2015 Book List

It is sad that my goal with the annual book list has become "try to post it before you're technically obligated to post the next year's list." But, well, here we are. It's also sad that it takes me going on a work trip to San Diego to have the down time (thank you, cross-country flight sans children) to pull it all together. It's also sad that actually, pulling together this list didn't take that long. Why did I wait until (almost!) November? Oh, well. The important thing: Here! Is! The! 2015! Book! List! 2015 (yes, 2015) clocked in with Ashley reading 70 books. Not bad, right? RIGHT? Most were good. The best book I read all year was The Chronology of Water by Lidia Yukanivitch. Other winners were  Dakota, My Bright Abyss, Persuasion, Seating Arrangements, and The Rules of Civility. Duds--really, don't read them--included The Good Daughters, Hausfrau, and Island Girls. In other news, NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) starts on Tuesday, so I'll see y'all on the other side. 1.      The Age of Miracles Karen Thompson Walker 304 pages. Rating: 4 2.      My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer Christian Wiman 178 pages. Rating: 5 3.      The Lifeboat Charlotte Rogan 274 pages. Rating: 4 4. Slow Church: Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus C. Christopher Smith and John Pattison 226 pages. Rating: 3.5 5. The Painted Girls Cathy Marie Buchanan 357 pages. Rating: 4 6. Dakota: A Spiritual Geography Kathleen Norris 256 pages. Rating: 5 7. Dear Committee Members Julie Schumacher 180 pages. Rating: 4 8. Housekeeping Marilynne Robinson 219 pages. Rating: 4.5 9. Dancing Through It: My Journey in the Ballet Jenifer Ringer 257 pages. Rating: 4 10. Lottery Patricia Wood 320 pages. Rating: 3.5 11. May B. Caroline Starr Rose 240 pages. Rating: 3.75 12. The Rebellion of Jane Clarke Sally Gunning 270 pages. Rating: 3.5 13.The Snow Queen Michael Cunningham 258 pages. Rating: 4.5 14. Being Mortal Atul Gawande 263 pages. Rating: 4 15. Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life Kathleen Norris 334 pages. Rating: 4 16. The Good Daughters Joyce Maynard 278 pages. Rating: 2.75 17. Pedro Paramo Juan Rulfo 128 pages. Rating: 3.75 18. In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette Hampton Sides 454 pages. Rating: 4 19. Royal Flush Rhys Bowen 304 pages. Rating: 4 20. Life Among the Savages Shirley Jackson 256 pages. Rating: 4 21. A Day at the Beach Helen Schulman 224 pages. Rating: 4 22. The Vacationers Emma Straub 292 pages. Rating: 3.75 23. The Engagements J. Courtney Sullivan 528 pages. Rating: 3 24. The Writing Class Jincy Willett 326 pages. Rating: 4 25. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie Muriel Spark 187 pages. Rating: 4 26. Out of the Shadows: Confronting America's Mental Illness Crisis E. Fuller Torrey 203 pages. Rating: 4 27. Your Two-Year-Old: Terrible or Tender Louise Bates Ames & Frances Ilg 133 pages. Rating: 3 28. If I Stay Gayle Forman 201 pages. Rating: 3 29. Rules of Civility Amor Towles 335 pages. Rating: 4 30. Vanessa and Her Sister Priya Parmar 368 pages. Rating: 4 31. A Room on Lorelei Street Mary E. Pearson 266 pages. Rating: 3.5 32. Jo Frost's Toddler Rules Jo Frost 320 pages. Rating: 3.5 33. Ed King David Guterson 320 pages. Rating: 3 34. Love and Other Perishable Items Laura Buzo 243 pages. Rating: 4 35. Time and Tide: A Walk Through Nantucket Frank Conroy 144 pages. Rating: 3.25 36. Island Girls Nancy Thayer 320 pages. Rating: 2 37. The Beautiful and Damned F. Scott Fitzgerald 422 pages. Rating: 4 38. Seating Arrangements Maggie Shipstead 302 pages. Rating: 4.5 39. Wild Cheryl Strayed 336 pages. Rating: 4 40. The Chronology of Water Lidia Yukanivitch 310 pages. Rating: 5 41. The Book of Unknown Americans Cristina Henriquez 286 pages. Rating: 4.5 42. The Tale of Despereux Kate DiCamillo 272 pages. Rating: 4 43. The Aviator's Wife Melanie Benjamin 416 pages. Rating: 3.5 44. Persuasion Jane Austen 249 pages. Rating: 5 45. The Children Act Ian McEwan 240 pages. Rating: 4 46. Toddlers Are Assholes: It's Not Your Fault Bunmi Laditan 176 pages. Rating: 4 47. Delicious! Ruth Reichl 400 pages. Rating: 3.5 48. Betsy-Tacy and Tib Maud Hart Lovelace 144 pages. Rating: 4 49. Summer Sisters Judy Blume 416 pages. Rating: 4 50. Antarctica Claire Keegan 224 pages. Rating: 4.25 51. The Widow Waltz Sally Koslow 342 pages. Rating. 3 52. Adame Bede George Eliot 624 pages. Rating: 4 53. Hausfrau Jill Alexander Essbaum 324 pages. Rating: 2.75 54. Silas Marner George Eliot 262 pages. Rating: 3.5 55. Dearly Beloved Anne Morrow Lindbergh 208 pages. Rating: 4 56. Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspiration Ed Catmull & Amy Wallace 368 pages. Rating: 4 57. Longbourn Jo Baker 332 pages. Rating: 4 58. Notes on the State of Virginia Thomas Jefferson 342 pages. Rating: 3 59. The Paying Guests Sarah Waters 564 pages. Rating: 4 60. The Woman in White Wilkie Collins 672 pages. Rating: 3 61. The Women Jefferson Loved Virginia Scharff 496 pages. Rating: 4 62. Mr. Emerson's Wife Amy Belding Brown 336 pages. Rating: 4 63.The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up Marie Kondo 214 pages. Rating: 4 64. The House of Lost Souls F. G. Cottam 343 pages. Rating: 2.5 65. When You Reach Me Rebecca Stead 199 pages. Rating: 4 66. Circling the Sun Paula McLain 384 pages. Rating: 4 67. Like the Willow Tree Lois Lowry 224 pages. Rating: 4 68. Circus Mirandus Cassie Beasley 304 pages. Rating: 3.5 69. The Light Between Oceans M. L. Stedman 343 pages. Rating: 3.25 70. Green Darkness Anya Seton 591 pages. Rating: 3