1.15.2016

35 Books I read in 2015

In 2015, my goal was to read 15 books & I ended up reading 35!!!
This is the most books I have read in a year since having kids. 
Reading is one of my FAVORITE hobbies, so it has been so fun to get back into reading on a consistent basis this past year.

Here are the books I read (in the order I read them):









Favorite Author I discovered in 2015:  
Liane Moriarty 
{see all her books HERE}
I read all 6 of her books this year and I liked all of them. I keep googling to see if she is coming out with a new book! I really like her writing style. My favorites of hers are probably What Alice Forgot & The Husband's Secret.

Favorite Book I read in 2015: 
 11/22/63 by Stephen King
This was the first (and only) Stephen King book that I have read. 
It was 866 pages....really long, but so well written. 
It is hands down my favorite book of 2015. I made my mom read it & also had Kevin read it. 
I heard that Hulu is making this book into a show. I will totally watch it! 

Least Favorite Book: 
Ugh. Shopaholic to the Stars. I started reading the Shopaholic series this year, they are quick, fluff reads. The ending of Shopaholic to the Stars was abrupt. There was no ending, I actually thought my kindle hadn't downloaded the rest of the book. I googled it & the book just randomly ends. So strange. The next book in the series came out in the Fall called Shopaholic to the Rescue. I haven't read it yet because I am so annoyed at the previous book. But, I am OCD and have to finish series, so I will add it to my 2016 reading list :)

Biggest Disappointment Book:
 An Abundance of Katherines by John Green. 
I LOVED The Fault in our Stars (read it in 2014) and I also really liked Paper Towns that he wrote.
An Abundance of Katherines I just could not get into. I started reading it when school started and didn't finish it until October because I wasn't motivated to keep reading it.


Book that made me cry:
Several books made me cry!!! What can I say? I'm a crier!
Still Alice
Life & Other Near Death Experiences


Book that made me laugh:
Even though the Shopaholic books can be cheesy, they do make me laugh.
My favorite one of the series is the first one, Confessions of a Shopaholic
 
Book that made me smile:
 I loved both of these books & fell in love with the characters. They just make me smile. I am super excited about the 3rd book in the series coming out this month,  Smart Girl.

Book that made me cringe:
Sharp Objects 
This is from the author of Gone Girl, so if you have read that book, you know it is a little disturbing. I felt the same way about Sharp Objects . I didn't like it as much as Gone Girl, but they were both page turners & several parts made me cringe & shocked me.

Best series I read in 2015:
The Millenium Series
which includes
A 4th book in the series came out in the Fall called The Girl in the Spiders Web.
I haven't read it yet, but am hoping to read in the next month or so.


Book that surprised me:
I got Long Time Coming for free on my kindle, so I had low expectations.
I had never heard of the author, but gave it a shot because it was a free book.
I really liked it....there were twists & surprises and I will definitely read more from this author!

P.S. A Family Affair is also free on your kindle & it is part one of a series. It also surprised me...good plot & I am excited to read more of this series!

Book that I got bored reading:
Crooked Little Lies
This book got good reviews, but I got bored reading it. The character development wasn't the best & each chapter bounced from person to person. It was just okay. Usually I can finish a book in less than a week, this one took me almost a month to read because I got bored.

Biggest Beach/Fluff Read: 
Anything by Elin Hildebrand!
{See all her books HERE}
Her books are all based in Nantucket and if you need a quick, light, "beach" read, then you will like her books. I read 3 of her books this year ( The Island, Beautiful Day & Winter Street)
I have a few more of her books on my kindle that I am saving to read this summer.

Book I couldn't put down:
I read this book in less than 24 hours (when Kevin and I were in Sonoma for the weekend) It is a real page turner!

Book that challenged me:
Oh boy...this is a must read.
The tag line of the book is "An Experimental Mutiny against Excess"
7 is the true story of how Jen took seven months, identified seven areas of excess, and made seven simple choices to fight back against the modern-day diseases of greed, materialism, and overindulgence.
It really made me think about all the excess I have in my life and how gross that can be. It made me think "Do I need this?" when buying something. Really good, challenging book.

Most likely to recommend:
Any of Liane Moriarty's books.
All 6 of her books have excellent character development & intriguing stories.
I loved each an everyone of her books.
She is an author who I hope writes more books! 

Author I want to read more from in 2016:
Since I have read all of Liane Moriarty's books, the answer to this is:
Lisa Genova
I absolutely loved Still Alice & Left Neglected
She has 2 more books that I want to read this year
Inside the O'Briens and Love Anthony
All her books deal with a character that has some type of life changing medical condition, they are so interesting (and sometimes heart breaking)

Now...onto books I want to read in 2016!

This is my first book of 2016:
 Reconstructing Amelia
 I haven't finished it yet (binge watching Making a Murderer last week got in the way of reading!)
 I should be done reading it this weekend....I really like it so far!
After I finish it, I will need to start a new book.
 
Books I have on my Kindle/Bookshelf that I haven't read yet: 
My goal is to read 36 books this year! 1 more than last year :)

 
Linking up with Friday Favorites because reading is my favorite & I hope you liked some of my favorite book recommendations!
Hosted by: Andrea, Erika & Narci

I would also LOVE to hear YOUR recommendations!
 What are your FAVORITE books of 2015?
What books do you recommend that I add to my reading list in 2016?
Can't wait to hear your suggestions & what some of your FAVORITE books are!

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Happy Friday & I can't wait to hear your book recommendations!
 I read a ton of the books you suggested last year, so THANK YOU!Book nerds unite :)

27 comments:

  1. I'm totally going to use this as a guide for some new books to read in 2016!!

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  2. I love so many of these books. Elin Hildebrand and Liane Moriarty are my favorites! I couldn't put down Girl on the Train either. Thanks for the great book ideas.

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  3. I love books and don't make enough time for reading! What a wonderful idea!!

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  4. This is such a great post! I want to read more in 2016 so I'm gonna come back to this!
    My book club is reading "Simply Tuesday" and I'm really looking forward to reading that. TGIF, Mel!

    HashtagMomBlog

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  5. Great picks! I've read a lot of these too! You should check out Jojo Moyes! Great character development, kinda light but heavy all at the same time ;)

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  6. Okay, I'm FINALLY starting to read! I have so many that I have unread that I've bought so I've told myself I can't buy any more paperbacks (love the feel of a book in my hand WHEN I do read) if I'm not finished with all of the ones that I already have! Right before I told myself that I bought 2 of the Kindle version-Simply Tuesday by Emily Freeman, and Making it Happen by Lara Casey. For the Love is on my list, as is 7. When I've read those, I think I'll go for Life and Other Near Death Experiences. My goal for 2016 is to read 10 books-a far cry from the-gasp-0 that I read last year!

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  7. My book club read Lizzie's War. It was so good! I forgot about the new one in the girl with the dragon tattoo series. I've got to read it. ☺️

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  8. I'm super impressed! I totally love reading but do not put other things aside to do it nearly as much as I should. I'm excited about your list because based on what you loved I think we have similar taste...both those liane moriarty books were favorites of mine. You will absolutely LOVE For the Love...much lighter read than 7. Thanks for the suggestions!

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  9. This is great!! I've been looking for some new books to read. I see a few of my favorites on there so I think we have similar tastes.

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  10. Thanks for all the recommendations. I have often thought of picking up the Stephen King book but now I definitely will.

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  11. This is great! I'm currently reading one now but after watching the Hulu previews of 11/22/63 I have been wondering if that book should be my next... but 866 pages? Did it ever get hard to read or was it interesting enough to not even care about the number?

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  12. My sister in law and her friend wrote a young adult trilogy - the first is Autumn in the City of Angels. I think you would enjoy it! Love your blog! Jen

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  13. You are super woman! So many great books in a year! I used to literally read a book a week or more, but then I had a kid and that went out the window hahaha I used to read a lot more when my son was itty bitty because he had colic and I would put my Nook on a shelf and read to keep myself awake while rocking him, but now I'm just chasing him around or sleeping!

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  14. I love Stephen King books and have read many but that was before kids ha! They are so long, I'm afraid if I start one now, I'd never make it through! But my kids are only 2 and newborn. Would love to try that book though. Also, I loved The Fault in Our Stars so much!! But then went to Paper Towns, which I thought was just a ludicrous and silly plot, I was so disappointed in that book that I haven't been able to make myself pick up another one of his since.

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  15. Love all your picks! I really enjoyed Reconstructing Amelia but liked her other book Where They Found Her even more.

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  16. I think the best category that everyone reviewing books should have is the "Books that changed me" that is the purpose of some books and that is what the author really wants to release out into the world and their ultimate goal. I am going to have to read that one because it will be fun to see if it affects me as much as it did to you. I love reading and these are great recommendations for the new year!

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  17. I love all your book recommendations!! We have very similar tastes in books! I read Inside the Obrien's in December and I loved it. It's even better than Still Alice. I found myself talking about it a lot to my husband (who usually is not very interested in my books). I read Love Anthony a few weeks after and it was just ok. There were 2 story lines, one I enjoyed and one I thought was a bit boring. I really want to read that Stephen King book but I'm a little intimidated by the length!!

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  18. I've read a lot of books on your list - one I just finished this weekend that was a tear jerker (although, I am preg) was Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. It was both an "easy" read and yet a difficult read at the same time.

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  19. I've read a few of these, but I'm going to check out a few of your recommendations. Thanks for sharing!

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  20. 11/22/63!!!!! YES!!!!! I had never read Stephen King either, and LOVED this book. Can't wait for the miniseries on hulu. I saw a trailer a few weeks ago and squealed!

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  21. This may be a weird recommendation.. but Misery (which I'm sure you've seen) is SUCH a good book!!! You should read that one by Stephen King... I LOVE all of the books you recommend...

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  22. I would like to recommend reading The Girl on the Train: A Novel.
    I just finished reading it today, and I think its a very good book.

    I brought mine from Amazon and they delivered it in only 2 days.
    Here's the link for the book on Amazon:
    The Girl on the Train: A Novel

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