Constant Reader discussion

We usually list our top 10 - or more- books read in the year. Here are mine for 2015:

Cannery Row - Steinbeck
Deep Down Dark - Tobar
The Blazing World - Hustvedt
Great Expectations - Dickens
A God in Ruins - Atkinson
Everything I Never Told You - Ng
Euphoria - King
A Spy Among Friends - MacIntyre
The Children Act - McEwan
Being Mortal - Guwande
Farenheit 451 - Bradbury

Happy reading in 2016, everyone!

I was just looking up my books to do this.

All the Light You Cannot See -- Doerr
My Brilliant Friend -- Ferrante
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves -- Fowler
Epitaph -- Russell
A Spool of Blue Thread -- Tyler
The Buried Giant -- Ishiguro
Not My Father's Son -- Cumming
Doomsday Book -- Willis
What I Loved -- Hustvedt
Station Eleven -- Mandel

These are not in any order. And tomorrow my list might be different.

In no particular order...
Portrait in Sepia - Isabel Allende
Zorro - Allende
Inės of My Soul - Allende
Dance of the Happy Shades - Alice Munro short stories
The Winds of War - Herman Wouk
Middle Age: A Romance - Joyce Carol Oates
The Round House - Louise Erdrich
The Boston Girl - Anita Diamant
Double Star - Robert Heinlein
Elements of Jazz: From Cakewalks to Fusion - Bill Messenger lectures for this Great Courses production

I especially enjoy these lists because they give me more to stack on the TBR mountain!
When I look at what I read in 2015, it feels pretty light in tone--mystery series, etc. I enjoyed a great deal of it, but these are the more literary ones that really ranked high as reading experiences:

The Children's Crusade - Packer
The Turner House - Flournoy
The Hundred Year Old House - Makkai
Dietland-Walker
Career of Evil (third of Galbreath novels--whole series is great)
Empire Falls-Russo
A Brief History of Montmaray-Cooper
The FitzOsbornes in Exile (sequel to above; have the conclusion of the trilogy on tap)-Cooper
ETA: Station Eleven-Mandel

I love reading others' favorite books of the year!

Here are mine, in no particular order:
The Goldfinch
Station Eleven
All the Light We Cannot See
Revolutionary Road
Fourth of July Creek
Empire Falls
Someone
A Spool of Blue Thread
My Brilliant Friend
The Story of a New Name

My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay - all by Elena Ferrante
Angel , Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont - both by Elizabeth Taylor
How to Be Both - Ali Smith
The Blazing World - Siri Hustvedt
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves - Karen Joy Fowler
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
An Accidental Man - Iris Murdoch
The Leopard - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

Some of my best reads this year were actually re-reads:
White Teeth and The Satanic Verses are both even better than I remember them.

I met many new authors this year as well. Three highlights:
Siri Hustvedt (especially The Blazing World)
Erri De Luca (especially Tre cavalli) and
Percival Everett (especially Erasure and Glyph)

Also terrific:
Underworld
The Floating Opera
The Last Samurai
Tropismes
Cosmicomics

My most memorable, 4 and 5 stars, reads in 2015 were, in no particular order
Short story collections
The American Lover - Rose Tremain
The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury

Best individual short story
The Shawl - Cynthia Ozick

Re-reads
The Quiet American - Graham Greene

New reads
The Lives of Others - Neel Mukherjee
Every Day is for the Thief - Teju Cole
I Saw Ramallah - Mourid Barghouti
The Wandering Falcon - Jamil Ahmad
The Sound of Things Falling - Juan Gabriel Vásquez
The Lowland - Jhumpa Lahiri
The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt
Monasterio - Eduardo Halfon
The Fishermen - Chigozie Obioma
The Chimes - Anna Smaill
The Strange Library - Haruki Murakami

Overall winner, and not just because it was one of the last books of the year for me to read
The Year of the Runaways - Sunjeev Sahota

A mix of fiction and nonfiction top my list:

Van Gogh: A Life - Naifeh
A Prayer for Owen Meany - Irving
Swamplandia! - Russell
Believer - Axelrod
The Nightingale - Hannah
The Invention of Wings - Kidd
The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England - Jones
The Lively Lady - Roberts
The Whiskey Rebels - Liss
The Day of the Scorpion - Scott

I forgot The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry - also a 2015 favorite.

We discussed Harold in 2013. Here's a link to our discussion: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

This has not been a good reading year for me. Several books left unfinished. Not nearly as many read as I usually have. Looking back, I find the only books I gave 5 stars to were poetry.

Ah Clio, Joan Colby
Paul Hostovsky: Selected Poems
In This Hour Sandra Giedeman
Splitting an Order Ted Kooser
In the Home of the Famous Dead: Collected Poems, Jo McDougall

That's it, folks.

I've read a number of those on the lists above in 2014. Yes, many are wonderful reads. And, prior to this posting I have others from those lists on this year's TBR.

Yes, Chef by Marcus Samuelsson
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines
Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill
Here be Dragons by Sharon Kay Penman
The Yard by Alex Grecian
The Poet of Baghdad: A True Story of Love and Defiance by Jo Tatchell
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman
This House of Sky: Landscapes of a Western Mind by Ivan Doig
Winter by Marissa Meyer
Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami
Frog Music by Emma Donoghue
Half a Life: A Memoir by Darin Strauss

The book I got most pleasure from last year was definitely Station Eleven.

In second probably The Bone Clocks, All the Light We Cannot See, and My Brilliant Friend

After those: What I Loved, The Group, maybe Rivers.

I didn't read enough! Thirty three books seems very unlike a Constant Reader. I have a goal of 48 books for this year.

Not a great year in reading for me. Three notable non fiction books that I liked include Atul Gawande's BEING MORTAL, truly a gift to us all. I also liked Amanda Lindhout's A HOUSE IN THE SKY, and Adam Nicolson's WHY HOMER MATTERS. Standouts on the fiction front, Ian McEwan's THE CHILDREN ACT, Penelope Fitzgerald's THE GATE OF ANGELS, Emily St John Mandel's STATION ELEVEN, but by far the best book of the year for me, was Edward St Aubyn's LOST FOR WORDS, a hilarious send up of the behind the scenes shenanigans that finally result in the winner of the Man-Booker Prize. I thought it was brilliant.

I've added 'Station Eleven' and 'All the Light you cannot see' to my audible list as a result of recommendation here. Tx

LITERARY FICTION

The Last Hundred Years trilogy by Jane Smiley (Early Warning, Golden Age)

The Book of Strange New Things by Michael Faber

The Neapolitan Novels by Elena Ferrante

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena by Anthony Marra

The Children Act by Ian McEwan


NON-FICTION
Enemies: A History of the FBI by Tim Weiner

Birdmen: The Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtis and the Battle to Control the Skies
by Lawrence Goldstone

Eisenhower in War and Peace by Jean Edward Smith



JUST FOR FUN

Man at the Helm by Nina Stibbe

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

Why Not Me by Minday Kaling

Poldark Novels by Winston Graham

Here are my favorites of 2015:
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante
The Story of a New Name by Elena Ferrante
Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay by Elena Ferrante
A Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman *
What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee *
Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns *
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck *
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Blue Nights by Joan Didion
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Strange As This Weather Has Been by Ann Pancake

* A Reread

I love these lists. It's always a pleasure for me to look back and I enjoy reading everyone else's.

Here are mine:

Fiction:
The Iliad by Homer (Thank you so much to everyone here for helping me through this. It was a great experience.)
The Hundred Years Trilogy by Jane Smiley
What I Loved by Siri Hustvedt
Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Door by Magda Szabó
My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Nonfiction:
Why Homer Matters by Adam Nicolson (such an amazing book -- wish I'd read it before or concurrent with The Odyssey and The Iliad)
Essays After Eighty by Donald Hall
The Life and Death of the American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education by Diane Ravitch
The Mayor of McDougall Street by Dave Van Ronk and Elijiah Wald
My Life on the Road by Gloria Steinem

Poetry (I am a slow reader of poetry but I absolutely loved this collection):
Breath by Philip Levine

Short Stories (Thank you, Sheila. Why didn't I think of doing this before?!?):
"Sold" by Wendell Berry
"The Shawl" by Cynthia Ozick
"The Child Screams and Looks Back at You" by Russell Banks

Barb,
Thanks for reminding me how much I enjoyed CRANFORD. I also put WHY HOMER MATTERS on my TRR list. I still want to finish the ILLIAD. Much as I was enjoying the read, life got in the way.

Ann, Why Homer Matters just might inspire you to go back to The Iliad. I played around with the idea of rereading The Odyssey when I finished but must admit that the idea floated away pretty quickly.

I had almost forgotten about Cranfird until I looked at my Read list to make up this list. It was fun for me to remember it too.

I was enjoying Cranford, but something drew me away. Cannot remember what, but it sits on the 'currently reading' part of my books still. I'll get back to it sometime.

I read 64 books in 2015. Goodreads didn't count all of them since some were rereads. Anyway, these were the best in no particular order.

WEST WITH THE NIGHT by Beryl Markham
CIRCLING THE SUN by Paula McLain
WHAT I LOVED by Siri Husvedt
A TALE FOR THE TIME BEING by Ruth Ozeki
ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr
THE BONE CLOCKS by David Mitchell
THE CHILDREN ACT by Ian McEwan
A BANQUET OF CONSEQUENCES by Elizabeth George
A BRILLIANT FRIEND and THE STORY OF A NEW NAME by Elena Ferrante
SOME LUCK, EARLY WARNING, and GOLDEN AGE by Jane Smiley

Glad to see your list, Jane. Now I am waiting for the lists of 10 best and worst films from both you and Tom. They go right up there with the Academy Award nominations!

Barbara wrote: "Glad to see your list, Jane. Now I am waiting for the lists of 10 best and worst films from both you and Tom. They go right up there with the Academy Award nominations!"

I just posted them.

Great choices, Jane. I've read all of them except CIRCLING THE SUN and A BANQUET OF CONSEQUENCES. Guess I better get busy.

Ann wrote: "Great choices, Jane. I've read all of them except CIRCLING THE SUN and A BANQUET OF CONSEQUENCES. Guess I better get busy."

Thanks, Ann. A CONSTELLATION OF VITAL PHENOMENA was on my best list of 2014.

Because Station Eleven has been mentioned several times, I thought I'd post this rather light-hearted interview with the author. She talks about how she originally thought of the idea:

http://www.livewireradio.org/content/...

I love Best Books of the Year lists. Here are some I liked in 2015:

--Between You and Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen, by Mary Norris (nonfiction)
--Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont (Thanks for the rec!)
--The Turner House, by Angela Flournoy
--El Deafo, by Cece Bell (kids' graphic novel)
--Rude Cakes, by Rowboat Watkins (picture book)
--Getting Schooled, by Garrett Keizer (nonfiction)
--Eichmann Before Jerusalem, by Bettina Stangneth (nonfiction)
--Paper Love, by Sarah Wildman (nonfiction)
--Make Your Home Among Strangers, by Jeanine Capo Crucet
--Dragonfish, by Vu Tran
--What It Is, and Syllabus, by Lynda Barry (nonfiction graphic novels)
--Andy Goldsworthy: Ephemeral Works (photography)
--Moby-Dick (probably my favorite of the year)
--Older, Faster, Stronger, by Margaret Webb (nonfiction, on running)
--Displacement, by Lucy Knisley (graphic novel)

Sheila wrote: "My most memorable, 4 and 5 stars, reads in 2015 were, in no particular order

Sheila, thanks for mentioning The Year of the Runaways. That's not one I knew, and I'm adding it to my list.

Hi Susan! I've been wanting to read Mary Norris' book. I loved the excerpt in the New Yorker. Turner House is also on my towering TBR list. Now, I will also be looking at that picture book.

Thanks for posting your list, Susan. I have read some good reviews of Dragonfish and was very interested to see it on your best list.

Barb, Mary is a friend, and I just loved her book. She came out and charmed a crowd at the Westport Library. Do go see her read if she comes to Ann Arbor ever. She has the greatest sense of humor. Rude Cakes is really funny, too. The kids I read to (2nd grade) loved it.

Ann, yes, Dragonfish. I liked it for the Vegas setting as much as anything. Some relatives live out there, and I've visited a couple of times, always marveling at what a strange/great/over-the-top/loopy place it is.

Oh, and, Sheila, I am now on the library's hold list for The Year of the Runaways. Yay!

I'm very late to this one but here are my top 5 of 2015:

Beneath the Surface: Killer Whales, SeaWorld, and the Truth Beyond Blackfish by John Hargrove
Not on Fire, but Burning by Greg Hrbek
Fortune Smiles by Adam Johnson
Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee
Slade House by David Mitchell

Oh Susan, I hope Mary Norris comes to Ann Arbor. That would be a treat. We have a relatively new independent bookstore here that is surprisingly successful at attracting nationally known writers. So, maybe it will happen.

Ethan,
I really liked Adam Johnson's The Orphan Master's Son. I am happy to hear that Fortune Smiles is also good. David Mitchell is a favorite of mine and I hav ealso put Slade House on my list.

Ethan, more to put on my TBR list. I'm just going to have to live a long long time.

Gina wrote: "Ethan, more to put on my TBR list. I'm just going to have to live a long long time."

You're not the only one. I've seen several mentioned here that I wasn't able to get to last year!