Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Book Read in 2015


This is the list of the 92 books I read in 2015, in the order that I read them. Normally I read 100 to 110 books every year, so I was low in 2015. Partly this was because I read more chunksters last year than I usually do. But mostly I didn't get through as many books because I was crazy busy with a big sex abuse case.

I rate books 1 to 5, but only give five stars to a very few all-time favorites. Four stars go to books I think are really good and would recommend to anyone. I rate a book a 3 if I liked it personally, but wouldn't think of recommending it. Most books get 3.5, which means that I liked it and would recommend it to people who like that genre or type of book. See this post for details.

The White Feather by P. G. Wodehouse (2.5/5)

For Keeps: Women Tell the Truth About Their Bodies, Growing Older, and Acceptance, edited by Victoria Zackheim (3.5/5)

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (4.5/5)

Felicia’s Journey by William Trevor (4/5)

Portrait of a Woman in White by Susan Winkler (reviewed here; my interview of Susan Winkler; 4/5)

I Was Told There'd Be Cake by Sloane Crosley (3/5)

A Question of Belief by Donna Leon (3/5)

Things Invisible to See by Nancy Willard (reviewed here; 3.5/5)

The Cruelest Month by Louise Penny (3.5/5)

Duplicate Keys by Jane Smiley (3.5/5)

Oscar Wilde: A Certain Genius by Barbara Belford (3/5)

The Stories by Vladimir Nabokov (5/5)

The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert (3.5/5)

Skios by Michael Frayn (4/5)

The Light Between Oceans by M. L. Stedman (3/5)

Difficulties with Girls by Kingsley Amis (3.5/5)

I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman by Nora Ephron (4/5)

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (4/5)

The New York Stories by Elizabeth Hardwick (3/5)

The Bat by Jo Nesbo (3.5/5)

The Dinner by Herman Koch (4/5)

Oh, Play that Thing by Roddy Doyle (3/5)

Stones from the River by Ursula Hegi (3.5/5)

The Lyre of Orpheus by Robertson Davies (4.5/5)

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro (4/5)

Past Imperfect by Julian Fellows (4.5/5)

Not George Washington by P. G. Wodehouse (3/5)

The Whole World Over by Julia Glass (3.5/5)

Night Fall by Nelson DeMille (3.5/5)

The Sweet Dove Dies by Barbara Pym (3/5)

Nice Work by David Lodge (4/5)

The Humans by Matt Haig (4/5)

The Untouchable by John Banville (3.5/5)

The Small Bachelor by P. G. Wodehouse (3.5/5)

The Book of Jonah by Joshua Max Feldman (3.5/5)

Personal by Lee Child (3.5/5)

Southern Ladies and Gentlemen by Florence King (3.5/5)

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain (3/5)

The Clicking of Cuthbert by P.G. Wodehouse (3.5/5)

The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals that Protect Us From Violence by Gavin de Becker (3/5)

Painting as a Pastime by Winston Churchill (3.5/5)

Extra Virgin: A Young Woman Discovers the Italian Riviera, Where Every Month is Enchanted by Annie Hawes (3.5/5)

The Swoop! Or How Clarence Saved England: A Tale of the Great Invasion by P.G. Woodhouse (3.5/5)

The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro (4/5)

The Georgetown Set: Friends and Rivals in Cold War Washington by Gregg Herken (3.5/5)

How to Be Good by Nick Hornby (3.5/5)

On Writing Well by William Zinsser (4/5)

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (Pulitzer winner; 3/5)

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (4/5)

Wickford Point by John P. Marquand (3/5)

Comeback by Dick Francis (3.5/5)

Heat and Dust by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (Booker winner; 4/5)

The Rise & Fall of Great Powers by Tom Rachman (2.5/5)

The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins (3/5)

Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris (3.5/5)

The Treasure Principle: Discovering the Secret of Joyful Giving by Randy Alcorn (3/5)

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz (3/5)

The Butchers Boy by Thomas Perry (Edgar Award winner; 3.5/5)

Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World by Anthony Doerr (3/5)

The Mirror Crack’d from Side to Side by Agatha Christie (3.5/5)

The Sins of the Fathers by Lawrence Block (3/5)

Cat Chaser by Elmore Leonard (3.5/5)

A Caribbean Mystery by Agatha Christie (3.5/5)

Olivay by Deborah Reed (4/5)

Fling and Other Stories by John Hersey (3.5/5)

The Charm School by Nelson DeMille (4/5)

Promised Land by Robert B. Parker (3.5/5)

The Last Gentleman by Walker Percy (2.5/5)

A Bromfield Galaxy by Louis Bromfield:
A Writer’s House in Wales by Jan Morris (3.5/5)

In the Frame by Dick Francis (3.5/5)

Peyton Place by Grace Metalious (3.5/5)

The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth (4.5/5)

The Lonely Polygamist by Brady Udall (4/5)

The Spire by William Golding (3/5)

Big Money by P. G. Woodhouse (3.5/5)

Getting It Right by William F. Buckley, Jr. (3.5/5)

Let Me Be Frank with You by Richard Ford (3.5/5)

How to Be a Woman by Caitlin Moran (3.5/5)

Still Midnight by Denise Mina (3.5/5)

Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding (3.5/5)

Guard of Honor by James Gould Cozzens (Pulitzer winner; 3/5)

A Thousand Bells at Noon : A Roman's Guide to the Secret & Pleasures of his Native City by G. Franco Romagnoli (3.5/5)

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates (3/5)

The Moving Target by Ross Macdonald (3.5/5)

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher (4.5/5)

The Marseille Caper by Peter Mayle (3/5)

Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef by Gabrielle Hamilton (3.5/5)

Silent Joe by Jefferson Parker (Edgar Award winner; 3.5/5)

Three Blind Mice and Other Stories by Agatha Christie (3.5/5)

The Collected Stories by Dorothy Parker (3.5/5)

Bonjour Tristesse Françoise Sagan (3/5)