2015: Best and Worst of the Year

[Jackie]

What were some of your favorites this year?
What were some of your lowest rated or did-not-finish?
(Both lists can include any type of book (not just historical fiction).

[Abigail]

On the plus side, I was moved by Lauren Groff’s Arcadia and very amused by Claire M. Johnson’s Pen and Prejudice (neither of them historical). Among historicals, I loved Sue Monk Kidd’s The Invention of Wings and liked The Rebellion of Miss Lucy Ann Lobdell by William Klaber a lot. And in the subcategory of Austenesque historical fiction, I enjoyed Stanley Hurd’s Darcy’s Tale trilogy (in the revised edition).

I struggled to find the time and patience to finish doorstop classics like Fanny Burney’s Camilla and Ann Radcliffe’s The Mysteries of Udolpho. Among historicals, I absolutely could not get into Juliet Nicolson’s Abdication. Something about the dog being killed in chapter 1.

[Shomeret]

I'm only listing my favorite HF that I read in 2015.

The Lightning Queen by Laura Resau begins in a village in Oaxaca Mexico in the 1960's. It deals with a friendship between an indio boy and a gypsy girl that both their peoples don't support, but is supposed to be fated. Eventually, it flashes forward and we learn their destinies in the present. I found it very moving. This is a magical realist novel.

Jam on the Vine by La Shonda Katrice Barnett is about an African American girl who dreams of becoming a journalist and eventually founds an African American newspaper in the early 20th century. I learned a great deal about what the period was like for African Americans.

[NayNay]

I have many favourites, but I will only list 5, lol.


And the worst book

[C.P.]

My favorite discovery of the year (because what's better than a brand-new series?) was Ann Swinfen's The Chronicles of Christoval Alvarez, especially the first, The Secret World of Christoval Alvarez, and the last, Voyage to Muscovy. I also loved her The Testament of Mariam.

I read a lot of good books in preparation for interviews, but I try not to distinguish among those, since the authors are already doing me a favor in talking with me.

The Aviator's Wife was an unexpected pleasure, as was Sarah's Key. There are others, but they are not leaping to mind at this moment.

Georgette Heyer is (almost) always a pleasure, but the one book that really disappointed me in 2015 was her Regency Buck. I hadn't read it in decades and couldn't believe how annoying I found the two leads!

[Abigail]

I’m with you, C.P., about Regency Buck. I have to be in a certain frame of mind to read the Heyers in which the hero and heroine (or either one) are angry all the time, or smug. Faro’s Daughter and Bath Tangle are two others.

[Jayme(theghostreader)]

One of my worst books was

My best ones were

[Lindsey]

Abigail, I agree with you on Abdication-that book turned me off in so many ways and the poisoning of the dog just revolted me and was completely unnecessary.

For me, my favorites were: The Book of Life (and the previous two in the trilogy were re-read!), Remarkable Creatures, and The Signature of All Things.

My least favorites (and I can say with certainty that I hated these!): Winter's Tale and The Pemberley Chronicles (this was so over-the-top saccharine that it was nauseating-I was so disappointed because I love Pride and Prejudice spin-offs!)

[Chris]

Favorite Fiction:
The Nightingale
People of the Book
September
The Chamber
Pavilion of Women: A Novel of Life in the Women's Quarters
Gone Girl
The Bastard of Istanbul
The Heretic's Daughter
A Great Deliverance
The Passion of Artemisia
The Cellist of Sarajevo
The Haj

Worst Fiction: Ulysses and The Book of Ruth

[Maggie]

My favorite historical fiction was discovering the Phyrne Fisher mysteries byKerry Greenwood.
Favorite nonfiction wasNeil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography .

Least favorites:
Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography was a big disappointment, especially since I loved Laura Ingalls Wilder's "Little House" books when I was growing up.
Another disappointment was Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. So many people loved this novel and it won lots of awards, but I couldn't get into it. After 500+ pages of nothing much happening, I gave up and never finished it.

[Ioana]

Hard to pick a favorite, but here are some of the very best of 2015 (in no particular order):
The Nightingale
The Martian
The Pearl that Broke Its Shell
Tiny Sunbirds, Far Away
New York
Of Mice and Men
Moloka'i

The worst:
Dreams of Gods & Monsters
The Panther

[Linda]

I loved The Lake House
The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street
The Orphans of Race Point
All the Light We Cannot See
The Gilded Hour



My least favorite was The Pink Suit

[Erica]

My top books of the year were:

Working out my top 5 is easy this year as I gave exactly 5 books 5*. They were (in no particular order):

Tears of the Desert: One Woman's True Story of Surviving the Horrors of Darfur

The Fault in Our Stars

The Narrow Road to the Deep North

Men Explain Things to Me and Other Essays (essay collection)

Only the Animals (short story collection)

My least favourite were:

The Kalahari Typing School for Men - just found this pretty boring.

The Chimes - so surprised by the hype, thought it was incredibly boring, lack of character development and an incredibly rushed ending. Gave 2*

[~Brandy~]

A few of my top rated books for 2015 are:

Snowflower and the Secret Fan I resisted this book for so long because of the hype, but it was amazing.
The Crystal Cave I was never into the Arthurian legend, but this was a fabulous read and I am happy that I was able to read the trilogy back to back.
The Oversight This was a random find at the library and it was pretty fantastic.

Some of my least favorite books and some I could not finish:

Bellman & Black Diane Setterfield's first book is one of my favorites of all times, but I could not even finish this book.
Annihilation Meh. That is how this book made me feel. There was no conclusion for me and the whole read felt like a pointless one to me.

Overall, I read some really amazing books in 2015!

[Abigail]

I loved The Crystal Cave too, Brandy (as well as the next one in the series, The Hollow Hills)! Although it was based on magic and legend, it was so thoroughly grounded in the material history of the time that it felt very believable. I felt the series lost some energy after the first two books, though—the stories seemed more episodic, not so cohesive.

[Zoe]

Maggie wrote: "My favorite historical fiction was discovering the Phyrne Fisher mysteries byKerry Greenwood.
Favorite nonfiction was[book:Neil Patrick Harris: Choose Your Own Autobiography|26538859..."

I totally agree with your statement with regards to Jonathon strange and mr norell, I liked the beginning but it kind of lost its way in the middle and basically by the end I felt the plot had lost some of its intention I think it would have been better if she had made it into a trilogy rather than one long book.

I have read some amazing books in 2015 a few I can remember but that doesn't mean the ones I don't mention are not good its just its been awhile since I have read them lol. but two spring to mind the first is the Fortune Hunter by Daisy Goodwin, a cracking read for historical fiction fans and romance fans :P the other is a natural history of Dragons by Marie Brennan just incredibly amazing storytelling and gahh soo jealous of how she is able to intertwine a universe where dragons and mysterious creatures are all around in a somewhat Victorian/ Edwardian world.
My worst books that I have read are
the Laments god awful book and not funny in the least
the remarkable pilgrimage of Harold fry, it was ok but don't understand the furore surrounding the book.

[Linda]

I left off one of my favorites, The Gilded Hour. It has great characters and story and is very though provoking.

[Kathleen]

The best books I read in 2015 include 2 by Lucinda Riley The Lavender Garden which switches between WWII and the present day in France, Ioved it. The second was The Seven Sisters which switches between the present day and the construction of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil. Both were interesting and engaging and had wonderful characters.

The third on my list was the new Deanna Raybourn book A Curious Beginning I love mysteries and when they are historical fiction mysteries set in England I enjoy them even more. I adore the characters that this author created for this series. I am looking forward to the release of the next book later this year.

I also discovered Kate Quinn's books while I enjoyed them all Empress of the Seven Hills and Lady of the Eternal City where among my favourites. This was a time period I previously had not read about so they were interesting, I learned some new things and again wonderful characters were created.

[Renae]

Just speaking of historical fiction for 2015, I REALLY, REALLY liked:



And, on the other end of things, I was less than impressed with and did not finish:

*

*I did finish Vengeance Road with a 1 star rating

[Renae]

Kathleen wrote: "The best books I read in 2015 include 2 by Lucinda Riley The Lavender Garden which switches between WWII and the present day in France, Ioved..."

Kathleen, did you read Kate Quinn's Borgia duet? While I really loved Mistress of Rome and Daughters of Rome (the first two books in her Rome series), I think that The Serpent and the Pearl and The Lion and the Rose were better, in some respects, though they are less popular than her first series.

[Kathleen]

Renae - yes I read the Borgia duet as well and enjoyed them both. I am looking forward to reading C.W Gortner's new book about the Borgias that is coming out this year.

[Jodi]

I just put The Lavender Gardenon my 'want to read' list. It sounds good! Thanks Kathleen.

[Fiona]

2015 seems to have been my year for reading books that other people read years ago! So my best of 2015 would include The Sunne in Splendour by Sharon Penman and The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas.

An excellent historical non-fiction (but read like a novel) book was Passionate Minds by David Bodanis, the story of the love affair between philosopher Voltaire and scientist Emilie du Châtelet.

Worst was She Who Remembers by Linda Lay Shuler, a "Clan of the Cave Bear" wannabe. It had all the long-winded descriptions and cringeworthy sex scenes of COTCB, but none of COTCB's originality and charm.

[Beth]

Books I read in 2015 that I really enjoyed were:

Katherine by Anya Seton
Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
The first 3 books of the Poldark series by Winston Graham
The Taming of the Queen by Philippa Gregory
Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
The Mirror by Marlys Millsner
Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog by Connie Willis (She is one my fave Authors- historical and time travel, awesome)