{Burial Rites, A Study in Scarlet, Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, Rebecca, Under the Egg, The Secret of Platform 13, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Notes From a Small Island, Since You've Been Gone, Of Mice and Men, Anne of Avonlea, How Green Was My Valley}
2015 was a pretty good bookish year. Of course, there were a few duds, but overall I read a lot of good books and found some new favorites. Pictured above are my favorite books that I read for the first time this year, in no particular order.
I read 75 books, which was my goal. Of those, twelve were rereads. (I reread some of my favorite books this year, like Persuasion and Emma.) I didn't really read a lot of series...I did read two trilogies (Wildwood and A Tale Dark & Grimm) and the majority of the Anne of Green Gables series. (I read the first six, and there seems to be some confusion as to exactly how many books are considered to be in the Anne series.)
Here's how I did with my book-related resolutions:
Read 75 books? Yes, I did this! I didn't manage to read any more than that, though. :)
Get my number of own-but-unread books down to 100? Ha. Even if I don't buy many books, shrinking this number somehow still proves impossible for me.
Read at least five new-to-me classics? As long as I include modern classics, I did this. I read Of Mice and Men, Anne of Avonlea, Rebecca, A Study in Scarlet, and How Green Was My Valley. (And interestingly, they all made my favorites list.)
Buy fewer books? Compared to the last couple of years, I definitely bought fewer books. Except for a brief relapse on Thriftbooks.com over the summer, I was remarkably restrained. :)
Keep a more detailed book journal? Yes. I made an effort to jot down more of my thoughts in my real book journal instead of just typing them up on Goodreads.
Reread the Lord of the Rings trilogy? Nope. I did reread The Hobbit, though.
Work on this book challenge? Surprisingly, I managed to complete this one! I wrote about it here.
What were the best books that you read in 2015?
Congrats! Looks like you read a whole lot of awesome books and had a successful reading year! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, I did! :)
DeleteI ADORE reading "top books of the year" lists. It's the best way to get recommendations and just bask in bookish enthusiasm. :) Out of your top books, I have also read and loved A Study in Scarlet, Rebecca, Of Mice an Men, and Anne of Avonlea. I own Under the Egg, The Secret of Platform 13, and How Green was my Valley, I just really need to read them!
ReplyDeleteBy the way, Rilla of Ingleside is a great book! Anne of Ingleside and Rainbow Valley are my least favorites in the series, but Rilla is so good. If you feel like picking up Montgomery again this year, I would recommend finishing the Anne series, and then if you're still interested, Jane of Lantern Hill -another of my favorites!
Some of my favorite books of the year are:
Persuasion - Jane Austen (a reread that definitely moved it further toward the top of my Austen list)
Howl's Moving Castle - Diana Wynne Jones
Till We Have Faces - C.S. Lewis
Pendragon's Heir - Suzannah Rowntree
Far From the Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy (I hated Tess of d'Urbervilles, so this totally surprised me!)
Gone with the Wind (another surprise, because I did NOT like the movie when I watched it several years ago)
Mara, Daughter of the Nile - Eloise Jarvis McGraw
The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss
Happy New Year!
Tayler! I've missed seeing you around the blogging community. :)
DeleteI'm definitely planning on reading Rilla of Ingleside and Rainbow Valley sometime, since they seem to be the last two books that are actually in the Anne series. And yes, Jane of Lantern Hill sounds really good, and I'm hoping to read it in 2016 (plus maybe the Emily series?).
I reread Persuasion this year, too. :) I need to reread Till We Have Faces...I read it as a young teenager when I first became obsessed with C.S. Lewis and I don't think I was quite old enough for it. That's interesting that you liked Gone With the Wind...I don't like the film at all, either. :) And hopefully Far From the Madding Crowd will be the next book I start. I want to see the newest film adaptation so badly, but I'm trying to wait and read the book first! That will be my first Thomas Hardy novel.
Happy New Year! (2016 should definitely be the year that you start a blog, hint hint...)
Three cheers for Morgan Matson. I discovered her writing this year as well and am looking forward to read the rest of her books as well as 'Since You've Been Gone.' :D
ReplyDeleteYes! I'm hoping to read more of her books this year. :)
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