Best Reads of 2015

If there's one thing I haven't missed in all these years of maintaining (or not) this blog, it's the annual best read post. And here it is!

This year, too, I opted to summarize my reading year via a deck, which you can check out on Slideshare or here, if you're so inclined. To see all books I read this year, head on over to my Goodreads 2015 shelf.

Honey's 2015 Year in Reading from Honey de Peralta

As I mention in a Facebook post, I would love to do a more in depth reading habit analysis on a much bigger data set, so if you know of anyone who needs help with something like that, let me know.

Anyway, on to my Ten Best Reads of 2015...

1. The Neapolitan Series by Elena Ferrante - Ok, this is cheating because this is actually four books. But I promise you, they are a force of nature. It is basically the story of the friendship of two women, set in mid-20th century in Naples. But the women and the characterization...beyond words. If you are a woman, read it. Read it.
2. Acceptance by Jeff VanderMeer - Last year, Vandermeer's Annihilation made it to my Best Reads of 2014 list. This year, the last book of the Southern Reach Trilogy delivers something both beautiful and poignant. 
3. Euphoria by Lily King - Lovely writing; story based on the interesting life of anthropologist Margaret Mead. There's one line that I especially love: "He is wine and bread and deep in my stomach." Once you've read the book, the line packs a wallop.
4. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry - This one had been in my shelves for years, and my cousin highly recommended it, so I picked it up. I think I spent almost a month reading it, and I think that's about right, so you can relish the story. It's not an easy book to get through, and the ending also packs a punch. But after you recover, you realize it makes absolute sense.
5. Station Eleven by Hilary St. John Mandel - Post-apocalypse, art & theater, Shakespeare, Star Trek references, survival, and lovely writing. Obviously a book written for me.
6. Good to Great by Jim Collins - I know, I know. Who'd think that I would eventually put Good to Great in a best reads list? Seriously, though, this book helped me understand a lot of things this year. Hence, in the most apparent level, it made the most impact.
7. Bone Gap by Laura Ruby - It's a young adult novel that I didn't expect. Mixed a lot of myths and legends, but the teenage characters weren't annoying at all. Plus, there was magic.
8. The Train by Georges Simenon - It is hard not to love an author whom both Faulkner and Camus love, and of whom Andre Gide says one should read his entire oeuvre. This is a strange love story, both a slow burn and passionate.
9. The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith - This, too, I'd been wanting to read for a while. Of course, what pushed me was the movie Carol. I want to watch it, so I finally bought a copy of the book. I started out not knowing whether I would like it or not, but by the time I read the last two pages with that perfect ending, I'd fallen in love.
10. Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff - One of the best things that happened to me this year was attending the Brooklyn Book Festival. And one of the best things that happened in that festival is meeting Lauren Groff. And one of the best things about that is getting her to sign my book. But take all that away and you still have this amazing book about a marriage and art and the power of love, even if you never really fully understood one another.

If you see me or talk to me and you've read any of these books, I would very much welcome a conversation about them. Here's to another reading year in 2016!

P.S.
Here are my other 10-best-reads & reading-round-up posts from the past years:

• Best Reads of 2014 // Reading Year 2014 (with graphs)
• Best Reads of 2013 // 
• Best Reads of 2012 // Reading Year 2012
• Best Reads of 2011 // Reading Year 2011
• Best Reads of 2010 // 
• Best Reads of 2009 // Reading Year 2009 (with graphs)