I read a lot of great books in 2015, and I would recommend many of them to interested readers. But I thought it might be helpful to narrow it down to a smaller list of titles for a year end wrap up. So here are the five books I would most recommend to anyone, followed by ten more that were also great (and I feel bad leaving off books I liked by Anne Lamott, Patrick Hicks, Marilynne Robinson, and Brian Turner, among others—it was a good year of reading). I’ve put them in the order that I read them with a brief quote from my original reviews (and a link to the review if you want to see more). First, the top five.
Complications (Atul Gawande)
“a phenomenal book of medical stories and explorations of the human experience at a most vulnerable time. The book’s greatest strength is its stories.”
The New Jim Crow (Michelle Alexander)
“a devastating critique of American society. Alexander argues, persuasively I feel, that upon the end of Jim Crow segregation in the 1960s, instead of ushering in a time of equal opportunity, America erected a new racial caste system based on mass incarceration (via the War on Drugs) with devastating effect on African Americans. Her argument is a complex one, requiring diving into history, law, and social science research.”
Get in Trouble (Kelly Link)
a book so good I reviewed it twice!
“It hit the right tone between reality and fantasy that got under my skin so I didn’t know what to believe.” (blog review)
“It’s this quality of the fantastic, when in the best hands like Link’s, that helps the reader to get out of the ordinary world and see something different, all while shedding light on some part of the ordinary that we often overlook. Plus, it’s fun.” (Rock &Sling review)
Hiroshima (John Hersey)
“And though this is a survival story, we see death everywhere. It’s important to reckon with this, look at the death and destruction square in the face. As an American, this is my legacy: America is the only country to have used atomic weapons.”
Just Mercy (Bryan Stevenson)
“a flat-out incredible book. Through the stories of prisoners young and old, innocent and guilty, whom he has represented as an attorney through the Equal Justice Initiative, Stevenson shows the many ways that the U.S. criminal justice system is flawed and often leads to unjust outcomes.”
And the runners-up
Gulp (Mary Roach)
“the perfect bathroom book, and I mean that in the best way possible. The book is fascinating and funny, and the subject matter is often fecal.”
We Have Always Lived in the Castle (Shirley Jackson)
“The book is satisfying but not overlong, and still I wished I could spend more time with these delightfully eccentric sisters. I’d recommend this novel to anyone who likes a slightly twisted and dark story.”
God and the Gay Christian (Matthew Vines)
“Vines presents a well-organized and detailed argument that the church should affirm LGBT individuals and marriage between same sex partners that is monogamous and committed. And it fulfills the promise of its subtitle: it is a biblical argument.”
Carver: A Life in Poems (Marilyn Nelson)
“In many ways, I thought it read better than a traditional biography would have.”
Searching for Sunday (Rachel Held Evans)
“a mix of memoir and a meditation on church. The book is structured around the seven sacraments (baptism, confession, holy orders, communion, confirmation, anointing of the sick, and marriage), which helps hold the fragmentary nature of the chapters together.”
Between the World and Me (Ta-Nehisi Coates)
“Coates’s writing is an inspiration for me. He is a writer that I admire for many reasons: love of language, curiosity of self and the world, and deep humility.”
Neurotribes (Steve Silberman)
“a comprehensive and important history of autism […] it gives a multi-faceted perspective to an often misunderstood condition”
Davita’s Harp (Chaim Potok)
“another beautiful and moving novel by this author. Like the others I’ve read, it’s a coming of age story about a young, smart, Jewish kid; unlike the others I’ve read, this one is about a girl, and that makes all the difference.”
Killing and Dying (Adrian Tomine)
“is an impressive short story collection in comics. I would put it next to any collection of stories in prose out this year and be confident it would hold its own, it’s that good.”
March, Book One (John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell)
“This is one instance where I think the medium of comics is especially effective at conveying the power of the story while also helping the reader see the larger context. The scenes of violence are particularly potent to help the reader see both the resistance the protesters faced and the way the strategy of nonviolence worked in the face of violent resistance.”
I hope 2016 brings at least as many good books my way!
