This is the list of the 92 books I read in 2015, in the order that I read them. Normally I read 100 to 110 books every year, so I was low in 2015. Partly this was because I read more chunksters last year than I usually do. But mostly I didn't get through as many books because I was crazy busy with a big sex abuse case.
I rate books 1 to 5, but only give five stars to a very few all-time favorites. Four stars go to books I think are really good and would recommend to anyone. I rate a book a 3 if I liked it personally, but wouldn't think of recommending it. Most books get 3.5, which means that I liked it and would recommend it to people who like that genre or type of book. See this post for details.
The White Feather by P. G. Wodehouse (2.5/5)
For Keeps: Women Tell the Truth About Their Bodies, Growing Older, and Acceptance, edited by Victoria Zackheim (3.5/5)
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (4.5/5)
Felicia’s Journey by William Trevor (4/5)
Portrait of a Woman in White by Susan Winkler (reviewed here; my interview of Susan Winkler; 4/5)
I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley (3/5)
A Question of Belief by Donna Leon (3/5)
Things Invisible to See by Nancy Willard (reviewed here; 3.5/5)
The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (3.5/5)
Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley (3.5/5)
Oscar Wilde: A Certain Genius by Barbara Belford (3/5)
The Stories by Vladimir Nabokov (5/5)
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (3.5/5)
Skios by Michael Frayn (4/5)
The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman (3/5)
Difficulties with Girls by Kingsley Amis (3.5/5)
I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron (4/5)
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (4/5)
The New York Stories by Elizabeth Hardwick (3/5)
The Bat by Jo Nesbo (3.5/5)
The Dinner by Herman Koch (4/5)
Oh, Play that Thing by Roddy Doyle (3/5)
Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi (3.5/5)
The Lyre of Orpheus by Robertson Davies (4.5/5)
The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro (4/5)
Past Imperfect by Julian Fellows (4.5/5)
Not George Washington by P. G. Wodehouse (3/5)
The Whole World Over by Julia Glass (3.5/5)
Night Fall by Nelson DeMille (3.5/5)
The Sweet Dove Dies by Barbara Pym (3/5)
Nice Work by David Lodge (4/5)
The Humans by Matt Haig (4/5)
The Untouchable by John Banville (3.5/5)
The Small Bachelor by P. G. Wodehouse (3.5/5)
The Book of Jonah by Joshua Max Feldman (3.5/5)
Personal by Lee Child (3.5/5)
Southern Ladies and Gentlemen by Florence King (3.5/5)
Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain (3/5)
The Clicking of Cuthbert by P.G. Wodehouse (3.5/5)
The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals that Protect Us From Violence by Gavin de Becker (3/5)
Painting as a Pastime by Winston Churchill (3.5/5)
Extra Virgin: A Young Woman Discovers the Italian Riviera, Where Every Month is Enchanted by Annie Hawes (3.5/5)
The Swoop! Or How Clarence Saved England: A Tale of the Great Invasion by P.G. Woodhouse (3.5/5)
The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro (4/5)
The Georgetown Set: Friends and Rivals in Cold War Washington by Gregg Herken (3.5/5)
How to Be Good by Nick Hornby (3.5/5)
On Writing Well by William Zinsser (4/5)
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (Pulitzer winner; 3/5)
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (4/5)
Wickford Point by John P. Marquand (3/5)
Comeback by Dick Francis (3.5/5)
Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (Booker winner; 4/5)
The Rise & Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman (2.5/5)
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (3/5)
Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris (3.5/5)
The Treasure Principle: Discovering the Secret of Joyful Giving by Randy Alcorn (3/5)
The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz (3/5)
The Butchers Boy by Thomas Perry (Edgar Award winner; 3.5/5)
Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World by Anthony Doerr (3/5)
The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side by Agatha Christie (3.5/5)
The Sins of the Fathers by Lawrence Block (3/5)
Cat Chaser by Elmore Leonard (3.5/5)
A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie (3.5/5)
Olivay by Deborah Reed (4/5)
Fling and Other Stories by John Hersey (3.5/5)
The Charm School by Nelson DeMille (4/5)
Promised Land by Robert B. Parker (3.5/5)
The Last Gentleman by Walker Percy (2.5/5)
A Bromfield Galaxy by Louis Bromfield:
- The Green Bay Tree (3/5)
- Early Autumn (Pulitzer winner; 3/5)
- A Good Woman (3/5)
In the Frame by Dick Francis (3.5/5)
Peyton Place by Grace Metalious (3.5/5)
The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth (4.5/5)
The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall (4/5)
The Spire by William Golding (3/5)
Big Money by P. G. Woodhouse (3.5/5)
Getting It Right by William F. Buckley, Jr. (3.5/5)
Let Me Be Frank with You by Richard Ford (3.5/5)
How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran (3.5/5)
Still Midnight by Denise Mina (3.5/5)
Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding (3.5/5)
Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens (Pulitzer winner; 3/5)
A Thousand Bells at Noon : A Roman's Guide to the Secret & Pleasures of his Native City by G. Franco Romagnoli (3.5/5)
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates (3/5)
The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald (3.5/5)
Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher (4.5/5)
The Marseille Caper by Peter Mayle (3/5)
Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton (3.5/5)
Silent Joe by Jefferson Parker (Edgar Award winner; 3.5/5)
Three Blind Mice and Other Stories by Agatha Christie (3.5/5)
The Collected Stories by Dorothy Parker (3.5/5)
Bonjour Tristesse Françoise Sagan (3/5)
Wow....a very impressive list.
ReplyDeleteI have only read ONE out of all of your books...The Cruelest Month.
Happy Friday and Weekend.
Elizabeth
Silver's Reviews
My Blog
I am surprised to see some fiction on your list. It seems like you are always reading something nonfiction on your Book Beginnings blog so that is why I thought that.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like a nice, fulfilling list of books. Happy new Year!
Hmmmmmm . . . Anne, I may have to call you Nancy Drew! This list also reveals that my Book Beginnings posts don't accurately track the books I am actually reading. ;-)
ReplyDelete