Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Books I Read in 2015


Time to start wrapping up 2015!

I'm looking back at the list of books I read in 2015, and it's so weird, but I feel like I just read these all yesterday. It's hard to believe that some of these I read more than 365 days ago. It was a good year for reading, if a light year. I usually aim to read 2 books a month, but I only made it to 19 this year. Mainly because I stopped reading after I read "What Alice Forgot" in October, and started writing. So I'm not beating myself up. I probably would have read 4 more books in November and December. And writing is whole other type of self-education that I'm learning to enjoy. Here's how the year of 2015 went in reading-

Favorite Non-Fiction: Tie between The Highly Sensitive Person and Footsteps in the Attic. "The Highly Sensitive Person" opened my eyes to new possibilities. I'd never stopped to consider that I might be highly sensitive (mainly because I'd never even heard of the concept), but after reading the book, I know I am. At a time when these traits only seem to cause pain, I was able to gain some understanding of why I might feel that way. It's funny, the hubby and I were watching Oscar movies right around the time I finished this book and we happened to watch "Whiplash". This book was obviously still fresh in my mind, because I could only cry over the way the teacher treated his obviously sensitive student. Funny how life works like that. As for "Footsteps in the Attic", I read that right around the time the hubby and I watched "Interstellar". All the talk of parallel universes and quantum mechanics had my imagination going crazy. I went on a sci-fy kick after that that has included binging on "X-Files". Indeed, the hubby and I are up to Season 4 of enjoying Mulder and Scully's adventures. At any rate, the book argues that many supernatural phenomenon are just glimpses into past or future times. That time is circular, and therefore under the right (usually environmental) conditions, we occasionally can get glimpses of different universes. I disagreed with much of the book, but I was also able to glean much from it as well.

Favorite Fiction: I think I have to go with What Alice Forgot. Not only did I enjoy the heck out of reading it, but it also inspired me. Close seconds include The Undertaking (a World War II era story about the struggles of a young German couple), Life After Life (a time-jumping novel that makes you question every decision-making junction you've ever come to), and Such a Pretty Face (a story about a formerly obese woman's journey to heal pain from a traumatic childhood-set in Oregon!).

Dud of the Year: Under the Dome. Talk about tedious. This was 1000+ pages of small talk. I hated it. I liked the last 25 pages of the book. I wish Mr. King would have focused way more on the concepts discussed in the final chapters of the book, but no such luck there. I simply cannot recommend it as I feel the book was a huge waste of my time.

What else did I read this year? Here's my list-

1. The Demon of Brownsville Road- Bob Kramer and Erica Manfred
2. Can You Keep a Secret?- Sophie Kinsella

Image source: Amazon

3. Secrets of the Lighthouse- Santa Montefiore

Image source: Amazon

4. The Undertaking- Audrey Magee

Image source: Amazon

5. Bound to You- Christopher Pike
6. Under the Dome- Stephen King

Image Source: Amazon

7. The Highly Sensitive Person- Elaine Aron, Ph. D.

Image source: Amazon

8. Sati- Christopher Pike
9. Paradox- Rosemary Laurey & J.C. Wilder
10. Footsteps in the Attic- Paul F. Eno

Image source: Amazon

11. Life After Life- Kate Atkinson

Image source: Amazon

12. Big Little Lies- Liane Moriarty
13. Neptune Crossing- Jeffrey A. Carver

Image source: Amazon

14. The Wonder Bread Summer- Jessica Anya Blau

Image source: Amazon


15. Black Knight- Christopher Pike
17. Such A Pretty Face- Cathy Lamb

Image source: Amazon

18. What Alice Forgot- Liane Moriarty

Image source: Amazon

19. The Summer of Naked Swim Parties- Jessica Anya Blau


-That's all folks! I'm definitely going to try to read 24 books in 2016, but who knows? Maybe I'll spend 2016 writing and at this time next year I'll be presenting you with my own work of fiction. Unlikely, but it could happen :-)

Happy Tuesday everyone!

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