Your best book of 2015.

[prendrelemick]

Another year gone by. Have you read anything good? What are your favourite books you have read this year?

Mine are.
The Lovesong Of Miss Queenie Hennessey, by Rachel Joyce.
and The Mighty Dead, by Adam Nicholson.


(I did a brief review of them on the review page.)

[Lokasenna]

My favourite book of the year, and which I meant to write a review for but haven't had time yet, is Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. It was on my 'to read' list for ages, but once I finally got around to it I really enjoyed it - superbly written, a beautiful pastiche of period literature, and excellently plotted.

[kev67]

Difficult to decide (well, not really) between Goshawk Squadron by Derek Robinson or The Gods Themselves by Issac Asimov. However, I shall pick Goshawk Squadron, which is about Royal Flying Corps pilots in the First World War. It is a war-is-hell story, but it was very funny in places, and very well researched.

[qimissung]

H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald. A friend gave it to me, and I just read it in huge gulps. It is the best of nature writing, like "Ring of Bright Water," or "Wild"-another favorite of mine. In fact the two, "Wild" and "H is for Hawk," share some things in common. Both are by women who are searching, both are grieving for a lost parent. Cheryl Strayed has become somewhat self-destructive and she gave herself a challenge in the hopes of breaking that cycle; Helen MacDonald returns to an activity both she and her father enjoyed, with a twist.

[prendrelemick]

My favourite book of the year, and which I meant to write a review for but haven't had time yet, is Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. It was on my 'to read' list for ages, but once I finally got around to it I really enjoyed it - superbly written, a beautiful pastiche of period literature, and excellently plotted.

I thought it was a great book too. I recommended it to my book club, but they all hated it and only
two of them managed to finish it.

[tonywalt]

A little life by Hanya Yanagihara

[YesNo]

The only novel I finished this past year was Hesse's "Journey to the East". I thought it was pretty good, but what do I know? I did start "One Hundred Years of Solitude" but I haven't finished it.

[Dark Muse]

My favorites are

Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Huges
As Simple As Snow by Gregory Galloway
Winter People by Jennifer McMahon

[mona amon]

It's been a terrible reading year for me - I think I only finished one book since July, and a lot of what I read were plays. I read 4 Shakespeare plays, the History Boys by Alan Bennet, and The Oresteia. And the winner is - the Oresteia! History Boys was very good, but not serious competition, and although I still think Shakespeare is the greatest playwright and greatest writer ever, the plays I read this year (the three Henry VIs and The Taming of the Shrew) were simply no match for the Oresteia.

[TheFifthElement]

H is for Hawk by Helen MacDonald. A friend gave it to me, and I just read it in huge gulps. It is the best of nature writing, like "Ring of Bright Water," or "Wild"-another favorite of mine. In fact the two, "Wild" and "H is for Hawk," share some things in common. Both are by women who are searching, both are grieving for a lost parent. Cheryl Strayed has become somewhat self-destructive and she gave herself a challenge in the hopes of breaking that cycle; Helen MacDonald returns to an activity both she and her father enjoyed, with a twist.

Second vote for H is for Hawk here. It's a stunning book.

A little life by Hanya Yanagihara

I would love to hear what you thought of this. I've heard mixed things, but very tempted to read it.

For me it's been another excellent year of reading, I feel lucky to live in a time when there is so much great literature to read. Highlights of the year for me have been:
- The Neapolitan series by Elena Ferrante: the final book "The Story of the Lost Child" was published this year and I read the books as a set. Fantastic, engrossing and brilliant.
- The Names by Don DeLillo: I've been on a DeLillo marathon and this has been the standout of the books I'd not yet read.
- The Vegetarian by Han Kang: stirring stories from a South Korean writer.
- pretty much everything by Alain de Botton: because he is ace!
- Trying to Keep Still by Jenny Diski: an anti-travel book by a travel writer
- pretty much everything by Rebecca Solnit: because she is very clever
- The First Bad Man by Miranda July: very amusing book about an out of touch woman and self-defence videos.
- High Rise by J G Ballard: because prescience and chaos and violence (and upcoming movie).

Oh there are a bunch more. I've read lots of excellent non-fiction this year: Mindset, Mastermind: How to think like Sherlock Holmes, samplings of Marcus Aurelius and Michel de Montaigne. Great reading year.

[Scheherazade]

I often despair when I realise how many different books there are out there that I have not even heard of yet!

My favourites this year have been The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton and Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver, I think.

[prendrelemick]

I often despair when I realise how many different books there are out there that I have not even heard of yet!

.

I know what you mean. The ulterior motive for this thread was to see what's out there.

[Whifflingpin]

Hardbacks 50p each or 3 for £1. Just to make up the 3, I picked up "A Coin from Carthage" by Bryher, an author I'd never heard of . Definitely my best buy this year, that led me to read more of her books. She was a writer of excellent historical novels showing why, for common people at least, it is a curse to live in interesting times.

[Lokasenna]

I thought it was a great book too. I recommended it to my book club, but they all hated it and only
two of them managed to finish it.

Perhaps a little on the lengthy side for a book club text? It was very readable, though - I flew through it.

[Aylinn]

My favourite book of the year is Les Liaisons dangereuses. Mostly for the interactions, in the form of letters, between the Marquise de Merteuil and the Vicomte de Valmont.