Fiction of 2015

Here are my favourite fiction books from the past year. These are books I read in 2015, not ones that were published in 2015. They are in no particular order.

1. Terry Pratchett: Unseen Academicals, The Dragons of Crumbling Castle, and The Truth. I always enjoy Terry Pratchett, although I didn't read much from him this year. Of the three, The Truth was my favourite.

2. Agatha Christie: around 43 books! I won't list them all, but this was my summer for Agatha Christie (and by "summer" I mean June-August, and then a few into the fall, and one last week). I like Miss Marple more than Hercule Poirot, and really enjoyed the Tommy and Tuppence series.

3. Benedict and Nancy Freedman: Mrs Mike. I read this years and years ago (I think I was about 15) at my grandparents' house. It's my mum's favourite book, which is how I read it again this year.

4. Kersten Hamilton: Tyger, Tyger; In the Forests of the Night; The Stars Throw Down Their Spears. This trilogy made me laugh and cry, and held my interest straight through. It didn't fall into the bad habit that seems to plague so many recent trilogies for young people, where the third book becomes too preachy in its attempt to get across its message. There is a message (books in general have some sort of theme that tends to teach something, no matter how unintentional), but it's just part of the story and not in your face.

5. Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities. Yes, it's long (he was definitely paid by the word), but so worth it. I devoured the final few chapters because I had to see how it ended.

6. Manga Classics: This is my new favourite way to read some of the classics! I read three of them this year:
The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne (Story Adaptation by Crystal S. Chan; English Script by Stacy King; Art by SunNeko Lee)
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin (story adaptation by Stacy King; Art by Po Tse)
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo (story adaptation by Crystal Silvermoon; English Script by Stacy King; Art by SunNeko Lee)

7. Leonie Swann: Three Bags Full. Someone has killed their shepherd, and the sheep are determined to figure it out. It's fun to read, especially since the sheep, of course, don't quite understand the human world. The author did a great job of writing from their perspective.

Those were the best (at least in my opinion). I read a lot of other books, some from my childhood (The Secret Garden, The Story Girl, a few books by Monica Hughes) and others that were good, but not at the top of the list. I read one that would have made the list, but around page 350 the young heroine goes into the magician's room and they spend the night together (and it gets a bit too detailed for a couple pages). It really bothered me, because the story is good, but I can never recommend it to anyone because of 4 totally unnecessary pages.

Tomorrow I'll look at the non-fiction of the year.