Books of the Year 2015

Books of the Year 2015

Maybe it’s early in December to do this, but if I post my top ten now, it might encourage you to go out and buy these for presents for people..?
Here’s my top ten – in chronological order…
A Spool of Blue Thread – Anne Tyler2015 was the year the whole world seemed to cotton onto Anne Tyler at last.
The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat – Edward Kelsey MooreA great big warm, flashbacky saga, full of formidable ladies, ghosts and gossip.
Five Children on the Western Front – Kate SaundersFabulous follow-up to E Nesbit’s timeless trilogy, taking us fearlessly into WW1.
An Invisible Friendship – Joyce Grenfell and Katharine MooreThe late 1950s till the late 1970s in the form of thoughtful, tender, funny letters sent between a star of stage and screen and her bookworm fan.
Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World – Janet E. CameronAn enthralling YA gay romance that I knew I was going to love from the first page.
The Murdstone Trilogy – Mal PeetTurning the epic fantasy genre inside out in a scabrous, satirical instant classic.
My Life in France – Julia ChildMemoirs of a giantess who was a dab hand with sauces: one of the most life-affirming and deliciously slow books I read this year.
Space Dumplins – Craig ThompsonWhizzy and free-wheeling space fantasy graphic novel about a child trying to reunite her family and creating a new one along the way.
A Snow Garden – Rachel JoyceA set of succinct and loving thumbnail sketches, dropping us into a series of connected festive days.
A Dog So Small – Philippa PearceA proper old-fashioned kids’ book about the awkwardness of being young and small and also, the awkwardness of love.
‘The Awkwardness of Love’ sort-of describes my favourite subject matter, whatever the genre or age-range of a book, and it might also make a good title for a book of mine one day..?
These are my choices for 2015. It was a quieter year for reading, perhaps, than other years. I spent longer with books I loved, I think, and spent less time hunting out the new and spectacular, or wasting time on the things I realized I wasn’t enjoying.
In this list there are six authors new to me, but ones who already seem like old and reliable friends. In this list there are no books that started dull and I had to keep persevering with. Also, almost all of them are books I loved from page one. That ought to tell me something…
Reading plans and ideals for 2016? I think, with my new study taking shape, and the upcoming unpacking of my books from storage… a bit of rereading and always-meant-to-reading might be taking place in the new year…
How’s your reading year been..? Let me know!