1. Just One Day by Gayle Forman
2. Just One Year by Gayle Forman
3. Just One Night by Gayle Forman
4. The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivy
5. Wild by Cheryl Strayed
6. Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
7. Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon
8. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon
9. All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
10. The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion
11. Afterworlds by Scott Westerfeld
12. A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
13. A Dance with Dragons by George R. R. Martin
14. Moloka’i by Alan Brennert
15. Morrigan’s Cross by Nora Roberts
16. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
17. We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
18. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
19. The Rosie Effect by Graeme Simsion
20. Broken Harbor by Tana French
21. The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan
22. Yes Please by Amy Poehler
23. Groundswell by Katie Lee
24. The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
25. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
26. This Lullaby by Sarah Dessen
27. Landline by Rainbow Rowell
28. Easy Prey by John Sandford
29. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
30. I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
31. Hands Free Mama by Rachel Macy Stafford
32. Night Circus by Emily Morgenstern
33. Carry On by Rainbow Rowell
34. Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert
35. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
36. Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
37. After You by Jojo Moyes
38. Finding Lily by Rachel Del
39. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King
40. Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

2015 was a really great year for me, reading-wise. (Maybe not so much blog posting-wise? Ha.) Using Elise Cripe’s daily goal tracker, I made a goal to read every day. I even gave myself an out on that goal, and would count it even if it was reading to Ben or reading a single paragraph. In the end, I didn’t read for 365 consecutive days, but I only missed about one day per month on average. My conservative goal was specifically to read 30 books, which seems pretty reasonable for me, since I average about 40 books a year. And I definitely surpassed my goal, and got back to a perfectly even 40 for the year, which I feel great about. (I may have chosen a YA book after Christmas specifically so I would end up with a nice, round 40 books total for the year.)

I got into a nice habit of reading during Ben’s afternoon nap, which seems to work better for me than reading at night (when I often fall asleep after a page or two). It also works better in general in terms of feeling like a human person again after a half day of wrangling a tiny human, which I need to remember going into 2016. I just feel more like myself when I’m reading every day.

The really new thing for me in 2015, reading-wise, was joining two book clubs: an online summer book club run by one of my former librarian colleagues, and an actual in-person book club run through my local chapter of the MOMs Club. I have always wanted to belong to a book club, and it pushed me totally out of my comfort zone (going to a meeting at the house of someone whom I hadn’t met! Whaaaat.) But I’ve been able to go to quite a few meetings since I started in the spring, and although most of the selections have been re-reads for me (I guess I stay more current with books than I realized?), it has been great, and I’m looking forward to sticking with it in the new year.

I read quite a few books that I ADORED this year: The Royal We was thinly veiled Kate Middleton fan fiction and I enjoyed it so much; The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is one of those books that is so charming that everyone should read it; I absolutely loved Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl and companion book Carry On (and will definitely be re-reading those at some point); and The Beekeeper’s Apprentice was so interesting and different than my usual choices, and I look forward to reading more in that series. I also re-read the first three Outlander books and was kind of surprised at how I had forgotten how absolutely engrossing they are. It always surprises me so much when a 900+ page book can be so un-put-down-able, and I’m beginning 2016 by reading the fourth book.

(I guess I should blog more; I clearly have a lot of things to say.)

Setting 2016’s reading goal has been tricky for me. Knowing that I stopped reading for a few months after Ben was born, I’m trying to adjust my expectations accordingly for this year. If it was hard to read with one baby, it’s sure to be difficult to find the time with a Ben AND a new baby. But I do want to keep reading, and goals help motivate me. So… I’m going to set the goal optimistically at 30 books, and I have printed a new 2016 goal tracker (although I’ll be blocking off April, May, and probably June, and just release myself from the expectation that I’ll read daily or at all during those months). We’ll see. Happy reading!

In Previous Years…
Books Read in 2014
Books Read in 2013
Books Read in 2012
Books Read in 2011
Books Read in 2010
Books Read in 2009
Books Read in 2008
Books Read in 2007
Books Read in 2006
Books Read in 2005