Picking the Best of the Best: Incredible 2015 Fiction Books

I read a lot of really great books last year, and a lot of so-so books, and a few really crappy books (very few of that last, actually, because I tend to just put aside books I don't like). In no particular order, and to complement my favorite 2015 non-fiction books and the ten books that blew my mind in 2015, here are the best fiction books I read this past year:

2015 Reading by the Numbers

Because I love data, and numbers, and spreadsheets... I picked up 137 books in 2015, of which I finished 118. Here's how those break down:

2014 Reading Stats
Create your own infographics

What, if anything, do you track in your reading habits? I'm always looking to improve my spreadsheet (by the way, I'd be happy to share mine with anyone who wants it; since I've quit Goodreads, it even calculates how far ahead of my annual reading goal I am...).

Ten Notable Books from 2015 I Haven't Read... Yet

Despite the fact that over 90% of my reading in 2015 was frontlist (books published in 2014 or 2015), I still feel like there were SO MANY excellent books released in 2015 that I just didn't find the time for. I even own several of them (the best laid plans and all that...); here are ten I definitely plan to make time for in my 2016 reading:

#AMonthofFaves: The Top Ten Books That Blew My Mind This Year

I'll be hopping in and out of #AMonthofFaves this month with some book-related and not-so-book-related content. Today's prompt: The Top Ten Books That Blew Your Mind This Year.

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I've already written about my favorite non-fiction and fiction picks, but using some different criteria, here are the ten books that truly blew my mind this year (and the reasons they did so). Note: These are books read in 2015, not necessarily books published in 2015.

Picking the Best of the Best: Awesome 2015 Non-Fiction Books

Of the 137 books I picked up this year (inclusive of DNFs), 36 were non-fiction--not actually as many as I would have expected, given how many of those slim pickings were truly stand-outs. Perhaps I've just gotten better at picking what non-fiction will work for me? Regardless, here were a few of my favorites:

Review & Giveaway: The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge

I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone.

This is Ebenezer Scrooge's solemn promise to the Spirits at the end of Charles Dickens' classic A Christmas Carol--a promise that Charlie Lovett has set out to explore in more depth in his follow-up to the classic holiday tale, The Further Adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Review: Ashley Bell, by Dean Koontz (and an interview!)

This review originally ran in a Maximum Shelf issue of Shelf Awareness.

Despite her somewhat frivolous-sounding name--or perhaps because of it--Bibi Blair, the 22-year-old protagonist of Ashley Bell, is determined to make it clear that she is fierce and dauntless. Engaged to a Navy SEAL currently on an unspecified mission in an unspecified country, she's learned a thing or two about what it means to be strong. And as an author, she understands the power of imagination in shaping a story--even when that story might be her own. These are traits that serve her well when she is diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer and told she has less than a year to live.

At first, her response to this statement--"Really just one year? We'll see."--appears to be little more than wishful thinking in the face of a horrible prognosis. But it quickly becomes clear that, unlike her laid-back parents--both California surfers--Bibi does not subscribe to the "it will be what it will be" way of life. "She loved her parents, but she was not them. Fate did not rule her. She was master of her fate, the captain of her soul. She would not quit. SURRENDER was not a word that could be made from the lettered tiles of her name."

Looking Ahead: December Books

December is not traditionally known as a heavy publishing month, but that's not to say there aren't a few gems on the horizon...

Book Review: Gold Fame Citrus, by Claire Vaye Watkins

This review originally ran in Shelf Awareness for Readers.

Gold Fame Citrus, Claire Vaye Watkins's debut novel (following her much-acclaimed short story collection, Battleborn), introduces readers to Southern California in the near future--a region in which extensive drought has permanently altered both the physical and social landscape. The land is mostly deserted but for a handful of holdouts: those unable to afford evacuation and those unwelcome in the more fertile areas of the United States.

Book Review: Not on Fire, but Burning, by Greg Hrbek

This review originally ran in Shelf Awareness for Readers.

Not on Fire, but Burning opens on catastrophe in San Francisco, in the not-too-distant future. A large object hovers over the bay, the Golden Gate Bridge collapses, and a mushroom cloud of radiation covers the city. Skyler, a young woman babysitting in an apartment overlooking the bridge, is caught up in the radiation, unable to save either the child she is watching or herself. She dies thinking of her youngest brother, Dorian.

Nonfiction November: Book Pairings

This week's theme for Nonfiction November, hosted at Regular Rumination, is book pairings--matching up non-fiction books with fictional counterparts, or vice versa--which is one of my favorite ways to explore a particular subject. On a random assortments of topics, here are a few that stand out to me:

Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County and Lies We Tell Ourselves

Kristen Green's memoir and history explores a shameful but important piece of American history--the closing of the public schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia to protest desegregation. Robin Talley's YA novel is the fictionalized story of two high school girls--one black, one white--on opposite sides of the segregation debate who find themselves thrown into an unexpected friendship. (I wrote about this pairing in more depth earlier this year.)

Packing for Mars and The Martian

Andy Weir's novel, The Martian, has made it big with a movie adaptation starring Matt Damon. While it's a fun story (I highly recommend the audio version), it's even more interesting to me because of all the science in it; Weir definitely did his homework. To continue the exploration of space travel and all its glories, pick up Mary Roach's Packing for Mars, a scientific study of space travel complete with Roach's characteristic wit and humor.

Just Like Us and The Book of Unknown Americans

Helen Thorpe's study of four immigrant girls in America isn't perfect, but it is an interesting glimpse into the experience of trying to span the distance between one's homeland and life in America. It also touches on the varying experiences of those in the United States with and without papers--especially those who came here as children. Cristina Henriquez' novel moves this study from Colorado to Delaware, nonfiction to fiction, but explores similar themes of belonging and patriotism and hope.

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Anyone else like to pair fiction and non-fiction when reading on a particular subject?

A Year in Nonfiction

As part of Nonfiction November, I'm looking back over at all of the non-fiction I've read so far this year... and hot damn, has it been a good year of nonfiction picks. So far this year, I've read 33 non-fiction books (up from 25 total in 2014 and only 16 in 2013). In large part, this has been a shift in my review books--and the product of a lot of really incredible non-fiction books coming out recently.

It's always hard to pick just one favorite from a stack of books as diverse as my 33 non-fiction books, so instead I'll highlight a few that really stuck out to me:

Review: My Year of Running Dangerously, by Tom Foreman

This review originally ran in Shelf Awareness for Readers. Naturally, after my year of rediscovering running (not dangerously), I leapt at the opportunity to pick it up.

CNN correspondent Tom Foreman used to run marathons--in his 20s. One day, as Foreman was contemplating blowing out 51 candles on his next birthday cake, his eldest daughter (then 18) asked him to run a marathon with her. Little did he know that simple request would rekindle a long-lost love of running, leading him to run not only that one marathon with his daughter but also five half marathons, two additional full marathons and a 55-mile ultra-marathon, all over the course of a year.

Week in Reading: November 2

Frederick, MD (taken 10/30/15)

We're soaking up the last of the fall colors around these parts, and I'm soaking up a few more weeks of backlist binging. On my headphones, I've finally found my groove with A Tale of Two Cities--that is, when I'm not listening to the Hamilton soundtrack on repeat. I'm still working through one poem at a time in The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, and am (slowly) getting through Frankenstein.

Looking Ahead: November Books & Reading Events

October set the bar pretty damn high as reading goes, but that doesn't mean I'm not excited for a few promising books in November:

Looking Back: October Reading

I took a few weeks off from this little blogosphere, so it was a fairly quiet month here... but that's not to say there wasn't a hell of a lot of reading.

Contemporary Nigerian Voices

This piece originally ran in Shelf Awareness for Readers.

Until recently, I'm ashamed to admit, my reading of Nigerian authors was limited to the works of Chinua Achebe (which are certainly worth reading, if you haven't already). I had been overlooking a host of more recent fiction from Nigerian voices, all of which work to highlight the complex and often misunderstood history and culture of this unusual country.

Book Review & Interview: The Food Lab, by J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

I just realized that despite my gushing over this book, I failed to post the review and interview here that I did for Shelf Awareness for Readers. So, without further ado, a great many words on what I will call the best cookbook of 2015 (and the first cookbook I've ever sat down and read cover-to-cover).

This review and interview originally ran in Shelf Awareness' Maximum Shelf on August 26, 2015.

Week in Reading: October 19

Last week's reading didn't go exactly according to plan: a few sneaky deadlines crept up on me resulting in some last-minute changes to my reading schedule. I devoured Ashley Bell, the forthcoming thriller/suspense novel from Dean Koontz (and got to interview him about the book, to boot! Look for that in Shelf Awareness later this month). I sat down the next evening to read Bohemian Gospel and stayed up until well past midnight to devour it in one sitting; this book is breathtaking (look for it from Pegasus in November; review to come). A few hours into Cleopatra on audio, I remembered why I never listen to non-fiction on audio--I absolutely cannot pay attention to it. I hope to pick that up in print eventually, because what I did manage to catch was quite good.

Review: The Dead Ladies Project, by Jessa Crispin

This review originally ran in Shelf Awareness for Readers. Reprinted here with permission.

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