Here are my top picks for books published in 2015!
The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan. I adore The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (aka Will and Kate) and everything British, so this fictionalized account of their courtship (if Kate was American and not nearly so well put-together) was very relevant to my interests. I thought it would be very light and fluffy, and it is, but it's also a moving story of family and friendships. It's not short but I was so hooked I read it in three sittings, and Bex is easily one of my favorite main characters this year. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll start looking for flights to London.
Hammer Head: The Making of a Carpenter by Nina MacLaughlin. MacLaughlin used to write for the Boston Phoenix newspaper. After several years of sitting behind a computer she lost the sense of why she became a journalist and grew frustrated with the feeling that she wasn't accomplishing anything of tangible value. She began scouring Craigslist job ads until she found one that said "carpenter's assistant--women strongly encouraged to apply," even though she had no carpentry experience. Mary hired her anyway and taught her on the job. Working with her hands and under Mary's firm but encouraging tutelage, in a field that is mostly male, Nina learns much more than the difference between Phillips and flathead screwdrivers. Her story is about her friendship and working relationship with Mary and also about her family, as at the end her dad hires her to build him a bookshelf. I also loved the descriptions of Somerville and Cambridge, and how Nina drew inspiration from writers such as Ovid, Annie Dillard, and Studs Terkel to draw parallels between her new and old careers.
Spinster: Making a Life of One's Own by Kate Bolick. Oh, how I loved this book. Intellectual yet personal, it lit up all of my feminist buttons and was just a lovely, inspiring read. Bolick was inspired by five literary women from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, including Edith Wharton and Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and draws upon their writings and life stories to guide her own. Although some of her luminaries did marry, they continued to live their lives on their own terms--no easy feat for women living a hundred years ago. Bolick ruminates on marriage in the past and present and what it means to live your life authentically, without ever insisting that one path (marriage or the single life) is right for everyone. She just points out that whether single or coupled, women should carefully consider what they want their lives to look like and savor the benefits of each stage of life. I loved learning about Bolick's literary inspirations, including two women I had never heard of, and reading about her own "carefully considered, passionately lived life."
Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin. I was a big fan of Rubin's other books about habits, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home, so I was eagerly awaiting her new book. It did not disappoint. As usual, she combined copious research with anecdotes from her personal life, and her conversational tone is warm and engaging. I found many great tips for forming new habits and have implemented some of them. This is especially helpful as we head into the new year--if you plan to make New Year's resolutions, Rubin's advice will help you keep them.
Dark Sparkler by Amber Tamblyn. This volume of poetry might seem like an odd choice, but Tamblyn is a fantastic poet and this collection focuses on Hollywood starlets who died too soon. I enjoyed the poems and looking up the actresses I knew nothing about. Excellent original artwork by several different artists, including David Lynch and Adrian Tome, accompanies some of the poems.
Uprooted by Naomi Novik. The roots (pun intended) of this story come from Novik's Polish grandmother. Agnieszka (along with everyone else) thinks that her beautiful best friend Kasia will be chosen by the sorceror called The Dragon, who takes a girl from the surrounding villages every ten years as payment for protecting them from the dark magic that encroaches from the Forest and grows stronger every day. No one truly knows what goes on in his castle, and the girls are released at the end of their ten years, but none of them have ever chosen to come home and settle down after their release. The Dragon surprises everyone by choosing Agnieszka instead. Agnieszka is another one of my favorite characters--bold and flawed, she loves her family and friends fiercely and does not wait to be rescued or for someone else to rescue those she loves.
The Girl in the Spider's Web by David Lagercrantz. Stieg Larsson's (author of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels) shoes are not easy to fill, and this book has been heavily scrutinized. I loved the original series and while this book does have its faults, overall I thought Lagercrantz did a great job keeping the voice in line with Larsson's and I was thrilled to read more about my favorite Swedish hacker, Lisbeth Salander. This fun, fast-paced read kept me hooked until the last page, and it sounds like there will be more to come.
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware. I started reading this as a free sample and nearly bought it because I was so hooked. This is another fast-paced, exciting book--lone wolf writer Nora is invited to a very old friend's bachelorette party deep in the English countryside. Something very bad happens, but she can't quite remember what...in some ways this was similar to Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll, but I enjoyed this one more.
Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling. I adored Mindy Kaling's first book, Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? And Other Concerns, and I thought her second book was even better. She's sassier and wiser this time around, and it’s a quick, fun read with some serious heart.
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert. I just finished this one a couple of weeks ago, and it is a doozy. Gilbert isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I found buckets of inspiration in this book. Even if you didn’t like Eat, Pray, Love, give this one a shot. I’m only sorry I didn’t read it sooner.
Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner. I read an advanced copy of this and was quickly hooked. Andy and Rachel come from completely different worlds, but meet by chance in a hospital waiting room when they are eight years old. After Andy returns to inner-city Philadelphia with his single mom and Rachel goes back to her upper class suburban life in Florida, they continue to think about each other and cross paths several times over the next three decades. Get the tissues—Weiner will break your heart a few times but it’s worth it, and the ending was really well done.
All the Rage by Courtney Summers. This YA book had me right from the beginning. Also heartbreaking and yes, rage-inducing, this story focuses on Romy and the small town of Grebe, whose inhabitants refuse to believe that she was raped by the sheriff’s son. Romy takes solace in her job at a diner outside of town, and just tries to get through the days at school, where she is either bullied or ignored. Then a former friend goes missing and word of another girl being assaulted by her rapist gets out, and Romy has to decide what to do. At first I was disappointed in the ending, but after considering it I think it works well.
We have many of these titles available in other formats—large print, audiobook on CD, downloadable audiobook, Playaway (an MP3 player with an audiobook loaded onto it), and 3M or Overdrive eBook.