The Best & Worst of the Books I Read in 2015
It is not always easy for me to find time to simply read for pleasure. Apart from writing my own books, I receive many requests from fellow authors every year to read and review their novels, which is usually, although not always, a pleasure. Fortunately, I managed to to find some quality reading time during my recent holiday to Cyprus and was able to indulge in my passion.
In this blog, I thought I'd share my thoughts about the best and worst fiction I've come across in 2015. I have also included my most surprising book of the year and the one I was most anticipating.
In this blog, I thought I'd share my thoughts about the best and worst fiction I've come across in 2015. I have also included my most surprising book of the year and the one I was most anticipating.
My Favourite Book of 2015
The Girl on the Train - Paula Hawkins
What’s to say that hasn’t already been said about this novel?
It’s a brilliant book – and far, far better than its American rival, Gone Girl in which the two main characters are over-shadowed by their egos and the writer robs us of a satisfactory ending in order to set up the sequel.
I don’t normally like present tense narration but Paula Hawkins is an expert in its use and skilfully draws you into the conflicted minds of her three female narrators. She takes the reader backwards and forwards through time and creates a palpable sense of tension as the narrations start to coincide and become chronological.
I liked the crazy, screwed-up characters in The Girl on the Train – especially Rachel – and the book came to a wonderful Karmic ending when the villain got it in the neck – literally.
It’s a brilliant book – and far, far better than its American rival, Gone Girl in which the two main characters are over-shadowed by their egos and the writer robs us of a satisfactory ending in order to set up the sequel.
I don’t normally like present tense narration but Paula Hawkins is an expert in its use and skilfully draws you into the conflicted minds of her three female narrators. She takes the reader backwards and forwards through time and creates a palpable sense of tension as the narrations start to coincide and become chronological.
I liked the crazy, screwed-up characters in The Girl on the Train – especially Rachel – and the book came to a wonderful Karmic ending when the villain got it in the neck – literally.
Biggest Literary Disappointment of 2015
And The Mountains Echoed - Khaled Hosseini
Khaled Hosseini really disappointed me with his novel, And the Mountains Echoed. Hosseini is one of my favourite authors. I had this book on my Kindle for years and waited until I was on holiday and could savour it. I was devastated to find out that it had no plot.
And the Mountains Echoed is a disjointed series of short stories which introduce dozens of characters loosely connected to a house in Kabul over a period of sixty years. You need to take notes in order to keep track of who's who and the character’s random connections with each other. I abandoned the novel twice in frustration and confusion and only finished it because I thought that there would be an amazing ending where everything would suddenly become clear.
There wasn’t and it didn’t.
And the Mountains Echoed is a disjointed series of short stories which introduce dozens of characters loosely connected to a house in Kabul over a period of sixty years. You need to take notes in order to keep track of who's who and the character’s random connections with each other. I abandoned the novel twice in frustration and confusion and only finished it because I thought that there would be an amazing ending where everything would suddenly become clear.
There wasn’t and it didn’t.
Most Anticipated Book of 2015
Go Set a Watchman - Harper Lee
For me, the publishing highlight of the year had to be Go Set a Watchman by Harper Collins. To kill a Mockingbird is one of my all-time favourites and like millions of others around the world I waited with bated breath for the sequel. Or was it a prequel? Or was it just a first attempt at fiction, discarded when the author realised she had the seeds of a far, far, bigger story in the rape trial of Tom Robinson seen through the eyes of a seven year-old child? Was it actually possible to follow To Kill a Mockingbird?
I adored parts of Go Set a Watchman and laughed out loud on my sunbed in Cyprus when I read about the further adventures of Jem and Scout. This was Harper Lee at her best. But the over-riding emotion I had when I’d finished the novel was sympathy for the author. This book left me with mixed feelings of disappointment and pleasure. I have no idea, or not, if Lee was pressurised into releasing this novel against her better judgement but part of me wishes she hadn’t.
And part of me is glad that she did.
I adored parts of Go Set a Watchman and laughed out loud on my sunbed in Cyprus when I read about the further adventures of Jem and Scout. This was Harper Lee at her best. But the over-riding emotion I had when I’d finished the novel was sympathy for the author. This book left me with mixed feelings of disappointment and pleasure. I have no idea, or not, if Lee was pressurised into releasing this novel against her better judgement but part of me wishes she hadn’t.
And part of me is glad that she did.
Biggest Literary Surprise of 2015
Ramblin' Rose: The Boatwoman's Story
- Sheila Stewart
I love this book. I read my mother’s copy many years ago and I picked it up again in 2015 to dip into as part of a research project for my current novel but found that I wasn’t able to put it down. Sheila Stewart gives Rose such a distinctive voice that you are hooked from the first page.
Rose’s narrative is a fascinating, unsentimental account of the life (and death) of the men and women who worked ours canals during the first fifty years of the nineteenth century. It vividly recreates their culture, traditions, hardships and tragedies. But it also reveals the incredible love, pride and strong-bond between this close-knit, free-floating community who were isolated from land-locked Britain for generations.
Rose’s narrative is a fascinating, unsentimental account of the life (and death) of the men and women who worked ours canals during the first fifty years of the nineteenth century. It vividly recreates their culture, traditions, hardships and tragedies. But it also reveals the incredible love, pride and strong-bond between this close-knit, free-floating community who were isolated from land-locked Britain for generations.
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