Other Women's Stories: Top Ten of 2015! (plus Book Awards)

My criteria for the best books of the year boils down to one simple thing: the book had to touch me viscerally. It had to demand something of me or comfort me in a profound way. It had to teach me something about humanity. I read a lot of great books this year, but when I sat down to pick 10, it was obvious which titles I’d choose.

10 Best Books of 2015
Anne of Green Gables

Garlic and Sapphires

I Regret Nothing

In Cold Blood

Middlemarch

Rebecca

The Residence

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

We Knew Mary Baker Eddy

What I Know for Sure

Runners up

At Home in Mitford / A Light in the Window
Big Magic
Coop
Flower
Following Atticus
Humans of New York: Stories
The Know-It-All
The River of Doubt
Under the Banner of Heaven
Voracious

Best Memoir

Garlic and Sapphires

Best Nonfiction Book (non-memoir/biography)

The Residence

Best Biography

Tie: Mornings on Horseback
No Ordinary Time

Best Fiction

Classic: Middlemarch
Contemporary Classic: Rebecca
Contemporary: The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Best Parenting/Family Book

Coming Clean

Best Project or Adventure Book

Three-way Tie: Garlic and Sapphires
The Know-It-All
The River of Doubt

Best Poetry Book

Tie: The Art of Losing, edited by Kevin Young
Good Poems: American Places, edited by Garrison Keillor

Best Cookbook

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Dinnertime

Best Photography/Art Book

Tie: Flower
Humans of New York: Stories

Best Decorating Book

Novel Interiors (by default, it was the only one I read)

Best Picture Book

Kid Sherriff and the Terrible Toads, Bob Shea and Lane Smith

Best Middle Grade and/or YA Book

Anne of Green Gables

Best book that deals with history

The River of Doubt

Best book that deals with religion or faith

Under the Banner of Heaven

Best book that deals with food or cooking or chefs (non-cookbook)

Garlic and Sapphires

Most inspiring, cathartic, or (Self-)helpful

What I Know for Sure (Oprah)

Best book set in another country

Middlemarch

Best book based on a blog

Humans of New York: Stories

Best book by an author I’ve read before

Three-way tie:
Big Magic
I Regret Nothing
Garlic and Sapphires

Best book by a celebrity

A Fine Romance, Candice Bergen
(I also enjoyed I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had by Tony Danza.)

Best book about sports

The Last Season (the only book I read about sports)

Best book by a politician or about politics, government, the White House, etc.

The Residence

Proud to be an American award

Gifted Hands

Funniest book

Food: A Love Story or Dad Is Fat
Runner-up: I Regret Nothing

Best cover

My Fair Lazy
(I also loved Gulp’s cover.)

Worst cover

Go Set a Watchman

Best book about books or reading

The Know-It-All
(Voracious was a good runner-up.)

The “I want to write like that” award

Eat Pray Love

Book everyone should read

In Cold Blood

Biggest surprise (in a good way)

Under the Banner of Heaven

Weirdest book

The Book of Joan

Most charming

At Home in Mitford & A Light in the Window

Most disappointing

Go Set a Watchman

Toughest read

No Ordinary Time (too, too long)

Thickest read

Middlemarch (900+ pages, but I “read it” on audio)
No Ordinary Time (526 pages)

Made me cry

Following Atticus

Renewed my faith in mankind

Americans’ Favorite Poems

Best book about a subject I’ve never read before

We Knew Mary Baker Eddy

Best book from a genre I’ve never read before

Tie: In Cold Blood (true crime)
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (audio book)

Kept me on the edge of my seat

Rebecca

Best book about animals

Following Atticus

Number of books read that were published in 2015

25, I think

10 highly- and widely-recommended books that lived up to the hype

Anne of Green Gables
At Home in Mitford
Big Magic
Humans of New York: Stories
In Cold Blood
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
No Ordinary Time
Rebecca
The Residence
The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

2015 bestsellers that disappointed

Dead Wake
Go Set a Watchman
Killing Reagan
The Wright Brothers
Yes Please

Books I’m most glad I finally got around to

Anne of Green Gables
In Cold Blood
Rebecca

Oldest book read

Mansfield Park

Rereads
Around the House and in the Garden

Cold Tangerines
Eat, Pray, Love
The Good Enough Daughter
The Happiness Project
How Reading Changed My Life
Julie & Julia
The Know-It-All
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake
Love, Loss, and What I Wore
One Writer’s Beginnings
The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
The Reading Promise
A Working Girl Can’t Win
Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake
The Happiness Project

Best story (within a book)

The saddest story, anyway, was President Reagan, suffering from dementia, giving a four-page memorized toast in honor of Margaret Thatcher—twice. (Killing Reagan)

Books that deserve more praise

Driving Hungry
Following Atticus
Voracious

Books that took me out of my comfort zone (and what happened)

Americans’ Favorite Poems (classic poetry) – loved it, surprisingly
Brown Girl Dreaming (YA poetry/memoir) – loved it
Food: A Love Story & Dad Is Fat (comedic essays) – loved it
In Cold Blood (true crime) – loved it
The Jesus Cow (contemporary fiction by a favorite nonfiction writer) – hated it
Middlemarch (long classic fiction) – loved it
Rebecca (mystery/thriller) – loved it
Yes Please (pop culture star memoir) – hated it

Authors added to my TBR because of 2015 Reads

Alan Bradley (Flavia de Luce mysteries)
Daphne du Maurier (mysteries)
George Eliot (classic fiction)
Jan Karon (Mitford series, fiction)
Jacqueline Kelly (children’s)
Maxine Kumin (poetry)

Topics it was most fun learning about

driving a taxi in New York City (Driving Hungry)
the funny side of food (Food: A Love Story)
restaurant critic disguises (Garlic and Sapphires)
Ronald Reagan (Killing Reagan)
reading the Encyclopedia Britannica (The Know-It-All, re-read)
Theodore Roosevelt (Mornings on Horseback)
residence staff and first families in the White House (The Residence)
discovering the Amazon (The River of Doubt)
11-year-old sleuths (The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie)

Books over 30 years old

Anne of Green Gables
Charlotte’s Web
A Christmas Carol
Gift from the Sea
The Great Gatsby
Little House in the Big Woods
Middlemarch
Mornings on Horseback
One Writer’s Beginnings
Rebecca

Best audiobook

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie

Book that didn’t stick with me even until the end of the year

Better Than Before

Books I’ve already gotten rid of