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Favourite/Least Favourite Books of the Year 2015
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This year my favourites were:
The Grass is Singing by Doris Lessing
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber
The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill
The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
The disappointments were:
Crash by J G Ballard
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
The Orphan Master by Jean Zimmerman
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
Mod
The Bookman’s Tale
Us
A Classical Education: The Stuff You Wish You'd Been Taught in School
Although on reflection a couple of my 4 stars should probably have been 5 stars:
Voltaire's Calligrapher
Mass Effect: Revelation
Although I've given a few books 2 stars I haven't given any 1 star this year. However I'm not really enjoying the 600+ page doorstop I'm currently reading: (I wouldn't recommend it unless you are desperate to get Norway for Around the World!)
The Seducer
Liz wrote: "Linda, I'm sorry you didn't enjoy The Great Gatsby or The Remains of the Day, they're among my all time favourites!This year my favourites were:
[book:The Grass is Singin..."
Hi Liz, I am glad you enjoyed Great Expectations as it is one of my favourite classics.
Mod
by Paula McLain just ahead of
by Dan Smith.Most overrated?
by Kristin Hannah.My least favourite.......not a book but this new font that GR have imposed on us. Struggling to see the gaps between the words I'm typing and I need some sunglasses and that's with the eye saver mode on my screen on maximum.
Ian wrote: "My least favourite.......not a book but this new font that GR have imposed on us. Struggling to see the gaps between the words I'm typing and I need some sunglasses and that's with the eye saver mode on my screen on maximum.."
Totally agree about the fonts Ian. Am getting a headache!
Totally agree about the fonts Ian. Am getting a headache!
As for favourite / least favourite books, my only 5 star ratings this year were for The Hunger Games trilogy, least favourites (other than various rubbish kindle freebies) would be Passenger to Frankfurt and Postern of Fate. I'm a huge Christie fan but these two were terrible.
(I have actually given more 5 star ratings this year but they were all re-reads so I'm not counting them)
(I have actually given more 5 star ratings this year but they were all re-reads so I'm not counting them)
This year my favourites were -1. The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
2. Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
3. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
4. Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
5. The Soft Talkers by Margaret Millar
6. Excession by Iain M. Banks
7. A Death in a Town by Hillary Waugh
8. Zoo Station by David Downing
9. The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham
10. Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
My least favourite books were -
1. Murder in the Marais by Cara Black
2. The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy
3. Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
Ian wrote: "Several 5 star reads this year but the outstanding ones were by Paula McLain just ahead of by [author:Dan Smi..."Ditto about font and white background!
I've had a good reading year generally - 5* reads include
We All Looked Up
What I Talk About When I Talk About Running
The Underground Girls of Kabul: In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan
My Name Is Lucy Barton
The Last Pier
The Snow Child
The Kite Runner
The Lives of Women
The Reluctant Fundamentalist
My other reads have been mainly 4*, with a few 3* reads.
I had a 2* read Looking for Alaska which likes less than his famous TFIOS
My best books of 2015:American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Emma by Jane Austen
The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey
Howl and Other Poems by Allen Ginsberg
A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin
The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton
By disappointments of 2015:
Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
Neuromancer by William Gibson
Most of my 5 star reads in 2015 have been by Neil Gaiman as it turns out.The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which really made an impact on me though I wanted the ending to be different even though I realise that it ended the way it should.
The Graveyard Book, which I read to my daughter and enjoyed at least as much as she did. Here she wanted it to end different, but I thought it ended just the way it should.
The Sleeper and the Spindle, which I also read to my daughter and here we both agree that the ending was just right and that this version was much better than Disney, and that honestly the illustrations makes it even better than best.
I've also read a non-fiction book, Havboka that reads like a novel, and once it is out in English translation I'll start recommending it to people who need a book for Norway in the Around the World Challenge.
There are a few other 5-stars and several 4-stars. I won't list them all. Sense and Sensibility gets honourable mention along with its 4 stars because I feel it is an underrated book as Jane Austen's authorship goes. There is so much more going on than a superficial reading will credit.
I didn't read any 1-2 star books, but I think my least favourite must have been Wuthering Heights. I expected it to be good, but I was only able to finish it because the language at least was good. Then again, the edition I read had "Edward and Bella's favourite book" stamped on the front, and that should have tipped me off that ot would be a feast of melodrama and characters I would detest.
Mod
I didn't have many 5 star reads this year.
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin was the book I probably enjoyed most. It's beautifully written, and as an expat, I found it really connected with me.
I reread several favourite books from my childhood with my son this year. Susan Cooper's Dark is Rising sequence is still as good as I remember it. I particularly loved the fourth book, The Grey King: the story is expertly crafted, wonderfully drawn characters and with a fantastic melancholy, brooding atmosphere.
Other top 4 star reads included John Wyndham's The Day of the Triffids and Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters by Mark Dunn.
The worst for me was: Asylum by Patrick McGrath. Such a disappointment. It started well, he writes excellent description and period detail, but... it descended into melodrama and I became disengaged.
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Hamlet which was a graphic novel and really brought Shakespeare to a whole new audience. Very well written and illustrated.
Company of Liars Bit of a lengthy one but the story kept rolling and had a cliff hanger at the end of each chapter.
The Hunger Games I gave books 1 and 2 5 stars but not book 3.
The Silver Pigs My first venture into the world of roman private Eye Falco and I was so taken with it I've already found another in the series to read sometime this year. This discovery was thanks to the time traveller challenge.
Arthur: The dog who crossed the jungle to find a home I'm a sucker for a true life animal story!
I had 2 1 star books:
The Drawing of the Three I enjoyed The Gunslinger but book 2 was just not my cup of tea and an incredibly difficult read. Not sure I'll continue with the series.
Notes from a Small Island I normally enjoy Bill Bryson books but this was a second attempt and I still didn't get on with it. I think I object to Bill Bryson's tongue in cheek view of the UK.
Wow, can't believe I read such a variety in one year!
This year I discovered the Armand Gamache series of mysteries by Louise Penny; all were either four-star or five-star reads for me.I very much enjoyed The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish, a dual-timeline historical fiction novel that read like a mystery and was full of finely honed observation.
I was disappointed by Women & Power: A Manifesto, which seemed to me a rehash of familiar ideas with few solutions to propose.
And I slogged my way through Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes, which didn't seem to merit all the breathless praise it received when it came out. Perhaps if I liked Flaubert I would have enjoyed it more, but since I don't it seemed a rather pointless exercise.
Mod
My Top Ten were -- Can You Forgive Her? by Anthony Trollope
- Good To A Fault by Marina Endicott
- The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler
- The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
- Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
- The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith
- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel
- Death Without Company by Craig Johnson
- Brat Farrar by Josephine Tey
- Flesh and Blood by John Harvey
My least favorite books were -
- Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey
- The Gunman by Jean-Patrick Manchette
My top ones wereCounselling for Toads: A Psychological Adventure by Robert De Board
Titus Groan and Gormenghast by Mervyn Peake
Reaper Man by Terry Pratchett
How to Have a Good Day: Harness the Power of Behavioral Science to Transform Your Working Life by Caroline Webb
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Had lots of 4 star books as well.
Least Favourite ( all 2 star for me )
If Cats Disappeared from the World by Genki Kawamura
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
On the Road by Jack Kerouac
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch
Games People Play by Eric Berne
and a couple of work related kindle books that I got conned into buying by the rave reviews/promises
Kate wrote: "I had a few 5 star books this year:Hamlet which was a graphic novel and really brought Shakespeare to a whole new audience. Very well written and illustrated.
[book:Company of Liar..."
I struggled with either the fourth or fifth of the Gunslinger series, and nearly gave up, but really glad I persevered.
My top 10 for 2018 -The Towering Sky
Z for Zachariah
Rescuing Rose
The Corner Shop in Cockleberry Bay
The Sunday Lunch Club
I Am Watching You
Three to Get Deadly
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
The Sleeper
Miss Buncle's Book
Favourites:The Goldfinch
Middlesex
The Book Thief
To Kill a Mockingbird
The Green Road
Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch
Least Favourite:
The Alchemist
Boy, Snow, Bird
A Princess of Mars
The Magpies
The Girl in 6E
The Phantom of the Opera
Mod
Top of the pile by a distance, though I read it after 2019 started - but I can't wait a year..... was The North Water by Ian McGuire. Set in the Arctic so that'd be an added bonus if you haven't visited in your Around the World travels.
Next up The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O'Farrell. Hardly a surprise given that I think M O'F is perhaps the most consistently good storyteller around.
Then a couple of re-reads. Always a risk if you loved it first time around but familiarity with yet new insights can be wonderful.
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 4 stars first time around but now upgraded to 5 stars, and Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes. Trojan and Vietnam war stories respectively.
Then just three more:
An Equal Stillness by Francesca Kay.
The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henriquez.
Perfume River by Robert Olen Butler.
Least favourites:
White Masks by Elias Khoury.
The Architects by Stefan Heym.
The Stone Boy by Sophie Loubière.
All very dull and abandoned part way through.
Ian wrote: "Very ordinary reading year for highlights. Been ill for a lot of the year so Top of the pile by a distance, though I read it after 2019 started - but I can't wait a year..... was [book:The North ..."
I hadn't heard of Maggie O'Farrell, but I looked up The Hand That First Held Mine and I have added it - cheers :)
Mod
As we say goodbye to 2019, what where your favourite books of the year? And were there any real stinkers?
My favourites:
Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Mara and Dann by Doris Lessing
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
They Were Counted by Miklos Banffy
War and Peace (I kid you not) by Leo Tolstoy
Going Postal by Terry Pratchett
My big disappointments:
Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova
Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis
Two of my favorites came out of nonfiction:Beau Brummell: The Ultimate Man of Style by Ian Kelly was a perfect biography of an unlikely subject--who knew a fashionista could be such a fascinating subject and also reveal so much about the spirit of his age?
The Woman's Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote by Elaine Weiss is another book that drills down into specifics (the struggle to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment in Tennessee) as a way to reveal great truth about a nation, both then and now.
I read and loved a couple of classic children's books:
The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken and
The Little Grey Men by B.B.
In mysteries, nothing measured up to the two Louise Penny mysteries I read: The Nature of the Beast and Glass Houses. The whole Gamache series is of extraordinarily high quality.
One fantasy novel hit the spot: Spinning Silver by Naomi Novak, which weaves a complex web using threads from Russian and eastern European folklore.
In travel/memoir I read a classic that challenged and thrilled me: A Time of Gifts by Patrick Leigh Fermor.
And for those why enjoy exploring the obscure byways of British history, I recommend a small jewel by the Capel History Group: Lonesome Lodge: A Lost Palladian Villa.
Mod
Circe by Madeline Miller which I had been saving to enjoy and I wasn't disappointed. She can't write books quickly enough for me!
Pegasus and the Flame by Kate O'Hearn. A Young Adult book and the first of a series. Predictably I loved it because it was, like Circe, about Greek Myths.
Sharpe's Company by Bernard Cornwell, the next in the series for me and I'm never disappointed by this hero!
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone by J K Rowling. My first re-read of this and it was just as brilliant as I remembered.
On the other end of the scale I gave 2 books 1 star:
The Book Lover's Tale by Ivo Stourton which promised great things but fell very short imho.
Something Borrowed, Someone Dead by M C Beaton. My first and last Agatha Raisin.
A couple of other surprises were:
2 stars to The Pyrates which I had been saving expecting great things and was rather disappointed that it was so monotonous.
4 stars to Gone with the Wind which was very long but so much easier to read than I was expecting it to be.
My 2019 favourites were -Behaving Badly - Isabel Wolff
The Family Next Door - Sally Hepworth
The Breakdown - B.A. Paris
I Owe You One - Sophie Kinsella
The Four Graces - D.E. Stevenson
The Headmistress - Angela Thirkell
Carve the Mark - Veronica Roth
The Sound of Dragonfly Wings - Ann Christine Tabaka
The Secret Cove in Croatia - Julie Caplin
The Woman Who Met Her Match - Fiona Gibson
And my not-so-much were -
The Wife Between Us - Greer Hendricks
The Friend - Teresa Driscoll
The Other Woman - Sandie Jones
Liz wrote: "Happy New Year everyone!As we say goodbye to 2019, what where your favourite books of the year? And were there any real stinkers?
My favourites:
Suite Française by Irene Nemirovsky
..."
War & Peace ????????? I'll take your word for it, not going there anytime soon ;)
Linda, how can a reading year be otherwise than delightful that includes both D. E. Stevenson and Angela Thirkell? You remind me to get rereading!
Abigail wrote: "Linda, how can a reading year be otherwise than delightful that includes both D. E. Stevenson and Angela Thirkell? You remind me to get rereading!"And there are SO many more Thirkell to go :)
You're lucky! I think the only Thirkell I haven't read is the bio of Harriette Wilson. But it has been so long since I raced through them all that ai get to start over.
Mod
My favorite book of 2019 was - Night by Elie WieselMy least favorite book was - Kolymsky Heights by Lionel Davidson
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Liz wrote: "Bill, Night's been on my to read list for a while, but I've held back as I suspect it will be pretty gruelling. Sounds as if I need to move it up..."It is grueling, but one of those books that probably should be read.
Liz wrote: "Linda, War and Peace was an epic and immersive experience. The chapters covering Napoleon's strategy were dull, but this was more than made up for by the excellent characters and masterful descript..."Well, I did enjoy the adaptation a couple of years ago...I will think about it :)
Mod
I think I was very picky and hard to please this year, so there were only a few stand out reads. Much of what I read felt just 'ok'.
So the stand outs were:
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara - beautifully written, incredibly sad and incredibly long.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson - wonderfully atmospheric, classic ghost story.
Sea of Poppies by Armitav Ghosh - rip roaring tale of the sea, set against 19th century opium trade.
The disappointments were:
Earthly Powers by Anthony Burgess - while I can't dispute the quality of the writing, I just didn't care enough about any of the characters to warrant over 600 pages.
Dark Echo by FG Cottam - Started well, but escalated into the ridiculous. I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to be chilled.
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson - Sorry, a lot of people have enjoyed this book, but I couldn't get over the manic pixie dream girl who sculpts in the nude - ha ha ha!
Favorite fiction: The Overstory by Richard Powers, truly the best novel I have ever read, ambitious and life-changing; Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin, a beautiful novel about resilience and embracing life. Lighter but not light: The Tiger in the Smoke by Margery Allingham, a masterful classic British mystery. Light but not slight: Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev, a reread (to refresh my memory before reading the sequel) that was even better on the second reading.Favorite nonfiction: The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot by Robert Macfarlane, lovely essays about walking the public rights-of-way in England, both an outer and an inner journey; and Recollections of My Nonexistence: A Memoir by Rebecca Solnit, one of the best things I’ve ever read about being female in twentieth-century (and a bit twenty-first) USA.
And one highly recommended bit of scholarship: Laughing Feminism: Subversive Comedy in Frances Burney, Maria Edgeworth, and Jane Austen by Audrey Bilger. Hard to get but worth seeking out if you want to enhance your understanding of that essential period of awakening for women’s self-image.
I seem to have blocked from my thoughts the more disappointing reads, but I second your comments about Anthony Burgess, Liz. Talk about sound and fury, signifying nothing! I felt the same way about the very much shorter book of his I read.
My favourite reads of the 2020 are - The Northern Lights Lodge by Julie Caplin, a truly laugh-out-loud read. High Five by Janet Evanovich, Stephanie Plum, no need to say anything more. The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton, I loved Amy, many won't. Daisy Jones and The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid, a look inside the working of a pop band. Marling Hall by Angela Thirkell, it's Thirkell, say no more. The Wedding Date by Zara Stoneley, another screamingly funny chick-lit. The Miscalculations of Lightning Girl by Stacy McAnulty, an excellent children's book.Only two I really did not care for - Mosquitoland by David Arnold, weird characters. The Dilemma by B.A. Paris, a HUGE disappointment.
It's always easier to find favorites. But here we go, my top 5 favorites of 2020 -1. Barney's Version by Mordecai Richler
2. Wall Of Eyes by Margaret Millar
3. Satan's Lambs by Lynn S. Hightower
4. Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood
5. Rock Paper Tiger by Lisa Brackmann
Least favorite -
1. The Meaning of Night by Michael Cox (I couldn't be bothered to expend the effort to finish it)
2. The Legion of Space by Jack Williamson
Mod
My 5 star books:
Elizabeth Is Missing
Wyatt Earp
Sharpe's Sword
Magpie Murders
Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business
And my all time favourite of the 5 stars was: Uprooted
Then there were 2 x 5 stars which were re-reads:
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Song of Achilles
Finally the 1 stars were:
The Swimming Pool Season
Death in the Stocks
Hmm, appears I only gave 1 5 star this year, As the Crow Flies simply because of how quick I read it! No 1 star reads but a couple of 2 star
Mod
It's not over yet, but I've had a really good reading year: no book scored less than 3 out of 5.
My favourites would be:
Schindler's List
They Were Divided
A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal
Carter Beats the Devil
The Siege of Krishnapur
State of Wonder
The Secret River
The Wonder
The Cellist of Sarajevo
and I have a feeling The Essex Serpent will join the list when I'm finished.
What were your favourites this year, and which do you wish you hadn't wasted your time on?
Of the 5* reads of 2022, here are my top ten, in no particular order - - Hunting the Bismarck by C.S. Forester
- The Farthest Shore by Ursula K. Le Guin
- Boy's Life by Robert McCammon
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
- Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
- A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab
- A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers
- The Twelve by Justin Cronin
- They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
- White Bird by R.J. Palacio
In 2022 I gave up on quite a few books. Here are five of my least favorite.
- Flashman on the March ny George MacDonald Fraser
- The Child Garden: A Low Comedy6667]
- Terminal Café by Ian McDonald
- Ninety-Three by Victor Hugo
- The Peripheral by William Gibson
Have to say it wasn’t a stellar reading year for me. The only first-read book that really had me bowing down and worshipping was Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston.I did reread a number of favorites: Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner; The Unknown Ajax, my favorite Georgette Heyer; Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. Wodehouse; The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim.
Here are some I found very good:
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Why Fish Don't Exist: A Story of Loss, Love, and the Hidden Order of Life by Lulu Miller
An Episode of Sparrows by Rumer Godden
There were some books so bad I didn’t finish them, but I feel it’s cruel to say so here since they were mostly self-published. But there was no excuse for serious publishers to unleash The Lost Apothecary or The Nature of Witches upon unsuspecting readers. And I read two books I hated by authors I love: The Great Roxhythe by Georgette Heyer and The Daffodil Affair by Michael Innes. Even if you are a completist, don’t.
Mod
The Empire by Michael Ball
The Midnight Library By Matt Haig
Olive, Mabel and Me: Life and Adventures with Two Very Good Dogs By Andrew Cotter
Knife Edge By Simon Mayo
Sharpe's Honour and Sharpe's Regiment By Bernard Cornwell
My disappointments were:
On the Road By Jack Kerouac
Small Gods By Terry Pratchett
The Christmas Killer By Alex Pine
I got back into reading in a big way this year - got through more books than in the previous three years combined. My top 10:1. Gun Island - Amitav Ghosh
2. Freshwater - Akwaeke Emezi
3. Wonderland - Juno Dawson
4. Something Wicked This Way Comes - Ray Bradbury
5. Matrix - Lauren Groff
6. A Country Doctor's Notebook - Mikhail Bulgakov
7. The Paying Guests - Sarah Waters
8. The Schooldays of Jesus - J.M. Coetzee
9. I Shall Wear Midnight - Terry Pratchett
10. Gingerbread - Helen Oyeyemi
And my least favourite was John Dies at the End.
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Favourites in alphabetical - as I can't choose between then.
Backpack - Emily Barr
Queen Lucia - E.F. Benson
Just One Day - Gayle Forman
The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance - Kirsty Greenwood
A Girl’s Best Friend - Lindsey Kelk
I've Got Your Number - Sophie Kinsella
The 100 - Kass Morgan
The Love Detective - Alexandra Potter
Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell
The Seven Steps to Closure - Donna Joy Usher
Mobile Library - David Whitehouse
Everything, Everything - Nicola Yoon
Least favourite - either because they were boring or disappointing.
A Place For Us - Harriet Evans
The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
One Day David Nicholls