cold pressed

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.

1. Seven Storey Mountain – Thomas Merton [mentioned here, here, recommended for Lent]
2. My Life with the Saints – James Martin [mentioned here, here, recommended for Lent]
3. The Light Between Oceans – M.L. Steadman
4. The Third Miracle – Bill Briggs [mentioned here]
5. Homeward Bound – Emily Matchar [mentioned here – do not recommend]
6. The Girl on the Train – Paula Hawkins [mentioned here, solid beach read]
7. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up – Marie Kondo [mentioned here]
8. Between Heaven and Mirth – James Martin [mentioned here]
9. Life of the Beloved – Henri Nouwen [mentioned here, recommended for Lent]
10. Dragonfly in Amber – Diana Gabaldon
11. Voyager – Diana Gabaldon
12. The Compound Effect – Darren Hardy [mentioned here]
13. Orthodoxy – G.K. Chesterton [mentioned here, recommended for Lent]
14. Food: A Love Story – Jim Gaffigan
15. Orphan Train – Christina Baker Kline
16. Station Eleven – Emily St. John Mandel [mentioned here, here, super engaging]
17. Father Brown: The Essential Tales – G.K. Chesterton
18. Dead Wake – Erik Larson [mentioned here]
19. Love and Happiness – Craig Werner, Rhonda Mawhood Lee [mentioned here]
20. My Brilliant Friend – Elena Ferrante [mentioned here]
21. Better Than Before – Gretchen Rubin [mentioned here]
22. Brideshead Revisited – Evelyn Waugh
23. Life After Life – Kate Atkinson
24. Love Does – Bob Goff [mentioned here]
25. Forming Intentional Disciples – Sherry Weddell [mentioned here]
26. The Return of the Prodigal Son – Henri Nouwen [mentioned here]
27. Drums of Autumn – Diana Gabaldon
28. In The Woods – Tana French
29. Persuasion – Jane Austen [mentioned here]
30. Open to the Holy Spirit – Cardinal Donald Wuerl
31. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena – Anthony Marra [a must-read]
32. Death Comes to Pemberley – P.D. James [mentioned here]
33. The Pearl That Broke Its Shell – Nadia Hashimi
34. A God In Ruins – Kate Atkinson [companion to Life After Life]
35. Texts from Jane Eyre – Mallory Ortberg
36. Gilead – Marilynne Robinson
37. Everything I Never Told You – Celeste Ng [solid beach read]
38. Real Women, Real Saints – Gina Loehr
39. The Book Thief – Markus Zusak
40. The Language of Flowers – Vanessa Diffenbaugh
41. Bird By Bird – Anne Lamott
42. The Martian – Andy Weir
43. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini
44. The Little Oratory – David Clayton, Leila Lawler
45. The Rap Year Book – Shea Serrano [read this]
46. If You Have to Cry, Go Outside – Kelly Cutrone
47. The Gifts of Imperfection – Brene Brown
48. Becoming a Parish of Intentional Disciples – Sherry Weddell
49. The Royal We – Heather Cocks, Jessica Morgan [perfect light read]
50. “Mrs. Rosie and the Priest” – Giovanni Boccaccio
51. Divergent – Veronica Roth
52. “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.