Last year, I set a Goodreads challenge to complete 52 books in 2015 — averaging a book a week. And I made it! I did not complete my Modern Mrs. Darcy reading challenge, but hey, I was a late adopter.
So what did I read in 2015? The books that I really enjoyed or that have really stuck with me are bolded.
- Seven Storey Mountain – Thomas Merton [mentioned here, here, recommended for Lent]
- My Life with the Saints – James Martin [mentioned here, here, recommended for Lent]
- The Light Between Oceans – M.L. Steadman
- The Third Miracle – Bill Briggs [mentioned here]
- Homeward Bound – Emily Matchar [mentioned here – do not recommend]
- The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins [mentioned here, solid beach read]
- The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up – Marie Kondo [mentioned here]
- Between Heaven and Mirth – James Martin [mentioned here]
- Life of the Beloved – Henri Nouwen [mentioned here, recommended for Lent]
- Dragonfly in Amber – Diana Gabaldon
- Voyager – Diana Gabaldon
- The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy [mentioned here]
- Orthodoxy – G.K. Chesterton [mentioned here, recommended for Lent]
- Food: A Love Story – Jim Gaffigan
- Orphan Train – Christina Baker Kline
- Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel [mentioned here, here, super engaging]
- Father Brown: The Essential Tales – G.K. Chesterton
- Dead Wake – Erik Larson [mentioned here]
- Love and Happiness – Craig Werner, Rhonda Mawhood Lee [mentioned here]
- My Brilliant Friend – Elena Ferrante [mentioned here]
- Better Than Before – Gretchen Rubin [mentioned here]
- Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
- Life After Life – Kate Atkinson
- Love Does – Bob Goff [mentioned here]
- Forming Intentional Disciples – Sherry Weddell [mentioned here]
- The Return of the Prodigal Son – Henri Nouwen [mentioned here]
- Drums of Autumn – Diana Gabaldon
- In The Woods – Tana French
- Persuasion – Jane Austen [mentioned here]
- Open to the Holy Spirit – Cardinal Donald Wuerl
- A Constellation of Vital Phenomena – Anthony Marra [a must-read]
- Death Comes to Pemberley – P.D. James [mentioned here]
- The Pearl That Broke Its Shell – Nadia Hashimi
- A God In Ruins – Kate Atkinson [companion to Life After Life]
- Texts from Jane Eyre – Mallory Ortberg
- Gilead – Marilynne Robinson
- Everything I Never Told You – Celeste Ng [solid beach read]
- Real Women, Real Saints – Gina Loehr
- The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
- The Language of Flowers – Vanessa Diffenbaugh
- Bird By Bird – Anne Lamott
- The Martian – Andy Weir
- The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
- The Little Oratory – David Clayton, Leila Lawler
- The Rap Year Book – Shea Serrano [read this]
- If You Have to Cry, Go Outside – Kelly Cutrone
- The Gifts of Imperfection – Brene Brown
- Becoming a Parish of Intentional Disciples – Sherry Weddell
- The Royal We – Heather Cocks, Jessica Morgan [perfect light read]
- “Mrs. Rosie and the Priest” – Giovanni Boccaccio
- Divergent – Veronica Roth
- “As kingfishers catch fire” – Gerard Manley Hopkins
I really fell off my book blogging this year, but I’m happy to chat about any/all of the above in the comments or by email! More to come about my reading plans for 2016.
The Martian – I keep hearing this recommended but I’m really turned off because it sounds to sci-fi. Is it?
Laurel, I just saw this! I am okay with sci-fi only when it falls more in the “literary fiction” arena, which The Martian almost does. The voices and characters are really vividly done, and I enjoyed it. I’d be interested what you think if you do read it!
dude, how do you do this? i’m failing at my 1 book a month 2016 goal. but really, how and when do you fit in so much reading during the week?!?!
I generally read on at least one leg of my metro commute, which is a solid half-hour right there, plus a few minutes before bed. I haven’t finished as much yet this year so far because I’m doing long books right now, but it’s amazing the dent just a few minutes of reading here or there can make.
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