The Top Ten Books (I've Read) of 2015
It’s time for another subjective list of Best of … Out of the 50 books I’ve read this year, these are my top ten.
Going back over the list, I had to make some judicious choices on which books to include, because many were very close to making the cut. On the other hand, there are only two books that stood out as definite Best of winners: Olive Kitteredge and A Raisin in the Sun. At the end, I will include the titles of all the books I read this year.
So, in no particular order, here are my favorites:
Nick and Norah’s Infinite PlaylistRachel Cohn and David Levithan
Nick needs a girlfriend for five minutes, just so he can survive an encounter with his ex. Who is standing next to him? Norah. So begins a funny, chaotic, thrilling tumble of a night as Nick and Norah hang out together and struggle to comprehend their instant attraction to each other. Both are disentangling themselves from toxic exes, and though neither feels ready to plunge into a new romance. But how can you say no to someone who intrigues you? This book had me grinning all the way through, and I left it feeling light and happy.
Troubled Daughters, Twisted WivesSarah Weinman (editor)
Okay, I’m actually still reading this one, but I’m about two-thirds of the way through, so unless the last few stories crash and burn, this one certainly makes the list. It’s a collection of short stories by female authors, primarily from pulp magazines Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock. Every story is well-written and engaging, with great plotting and great characterization. These writers are phenomenal storytellers and deserve to remain forever in the spotlight: Patricia Highsmith, Shirley Jackson, Dorothy Salisbury Davis, Vera Caspery, and many others.
A Raisin in the SunLorraine Hansberry
Everything I love about theatre: every character bursting with life, every interaction rich in dimensions, a beautiful blending of struggle and hope. This play is vying with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as my all-time favorite play.
The Secret History of Wonder WomanJill Lepore
Who knew? Who knew that Wonder Woman was created by a psychologist/lawyer who lived an unconventional life with his wife and a former grad-student? Who knew that Wonder Woman/Diana Prince grew directly out of suffragism and the early women’s movement? A fascinating history that was deliberately kept secret for years to protect the reputation of some notable women of the day.
The RedbreastJo Nesbo
I didn’t review this book earlier but I should have. Detective Harry Hole investigates a series of neo-Nazi crimes that ultimately link back to a Norwegian soldier in WWII who fought for the Nazis. A gripping adventure story that straddles two time periods and multiple stories that drives toward a thrilling conclusion. The Redbreast is the third in the Harry Hole series but the first that was translated into English. Currently there are ten books in the series.
Boy ToyBarry Lyga
Don’t let the title fool you: this is not a charming coming-of-age story. This is about sexual abuse. Author Barry Lyga tackles a topic that is typically sugarcoated as a young boy is initiated into the wonders of sex by an older, more experienced woman. But this book is about how a sexual predator can manipulate the thoughts and behaviors of a youth, so much so that the boy can’t quite believe that he is being abused because, for him, he is in love.
BruiserNeal Shusterman
Bruiser Rawlins isn’t simply a hulking teen; he is a true empath, able to literally take on the pains and illness of those he loves. He is able to drain off every cut, bruise, and broken heart, but the accumulation of suffering is physically killing him. How do you allow yourself to love someone if it could cost you your life? Author Neal Shusterman examines both the debilitating and healing aspects of being human.
Olive KitteredgeElizabeth Strout
A Pulitzer Prize winner, and well-deserving. A collection of thirteen tales, each self-contained yet also part of the larger whole. Across these tales moves Olive Kitteredge, abrasive, opinionated, aloof. She is like a single-masted cutter cutting across people’s lives. She is difficult to get to know, yet her presence is pervasive and compelling; you feel her enter the room. Some people like her, others do not, but everyone has a grudging respect for her. As a writer, I soaked up every bit of author Elizabeth Strout’s language as a masterclass in prose. It is that good.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar ChildrenRansom Riggs
Damn! I wish I’d thought of it first: a novel about children with peculiar abilities: a little girl capable of levitating, a boy with bees living in his chest, a girl able to conjure fire in her hands. What gives this novel a fascinating edge is that the author uses actual vintage photos to depict the characters. You get to see that levitating girl, and you’re left wondering what the back-story of the photo might be. Author Ransom Riggs gives his own explanations, as it were, in constructing a story against the backdrop of WWII. Great writing, great adventure. There are two more books in the series. I’ve just finished Hollow City and now need to get my hands on Library of Souls.
BonkMary Roach
Mary Roach is one of my favorites. She takes the most unusual subjects and delves into their peculiar histories. Bonktackles the intersection of science and sex. I may have suffered a bit of squeamishness and (yes) prudery in reading the details of the various researches, but Roach knows exactly when to be scientific in her terminology and when to plop in the perfect analogy, all with her customary wit.
The rest of the 50 books:
Compulsion, Heidi AyarbeWaiting for Godot, Samnuel BeckettMcSweeeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories, Michael Chabon, ed.Charles Dickens: The Last of the Great Men, G.K. ChesteronRunaway Ralph, Beverly ClearyGreat Short Works, Stephen CraneDombey and Son, Charles DickensHarlan Ellison’s Watching, Harlan EllisonShadow & Act Ralph EllisonThe Great Gatsby, F. Scott FitzgeraldThe Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor DostoyevskyMurder Boogies with Elvis, Anne GeorgeOld Yeller, Fred GipsonBlood Work, L.J. HaywardI’m with Stupid, Geoff HerbachNothing Special, Geoff HerbachSiddhartha, Herman HesseTilt, Ellen HopkinsThe Buried Giant, Kazuo IshiguroThe Jungle Books, Rudyard KiplingAn End to the Thrill, Varun KumarCreed, Trisha Leaver and Lindsay CurrieLet the Old Dreams Die, John Ajvide LindqvistA Game of Thrones, George R.R. MartinSomebody, Tell Me Who I Am, Harry MazerBilly Budd, Sailor, Herman MelvilleSchulz and Peanuts: A Biography, David MichaelisThe Book of Dragons, E. NesbitHollow City, Ransom RiggsDivergent, Veronica RothSt. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen RussellBait, Alex SanchezA Journey to Matecumbe, Robert Lewis TaylorWalden, Henry David ThoreauNight, Elie WieselThe Midwich Cuckoos, John Wyndham
Going back over the list, I had to make some judicious choices on which books to include, because many were very close to making the cut. On the other hand, there are only two books that stood out as definite Best of winners: Olive Kitteredge and A Raisin in the Sun. At the end, I will include the titles of all the books I read this year.
So, in no particular order, here are my favorites:
Nick and Norah’s Infinite PlaylistRachel Cohn and David LevithanNick needs a girlfriend for five minutes, just so he can survive an encounter with his ex. Who is standing next to him? Norah. So begins a funny, chaotic, thrilling tumble of a night as Nick and Norah hang out together and struggle to comprehend their instant attraction to each other. Both are disentangling themselves from toxic exes, and though neither feels ready to plunge into a new romance. But how can you say no to someone who intrigues you? This book had me grinning all the way through, and I left it feeling light and happy.
Troubled Daughters, Twisted WivesSarah Weinman (editor)Okay, I’m actually still reading this one, but I’m about two-thirds of the way through, so unless the last few stories crash and burn, this one certainly makes the list. It’s a collection of short stories by female authors, primarily from pulp magazines Ellery Queen and Alfred Hitchcock. Every story is well-written and engaging, with great plotting and great characterization. These writers are phenomenal storytellers and deserve to remain forever in the spotlight: Patricia Highsmith, Shirley Jackson, Dorothy Salisbury Davis, Vera Caspery, and many others.
A Raisin in the SunLorraine HansberryEverything I love about theatre: every character bursting with life, every interaction rich in dimensions, a beautiful blending of struggle and hope. This play is vying with Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as my all-time favorite play.
The Secret History of Wonder WomanJill LeporeWho knew? Who knew that Wonder Woman was created by a psychologist/lawyer who lived an unconventional life with his wife and a former grad-student? Who knew that Wonder Woman/Diana Prince grew directly out of suffragism and the early women’s movement? A fascinating history that was deliberately kept secret for years to protect the reputation of some notable women of the day.
The RedbreastJo NesboI didn’t review this book earlier but I should have. Detective Harry Hole investigates a series of neo-Nazi crimes that ultimately link back to a Norwegian soldier in WWII who fought for the Nazis. A gripping adventure story that straddles two time periods and multiple stories that drives toward a thrilling conclusion. The Redbreast is the third in the Harry Hole series but the first that was translated into English. Currently there are ten books in the series.
Boy ToyBarry LygaDon’t let the title fool you: this is not a charming coming-of-age story. This is about sexual abuse. Author Barry Lyga tackles a topic that is typically sugarcoated as a young boy is initiated into the wonders of sex by an older, more experienced woman. But this book is about how a sexual predator can manipulate the thoughts and behaviors of a youth, so much so that the boy can’t quite believe that he is being abused because, for him, he is in love.
BruiserNeal ShustermanBruiser Rawlins isn’t simply a hulking teen; he is a true empath, able to literally take on the pains and illness of those he loves. He is able to drain off every cut, bruise, and broken heart, but the accumulation of suffering is physically killing him. How do you allow yourself to love someone if it could cost you your life? Author Neal Shusterman examines both the debilitating and healing aspects of being human.
Olive KitteredgeElizabeth StroutA Pulitzer Prize winner, and well-deserving. A collection of thirteen tales, each self-contained yet also part of the larger whole. Across these tales moves Olive Kitteredge, abrasive, opinionated, aloof. She is like a single-masted cutter cutting across people’s lives. She is difficult to get to know, yet her presence is pervasive and compelling; you feel her enter the room. Some people like her, others do not, but everyone has a grudging respect for her. As a writer, I soaked up every bit of author Elizabeth Strout’s language as a masterclass in prose. It is that good.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar ChildrenRansom RiggsDamn! I wish I’d thought of it first: a novel about children with peculiar abilities: a little girl capable of levitating, a boy with bees living in his chest, a girl able to conjure fire in her hands. What gives this novel a fascinating edge is that the author uses actual vintage photos to depict the characters. You get to see that levitating girl, and you’re left wondering what the back-story of the photo might be. Author Ransom Riggs gives his own explanations, as it were, in constructing a story against the backdrop of WWII. Great writing, great adventure. There are two more books in the series. I’ve just finished Hollow City and now need to get my hands on Library of Souls.
BonkMary RoachMary Roach is one of my favorites. She takes the most unusual subjects and delves into their peculiar histories. Bonktackles the intersection of science and sex. I may have suffered a bit of squeamishness and (yes) prudery in reading the details of the various researches, but Roach knows exactly when to be scientific in her terminology and when to plop in the perfect analogy, all with her customary wit.
The rest of the 50 books:
Compulsion, Heidi AyarbeWaiting for Godot, Samnuel BeckettMcSweeeney’s Enchanted Chamber of Astonishing Stories, Michael Chabon, ed.Charles Dickens: The Last of the Great Men, G.K. ChesteronRunaway Ralph, Beverly ClearyGreat Short Works, Stephen CraneDombey and Son, Charles DickensHarlan Ellison’s Watching, Harlan EllisonShadow & Act Ralph EllisonThe Great Gatsby, F. Scott FitzgeraldThe Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor DostoyevskyMurder Boogies with Elvis, Anne GeorgeOld Yeller, Fred GipsonBlood Work, L.J. HaywardI’m with Stupid, Geoff HerbachNothing Special, Geoff HerbachSiddhartha, Herman HesseTilt, Ellen HopkinsThe Buried Giant, Kazuo IshiguroThe Jungle Books, Rudyard KiplingAn End to the Thrill, Varun KumarCreed, Trisha Leaver and Lindsay CurrieLet the Old Dreams Die, John Ajvide LindqvistA Game of Thrones, George R.R. MartinSomebody, Tell Me Who I Am, Harry MazerBilly Budd, Sailor, Herman MelvilleSchulz and Peanuts: A Biography, David MichaelisThe Book of Dragons, E. NesbitHollow City, Ransom RiggsDivergent, Veronica RothSt. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, Karen RussellBait, Alex SanchezA Journey to Matecumbe, Robert Lewis TaylorWalden, Henry David ThoreauNight, Elie WieselThe Midwich Cuckoos, John Wyndham
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