Top Ten Tuesday is meme is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Today’s topic is Top Ten Books I’ve Read So Far In 2015.
I haven’t had very much time to read this year (as my Goodreads kindly reminds that I am x books behind my goal). Here are my top ten books I’ve read in 2015 so far:
1. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
“Caring too much for objects can destroy you. Only—if you care for a thing enough, it takes on a life of its own, doesn’t it? And isn’t the whole point of things—beautiful things—that they connect you to some larger beauty?”
This book was spectacular. The Goldfinch shows raw human emotions, complex characters and complex situations.Best book from Donna Tartt so far.
2. Half Bad by Sally Green
“The trick is not to mind.
Not to mind about it hurting.
Not to mind about anything.”
Half Bad has great first line! I was hooked immediately to this book because of that. Refreshing new kind of fantasy. Books in the series have lovely covers.
3. White Fang by Jack London
Click to see my review of this book.
4. Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami | “The reason why death had such a hold on Tsukuru Tazaki was clear. One day his four closest friends, the friends he’d known for a long time, announced that they did not want to see him, or talk with him, ever again.” If you like Murakami books, this won’t let you down. So simple and beautiful style of writing.
5. Olin Anders Breivikin asianajaja (nor.Det vi kan stå for) by Geir Lippestad | Book by Geir Lippestad who was defense attorney of Anders Breivik, Norwegian terrorist who shot dead over 60 youngsters Workers’ Youth League (AUF) summer camp on the island of Utøya. This book helps you to understand Norwegian law and Norwegian court system (which is very similar to one in Finland) and I think it described well author’s job as lawyer. Especially foreigners called him Devil’s advocate without understanding the situation or the Norwegian law.
6. The Magicians by Lev Grossman | As George R R Martin says in the back cover “The Magicians is to Harry Potter as a shot of Irish whiskey is to a glass of weak tea”. I am not sure why so many readers expected this to be more like Harry Potter. Surely The Magicians can’t be mistaken for or even be compared with chidren’s books. I enjoyed this book. I loved all the references (even to Harry Potter and Hogwarts) and expressions in Russian and Latin. Characters are well developed, story is well-told. Looking forward reading rest of the trilogy.
7. The Battle For WondLa by Tony DiTerlizzi | The Battle for WondLa was the last book in the WondLa trilogy. Illustrations in the book are fantastic and the story is unique. I loved the world, the characters and the strong female heroine Eva Nine.
8.The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman (illustrations by Chris Riddell) | I love Neil Gaiman. Everyone should read this! The Sleeper and the Spindle has beautiful illustrations and plot twists that you don’t see coming. Highly entertaining.
9. Too Much Happiness by Alice Munro
“Always remember that when a man goes out of the room, he leaves everything in it behind… When a woman goes out she carries everything that happened in the room along with her.” Usually, I don’t enjoy reading short stories. However, I am always happy to make an exception. What is unique and beautiful in these ten short stories is how Alice Munro writes about very dark matters. There is pain and there is horror and seemingly ‘too much happiness’. And that leads to horrible events. I loved the descriptions of characters and objects (trees), it was distincts way of thinking and it is what I appreciate in authors. cLast story was my favorite one. Not only does Munro depict the life of Sofia Kovalevskaya, she also manages to fill the story with fantastic cultural references and give accurate picture of what countries and nations(and people and their problems) were like in 19th Century.
10.Winterling by Sarah Prineas
Sarah Prineas is American fantasy author. Her books are mainly targeted for children (and for people like me who adore fantasy). Sarah. P writes fantasy exactly how I want it to be written. It’s funny, it has new elements and it’skind of a rollercoaster and I have never been disappointed with her books. Sometimes, I wrote author ‘fan email’ and she even replied…I was so happy. Winterling is a wondeful book.
Have you read any of these books? What is your top ten? What have been the best reads for you this year?
So many of these books are on my TBR pile. Love that you have such a diverse group of books. My Top Ten Tuesday includes a lot of older titles but I’m using this year to get caught up. We do have some overlap! :)
Thanks for commenting! :D I am very diverse reader. We do indeed! :) I think that’s good idea to have a time to catch up with all the older titles…there are so many good books.
My English teacher was reading The Goldfinch, so I didn’t pick it up because I thought it would be classic-like. Is it? I read YA only so I can’t really judge :)
It is classic-like yes, though I think it maybe sucks you in faster than classics usually :D (Usually with classics you have to read them at least halfway before you are hooked I guess). But maybe if you only like YA kind of books, I maybe wouldn’t recommend it but as good book I would recommend it :)
I haven’t read any of these. I’ve been interested in Murakami the last few months though, but I’m not sure what to pick up first. And The Magicians I know I will love but I’ve got some other fantasy stuff to work through first before I’ll let myself go out and start another series. (So little time…)
Murakami writes well (as does Ishiguro…now that I remembered :D) Too little time indeed, I’ve missed lots of good fantasy series o.O
Ooh, I’ve read The Magicians and Half Bad. I really liked Half Bad! I still have yet to read the sequel that just came out a bit ago, but I’m looking forward to it. :) The Magicians is sort of a book I love to hate? Well, I don’t hate it, but I just wish it had more plot. Other than that, it’s a fascinating take on magic. I love how grown up those books are. You have a few books on here I haven’t heard of, I definitely need to add ’em to my TBR!
Sequel is good! I almost included it here instead of Half Bad but I thought that best start from last or first book, not introduce people books in the middle of the series…hmm. The Magicians was kind of whiny and dark but I adored it haha. New take on magic as you said
Some very good titles in that selection.
So many of these books are on my TBR pile. Love that you have such a diverse group of books. My Top Ten Tuesday includes a lot of older titles but I’m using this year to get caught up. We do have some overlap! :)
Thanks for commenting! :D I am very diverse reader. We do indeed! :) I think that’s good idea to have a time to catch up with all the older titles…there are so many good books.
My English teacher was reading The Goldfinch, so I didn’t pick it up because I thought it would be classic-like. Is it? I read YA only so I can’t really judge :)
It is classic-like yes, though I think it maybe sucks you in faster than classics usually :D (Usually with classics you have to read them at least halfway before you are hooked I guess). But maybe if you only like YA kind of books, I maybe wouldn’t recommend it but as good book I would recommend it :)
I haven’t read any of these. I’ve been interested in Murakami the last few months though, but I’m not sure what to pick up first. And The Magicians I know I will love but I’ve got some other fantasy stuff to work through first before I’ll let myself go out and start another series. (So little time…)
Murakami writes well (as does Ishiguro…now that I remembered :D) Too little time indeed, I’ve missed lots of good fantasy series o.O
Ooh, I’ve read The Magicians and Half Bad. I really liked Half Bad! I still have yet to read the sequel that just came out a bit ago, but I’m looking forward to it. :) The Magicians is sort of a book I love to hate? Well, I don’t hate it, but I just wish it had more plot. Other than that, it’s a fascinating take on magic. I love how grown up those books are. You have a few books on here I haven’t heard of, I definitely need to add ’em to my TBR!
Sequel is good! I almost included it here instead of Half Bad but I thought that best start from last or first book, not introduce people books in the middle of the series…hmm. The Magicians was kind of whiny and dark but I adored it haha. New take on magic as you said
I’ve only read Half Bad, but it was really good! I really need to get my hands on Half Wild.
And The Magicians have been on my TBR for a while now. Glad to see that you enjoyed it!
Some very good titles in that selection.
Admirable reads!
Here are my Top Ten favorites of 2015 so far!
So many gems! I’ve read a few of them, but I’m glad to see a few I haven’t heard of yet! Thanks for sharing! If you’re ever interested in some other great book reviews and musings, be sure to follow! Thanks!
Of course I’ll follow! :) Hope you found some new books to read.
I haven’t read any of these, but I definitely want to read The Sleeper and the Spindle!
My TTT
I’ve only read Half Bad, but it was really good! I really need to get my hands on Half Wild.
And The Magicians have been on my TBR for a while now. Glad to see that you enjoyed it!
I’ve seen The Sleeper and the Spindle all over the book stores I frequent. I’m afraid that if I buy this book, I’ll end up getting an entire Gaiman collection and gah…my shelves are already bursting from books I’ve yet to read, lol.
You NEED entire Gaiman collection hahahaha, aww I think it’s worth buying though. I love Gaiman’s books, but not too big of a fan of american gods for example. Steal other people’s book shelves (y)
Admirable reads!
Here are my Top Ten favorites of 2015 so far!
So many gems! I’ve read a few of them, but I’m glad to see a few I haven’t heard of yet! Thanks for sharing! If you’re ever interested in some other great book reviews and musings, be sure to follow! Thanks!
Of course I’ll follow! :) Hope you found some new books to read.
I haven’t read any of these, but I definitely want to read The Sleeper and the Spindle!
My TTT
I’ve seen The Sleeper and the Spindle all over the book stores I frequent. I’m afraid that if I buy this book, I’ll end up getting an entire Gaiman collection and gah…my shelves are already bursting from books I’ve yet to read, lol.
You NEED entire Gaiman collection hahahaha, aww I think it’s worth buying though. I love Gaiman’s books, but not too big of a fan of american gods for example. Steal other people’s book shelves (y)
I haven’t read any of diTerlizzi’s stuff but i liked his whimsical illustrations…
I’m pretty sure I read WHITE FANG like a million years ago. It was a school assignment at some point in my educational history. Other than that, I haven’t read any of the books on your list although several of them are on my TBR mountain chain. Someday I’ll get to them …
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
I haven’t read any of diTerlizzi’s stuff but i liked his whimsical illustrations…
I’m pretty sure I read WHITE FANG like a million years ago. It was a school assignment at some point in my educational history. Other than that, I haven’t read any of the books on your list although several of them are on my TBR mountain chain. Someday I’ll get to them …
Happy TTT!
Susan
http://www.blogginboutbooks.com
What a cool range. Haven’t read any of them, but have read a few of the of the writers’ other work. A really great post :)
Hope you get the chance to read more from these authors :)
You provide a persuasive argument. You have good taste :)
What a cool range. Haven’t read any of them, but have read a few of the of the writers’ other work. A really great post :)
Hope you get the chance to read more from these authors :)
You provide a persuasive argument. You have good taste :)
I see on looking back that I’ve reviewed 15 books this year (including two doubles), including the Murakami. I’d like to read The Goldfinch, because I enjoyed Tartt’s The Secret History.
I guess I’ve probably read another half dozen that I didn’t review. At the moment I’m about three quarters the way through The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins which is one of the best STORIES I’ve read for some time – review coming up next week, I hope.
I rarely review books that I have read, usually I review books after some time haha. Wilkie Collins is great author! Looking forward to your review! :)
https://bookheathen.wordpress.com/2015/07/04/the-woman-in-white/ -in case you missed it.
I see on looking back that I’ve reviewed 15 books this year (including two doubles), including the Murakami. I’d like to read The Goldfinch, because I enjoyed Tartt’s The Secret History.
I guess I’ve probably read another half dozen that I didn’t review. At the moment I’m about three quarters the way through The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins which is one of the best STORIES I’ve read for some time – review coming up next week, I hope.
I rarely review books that I have read, usually I review books after some time haha. Wilkie Collins is great author! Looking forward to your review! :)
https://bookheathen.wordpress.com/2015/07/04/the-woman-in-white/ -in case you missed it.
Thanks for stopping by my blog! The only one of these I’m at all familiar with is White Fang and I am not sure whether I read the book or just saw the movie. :-) Among my top ten so far this year are The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser, She Is Mine: A War Orphan’s Incredible Journey of Survival by Stephanie Fast, Out of a Far Country by Christopher and Angela Yuan, Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl by Lysa TerKeurst, I Deserve a Donut (And Other Lies That Make You Eat) by Barb Raveling, and Lizzy and Jane by Katherine Reay.
Thanks for stopping by my blog! The only one of these I’m at all familiar with is White Fang and I am not sure whether I read the book or just saw the movie. :-) Among my top ten so far this year are The Swan House by Elizabeth Musser, She Is Mine: A War Orphan’s Incredible Journey of Survival by Stephanie Fast, Out of a Far Country by Christopher and Angela Yuan, Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl by Lysa TerKeurst, I Deserve a Donut (And Other Lies That Make You Eat) by Barb Raveling, and Lizzy and Jane by Katherine Reay.
A really interesting, diverse list of books:). I loved ‘White Fang’, which I read years ago and ‘Goldfinch’ is already on my TBR list and you’ve persuaded me to have a go at ‘The Magicians’. Thank you for producing the list – I always love seeing what other people are reading… Not that I’m nosy. At all…
A really interesting, diverse list of books:). I loved ‘White Fang’, which I read years ago and ‘Goldfinch’ is already on my TBR list and you’ve persuaded me to have a go at ‘The Magicians’. Thank you for producing the list – I always love seeing what other people are reading… Not that I’m nosy. At all…
Great books here! :)
Great books here! :)