Top Ten Tuesday | Best Books of 2015

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature created at The Broke and the Bookish. Each week you compile a list of ten books which coincide with that week's theme. You can find everything you need to know about joining in here!

This week's theme is 'Top Ten Best Books I Read in 2015', and considering how wonderful this past reading year has been I had a lot of books to choose from. There were a few graphic novels I loved this year too, but to make things a little easier for myself I decided to leave them out and just talk about traditional novels instead.

I've put these in the order I read them because I couldn't possibly rank them, although there are one or two that have made it onto my all-time favourite books list!

Burial Rites by Hannah Kent: This is the very first book I read this year, and it started a year of fantastic reading for me. It's a brilliant read for the winter months, so now is a perfect time to pick it up! It'll break your heart, but it's beautifully written.

My Life as a White Trash Zombie by Diana Rowland: This book made my list because it took me by surprise. I expected to like it - it sounded fun, and I loved the cover - but I flew through it and just loved it. It's such a great urban fantasy read!

Signal to Noise by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: Another one that took me completely by surprise and wrung me out so it could collect all of my emotions in a little tin bucket. This is my favourite book of 2015. There. I said it. It's also a book that I'm desperate for more people to read, because other than my friend Natalie @ A Sea Change I haven't seen any other bloggers talking about it and it's so good. Please read it!

How To Be a Heroine by Samantha Ellis: I was really disappointed when this memoir ended. I just really enjoyed it, and if you're a fan of literary heroines I think you'd like it a lot, too. I know some people aren't keen on non-fiction, but I can promise you that this is a truly excellent memoir.

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: Yup. I finally read To Kill a Mockingbird this year and I loved it. It's such a shame that Harper Lee never wrote anything else. (Yes, I know there's Go Set a Watchman, but don't let publishers trick you - it's not a sequel, it's basically a manuscript of what To Kill a Mockingbird might have been if her editor hadn't told her to write more about Scout's childhood.) In Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear Elizabeth Gilbert talks a little bit about Harper Lee, and how the huge success that was To Kill a Mockingbird made Harper Lee afraid to write anything else because it could never be as good. I wish people didn't ask authors - or anyone in any sort of field - how they're going to 'top' their biggest success. You can't top your biggest success, that's why it's your biggest success, and I hope writers who do well continue to write for their own enjoyment like J.K. Rowling has done.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison: Another book that is one of the very best I've read this year. It's perfection. I've been wary of high fantasy for a couple of years, I found myself struggling to get into it as easily as I used to, but this I adored. I fell into this world and I was genuinely gutted when it was over. Maia is definitely my favourite character of the year.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters: I bloody loved The Little Stranger, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I read that final page. If you like ghost stories, particularly ghost stories set in old houses, you'll like this.

Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli: Definitely the best YA book I've read this year, and another one that took me completely by surprise. I knew people were rating it highly but, and I mean this with the greatest respect, I see a lot of readers on Goodreads rate every YA book they read 5 stars, so I was expecting this to be, well, like every other YA book out there. Boy was I wrong. It's so funny and realistic and just a genuinely good book. Loved it!

The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton: Like Burial Rites, The Miniaturist is another gorgeous historical fiction debut. I loved it a lot, and I can't wait for Burton's next novel, The Muse.

Winter by Marissa Meyer: I couldn't not have this book on my list. It's not my favourite book in The Lunar Chronicles - that's probably Cress - but it did bring to an end one of my favourite series, so I had to include it!

Which books made your list this week?