I love seeing these “best books of 2015” lists and I was so thrilled that both Miranda Warning and Trial by Twelve made it onto Beckie Burnham’s list here on her By the Book review blog.
I wanted to share a few of my 2015 top picks with you. Let me know if you’ve read them or have others to suggest! I’ll split them into Christian fiction and mainstream fiction. Let it be known that I was on a massive contemporary psychological thriller jag this entire year, and those are hard to find in Christian fiction. But I did find some other stellar books.
I have two top picks for 2015: A Cup of Dust by Susie Finkbeiner and All the Way to Heaven by Becky Doughty. I found myself recommending these richly atmospheric, lyrical novels over and over. Click on the books for descriptions and links. Also, you can find my reviews of all these novels on my Goodreads page here.
Set in the Dust Bowl era, Pearl’s story came to life for me. An unforgettable read. This book is Christian fiction.
Set in Tuscany, this romance swept me in, painting a very visual picture of the life of a college student named Anica. This book is mainstream New Adult (college-aged) fiction.
My top picks of the year are below (though I’m pretty sure I am forgetting some!). You can click the highlighted title to find the book on Amazon. (Please note that not all these books were published in 2015.)
My Top Christian Novel Finds of 2015:
Young Adult Genre: This Quiet Sky by Joanne Bischof
Contemporary: Uncharted by Angela Hunt
Contemporary: The Secret Life of Book Club by Heather Woodhaven
Contemporary Romance: Simply Mad and Crowned by Christina Coryell
Mystery: The Club by Karin Kaufman
Historical: A Cup of Dust by Susie Finkbeiner
My Top Mainstream Novel Finds of 2015 (***Note: these may include some scenes/language***):
Historical: The Anatomist’s Wife by Anna Lee Huber
Contemporary Psychological Thriller (tie): The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins and YA thriller We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
Contemporary Young Adult: The Short and Sincere Life of Ellory James by Wendy Paine Miller
Contemporary New Adult Romance: All the Way to Heaven by Becky Doughty
My To-Read list for 2016:
Spy of Richmond by Jocelyn Green
The Wood’s Edge by Lori Benton
Christina Coryell’s upcoming releases
Becky Doughty’s upcoming releases
Mortal Arts by Anna Lee Huber
The Feathered Bone by Julie Cantrell
And so many more! What have you read and loved in 2015?
–Heather
I loved Spy of Richmond so much I had to go back and read the rest of the series. Checked them out from the library but they were so popular, I ended up reading them out of order as they became available but still very good. Also loving books by Sarah Sundin because I like reading things set in WWII. Really liked the Wings of Glory series and now started on Wings of Nightingale series. Historical fiction is my favorite genre.