Seeing whereas 2015 was the year of the Man Bun, the Mass Shooting, and Donald Trump, it's hard for me to look back upon it with joyful retrospect. Instead I choose to look back at it through the books I read during the year. So, without further ado, here are the books I read in 2015, accompanied by my thoughts about who should read them:
Delicious!
Ruth Reichl
Read this if you have a high tolerance for first-time novel attempts. (I do not.)
Unconditional Parenting
Alfie Kohn
Read this if you want to be super analytical about parenting and disciplining your child. (It was over my head.)
Benediction
Kent Haruf
Read this after Plainsong and Eventide and remember the talents of one of our country's great novelists. RIP.
Bad Feminist: Essays
Roxanne Gay
Read this if you're super into pop culture. (I am not.)
All the Light We Cannot See
Anthony Doerr
Read this if you breathe air and drink water. Best book I read this year.
On Immunity: An Inoculation
Eula Biss
Read this if you're angry about the anti-vaccination movement.
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen so Kids Will Talk
Adele Faber
Read this if you have a child, period. It's really good.
Yes Please
Amy Poehler
Read this if you love Parks and Rec and/or SNL.
Descent
Tim Johnston
Read this if you want to support local authors and also really enjoy excessive descriptions of smoking cigarettes.
Dept. of Speculation
Jenny Offill
Read this. You have time; it takes about an hour. It will be one of the most unique novels you pick up.
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And other observations)
Mindy Kaling
Read this if you love Mindy Kaling and don't mind random anecdotes packaged in book form.
The Girl on the Train
Paula Hawkins
Read this if you enjoy mysteries and don't care so much about liking the characters in the story.
Motherhood Smotherhood
JJ Keith
Read this if you are fed up with lactivism, attachment parenting zealots, or anything labeled with the adjective "mom." And you have a sense of humor.
Attachments
Rainbow Rowell
Read this if you're looking for a great beach-type read that's still well written.
Love is a Mix Tape
Rob Sheffield
Read this if you loved music in the 1990s.
Theoretically Dead
Tinker Marks
Read this if you want to support local authors, as this was written by a duo of husband-wife professors from Grinnell College, and are intrigued by the category of "lesbian mystery."
Americanah
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Read this if you want to expand your understanding of intersectional feminism and/or the immigrant experience in America.
Go Set a Watchman
Harper Lee
Read this if you absolutely can't help yourself. To Kill a Mockingbird it is not.
Wonder
RJ Palacio
Read this if you like well-written youth literature, or have preteens at home to read to. It's about a child with a severe disfigurement but is neither depressing nor overly cheesy. Maybe a little cheesy in that "appropriate for youth" sort of way.
The Goldfinch
Donna Tartt
Read this Pulitzer Prize winner if you have a lot of free time, enjoy a lot of plot and character details, but don't necessarily care about character likability.
The Storied Life of AJ Fikry
Gabrielle Zevin
Read this if you're kind of a bibliophile who likes literary references and a creative story arc but don't necessarily care about great characters.
X
Sue Grafton
Read this if you love the Kinsey Millhone series. This is another stellar specimen.
This Town
Mark Leibovich
Read this if you're already cynical about politics and want to be even more so.
Happy New Year! What are you reading in 2016?
