Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Gila's Favorite Books of 2015

It's a bonus "best of" edition of Steph and Jana's Show Us Your Books, in which we highlight our favorite books of 2015. Note that these are books I read in 2015, but that's not necessarily when they were published.


Life According to Steph


I thought about listing these in some sort of order, but they don't deserve to be ranked; they're all so different. So, in no particular order:


You by Caroline Kepnes - This book is crazy. It takes the reader inside the mind of a stalker/serial killer and somehow makes him likable. (My blog post about this book was in August.)


Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta - A YA novel that is truly a coming-of-age book. I loved the characters and the story. There's a follow up book (focusing on one of the other characters five years later) and I'm planning to read that one in 2016. (Also August)


Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty - 2015 was the year I finally read Liane Moriarty and I read three of her books. I enjoyed all of them, but if I have to choose, this is my favorite. Moriarty does a great job of weaving different stories together and I like to call her books "chick lit with a purpose." (November)


The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins - This seemed to be the "It" book in early 2015 and in my opinion, it lived up to the hype. The characters are unlikable but I didn't even care. This really kept me guessing and on the edge of my seat. (May)


The Martian by Andy Weir - This book made the list because I resisted it for months, thinking there was no way I'd like it, and then I was proven wrong. There's a lot of math and science that went right over my head but it didn't even matter. The story itself was gripping and the narrator was sarcastic and funny. (October)


Leaving Time by Jodi Picoult - I've always been a fan of Picoult. Many people talk about how formulaic her books are and that's somewhat true, but it's never turned me off. But this one is a bit different and had a twist that I wasn't prepared for. This book came to me at just the right time and while I know I said I didn't want to rank them, this would probably be my personal number one book of 2015. (June)


Are any of your favorites on this list? What books did you love this year?






6 comments:

  1. You sounds like such a good book, and with so many people that love it, I'm hoping that I'll love it too! Saving Francesca sounds like another great read too! I loved The Girl on the Train too, and I can't get enough of Liane Moriarty's books! They're so good!

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  2. I liked all of those, You is on my list this year. Saving Francesca definitely made my tops list last year!

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  3. YOU. YEEESSS. I loved that book so much. And the sequel.

    I feel the same way about Picoult. Yes, her books are formulaic but I'll keep reading them anyway. Thankfully, her books seem to be on the upswing after a few years of not so great ones.

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  4. I've read all of these (except Leaving Time is on my tbr) and enjoyed them as well. As I've discussed before, I loved Saving Francesca and loved The Piper's Son even more!!

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  5. I haven't read any Jodi Picoult books yet but I think that is the next author I will tackle after Moriarty! I loved Big Little Lies and The Martian, those made my list as well! I still need to get to You and Saving Francesca..those have been on my tbr list for awhile now!

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  6. I loved You, too! I'm excited for the sequel. I too discovered Liane Moriarty last year and I do enjoy her, but I look forward to reading What Alice Forgot since it seems to stray away from her three characters who are all connected somehow formula. I'm a Martian resister, but I do want to see the movie, so maybe that will get me into the book!

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