Top Ten Tuesday: Books I Read in 2015

Happy Top Ten Tuesday! As we near the end of the year, it is that time wherein we analyze what we've done in the last twelve months. For readers like us, this means books. What was the best? The worst? We've got a librarians' line-up coming to you next week with a break-down of our favorites, but today you get just mine (lucky you!).

That being said, as someone who has read over 100 books in the last year, it is kind of hard to narrow down my favorites. Thank goodness for Goodreads though! What follows is a list of my top ten reads in 2015, in no particular order.

Top Ten Tuesday is a meme started on the Broke and the Bookish blog.

They set the topic, we make the lists. Visit their site to see more on this topic

Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman
I listened to this as an audio, and Neil Gaiman's voice is just lovely. His short stories are innovative and enticing. This collection had some truly amazing stories in it that have really stuck with me. One of my favorites from this book was recently pulled out, illustrated, and released on its own. I can't wait to see how it was illustrated.

The Shadow Hero by Gene Luen Yang
I am not a big superhero fan, so I went into this book with not too much optimism. However, shortly into this backstory-style book, I was hooked. I love the fact that Yang took an existing, little-known superhero and fleshed out his history. The hints of humor throughout the book really help too. The hero of the story is flawed and makes mistakes, and he's new to the whole superhero thing. It's an excellent read, and has the original work which inspired it in the back.

Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
Mindy, I want us to be best friends. For real. I will drop all of my other friends if we can just hang out, watch rom-coms and eat cookies. I very much appreciate the work of Mindy Kaling, and her writing in this book feels like she's just sitting down talking to you. This book was funny and quirky, like her.

Step Aside, Pops by Kate Beaton
If you have not been exposed to Kate Beaton's hilarious comics yet, go here and see them. I'll wait.... Beaton has a way of taking history, philosophy, and literature and turning it into something both revered and mocked. She is straight-up hilarious. (Kate, we can be besties too!) I love her take on historical events and literature especially. One of my favorite strips in this book was about Wuthering Heights. This book is awesome and features a little something for almost everyone. It's also really easy to read a couple pages and come back later. To savor it, of course.

The Astronaut Wives Club by Lily Koppel
This book was read with one of my book clubs. I know there are a lot of "from the wife's perspective" books out there right now (and with good reason), but I liked the unique perspective this book provided on history. First of all, the space race is not something I was taught about in school, and it is a fascinating time in American history. There was so much happening in this twenty year period where we went from nothing to moonwalking! Anyway, this book covered the history of space travel, the astronauts involved, and how this whole thing affected their families. It was a very readable nonfiction book, and I learned a lot from it.


The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
I just talked about this book on here, so I feel like it might get a bit redundant to explain my adoration of this book here. So please see below and just read the book because it was really very good. I promise.

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
Okay, I know I'm throwing in a lot of graphic novels on this list. This year I read more graphic novels than in years past. There were a lot of good ones. So Nimona was my favorite of the graphic novels, 100%. Nimona is the title character: a shape-shifting teenage villainous sidekick. She joins up with a notorious villain as his sidekick in this strange, wonderful medieval/tech mash (hard to explain, but easy to understand). The book has an amazing, continuous story. It's funny and sweet, with a surprising amount of heart. Also, Meredith got me a signed copy when she saw Noelle Stevenson at SPX, so be jealous!

When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning
I don't know if you know this about me, internet readers, but I love books about books. That being said, this book had me just by its title. I found this book to be surprising and fascinating. The story of books during WWI and WWII was one I had not heard of before. The book discussed the campaign to send books to our soldiers, the various hands involved, and how these books were received. While reading this book, I had to note several books I needed to read based on their descriptions here. Also, I just couldn't believe how big of an impact the books had on morale. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but in today's world, this type of impact wouldn't be possible. Anyway, I highly suggest this book for you fellow book lovers out there.

Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson
I read Jenny Lawson's Let's Pretend This Never Happened some time last year. I didn't really think it lived up to all of the hype, although there were some portions of the book that really got to me (in a laughing uncontrollably way). Anyway, that's why I wanted to read this newest book by Lawson, because I figured even if I didn't love the book, there would be some parts I did. I was right. I liked this book more than the first. Even though Lawson talks a lot about her mental illness, the book was very funny. The chapters were generally quite short, which made the book zoom by for me, and listening to the audio really helped to understand Lawson more. (I also just really like hearing memoirs read by their authors.)

The Martian by Andy Weir
You guys, have you read this one yet? I know there's a Matt Damon movie out and all, but you should seriously read the book too. (By the way, the movie was pretty good!) This book is about an astronaut left for dead on Mars alone who has to try and survive until help comes. Mars is super far away, so this isn't easy, of course. The book was surprisingly funny and accessible, even though it is heavy on the science. Even if you aren't a sci-fi reader, this book should make your list.

Okay, that's my top ten. Next week I'll tell you which was my number one. I'm sure you'll be just dying of anticipation.

What are your top books read this year?

~ Cailey