So for my first list, yes I will do a couple of them, I wanted to do a wrap up list to how my Reading Challenge of 2015 went but found it was getting way too long for this kind of a post so I'll save that for another day. Today I'm going to do a list of my Top 10 reads of 2015. There were some good ones to choose from. I really did enjoy this reading year and branched out a bit with some new kinds of reads for me and some new authors. But my faves in descending order down to my absolute hands down favourite for the year were:
10) A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner
A historical novel set on Ellis Island. Loved the setting and the story of coping and recovering from tragedy.
9) Esther - Royal Beauty by Angela Hunt
A very interesting look at the story of Esther that tried to remain as biblically and historically accurate as possible while fleshing out the characters of this biblical story
8) Traces of Mercy & Finding Mercy by Michael Landon Jr. and Cindy Kelley
Historical fiction at it's best for me so I listed the two together. Set in the war time between the North and the South it was an interesting read of a young woman who loses her memory and then must reconcile the sweet person she thinks she is with the person someone else is telling her she is and must make the decision to go on with life as the person she is now or try to pick up the pieces and return to who she was.
7) Invisible Ellen by Shari Shartuck
A sweet story of how friendship and acceptance can change a life.
6) Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Such a beautiful, sensitive, heartbreaking, informative and compassionate story from the viewpoint of a person suffering from alzheimer's disease. I learned so much.
5) How to Be An American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway
Loved this Mother/Daughter story of love, forgiveness, immigration, prejudice and survival. And the cover is beautiful.
4) 52 Little Lessons from A Christmas Carol by Bob Welch
An easy to read, thoroughly enjoyable deeper look into what can be gleaned and put into practice in our own lives from the Charles Dickens classic. Loved it.
3) A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Bachman
This story was just a charming, enjoyable read about looking beyond first impressions and how living life is so much better when we allow others in. It made me laugh and cry sometimes at the same time so it made my top ten.
2) Miracle on Voodoo Mountain by Megan Boudreaux
This true story of how a young woman dropped her whole life in America and went to Haiti not knowing anyone or the language, not knowing exactly what she was supposed to do once there, all because she felt God was calling her there is one of the most inspirational books I've ever read. What God has done there through her willingness is truly a miracle.
1) And drumroll please.......my absolute favourite read for 2015 is Water From My Heart by Charles Martin.
No surprise there! Charles Martin is one of my favourite authors and this book is truly one of his best ever! It had everything...great characters, a story that was rich with heartbreak and triumph, true love and redemption, indifference and passion for life, a story that makes me take a good hard look at my own life and my own indifferences to the needs of others. And of course the writing itself was nothing less that what I expect from this author.
My reviews and full thoughts on all of these plus 32 others I read last year can be found HERE
So what were your favourite reads from last year?
7 comments:
My daughter loved "A Man Called Ove" and I loved "52 Life Lessons from A Christmas Carol." Great list. I will be joining this link-up later today for sure! Happy New Year to you and yours. So glad to hear that you had a good Christmas. May 2016 bring many wonderful things to you!
I can see that you love novels!
I can't possibly decide which was my favorite book of 2015. I did read a lot of young adult lit (John Flanagan) because I try to keep up with what my students are reading. Also, I read a lot of Louis L'Amour--yeah, they were all Westerns, but I live in the West.
I've had Ove on my TBR list and have just added the Charles Martin one. Many of these look good!
I've never read any of these, but now I want to! Thanks for the inspiration!
I love this post! I love that you are so organized to keep track of your reading. I'm going to try to do better this year. Now I remember where I got the idea for a friend's bday gift. The book "52 Lessons from a Christmas Carol" led me to "52 Lessons from Les Miserables" -- one of my friend's favorite plays. I gave her the book for her birthday a couple days ago and she loved it. It's been bugging me as to how I came across the idea -- ordered the book a couple months ago. Anyhoo -- long way around to say thanks for the idea;)
I had several faves for 2015 as well and one was Still Alice and the other was All the Light We Cannot See. One of my least faves was set in my beloved Adirondacks!! In fact, it was so bad I couldn't even finish it! lol
I read my first Charles Martin novel this year, the same one listed above. It was definitely the best book I read by a new (to me) author this year.
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