Compelling and brilliant.

Great thread. I read loads in 2015 as usual, and the ones that really stuck were - in no particular order:

Do No Harm by Henry Marsh (read this twice)
The Narrow Road to the Deep North
H is for Hawk
A God in Ruins
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively

I liked A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler too, but as a previous poster said I don't think it's her best. Was disappointed by The Passing Guests as I'm a Sarah Waters fan and I had really been looking forward to it.

Also discovered David Sedaris - in some ways ideal for my train commute as they're short stories, but the stifled guffawing in a busy carriage is a bit embarrassing.

I've just read All the Light we Cannot See which is wonderful but not strictly 2015 for me.

I love a detective/police procedural for an escapism read and discovered Ann Cleeves this year, reading all the Vera books. I especially liked the one set in the remote part of East Yorkshire where I grew up! Am waiting for the new Robert Galbraith to come down in price next.

I read Lord of the Flies after remembering how much I enjoyed it at GCSE level. Rest assured it was as good as I remembered :)

The Man in the Wooden Hat trilogy by Jane Gardam
Station's Eleven
The Knowledge by Lewis Dartnell (non-fiction)
Atonement, Ian McEwen (DS A level set text, ungrateful tyke)

Also enjoyed lots of crime and thrillers, but none of the authors were completely new to me. Michael Connelly's The Crossing, the most recent outing for Harry Bosch, was as good as its predecessors. I've just read The Man who Watched Women which is by two Scandi screenwriters, veterans of The Bridge and The Killing, which was good once it got going, but that should fit into 2016.

Alone - by Cheryl Baily Clarke

Only got round to reading one book in 2015 (house move and new born).. but it was a great read.

Seems to be a new Author but it was funny, emotional & very well written!

Hard to put down

The story-line is on the website or amazon i think

www.cheylbailyclarke.com

Olivia Manning - The Balkan Trilogy. 900 pages. Took up most of my summer...

RF Delderfield - To Serve Them All My Days.

'Old fashioned' books in that they are longer and feel more like 'proper writing' than modern novels do to me. But not highbrow either. Easy reads that are down to earth, enjoyable and very well written. Don't know why modern writers don't write like this...

I'm on the waiting list for a couple of these at the library (All My Puny Sorrows and 54 Charing Cross Road) so I'm pleased these sound good.

My best reading experience of the year (slightly different to best book) was reading The Fall of the Stone City by Ismail Kadare while in Albania (although not in the actual Stone City itself). It's odd and mysterious, set as Germany enters Albania at the start of WWII, and it blew me away.

I also liked Romantic Outlaws: The Extraordinary Lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and Her Daughter Mary Shelley, a biography of both women. Extraordinary women, and an enjoyable read.

On a more frivolous note, the book I read several times for sheer frothy fun was I'll Have What She's Having: My Adventures in Celebrity Dieting by Rebecca Harrington. The author attempts the diets of famous people. Very funny.

My best read was All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews - unexpectedly funny, despite serious subject matter, and very moving. Has really stayed with me and I find myself thinking about the two sisters as being real people.

I also enjoyed The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (reminded me a bit of Angela Carter, though not such a good writer - but absorbing and entertaining), A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler (not her best, but another really absorbing read), All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (gripping WW2 thriller about a blind girl trapped in the St Malo siege).

Not a 2015 book, but The Sisters Brothers was my best read of the year. Really surprised me as the subject matter is not usually my thing. Just excellent.

My top books of 2015 (in no particular order):

1. The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
2. A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
3. Circling the Sun by Paula McLean
4. The Second Coming by John Niven
5. 1984 by George Orwell
6. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
7. Forensics by Val Mcdermid
8. Inferno by Keith Lowe
9. Do No Harm by George Marsh

My five star goodreads books this year were:
Room by Emma Donoghue
Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain
The Fault in our stars
The book thief
There were some more Diane chamberlain ones too, one of my favourite authors!

Galaxy thanks for the course details. I have had a quick look and there are several that look very interesting!

Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith
Drowned By Corn - Erika Hayasaki
Longbourn - Jo Baker
Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarty
The Burning Air - Erin Kelly
This House of Grief - Helen Garner
Astonish Me - Maggie Shipstead
The House We Grew Up In - Lisa Jewell
So You've Been Publicly Shamed - Jon Ronson

If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things by Jon McGregor

Wonderful book. Have you read Even The Dogs ? It has the same multi view point narrative construction. The subject matter is grim but beautifully written.

Quite a lot already mentioned but don't think these are

Chris Beckett - Mother of Eden
Susan Barker - The Incarnations ( the blurb describes it as a China's Midnight's Children, if you hated that book don't let it put you off)

Really enjoyed Time and Time Again by Ben Elton, a very clever idea, well executed.

2015 has been a disappointing year for me, bookwise. my fave crime authers have had some new books out but i'm waiting for them to come down in price a bit.
so, i have been trying new, cheaper, kindle authors and have been quite disappointed so far.

but then i decided to try Val Mcdermids 'tony hill' series and have loved them so far. i especially liked wire in the blood, i haven't hated a baddie so much in years and was not at all surprised to read afterwards that the character was based on jimmy saville!

Galaxy, thanks for the online course recommendation. I'm off to check it out!

The following books got a 5/5 from me on goodreads this year:

Americanah - Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche
Flight Behaviour - Barbara Kingsolver
IQ84 - Haruki Murakami
On Being Mortal - Atul Gawande
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara

I found a number of the Booker contenders really excellent reads, but this year has opened up a new vein - that of science fiction - which I am absolutely loving.

Gailforce I took courses with Oxford Continuing Education online. I would definitely recommend them for the extra resources provided. I started reading articles from the British Library which are very addictive. Also the Victorian Web draws together lots of articles. I studied Women Writers in Victorian Fiction and British Contemporary Fiction. The first was historically based and the second on literary analysis. Both were excellent.

I loved:
A Month In The Country - JL Carr (a forgotten classic promoted by Waterstones - timeless, gentle, beautiful, moving and packs a lot into a very short read)
The Silent Wife - ASA Harrison (totally unpredictable psychological thriller)
I Let You Go - Claire Macdonald (just a random I got for my kindle when on holiday based on good reviews and really enjoyed it)
A Death In The Family and Boyhood Island - Knausgaard (the first and second books in his epic series. Totally different and so engrossing and addictive. Need a bit of a break before embarking on the next few however!)

GalaxyMum Jane Eyre is one of my all time favourite books. I read it at least once a year!
I currently have All the light and Station Eleven lined up on the kindle. There's just not enough free time in the day to get through all the books I want to
I've imposed a policy of one kindle or nook book and then one actual book to try and clear the massive backlog of books I have in my house.

Galaxy what courses did you take? I am very interested in doing a literature course this year, it has been a long time since English A Level!!

My top reads this year:
Never Let Me Go - I read it three times and chose a course to study it. This was my top book and now a personal favourite.
Jane Eyre - studied for another course so grew my appreciation
All The Light We Cannot See
Station Eleven
The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August
All the Liane Moriarty novels
The novels by Elly Griffith's (I read each in a couple of days then on to next so they closed!)

I had a very enjoyable reading year and took two literature courses which broadened my reading appreciation.