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Best (and Worst) Books of 2015 So Far


Kylie

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Can you believe we're nearly halfway through the year already?! Crikey! That means it must be time to roll out this annual thread...

 

What are the best books you've read so far? Have there been any clunkers?  :readingtwo:

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The only book I've awarded 10/10 so far is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. It was a real stand-out! :)

 

Half a dozen others also really hit the mark for me (9/10), including the second and third books in Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy, The Humans by Matt Haig, Ripley Under Ground by Patricia Highsmith and The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson.

 

The lowest-ranked book for me so far is Haruki Murakami's Underground. Fascinating subject matter, but very poorly delivered. I rated it 6/10.

 

All told, I've had a pretty good reading year so far! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone else's replies. :)

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Sand Part One: The Belt of the Buried Gods by Hugh Howey was one of the best short stories I've read outside of Shirley Jackson's, along with Andy Weir's collection.  Also Burial Rights by Hannah Kent was so great, as was my first Jodi Picoult, Plain Truth. 

 

And I didn't like The Giver.  :hide: 

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I've given top marks to three books so far:

 

The Curate's Wife by E. H. Young

Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid

Walking Home by Clare Balding

 

and although I've given up on a couple, the one I've least enjoyed was:

 

Perfect by Rachel Joyce

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My favourites so far this year have been all ten of the Patrick O'Brians I've read since the turn of the year, every one of them wonderful - though, if I had to pick just one, it would be The Reverse of the Medal.

 

Then there was Carter Beats the Devil, which was just a joy to read, and The City and the City by China Mieville.

 

Clunkers?  Deathstalker by Simon R Green.  Dreadful.  Appalling.  Dire.  Unforgiveable.  Stinky.  Never.  Again.

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Then there was Carter Beats the Devil, which was just a joy to read.

Oh go on .. rub it in!!  :D 

 

I've given a lot of top marks this year .. not unusual for me .. I'm very generous (or undiscerning .. in other words!  :D )

I won't list all my favourites but the real standouts were ..

Miss Mapp - E.F. Benson

Queen Lucia - E.F. Benson

The Hours - Michael Cunningham

The Mangle Street Murders - M.R.C. Kasasian

The Winter Queen - Boris Akunin

The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear - Walter Moers

Diving Belles - Lucy Wood

Murder Most Unladylike - Robin Stevens

The Red Notebook - Antoine Laurain

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress - Dai Sijie

East of Eden - John Steinbeck

Campari for Breakfast - Sara Crowe

A Month in the Country - J.L. Carr

Hippy Dinners - Abbie Ross

 

I really didn't enjoy Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn but the book that came closest to being abandoned was Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey. A cure for insomnia .. if ever there was one  :blush2: 

 

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The best so far this year:

 

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

The Humans - Matt Haig

Unbroken - Laura Hillenbrand

Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens

Tortilla Flat - John Steinbeck

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - Agatha Christie

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

 

The worst by far this year:

 

Breakfast of Champions – Kurt Vonnegut

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I've read five books so far this year that I gave five out of five for;

 

The three musketeers - Dumas

The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith (J.K.Rowling)

Revival - Stephen King

The Casual Vacancy - J.K.Rowling

Kidnapped - R.L Stevenson

 

There were a number of books that I rated 3 out of 5, but of them, one stands out as a nearly didn't bother finishing;

 

The Girl on the train - Paula Hawkins

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Oooh ooh ooh fun topic, okay. Well I've read 62 books so far this year, and a lot of them were great, so I'm being strict with my favourites but I'm including quite a few honourable mentions.

 

Favourites:

 

To Rise Again At A Decent Hour - Joshua Ferris

Penpal - Dathan Auerbach

Magic 2.0: Off To Be The Wizard  - Scott Meyer

The Last Days Of Rabbit Hayes - Anna McPartlin

Where the Trains Turn - Pasi Iimari Jaaskelainen

 

Honourable Mentions:

 

Sleepless - Lou Morgan

The Monstrumologist - Rick Yancey

The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes

Bird Box - Josh Malerman

The Martian - Andy Weir

Can Anybody Help Me? - Sinead Crowley

The Girl On The Train - Paula Hawkins

Burial Rites - Hannah Kent

 

Least Favourite:

 

A Day at the Office - Matt Dunn (didn't even finish it)

 

Dishonourable Mentions:

 

The Sky Is Everywhere - Jandy Nelson

Perfect Ruin - Lauren DeStefano (so badly written... but I still enjoyed it XD)

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The BEST so far, and all 5/5's.

 

The Nightingale - Kristin Hannah

The Last Days of Rabbit Hayes - Anna McPartlin

Johnny Got HIs Gun - Dalton Trumbo

Academy Street - Mary Costello

The Moonfield - Judith Allnatt

 

(Funnily enough three of those are based in wartime, definitely one of my favourite eras)

 

The WORST so far.

 

Cruel Summer - James Dawson

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown - Holly Black

The 5th Wave - Rick Yancey

 

(Interestingly, all YA reads, I think it would take something special to peak my interest in this genre now.

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The ones I've given 5/5 this year, in chronological order

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb 

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (re-read) 

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion 

My Fat, Mad Teenage Diary by Rae Earl

My Madder Fatter Diary by Rae Earl

A Tap on the Window by Linwood Barclay 

There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar 

The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar 

Holes by Louis Sachar

The Man Who Watched Women by Michael Hjorth & Hans Rosenfeldt 

Disclaimer by Renee Knight 

 

And the 1/5 rated books

Chasing the Dead by Tim Weaver 

His Other Life by Beth Thomas
Edited by frankie
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The ones I've given 5/5 this year, in chronological order

She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb 

The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (re-read) 

The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion 

My Fat, Mad Teenage Diary by Rae Earl

My Madder Fatter Diary by Rae Earl

A Tap on the Window by Linwood Barclay 

There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar 

The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar 

Holes by Louis Sachar

The Man Who Watched Women by Michael Hjorth & Hans Rosenfeldt 

 

And the 1/5 rated books

Chasing the Dead by Tim Weaver 

His Other Life by Beth Thomas

 

I've had She's Come Undone on my bookshelf for awhile.  I really need to get to it soon.  I've heard a lot about The Rosie Project on here, so I should definitely try to get a copy.

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I've had She's Come Undone on my bookshelf for awhile.  I really need to get to it soon.  I've heard a lot about The Rosie Project on here, so I should definitely try to get a copy.

 

Obviously I'm going to recommend you read both of the books as I've listed them as a few of my 5/5 reads this year, but I also know that other people have loved the books, too, so there! :smile2: 

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This year, the books I have rated 5/5 are Wreckage by Emily Bleeker and Little Bee by Chris Cleave.  I've liked a lot of books this year, but these were the only two that wowed me.  I'm very sparing with my 5 stars.

 

The lowest ratings (1/5 and 2/5) go to these four : Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin (1/5)- Even the cameo of some favorite character's from another Giffin's novels couldn't save this one from bird cage liner status.  The Burglar on the Prowl by Lawerence Block (2/5), Sailing to Capri by Elizabeth Adler(2/5), The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury (2/5).  These were all books that were picks in my physical book club.

 

 

 

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Best of 2015 so far:

 

John Flanagan - Ranger's Apprentice 1: The Ruins of Gorlan

Peter F. Hamilton - The Void Trilogy 1: The Dreaming Void

Brandon Sanderson - Alcatraz series

Brandon Sanderson - Elantris

Jodi Picoult - Perfect Match

Anne Frank - Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven 12 Juni 1942 - 1 Augustus 1944

H. G. Wells - The War of the Worlds

Scott Meyer - Magic 2.0 3: An Unwelcome Quest

A. C. Baantjer and Simon de Waal - De Waal & Baantjer 10: Een Tien met een Griffel

Diane Chamberlain - The Silent Sister

Matt Haig - The Humans

Marie Lu - Legend 3: Champion

Martine Delfos - Een Vreemde Wereld (re-read)

Various Geronimo Stilton books

 

Worst of 2015 so far:

 

Tony Atwood, Temple Grandin and Others - Meisjes en Vrouwen met Asperger (Asperger's and Girls)

Thea Stilton - Het Leven op Topford 1: Liefde in de Schijnwerpers

Louise Rennison - The Misadventures of Tallulah Casey 1: Withering Tights

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  • 3 weeks later...

Best reads so far this year:

 

At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald

Frenchman's Creek by Daphne DuMaurier

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke

 

Worst reads:

 

Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon

Ulysses by James Joyce (I flipped through it, tried to read some pages out loud with an Irish accent, thought it was amusing but not worth the time it would take to read. I'm too old for this and have too many other things to get done!)

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  • 4 months later...

Nearing the end of the year now ( :roll2: ), so I thought I'd add mine to the list.

 

I've just read through my scores on my reviews, and in retrospect I swear I enjoyed some of the 5/6 more than some of the 5.5/6. :dunno:  So, I won't go by the scores I gave them, but how I feel about them now.

 

So the winners are:

 

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle - Haruki Murakami

The Shock of the Fall - Nathan Flier

Station Eleven - Emily St. John Mandel

The Mangle Street Murders - M.R.C Kasasian

Only Ever Yours - Louise O'Neill

The Dinosaur Hunters - Deborah Cadbury

 

And the losers:

 

No One Gets Out Alive - Adam Nevill

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason - Helen Fielding

Z2134 - Sean Platt and David Wright

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I loved The Shock of the Fall, BB :).

 

Time to amend my own list (add to it):

 

Best of 2015 so far (not in order):

John Flanagan - Ranger's Apprentice series

Brandon Sanderson - Alcatraz series

Brandon Sanderson - Elantris

Brandon Sanderson - Mistborn 1-3

Holly Black and Cassandra Clare - Magisterium 1: De Ijzerproef (Magisterium 1: The Iron Trial)

Peter F. Hamilton - The Void Trilogy series

Andy Weir - The Martian

Walter Moers - Zamonië 4: De Stad van de Dromende Boeken (Zamonien 4: Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher)

Jodi Picoult - Perfect Match

Ken Follett - The Pillars of the Earth series

H. G. Wells - The War of the Worlds

Scott Meyer - Magic 2.0 3: An Unwelcome Quest

A. C. Baantjer and Simon de Waal - De Waal & Baantjer 10: Een Tien met een Griffel

Diane Chamberlain - The Silent Sister

Matt Haig - The Humans

Marie Lu - Legend series

Various Geronimo Stilton and Thea Stilton books (not the Het Leven of Topford series, I didn't like those (see below))

Paul van Loon - De Griezelbus series

Martine Delfos - Een Vreemde Wereld (re-read)

Anne Frank - Het Achterhuis: Dagboekbrieven 12 Juni 1942 - 1 Augustus 1944

 

Worst of 2015 so far (books I did finish):

Tony Atwood, Temple Grandin and Others - Meisjes en Vrouwen met Asperger (Asperger's and Girls)

Thea Stilton - Het Leven op Topford series

Louise Rennison - The Misadventures of Tallulah Casey 1: Withering Tights

Herman Koch - Geachte Heer M.

 

Abandoned books this year (books I didn't like enough to finish):

Various Authors - Stories on the Go: 101 Very Short Stories by 101 Authors (~11%)

Jenny Colgan - Operation Sunshine (~30%)

Jeremy Strong - Cows, Chickens, Aliens And ... Orang-utans?! 3: Batpants! (library copy was falling apart)

Rory Growler - Me & My Monsters 4: Monster School! (read about ~50%, wasn't in the mood enough to read it)

Andy Stanton (ill. David Tazzyman) - Mr. Gum 7: Mr Gum and the Cherry Tree (read ~10 pages, wasn't in the mood but might be fun another time)

Terry Pratchett - Discworld 23: Carpe Jugulum (I read about 40% but I wasn't enjoying it.)

Peter van Olmen - De Kleine Odessa 2: Het Geheim van Lode A. (I read ~100 out of 564 pages but wasn't enjoying it. I couldn't feel for the characters. It might be better if I read book 1 in the series first, I might give it a go at some point if I find it at the library. The series does have a lot of nice elements, such as books, writing and writers.)

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My top fifteen so far this year (may change in December, who knows!) There were other 5* and 4.5* books I chose not to include here, because this is favourites, not necessarily the best!

 

To Rise Again At A Decent Hour - Joshua Ferris (5*)
The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins (5*)
Magic 2.0: Off To Be The Wizard  - Scott Meyer (5*)
The Last Days Of Rabbit Hayes - Anna McPartlin (5*)
The Monstrumologist - Rick Yancey (5*)

Fly By Night - Frances Hardinge (5*)
Longbourn - Jo Baker (5*)
The Rabbit Back Literature Society - Pasi Ilmari Jaaskelainen (5*)
Burial Rites - Hannah Kent (4.5*)

Mind Games - Teri Terry (4.5*)
Penpal - Dathan Auerbach (4.5*)
Everything I Never Told You - Celeste Ng (4.5*)

The Martian - Andy Weir (4.5*)

Dark Matter - Michelle Paver (4*)

Bird Box - Josh Malerman (4*)

 

Worst:

 

A Day at the Office - Matt Dunn (didn't finish)
Hold Me Close, Necromancer - Lish McBride (didn't finish)
The Peculiar Life of a Lonely Postman – Denis Theriault (2*)
The Sky Is Everywhere – Jandy Nelson (2.5*)
Perfect Ruin – Lauren DeStefano (2.5*)

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My favourites so far this year is The Devil in the Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson, and The Legacy of Elizabeth Pringle by Kirsty Wark; my least favourites are the one I've just finished, A Place In the Hills by Michelle Paver, which I almost gave up on - hard to believe it was written by the same author who wrote Dark Matter, which was my favourite book a couple of years ago; let's just say she's improved a lot!  Other no-no's were:

 

Prince Lestat by Anne Rice - sheer boredom and I skipped quite a lot of it

 

A Dance with Dragons by George R R Martin - book 5 of Game of Thrones, and after the first 4 books which I've loved, a huge disappointment, boring with lots of talk and not much happening, could easily have been edited into one book. 

Edited by Madeleine
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Burial Rites - Hannah Kent (4.5*)

I liked this one too (I think its even in my response on page 1)... I got the recommendation from your review  :)  Great read, thanks!

 

Edit: This year, Phillip K. Dick's A Scanner Darkly entered my all time favorites list.

Edited by Anna Begins
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