Best Books of 2015

Hi everyone.

I can’t believe 2015 is over! I was supposed to post this in 2015 but i was super busy and then super tired and lazy.

BUT I AM SO HAPPY THAT I COMPLETED MY GOODREADS GOAL FOR ONCE!!! I managed to read more than 50 books in 2015 yay me.

So here is my list of the BEST books I have read in 2015…

I’ll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson (2014 in the US and 2015 in the UK)

UK vs US cover

Why I Love It:

THIS BOOK OMG THIS BOOK IS SO BEAUTIFUL. I’ve read her previous book ‘The Sky is Everywhere’ and honestly that book is nothing compared to I’ll Give You The Sun. 

It is narrated by twins Noah and Jude so switches from view points. There’s a lot of art and pain in this book but the writing is superb and the characters are excellently written and the plot…omg the plot and the plot twists!!!

Noah’s descriptions are breathtaking and his curiosity and wonderment are just so adorable.

Jude is incredible, her fearlessness and her strength is admirable but stuff happens and it is just so heartbreaking.

There’s death,  love, hope and forgiveness and plenty of pain and suffering.

But overall this book is incredibly beautiful. I love the characters and the plot and the way they talk about certain things and it’s also really cute at times and i am a sucker for love stories. it’s about family relationships too and how messed up they can be when people keep secrets.

Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld (2014)

US vs UK Cover

Why I Love It:

Oh this book!!! This is A BOOK WITHIN A BOOK. Okay so it’s about this girl Darcy Patel (A BROWN PROTAGONIST I KNOW!!!!) and she is a writer so we get to read her story too!!!

this book is great because it’s about writing and the publishing industry and also has representation and ‘diversity’ so that’s important too.

One chapter is about Darcy and the next is a chapter from her book so that’s really cool and i’m so glad i got to read two books in one! and both really good stories too!

you don’t get confused because the story Darcy writes is very different…it’s like a ghost story and has a hot brown guy who may or may not be Lord of the Dead…but the characters are well written and the plot is great so kudos to you Scott Westerfeld.

Mosquitoland by David Arnold (2015)

Why I Love It:

This book is everything i love in a YA book. A ROAD TRIP. i love road trip books and i really hope i get to go on many road trips in the future!

it took a while to get into and get used to the ‘quirky’ writing and weirdness of the novel and Mim but eventually i got used to it and fell in love with this book and her story.

So Mim is on a quest to find her mum but really…she ends up finding herself. i know that sounds cliche but honestly it’s really beautifully written and the friends she makes along the way are just so lovable.

Her friends Walt and Beck are my fave and i am so glad she realises how stupid she was so that’s good and also it has some great plot twists. I love how unpredictable it was.

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon (2015)

Why I Love It:

urgh reading this book was like a taylor swift song because i was dying from all the cute but then i was like ‘urgh this will never happen to me smh’.

So it’s about this girl Maddy who is ‘allergic’ to the world…as in she can’t go outside or she might/will die. so she stays inside and lives her life through books and the internet. i mean she’s wealthy enough to have a nice house so that’s fine but then there’s this NEW FAMILY NEXT DOOR WITH A CUTE GUY (how cliche but i am a sucker for this kind of thing) and then they end up talking online and fall in love etc etc

i also really liked the illustrations in the book but yeah it’s about Maddy and her life in that house until Olly comes and messes everything up (in a good way) but yeah i felt they rushed into some things *ahem* and i didn’t really like the plot twist but i LOVE the beginning because of how they meet and when they talk at night and that whole thing of falling in love and BEING ALL CUTE!!!

ALSO IT IS WRITTEN BY A BLACK WOMAN AND THE CHARACTER IS MIXED RACE SO YAY for that.

i felt really sorry for the mum and things should have been dealt with differently since she has suffered so much too.

but overall it’s a really cute book and the cover is also really pretty!

Stand-Off by Andrew Smith (2015)

i loathe this cover

Why I Love It:

the sequel to Winger. i didn’t expect to love these books as much as i do but honestly these books are HILARIOUS. it’s hard to find good FUNNY books these days but Andrew Smith somehow manages to do it.

This book is excellent in so many ways. Ryan Dean West is a senior now and has to deal with so much pressure but also after what happened in Winger (the thing with Joey) his anxiety is really bad and he has panic attacks and nightmares it’s really heartbreaking. i actually cried a lot reading this book because of how he wasn’t dealing well with his emotions and he was really confused and i’m like PLEASE GET HELP HKJHGJDFHGKDFJ

but thankfully he eventually gets help and things get dealt with which is good. also SAM ABERNATHY IS ADORABLE and has to stay with Ryan Dean and he is not amused it is sooo cute.

also his relationship with Annie is great and it’s really funny but also gross because guys are weird and think about strange things.

but i love this book and the characters are great and it made me really emotional reading it because i will miss the dork that is Ryan Dean West and his amazingly funny drawings (he draws comics!).

The Collected Works of A.J.Finkry (2014)/The Stories Life of A.H.Finkry (2015) by Gabrielle Zevin 

UK vs US Cover

Why I Love It:

This book is just so so so good. it’s about BOOKS and BOOK PEOPLE! It’s my kind of book.

It’s about this guy who owns this little bookshop on this island and about his pathetic life UNTIL SOMEONE LEAVES A CHILD IN HIS BOOKSTORE AND HE ENDS UP LOOKING AFTER IT AND HE ALSO FALLS IN LOVE WITH THIS WONDERFUL WOMAN WHO MAKES HIM SEE THE WORLD IN A DIFFERENT WAY and it is just so beautiful.

so A.J.Finkry compiles a list of books his daughter should read (there are a lot fo books i haven’t heard about but that’s fine because my to read list is never-ending!).

the characters are well written and i love the plot and there are some excellent quotes too but just a book about people who love books so as a bibliophile it is perfect.

Winter by Marissa Meyer (Lunar Chronicles) 2015 

Why I Love It:

THE LAST BOOK IN THE LUNAR CHRONICLES  OMG!!!

THIS BOOK IS REALLY REALLY FAT LIKE OVER 800 PAGES LONG but i got through it (just about). it was an emotional roller-coaster because every time i’d be like YES FINALLY something else would go wrong and i’d just be like WHY IS THIS HAPPENING? WHEN WILL MY FAVES BE SAFE AND HAPPY?!

so we’re introduced to Princess Winter aka like Snow White but she is black (this book has lots of diversity which is good). Winter suffers from hallucinations and visions so she’s dealing with a kind of mental illness and it is taking a toll on her. but she is a sweet character.

Also…Levana is just urgh like i hate her so much but then also you’re made to feel sorry for her and pity her but no matter what there is no excuse for your crappy behaviour and rudeness and also THE FACT THAT SHE GLAMOURS HERSELF AND MAKES ‘HER PEOPLE’ WORK AS SLAVES SMH (i still need to read Fairest and also there is a collection of short stories coming out soon called Stars Above). 

overall i thoroughly enjoyed reading this book even though it pained me to read some scenes and it hurt a lot coz i love the characters and i just want them to be happy but thankfully things work out and yeah I AM SO PROUD OF CINDER LFJGKJHGKJSDHSFKJ and kai is just too cute. also Iko is such a bamf.

it’s a good series and fairytale retelling!!!

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta (Lumatere Chronicles) 2008

Why I Love It:

oh wow. this book. it’s taken me a long time to finally read the wonder that is Melina Marchetta. i wanted to read a book i could get stuck in and fantasy usually sucks me right in. this book. how do i even begin to describe the beauty that is this book?!

this book killed me.

this book is great because of the CHARACTERS!!! the plot is also good and the dialogue but i love the characters!!! Finnikin and Sir Topher and Evangelin and just basically everyone.

it’s about a cursed kingdom and so many have to flee and become exiles and no other kingdom wants them and it’s horrible and it’s about whether they can return home and what happens then.

also this book was also sooo realistic in the sense that the issues she deals with and the whole exile thing is very relevant to what’s happening today (ie Syria, Palestine etc)

if you like fantasy then you should enjoy this book. ALSO IT HAS SO MUCH DIVERSITY AND THE FEMALE CHARACTERS ARE BEAUTIFULLY WRITTEN AND IT’S ALSO FUNNY AT TIMES BUT IT IS ALSO REALLY PAINFUL. i can’t wait to read the second book!!!

AND OBVIOUSLY  The Princess Diaries: Royal Wedding  WAS EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED AND SO MUCH MORE!

I hope everyone had a good 2015 and if not then hope 2016 is better with more wonderful memories and that you get to read lots of amazing books and travel to new places!

Thanks for reading my blog.

Hopefully I will be blogging more often.

 

Happy Reading!

“When I only begin to read, I forget I’m on this world. It lifts me on wings with high thoughts.” Anzia Yezierska

 

“We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel… is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.” Ursula K. Le Guin

 PEACE. LOVE. BOOKS. =D