I finally made time to make my very own best-of-2015 list! Since I read 185 books last year and I have too many favorites, I decided to make things a little easier and pick a favorite for each month. Although even that turned out to be quite tricky (especially for april and june), so I’m going to make some honorable mentions as well. This post below is for my favorite reads during the first six months. Here we go!
January 2015:
- a total of 8 books read
- 3 books with a 4 or 4,5 star rating
- 1 book with a 5 star rating
- WINNER: The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson
- HONORABLE MENTIONS: I Am Legend by Richard Matheson //Â Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare
February 2015:
- a total of 9Â books read
- 4Â books with a 4 or 4,5 star rating
- 2 books with a 5 star rating
- WINNER: Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
- HONORABLE MENTIONS: Beautiful Creatures by Kami Garcia //Â The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman
March 2015:
- a total of 11 books read
- 4Â books with a 4 or 4,5 star rating
- 1Â book with a 5 star rating
- WINNER: The Shock Of The Fall by Nathan Filer
- HONORABLE MENTIONS: Crown Of Midnight by Sarah J. Maas //Â Siege And Storm by Leigh Bardugo
April 2015:
- a total of 17Â books read
- 9Â books with a 4 or 4,5 star rating
- 3Â books with a 5 star rating
- WINNER: The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
- HONORABLE MENTIONS: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie // Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard // The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult // Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell // I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson
May 2015:
- a total of 18Â books read
- 6Â books with a 4 or 4,5 star rating
- 1Â book with a 5 star rating.
- WINNER: Angelfall by Susan Ee
- HONORABLE MENTIONS: Unwind by Neal Shusterman // Tease by Amanda Maciel // Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
June 2015:
- a total of 17Â books read
- 5Â books with a 4 or 4,5 star rating
- 2Â books with a 5 star rating.
- WINNERS: A Court Of Thorns And Roses by Sarah J. Maas //Â Cinder by Marissa Meyer
- HONORABLE MENTIONS: The Diviners by Libba Bray // What Lies Within by James Morris
Have you read any of these? Did you enjoy them as much as I did? What were your favorite 2015 reads? Feel free to comment. đŸ™‚
Look out for the second installment of Best Of 2015 for my favorite books I read during the second half of 2015!Â
Hooray! I’ve finally found someone who enjoyed The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared as much as I did. It was a book club read back when I lived in Spain and all the other club members were really “meh” about it. I thought it was great and I laughed myself silly with the bit about the bibles!
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Good to hear you enjoyed it too! I’ve also had a lot of people complaining about how they didn’t really like it… But I found the humor and ‘fantastical’ historical fiction perfect and remember laughing out loud quite a bit while I was reading it. đŸ˜€
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Just finished reading The Hundred Year Old Man … Loved it and reviewed on my blog.
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Good to hear you enjoyed it as well!
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I was surprised to enjoy the Shock of the Fall as much as I did. It was the book club choice and the discovery it was written in the voice of a young adult with mental illness didnt fill me with great enthusiasm. but it ended up being one of my best books of the year
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I know The Shock Of The Fall is not to everyone’s taste, but I personally really enjoyed it and I thought the prose was wonderful.
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There are quite a few books on here that I still need to read, like The Shock of the Fall and Angelfall! I really want to read them đŸ˜€
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I’m sure you will love Angelfall! The main characters are awesome. đŸ˜€ And The Shock Of The Fall is a more complicated one; I personally loved it, but I’ve heard others who didn’t enjoy it that much. I hope you do though! đŸ™‚
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I love your format – and am amazed at the number of books you read! I have read a number of your favourites and thoroughly endorse ‘The Shock of the Fall’, ‘Angelfall’, ‘The Red Queen’ and ‘Beautiful Creatures’. However I found ‘The Hundred Year Old Man…’ and ‘The Ocean At the End of the Lane’ somewhat disappointing. I’m looking forward to your blog about the next half of 2015.
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Thank you! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed The Shock Of The Fall, Angelfall, Red Queen and Beautiful Creatures as well. đŸ™‚ I can understand why you wouldn’t enjoy The Hundred-Year-Old Man and The Ocean At Then End Of The Lane that much though; some books just aren’t meant for a broad public to enjoy. (Likewise, I’ve heard a lot of people not enjoying The Shock Of The Fall for example)
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Oh yes – I thought The Shock of the Fall was extraordinary, partly because it shouldn’t have worked and yet it did… My problem with The Hundred-Year-Old-Man was that I didn’t think it funny – humour is a very individual thing – so it rapidly became tedious. As for The Ocean At the End of the Lane, Gaiman is a gifted and wonderful writer and he carried me right to the end – and then – for me – threw it away! The book went flying across the room with a lot of very ripe language… But again, I’m aware that a lot of folks didn’t have the same problem with it – and that is the magic of books, isn’t it? We all come to a book with our own stories and life experiences, so different books will sing out to each of us differently…
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I agree, the beauty of books is that they will appeal to different people with different experiences… And humor is always a tricky thing in a book. I normally tend to dislike himor in books because it often feels to forced, but I liked it in Jonas Jonasson’s book… But that is something really personal.
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Lots of great books read!! Several I still need to read – like Angelfall! I hear that series is amazing.
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I loved Angelfall! The main characters are awesome. đŸ˜€ The first book is my favorite, but I enjoyed all three books.
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Some really great choices in your list. I loved And Then There Were none too
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Thanks! I still can’t believe I haven’t read Agatha Christie’s work before… I should pick up one of her other novels soon!
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I’ve only read a couple myself but do have more on my book shelf đŸ™‚
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I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
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