2015 Wrap-Up: Books!

I wanted to read 40 books in 2015, and I made it by finishing the last one on New Year's Eve eve.  Here's the list. 

• 40) Why Not Me? - Mindy Kaling (funny)
• 39) Pretty Girls - Karin Slaughter (awful)
• 38) My Brilliant Friend - Elena Ferrante (quite good)
• 37) A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini (amazing)
• 36) The Grownup - Gillian Flynn (excellent gothic short story)
• 35) Those Girls - Chevy Stevens (quite good!)
• 34) Luckiest Girl Alive - Jessica Knoll (ugh)
• 33) Garden of Shadows - V.C. Andrews (sometimes I like to re-read crap from my teenage years)
• 32) The Daughter - Jane Shemilt (mixed feelings)
• 31) We Have Always Lived In the Castle - Shirley Jackson (excellent gothic novel)
• 30) Burn - Ellen Hopkins (meh)
• 29) Modern Romance - Aziz Ansari & Eric Klinenberg (excellent)
• 28) Dear Daughter - Elizabeth Little (meh)
• 27) Woman With A Secret - Sophie Hannah (good)
• 26) Pretty Baby - Mary Kubica (OK)
• 25) Disclaimer - Renée Knight (quite good)
• 24) Who Do You Love - Jennifer Weiner (excellent)
• 23) Dietland - Sarai Walker (good and different)
• 22) Has Anyone Seen My Pants? - Sarah Colonna (hilarious)
• 21) Saint Anything - Sarah Dessen (good)
• 20) Inside the O'Briens - Lisa Genova (good tearjerker)
• 19) Wolf Winter - Cecilia Ekbäck (quite good)
• 18) Missoula - John Krakauer (excellent)
• 17) Finders Keepers - Stephen King (okay)
• 16) Pretty Little Killers - Daleen Berry (can't believe I read true crime)
• 15) What Alice Forgot - Liane Moriarity (good)
• 14) Big Little Lies - Liane Moriarity (excellent)
• 13) The Pocket Wife - Susan Crawford (okay)
• 12) Where They Found Her - Kimberley McCreight (meh)
• 11) The Wicked Girls - Alex Marwood (quite good)
• 10) Life Sentences - Laura Lippman (meh)
• 9) The Good Girl - Mary Kubica (meh)
• 8) After I'm Gone - Laura Lippman (meh)
• 7) If I Fall, I Die - Michael Christie (OK)
• 6) All the Bright Places - Jennifer Niven (quite good)
• 5) I Was Here - Gayle Forman (OK)
• 4) Celestial Navigation - Anne Tyler (heartbreaking)
• 3) The Girl On the Train - Paula Hawkins (good)
• 2) Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng (excellent)
• 1) What the Dead Know - Laura Lippman (good mystery)

My top three (in no particular order) were:

Everything I Never Told You - by Celeste Ng
This book about a missing girl isn't a simple murder mystery.  It's a complex look at a multicultural family before people were used to inter-racial relationships.  This book is beautifully written.

Who Do You Love - Jennifer Weiner
This is probably my favourite book written by Weiner.  It's a gripping love story where you really come to like the characters.

Modern Romance - Aziz Ansari & Eric Klinenberg
This is a book looking at modern dating written by a stand-up comedian and a sociologist.  It was a fascinating read and really funny.  I learned that the next time that I want a first date to go well, I'm going to a monster truck rally!




My reading goal for 2016 will stay the same at 40 books.  I don't think I can increase it and still keep up with other parts of my life, but about one book per week-and-a-half is a good goal to maintain.