The best books you read in 2015?

[southeastdweller]

So as another year is coming to an end, I've been thinking about all the books I've read in 2015. I absolutely loved these books:

1. Reasons to Stay Alive - Matt Haig
2. A God in Ruins - Kate Atkinson
3. 84 Charing Cross Road - Helene Hanff
4. A Life Like Other People's - Alan Bennett
5. The Secret History - Donna Tartt
6. And When Did You Last See Your Father? - Blake Morrison

What have been your favourite books this year?

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

10. In Plain Sight by Dan Davies 11. Black Diamonds by Catherine Bailey 12. The Etymologicon by Mark Forsyth

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 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).

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.

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...

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

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.

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 :)

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.

Pilgrim. Compelling and brilliant.

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