Around The World discussion

The Top 10 Books that members read in 2015.

Terri-S

This is the order that I read them in throughout the year (not necessarily "favorite" order):

1.Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands -- Chris Bohjalian
2.Tuck Everlasting -- Natalie Babbitt
3.The End of Your Life Book Club -- Will Schwalbe
4.Fangirl -- Rainbow Rowell
5.The Light Between Oceans -- M.L. Stedman
6.Ready Player One -- Ernest Cline AWARD WORTHY (IMO)
7.A Man Called Ove -- Fredrick Backman
8.The Martian -- Andy Weir -- AWARD WORTHY (IMO)
9.The Truth According to Us -- Annie Barrows
10.Big Little Lies -- Liane Moriarty

Connie D

In order of reading, my top ten of 2015:
1. Reconstructing Amelia -- Kimberly McCreight
2. Girl on the Train -- Paula Hawkins
3. Murder as a Fine Art -- David Morrell
4. Urban Bestiary -- Lyanda Lynn Haupt
5. Memory Man -- David Baldacci
6. My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry -- Fredrik Backman
7. Hyperbole and a Half -- Allie Brosh
8.The Blackhouse -- Peter May
9.When Will There Be Good News? -- Kate Atkinson
10. Brown Girl Dreaming -- Jacqueline Woodson
Laughing without an Accent -- Firoozeh Dumas


2nd tier 5 stars (including children's and YA since those are less popular with most of you):
The Witch of Blackbird Pond -- Elizabeth George Speare
A Grownup Kind of Pretty -- Josilynn Jackson
One Plus One -- Jojo Mojes
A Man Came Out of a Door in the Mountain -- Adrienne Harun
An Irish Country Doctor -- Patrick Taylor
Me Before You -- Jojo Moyes
Lost in Translation -- Ella Frances Sanders
Wonder - R. J. Palacio
Boy in the Striped Pajamas -- John Boyne
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn -- Betty Smith
Sharp Objects -- Gillian Flynn
The War that Saved My Life -- Kinberly Brubaker Bradley
Where the Red Fern Grows -- Wilson Rawls
Man at the Helm -- Nina Stibbe
Danny the Champion of the World -- Roald Dahl
Finnie Walsh -- Stephen Galloway
Romeo and Juliet -- Shakespeare
Flora & Ulysses -- Kate Dicamillo

Carol

I gave a great number of books 4 stars but a very few 5 star. These are not in any particular order just those I would consider outstanding and the receivers of the 5 stars.
The Promise by Robert Crais - THE BEST
The Guilty by David Baldacci
Final Witness by Simon Tolkin
Crimson Shore by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child
The Crossing by Michael Connelly
Playing With Fire by Tess Gerritsen
Dead Simple by Peter James
Dead Like You by Peter James
You Are Dead by Peter James
Devoted In Death by J.D. Robb
Dead Wood by Dan Ames
Make Me by Lee Child
The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo
Seven Deadly Wonders by Matthew Reilly
Collecting Cooper by Paul Cleave
Snow White Must Die by Nele Neuhaus
Splattered Blood by Michael Drapper (Michael is a Shelfari friend as well as an excellent author)
Taboo by Casey Hill
Pretty Little Things by Julianne Hoffman
Finders Keepers by Stephen King
Memory Man by David Baldacci
Gathering Prey by John Sandford
The Martian by Andy Weir
Harbour Street by Ann Cleeves THE SECOND BEST

Olivermagnus

I read a bunch of really good books this year but many of them were further into a series and I don't think most readers would necessarily want o start a series with that particular book.

The two that I would pick as "Award-winning" are:

Memory Man by David Baldacci
Sanctus by Simon Toyne


My other favorites:
An Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir
Martian by Andy Weir
Camille by Pierre Lemaitre
Crocodile by Maurizio de Giovanni
Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton
Blind Your Ponies by Stanley Gordon West
Target by David Baldacci
Lamentation by C. J. Sansom

Cris

I'm surprised that I had more 4 stars than anything else. Perhaps I had a not so grumpy year.

1: Wild Swans - Jung Chang (definately award material)
2: The Girl With All the Gifts - M.R. Carey (Award)
3: Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro.
4: Slash and Burn - Colin Cotterill (my only 5 star read, but it's my favourite series)
5: Gods of Gotham - Lyndsay Faye.
6: Maddaddam - Margaret Atwood.
7: Fingersmith - Sarah Waters.
8: Blackhouse - Peter May.
9: The Missing and the Dead - Stuart MacBride.
10: The Big Over Easy - Jasper Fforde.

The majority are part of a trilogy/series and the fact that I enjoyed others in the series affected my choice.

Jen

I only ended up with 9 that were more than three stars:

1) The Marian by Andy Weir (award worthy)
2) A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman (award worthy)
3) A Perfect Evil by Alex Kava
4) Eeny Meeny by MJ Arlidge
5) This Is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
6) The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
7) Coraline by Neil Gaiman
8) No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay
9) Split Second by David Baldacci

Banjo
I think most of what I read this year, many have already read. The first set are the books I rated 5★’s in no special order and then the following list of some of my 4★’s rating also in no special order. The Trilogy books were all rated 4★’s. Each one in the groups were a good read.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
World Without End by Ken Follett
Watership Down by Richard Adams #2 Best
Chasing The Bear by Robert B. Parker
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry #1 Best
Memory Man by David Baldacci
The Chemistry of Death by Simon Beckett
The Good Earth by Pearl Buck
The Bridge by Karen Kingsbury

The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
When Men Win Glory by Jon Krakauer
Into The Wild by Jon Krakauer
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman
Zenzele by J. Nosipo Maraire
No Time To Die by Kira Peikoff
The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
Unheard Voices by Malorie Blackman
The Tie That Binds by Kent Haruf
The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig

(Africa Trilogy)
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
No Longer At Ease by Chinua Achebe
Arrow of God by Chinua Achebe
(Born Free Trilogy)
Born free by Joy Adamson
Living Free by Joy Adamson
Forever free by Joy Adamson

Jerseygirl / Baroness Constance (Oodles) Oxford-Whapdoodle, D.C., B.C., D.C.A.

I had quite a few 5 star reads this year...these are my top ten.

1. Day of Fire: a novel of Pompeii. This was written by multiple authors and it really gave me the feeling that I was right there in Pompeii when Vesuvius exploded.
2. Fool's Assassin - Robin Hobbs. Book one of the new Fitz and the Fool trilogy - I loved the Farseer and Tawny Man series that preceded this one. It was great!
3. The Gift of Rain - Tan Twan Eng. Tied with this would be The Garden of the Evening Mists by the same author. Amazing stories of life in Malay during and after WWII.
4. Moloka'i - Alan Brennert. Diagnosed with leprosy at the age of 7, this was a touching tale of her life and the lives of those with her.
5.The Forgotten Garden - Kate Morton. I put this one off for so long...what a wonderful book!
6. The Adventure of English - Melvyn Bragg. It's non-fiction but a fascinating discourse on the English language.
7. A God in Ruins - Kate Atkinson. Companion book to Life After Life. Atkinson does not disappoint.
8. A Pledge of Silence - Flora J. Solomon. This was about the nurses who were in the Philippines when WWII broke out. The strength of these women and how they survived both during and after the war was amazing.
9. Vostok - Steve Alten. This is the sequel to The Loch, which I've not read. This book kept me enthralled from beginning to end.
10. The Siege Winter - Ariana Franklin and Samantha Norman. Historical fiction that takes place during England's first civil war in the 12th century.

Shuva aka Aarti
Here's my list in no particular order. I've had a good reading year :-)

1. The End of the Affair - Graham Greene
2. The Passion - Winterson
3. The Elegance of the Hedgehog
4. The Thirteenth Tale
5. The Garden of Evening Mists
6. Elizabeth Is Missing: A Novel
7. My Family and Other Animals - Gerald Durrell
8. Rebecca
9. Into Thin Air
10. The Housekeeper and the Professor

Also
11. The Green Road: A Novel
12. Survival in Auschwitz
13. White Oleander
14. The Master
15. Rickshaw Boy
16. To the Elephant Graveyard

Cafe Mom (Diane)

1. Still Alice - Lisa Genova
2. The Elegance of the Hedgehog - Muriel Barbery
3. A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
4. Alice Adventures in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
5. Uncle Tom's Cabin - Harriet Beecher Stowe
6. Tuck Everlasting - Natalie Babbitt
7. The House of the Spirits - Isabel Allende
8. Growth of the Soil - Knut Hamsun
9. The Sense of an Ending - Julian Barnes

Raine

1. Me Before You - Jojo Moyes
2. The Good Father - Noah Hawley
3. Paris, He Said - Christine Sneed
4. The Orient - Christopher Bollen
5. Finders Keepers - Stephen King
6. The Mistake I Made - Paula Daly
7. Every Fifteen Minutes - Lisa Scottoline
8. The Stranger - Harlan Coben
9. Fortunate Son - Walter Mosley
10. My Sister's Grave - Robert Dugoni

Michelle (me)

Best of... (5 Stars and Favorites)
01. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (Award)
02. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (Award)
03. The Restaurant at the End of the Universe by Douglas Adams (library audio w/ kindle reading)
04. Emma by Jane Austen (kindle reading w/ iTunes audio)
05. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion (iTunes audio w/ kindle reading)
06. Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern
07. Lost Lake by Sarah Addison Allen
08. Girl Before a Mirror by Liza Palmer
09. Letters From Home by Kristina McMorris
10. Finding Audrey by Sophie Kinsella

Honorable mentions:
The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion (kindle) 5★♥
Life, the Universe and Everything (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Series, Book 3) by Douglas Adams (Kindle/Hardcover own. Library Audio read by Martin Freeman) 5★♥
North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell 4.5★♥
The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks (library audio 5★) (kindle own 4.5★) 4.5★♥
Heroes Are My Weakness by Susan Elizabeth Phillips (library hardcover) 4.5★♥
Gidget by Frederick Kohner 4.5★♥
Waking Kate by Sarah Addison Allen 5 ★
As You Wish by Cary Elwes (audio) 4.5 ★♥
By the Silver Water of Lake Champlain by Joe Hill 4.5★♥
Hero by Sarah Lean 4.5★♥

LibraryCin

My top 10 (5 + 4.5 stars):
The Rosie Project / Graeme Simsion
Joyland / Stephen King
How to Survive a Horror Movie / Seth Grahame-Smith
This House is Haunted / John Boyne
Gone Girl / Gillian Flynn
The Second Empress / Michelle Moran
The Ruins / Scott Smith
Memoirs of a Fighting Dog / Keisha Keenleyside
The Search / Nora Roberts
Farmer Boy / Laura Ingalls Wilder

Honourable mentions (the rest of the 4.5 stars):
Prodigal Summer / Barbara Kingsolver
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians / Brandon Sanderson
Essex County / Jeff Lemire
Against Medical Advice / James Patterson and Hal Friedman
The Warmth of Other Suns / Isabel Wilkerson
Killer of Little Shepherds / Douglas Starr
Unwholly / Neal Shusterman
The One and Only Ivan / Katherine Applegate

Diana S

My Top Ten of 2015:
1. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
2. The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman
3. Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
4. The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan
5. The Touch of Magic: The Story of Helen Keller's Great Teacher, Anne Sullivan Macy by Lorena A. Hickok
6. Area 51:An Uncensored History of America's Top Secret Military Base by Annie Jacobson
7. The Dog Stars by Peter Heller
8. The Girls by Lori Lansens
9. Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek
10. The All - Girl Filling Station's Last Reunion by Fannie Flagg

Bluebird

My Top 10 of 2015 (all 4 ½-5 stars)
1. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (re-read)
2. The Nightingale by Kristen Hannah
3. Epitaph by Mary Doria Russell. Great follow up to Doc.
4. The Boston Girl by Anita Diamont. Linda Lavin’s narration was a perfect match for this book.
5. Bury Your Dead by Louise Penny. Book 6 of the Chief Inspector Gamache series. This is not a stand alone book, the series is best read in order.
6. Theft of Swords by Michael Sullivan. A wonderful “epic fantasy” series.
7. Too Close to Home by Linwood Barclay. A
8. The Lewis Man by Peter May Book 2 of the Lewis Man trilogy: the entire trilogy were top reads for me with this second book my favorite of the three.
The trilogy starts with The Blackhouse , ends with The Chessmen
9. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins: it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire read
10. The Source by James Michener

+ 4 ½ star reads that just missed out on my top 10:
Dark Fire by C J Sansom
King Rat by James Clavell
Monkeewrench by P.J. Tracy

1. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
2. A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner
3. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
4. The Story Hour by Thrity Umrigar
5. Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf
6. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

And a few 4+ star recommendations:
7. The History of Love by Nicole Krauss
8. The Orphan Master's Son by Adam Johnson
9. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
10. A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman

Paige wrote: "1. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
2. A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner
3. The Girl on the Train by [author:..."

Thanks, Paige. Since I promised to read 30 of the groups' top picks, it's nice to have a few more to choose from. I've already read four of yours and have A Man Called Ove on my bedside table to start.

Connie wrote: "Paige wrote: "1. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd
2. A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner
3. [book:The Girl on the Train|2255727..."

Yes, I hear you. I would also like more to choose from. Perhaps the list will grow as we go through the year. I am not sure I would be able to pull 30 books that really interested me from the lists thus far. I was not as ambitious and only challenged my self with a few books.

Most of the ones I plan to read were on my to-read list anyway. I just decided to read them this year vs. later. However, I may have gone overboard.

I just now had a chance to take a look at this thread--finally have finished moving all my info over from Shelfari--and thought I'd go ahead and include 10 of the 17 from my list that earned 5 stars--in no particular order.

1. The Girl with All the Gifts
2. The Girl on the Train
3. Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital
4. River of Darkness
5. The Martian
6. Did You Ever Have a Family
7. Winter
8. Finders Keepers
9. The Truth According to Us
10. Songs of Willow Frost

Beverly wrote: "I just now had a chance to take a look at this thread--finally have finished moving all my info over from Shelfari--and thought I'd go ahead and include 10 of the 17 from my list that earned 5 star..."

Yeah! More books! Thanks Beverly!

Paige wrote: "Beverly wrote: "I just now had a chance to take a look at this thread--finally have finished moving all my info over from Shelfari--and thought I'd go ahead and include 10 of the 17 from my list th..."

You're very welcome--hope you like some of them!! :)

Beverly wrote: "I just now had a chance to take a look at this thread--finally have finished moving all my info over from Shelfari--and thought I'd go ahead and include 10 of the 17 from my list that earned 5 star..."

Thanks! I'm enjoying all the books I've read from people so far. I loved (is that the right word?) Five Days at Memorial too. (and The Martian and The Girl on the Train, but other people have mentioned those already.)

Michelle wrote: "Shuva aka Aarti
Here's my list in no particular order. I've had a good reading year :-)

1. The End of the Affair - Graham Greene
2. The Passion - Winterson
3. The Elegance of the Hedgehog
4. The ..."

Just to be sure, Elizabeth is Missing: A Novel is by Emma Healing--is that correct?

Michelle wrote: "LibraryCin

My top 10 (5 + 4.5 stars):
The Rosie Project / Graeme Simsion
Joyland / Stephen King
How to Survive a Horror Movie / Seth Grahame-Smith
This House is Haunted / John Boyne
Gone Girl / Gi..."

Library Cin, I'm putting everyone's favorites onto my to-read list (almost none of my tbr list was transferred to goodreads), and I was just checking something. When you listed Essex Country, do you mean all three first volumes, or just the first volume?