The Best Books of 2015
I reviewed 69 books here in 2015 although I rejected one of them after around 200 pages (which in the grand scheme of things isn’t bad and means that I can at least pick readable books). I think 2015 was a pretty good year book wise with a lot of variety and I’ve been pleased by my introduction of the ‘blitz’ method of reading three books on a particular subject is short succession rather than allowing my butterfly mind to drift around as the whim takes it. There will definitely be more blitzing this year! Ever so slowly I am getting my reading under a bit more control though I have built in a bit of randomness just in case. But to the books themselves:
Fiction:
The Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
Every Last Drop by Charlie Huston
Divergent by Veronica Roth
The Greenstone Grail by Amanda Hemingway
The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory
Labyrinth by Kate Mosse
The Traitors Sword by Amanda Hemingway
The Mechanical by Ian Tegillis
Zero History by William Gibson
The Blood Spilt by Asa Larsson
The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin
Alone in Berlin by Hans Fallada
Under Fire by Henri Barbusse
That, I think, is a nice mix of Crime, SF, Fantasy, Historical and Vampire fiction. There’s also a gratifying number of female and non-Anglo-American authors appearing in the list which is good from a multi-perspective point of view. So I’m pleased with that.
Non-Fiction:
1913 – The World Before the Great War by Charles Emmerson
How to Live – A Life of Montaigne by Sarah Bakewell
Singled Out by Virginia Nicolson
Iron Curtain by Anne Applebaum
Conquest – The English Kingdom of France in the 100 Years War by Juliet Baker
Empire and the English Character by Kathryn Tidrick
Hope in the Dark by Rebecca Solnit
Butcher and Bolt by David Loyn
Return of a King by William Dalrymple
The Republic by Charles Townshend
Drone Theory by Gregoire Chamayou
The Rebel Sell by Joseph Heath and Andrew Potter
Titanic Lives by Richard Davenport-Hines
That’s a lot of History as you might expect from my defining interest in the subject although I think it’s a wide ranging historical focus rather than anything too narrow (I’m too interested in too much to be focused on anything for very long). I do feel that I’m ignoring WW1 a bit – contrary to my original plan – and I seem to be skirting around the edges of WW2 but that’ll be rectified this year. I’ve recently developed a real interest in the first 2 years of the war – basically between September 1939 and December 1941 – when Britain basically stood alone against the Germans. So 2016 should see some reading on The Battle of Britain, North Africa, The Battle of the Atlantic, Dunkirk and various early attacks on Fortress Europe…. At least that’s the plan. Of course I’ll be continuing my ‘blitz’ method and the next few will include Germany, The Human Race, The Working Class, Tanks, The Vikings and War Reporting. If I can fit all of that into a single year I’ll be impressed with myself. I’ll try to increase my output a little (75 should be achievable although 80 would be even better) but some of the upcoming reads are 500+ pages so I’ll have to fit in a few more shorter faster reads as well. But that’s all in the future. I’m looking forward to it.
4 comments:
I am always impressed with your reading levels. I aspire to that in my retirement. Right now I'm reading, _All the light we cannot see_ by Anthony Doerr. It's set in WWII. It's interesting so far, but I'm not sure I like the author's choice of jumping between characters' stories.
"Germany, The Human Race, The Working Class, Tanks, The Vikings and War Reporting"
If you read a bunch of books on the invasion of Denmark, Norway, and Finland and somehow focus on the soldiers' experience, that will hit all the categories! ;)
Do you already have your Viking books planned out? The one I read last year was fairly detailed, but Lars Brownworth has a new release about them, and he's quite readable.
I like your eclecticism! Bravo! And thanks for posting your list, which I now -- without your permission -- raid for purposes of stealing titles/authors for my future reading. Yes, shame on me. I am a thieving scoundrel.
v v said:: I am always impressed with your reading levels. I aspire to that in my retirement.
Oh, I'll be aiming for 100 a year when I finally retire!
v v said: Right now I'm reading, _All the light we cannot see_ by Anthony Doerr.
I've seen that around and I might have bought it - not sure.... [looks over to undocumented TBR pile]
Stephen said: If you read a bunch of books on the invasion of Denmark, Norway, and Finland and somehow focus on the soldiers' experience, that will hit all the categories!
I do have a book about the Royal Navy at Narvik in 1940 that keeps catching my eye to read next but i don't think that'll cut it...
Stephen said: Do you already have your Viking books planned out?
I have a few to choose from but I'll probably be reading:
The Hammer & The Cross - A New History of the Viking World by Robert Ferguson
The Northmen's Fury - A History of the Viking World by Philip Parker
The Viking Art of War by Paddy Griffith
Tim said: I like your eclecticism! Bravo!
Thanks and Welcome. I've one of those unfortunate souls who's interesting in almost everything (except sport in my case) and wants to know as much as possible about as much as possible! For instance my next 3 non-fiction reads are: The discovery of the wreck of Titanic in 1985, How the English language went global and a first hand account of the Spanish Civil War. Not matter what your interest (apart from sport) you'll probably come across a reference to it here eventually! Oh, and steal away - it's what the Internet is built for.
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