Best of 2015

After reading 137 books this year, it was not easy to narrow it down but it sure was fun looking back over an amazing list of great reads.  (Since I loved so many, a list of 'Honorable Mentions' can be found at the end:)**** indicates my #1 favorite

FICTION:  Tie (I know - cheating - but so many good books are in the world)
Fates and Furies by Lauren Goff
Provoking story of a complicated marriage across the decades

My Grandmother Told Me To Tell You She's Sorry by Frederick Backman
Delightful, funny, heart-warming story of a young girl, discovering who her grandmother used to be

MYSTERY
Syndrome E by Franck Thilliez
A schizophrenic detective and a young ingenue chase a  murderer across three continents

HISTORICAL FICTION
Circling the Sun by Paula McClain
Horse trainer and pioneer for women in aviation, this is the story of Beryl Markham as a young woman in Africa

NON-FICTION
Being Mortal by Atul Gwande
A story of how we age, how we handle illness, and how we die with dignity

**YOUNG ADULT**
I'll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
Two twins, separated by tragedy and youth and dreams and depression and love...this was my favorite book of the year

FANTASY
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Ocean's Eleven meets Game of Thrones (lite) - six complex characters in a fantastical Amsterdam, trying to pull off the crime of the century

SCIENCE FICTION
Seveneves by Neal Stephenson
The moon blows up and the earth will soon be destroyed - this is the epic tale of how seven women save the human race. Unforgettable.

Honorable Mention books:  A Man Called Ove, The Family: Three Journeys into the Heart of the Twentieth Century, Orhan's Inheritance, The Lake House, The Paris Architect, I am Pilgrim, Child 44, Wolf by Wolf, Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town, Carry the Sky