I always enjoy looking back at my reading year, listing my favourite reads and reminding myself of all the great books I’ve discovered during the previous twelve months. As usual, this is going to be a long list (I have never been able to restrict myself to just posting a top ten) and could have been even longer…so without further ado, here are my favourite books of 2015:
Death in Kashmir by M.M. Kaye
From my review: “I loved this book from the very beginning. It’s so important that a first chapter pulls you straight into the story and this one did, right from the opening line – Afterwards Sarah could never be quite sure whether it was the moonlight or that soft, furtive sound that had awakened her. The rest of the story was equally engrossing: a perfect mixture of mystery, suspense, romance and espionage.”
Temeraire by Naomi Novik
From my review: “The first in a series of nine books and set during an alternate version of the Napoleonic Wars. This alternate world is exactly like our own in almost every detail, but with one very important difference – the existence of dragons…Now that I know how things work in the world of Temeraire I’m looking forward to continuing with the series.”
The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay
From my review: “A blue moon and a white moon shine in the sky, faeries wait to claim the souls of the dead, and ancient magical forces lurk in the forest, yet the world portrayed in The Last Light of the Sun can easily be identified as Northern Europe in the time of the Vikings, the Anglo-Saxons and the Celts…This is a beautifully written novel, and as well as being an entertaining story, it’s also very thought-provoking in places.”
David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
From my review: “My edition had more than 900 pages, which seemed quite daunting at first…but once I started reading, I found it surprisingly addictive and it was actually a much quicker read than I imagined it would be. Of the seven Dickens novels I’ve now read, A Tale of Two Cities is still my favourite, but I think this one ties with Our Mutual Friend for second place.”
Edwin: High King of Britain by Edoardo Albert
From my review: “This is a fascinating novel and I feel that I’ve learned a lot from it, but it’s also a gripping, entertaining story…There are battles and duels, feasts and feuds, and lots of political intrigue; there’s always something interesting happening or something new to learn and I was never bored.”
Little Black Lies by Sharon Bolton
From my review: “There are plot twists, there are surprises and there are revelations (one of them coming at the end of the very last page) and every time I thought I knew where the story was going, I was proved wrong. This book is dark, powerful and emotional…and probably my favourite by Sharon Bolton so far.”
The Hollow Hills by Mary Stewart
From my review: “I loved this book from beginning to end…While I don’t have a lot of knowledge of the Arthurian legends, I do know the basic details, so some parts of the story felt familiar to me – but even where I thought I knew what was going to happen, this didn’t lessen the enjoyment of the book for me.”
The Vicomte de Bragelonne by Alexandre Dumas
From my review: “As Dumas is one of my favourite authors I was fully expecting to love this book – and I did…I love the way Dumas writes and I love French history, so I didn’t really mind the fact that there was less swashbuckling action and that we don’t see as much of d’Artagnan’s friends.”
The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse by Piu Marie Eatwell
From my review: “How could I resist reading a book with a title like that? Luckily, the story between the covers proved to be as intriguing as the title; I was completely engrossed in The Dead Duke, His Secret Wife and the Missing Corpse from beginning to end. I don’t often choose to read non-fiction but I’m very glad I decided to read this one!”
Imperium by Robert Harris
From my review: “I had heard of Cicero, of course, but knew very little about his work and nothing at all about his personal life. Now that I’ve read Imperium, the first in a trilogy of novels narrated by Cicero’s slave and secretary, Tiro, I know much more about both…A book about Roman politics may sound boring, but I can assure you it’s not. Harris is an author of thrillers as well as historical fiction and this is an exciting, entertaining read, not just an educational one.”
Lustrum by Robert Harris
From my review: “The first book in the trilogy, Imperium, was one of my favourite reads of the year so far and I’m pleased to say that I enjoyed Lustrum even more. What a great book this is! I was completely gripped from beginning to end, immersed in Cicero’s world.”
The Ibis Trilogy by Amitav Ghosh (Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke, Flood of Fire)
From my review of Flood of Fire: “Set in India and China before and during the First Opium War, the trilogy follows the adventures of a group of people thrown together on board a former slaving ship called the Ibis…Before reading these books I knew nothing at all about the First Opium War, so this trilogy has provided a perfect introduction…I am happy to have had the opportunity to read these three wonderful novels!”
Beau Geste by P.C. Wren
From my review: “Beau Geste is many things: an adventure novel set in North Africa; a tale of the French Foreign Legion; an Agatha Christie-style whodunnit. But if I was asked to describe it in one sentence, I would say that it’s a book for people who like puzzles…it’s so much fun to read that it’s easy enough to overlook any flaws…I enjoyed Beau Geste as much as I expected to and was pleased to find that P.C. Wren wrote more books featuring some of the same characters.”
The Sea-Hawk by Rafael Sabatini
From my review: “I love Rafael Sabatini! I can always count on him when I’m in the mood for a good old-fashioned adventure story and The Sea-Hawk has it all: treachery, betrayal, revenge, duels, kidnapping and piracy on the high seas…Having read three of Sabatini’s other novels, I’ve come to know what to expect from him – and The Sea-Hawk definitely lived up to my expectations.”
And these books deserve a special mention too:
Ross Poldark by Winston Graham
Romola by George Eliot
Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
The Last Enchantment by Mary Stewart
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
Oswald: Return of the King by Edoardo Albert
Gildenford by Valerie Anand
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Have you read any of the books on my list? What were your favourite reads of 2015?
Happy New Year!
She Reads Novels 