Top 10 Books of 2015

It is my literary duty to bring the top books read of this year to the forefront and highlight my favorites. Please note that my list is purely my opinion. It is not influenced by authors, other readers, other bloggers, or publishers that may have provided free or advance copies in exchange for an honest review. Please see the Top 5 Series of 2015 to accompany this list. For your convenience, click the book's title for my previously published reviews of the Top 10 Books of 2015.

Not Top but Certainly Notable:  Inside the O'Briens by Lisa Genova

10. The Third Wife by Lisa Jewell

9.   The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

8.   Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

7.   All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

6.   One Night by Eric Jerome Dickey

5.   Perfect Peace by Daniel Black

4.   Bright Side by Kim Holden

3.   Stand Your Ground by Victoria Christopher Murray

2.   Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

1.   The Turner House by Angela Flournoy

 See you next year, bookhearts!

 

2015 Popsugar Reading Challenge

2015 Popsugar Reading Challenge: Read all 50 themed books from list.

Challenge Almost Met: I read books 49 from list this year. (98% of goal)

This was the ULTIMATE reading challenge. Although I didn't finish the trilogy I started, I completed the rest of the list. It certainly broadened the genre of books I read this year. Are you looking for diversity too? Use my list below as a recommendation guide. Click the title for my previously published review.

1.   A book with more than 500 pages: Americanah

2.   A classic romance: Bright Side

3.   A book that became a movie: Paper Towns

4.   A book published this year: God Help the Child

5.   A book with a number in the title: Day Four & One Night

6.   A book written by someone under 30: Selected Letters of Langston Hughes

7.   A book with nonhuman characters: Daughter of Smoke & Bone

8.   A funny book: I Regret Nothing

9.   A book by a female author: Go Set a Watchman

10. A mystery or thriller: The Girl on the Train

11. A book with a one-word title: Wench

12. A book of short stories: Citizen: An American Lyric

13. A book set in a different country: Destiny's Captive

14. A nonfiction book: Between the World and Me

15. A popular author's first book: To Kill a Mockingbird

16. A book from an author I love but haven't read yet: Shopaholic to the Rescue

17. A book a friend recommended: Loving Day

18. A Pulitzer Prize-winning book: All the Light We Cannot See

19. A book based on a true story: Poisoning the Pecks of Grand Rapids

20. A book at the bottom of my to-read list: Life and Death: Twilight Re-imagined

21. A book my mom loves: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

22. A book that scares me: Between the World and Me

23. A book more than 100 years old: Book of Proverbs from the Bible

24. A book based entirely on its cover: Perfect Peace

25. A book I was supposed to read in school but didn't: To Kill a Mockingbird

26. A memoir: The Facts of My Life

27. A book I can finish in a day: Emma's Secret

28. A book with antonyms in the title: Naughtier Than Nice

29. A book set somewhere I've always wanted to visit: Second Life

30. A book that came out the year I was born: Ramona Quimby, Age 8

31. A book with bad reviews: Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

32. A trilogy: Incomplete - Read 1/3 of Daughter of Smoke & Bone Trilogy

33. A book from my childhood: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

34. A book with a love triangle: Carry On

35. A book set in the future: The Lost Girl

36. A book set in high school: All the Bright Places

37. A book with a color in the title: Grey: Fifty Shades of Grey as Told by Christian

38. A book that made me cry: Bright Side

39. A book with magic: Daughter of Smoke & Bone

40. A graphic novel: Archie The Married Life 2

41. A book by an author I've never read before: Stealing Marilyn Monroe

42. A book I own but have never read: Finding Emma

43. A book that takes place in my hometown: The Turner House 

44. A book originally written in a different language: The Truth and Other Lies

45. A book set during Christmas: Naughtier Than Nice

46. A book written by author with same initials: Selected Letters of Langston Hughes

47. A play: The Grownup

48. A banned book: To Kill a Mockingbird

49. A book based on or turned into a TV show: What I Know For Sure

50. A book I started but never finished: I Take You

~~~~

Download the printable 2016 Popsugar Reading Challenge.

View all of Literary Marie's Memes and Reading Challenges here. 2016 Bookish Challenges will be posted soon. I welcome all recommendations so let me know if you are a book blogger hosting a challenge or a participant of a cool reading challenge.

 

2015 Bookish Challenges

I participated in six (6) reading/bookish challenges in 2015. Click the title for my previously published review of each book.

2015 Goodreads Challenge: Read 75 books.

Challenge Met: I read 80 books this year. (107% of goal)

2015 Pages Challenge: Read 20,000+ pages.

Challenge Met: I read 24,301 pages this year and counting. (122% of goal)

Perpetual Kinsey Millhone Challenge: Read books in Kinsey Millhone alphabet series.

Challenge Met: I read book M this year. (100% of goal)

2015 Diversity on the Shelf: Read 19-24 books by or about a person of color.

Challenge Met: I read 31 books by or about a person of color this year. (129% of goal)

1.   Destiny's Captive by Beverly Jenkins 

2.   Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

3.   Hope to Die by James Patterson

4.   Balm by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

5.   Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

6.   Selected Letters of Langston Hughes by Langston Hughes

7.   Blanche on the Lam by Barbara Neely

8.   Blanche Among the Talented Tenth by Barbara Neely

9.   African American History Month Daily Devotions 2015 by Woodie W. White

10. For Your Love by Beverly Jenkins 

11. God Help the Child by Toni Morrison

12. The Ultimate Betrayal by Kimberla Lawson Roby

13. Bed & Breakfast Bedlam by Abby L. Vandiver

14. Coastal Cottage Calamity by Abby L. Vandiver

15. Maya Mound Mayhem by Abby L. Vandiver

16. Naughtier Than Nice by Eric Jerome Dickey

17. One Night by Eric Jerome Dickey

18. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

19. Perfect Peace by Daniel Black

20. Forty Acres by Dwayne Alexander Smith

21. What I Know For Sure by Oprah

22. The Turner House by Angela Flournoy

23. A Moment of Silence by Sister Souljah

24. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

25. Pleasantville by Attica Locke

26. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

27. Stand Your Ground by Victoria Christopher Murray

28. 32 Lessons for Living a Life You Love by K.D. Hemingway

29. Loving Day by Mat Johnson

30. Perfect Peace by Daniel Black

31. I'll Be Home For Christmas by Zane

2015 New Authors Challenge: Read 15 books by authors new to me.

Challenge Met: I read 35 books by authors new to me this year. (233% of goal)

1.   Bright Side by Kim Holden 

2.   Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

3.   Poisoning the Pecks of Grand Rapids by Tobin T. Buhk

4.   Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

5.   Stealing Marilyn Monroe by Sophie Warren

6.   African American History Month Daily Devotions 2015 by Woodie W. White

7.   Blanche Among the Talented Tenth by Barbara Neely

8.   Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

9.   The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins

10. Perfect Peace by Daniel Black

11. The Truth and Other Lies by Sascha Arango

12. Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

13. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

14. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

15. The Turner House by Angela Flournoy

16. The One That Got Away by Bethany Chase

17. I Take You by Eliza Kennedy

18. The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson

19. Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

20. Pretty Baby by Mary Kubica

21. Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf

22. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

23. The Facts of My Life by Charlotte Rae

24. Stand Your Ground by Victoria Christopher Murray

25. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

26. You by Caroline Kepnes

27. The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant

28. The Two-Family House* by Lynda Cohen Loigman

29. The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend by Katarina Bivald

30. Loving Day by Mat Johnson

31. The Daylight Marriage by Heidi Pitlor

32. Day Four by Sarah Lotz

33. Forty Acres by Dwayne Alexander Smith

34. Freedom's Child* by Jax Miller

35. Nine Minutes* by Beth Flynn

~~~~

View all of Literary Marie's Memes and Reading Challenges here. 2016 Bookish Challenges will be posted soon. I welcome all recommendations so let me know if you are a book blogger hosting a challenge or a participant of a cool reading challenge.

*Review to be posted in early 2016.

 

Top 5 Series of 2015

Series Sunday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along. Have you ever read a book and wasn't quite ready to leave the characters? Or have you read a book with a cliffhanger? This is why I love series. I get to revisit characters and follow them through fictional life. Below are the top 5 of books I've read this year that belong to a series.

Click the title/author for my previously published review of the books featured in my Top 5 Series of 2015.

5. Bed & Breakfast Bedlam by Abby L. Vandiver (Logan Dickerson #1)

4. For Your Love by Beverly Jenkins (Blessings #6)

3. Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1)

2. Destiny's Captive by Beverly Jenkins (Destiny #3)

1. A Moment of Silence by Sister Souljah (Midnight #3)

Top 10 First Lines of 2015

First Lines Friday is a bookish meme hosted by Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along. First lines are what grab readers. It sets the tone for the remainder of the book. What makes a good first line? Clever wording. A bold statement that makes me wonder who, what, when, where or why. A sentence(s) that prompts me to nod my head, say hmmm and read further. Below are the top 10 first lines from books I've read this year. Hopefully these spark your attention too.

Click the title/author for my previously published review of the books featured in my Top 10 First Lines of 2015.

10. "At dusk they pour from the sky. They blow across the ramparts, turn cartwheels over rooftops, flutter into the ravines between houses. Entire streets swirl with them, flashing white against the cobbles. Urgent message to the inhabitants of this town, they say. Depart immediately to open country." ~ All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

9. "Is today a good day to die?" ~ All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

8. "Every woman has one. That name you Google at two o'clock in the morning." ~ The One That Got Away by Bethany Chase

7. "For as long as I can remember, I have always had the feeling of not quite fitting in, not being the same as everyone else. I'm certain that is why I became a writer." ~ Summer Secrets by Jane Green

6. "Hoodwinked. Bamboozled. Betrayed. My rage was bottomless." ~ Naughtier Than Nice by Eric Jerome Dickey

5. "Son, last Sunday the host of a popular news show asked me what it meant to lose my body." ~ Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates

4. "She is closer to me than my shadow." ~ Moment of Silence by Sister Souljah

3. "I've read many more books than you. It doesn't matter how many you've read. I've read more. Believe me. I've had the time." ~ Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon

2. "This book is not for everyone. I have a specific audience in mind—people who care deeply about racial justice but who, for any number of reasons, do not appreciate the magnitude of the crisis faced by communities of color as a result of mass incarceration." ~ The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

1. "When you are alone and too tired even to turn on any of your devices, you let yourself linger in a past stacked among your pillows." ~ Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

 

I'll Be Home for Christmas

"Today is Christmas and it's time for forgiveness, it's time for sharing, and it's time for expressing the love we have for one another." ~ pg. 13

Merry Christmas, Bookhearts! Take a few minutes to yourself, cuddle up in your new pajamas/snuggie and read this eShort story by Zane. Don't worry—no erotica involved! Noelle Mitchell ran away with no notice at the young age of 15 years old. She shows up at the family home 13 years later to explain her absence and to see if holidays really can bring families together.

I'll Be Home for Christmas is a super eShort story at only 16 pages but perfect length for the bookheart who wants to get a quick read in during the holiday.

Title: I'll Be Home for Christmas
Author: Zane
Published: November 2012
Pages: 16
Edition: eBook
Challenge: Diversity on the Shelf
Rating: ♥♥♥♡

 

Day Four

"...the disappearance of The Beautiful Dreamer was already dubbed the biggest maritime disaster since the Titanic." ~ pg. 267

What do you get when you bring together a deranged wheel-chaired prophet, a prisoner, a witch's assistant, a condemned man, an angel of mercy, a keeper of secrets, a devil's handmaiden, a pair of suicide sisters and a wildcard blogger? I know what you're thinking: #distewmuch. And it was!

Four days into a cruise, the Beautiful Dreamer, stops dead in the water. No electricity, low food supply, no working toilets, no cellular signal or no way to call for help. EEK! Then a dead body is discovered in a cabin and causes everyone to panic. There is a murderer on board!

"After all, in this day and age, how does a ship that could comfortably house three thousand people simply disappear?" ~ pg. 272

I'm a cruiser so I was very hesitant to read this book, especially with this year's incidents on Carnival cruise line's fleet. But how discouraging could a book be? Well, I am glad to report Day Four did not taint my impressions of cruises. It did not frighten me enough to never book a cruise again. In fact, it made me miss the boat even more because the story was so ridiculous. Yes, a murder is likely to happen on board. But the characters were out of this world. I hate to say it but I would've rather read a novel about a cruise gone terribly wrong in a realistic way. The far-fetched happenings were distracting.

Day Four did not discourage me from reading other Sarah Lotz books; although, this was a blah first impression.

Title: Day Four
Author: Sarah Lotz
Published: May 2015
Pages: 308
Edition: eBook
Challenge: New Author
Rating: ♥♥♡