Reading 2015: A Year in Review

Looking over my posts from the past year to find my favorite books has reminded me how wonderful the best of them were! Hopefully you find inspiration for reading here and not despair at all the length of the list of books you'd like to read.

The book covers below are affiliate links to Amazon. Underneath, I've linked to my book reviews or monthly book report.


Favorite Book of 2015

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Best Fiction

In This House of Brede by Rumer Godden

Best Non-Fiction

Pioneer Girl: The Annotated Autobiography by Laura Ingalls Wilder, edited by Pamela Smith Hill

Best New-to-Me-Author

The Extraordinary Journeys: Around the World in Eighty Days (Oxford World's Classics) by Jules Verne, translated by William Butcher

Best Classic Book I've Never Read Before

The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi

Best Book I Pre-Read for School

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car by Ian Fleming

Book that Made Me Laugh

The Little World of Don Camillo by Giovanni Guareschi (and Don Camillo and His Flock)

Best Homeschooling or Education Book

Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition by Karen Glass

I also enjoyed Mind to Mind: An Essay Towards a Philosophy of Education by Charlotte Mason and Karen Glass.

Most Challenging

Laudato Si -- On Care for Our Common Home by Pope Francis

Best Book I Read Aloud

The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo

"Read aloud" used loosely since we listened to this on audio CD from the library.

Best Memoir

The Wild Muir: Twenty-Two of John Muir's Greatest Adventures selected by Lee Stetson

Best Biography

The Small Woman by Alan Burgess

Best Sports-Related Book

A Nice Little Place on the North Side: A History of Triumph, Mostly Defeat, and Incurable Hope at Wrigley Field by George F. Will

I gave my dad this book for Christmas and he loves it, too.


Most Surprising (in a Good Way)

1776 by David McCullough

Best Book on Faith

The Little Oratory: A Beginner's Guide to Praying in the Home by David Clayton and Leila Marie Lawler

My Other Favorite Books
(alphabetical order by title)

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Young Readers Edition by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer

Helena by Evelyn Waugh

The Long Christmas by Ruth Sawyer

The Religious Potential of the Child: Experiencing Scripture and Liturgy with Young Children by Sofia Cavaletti

For those interested in even more books lists:
2014 list
2013 list