The Best Books of 2015!

Looking for the best books of 2015? This summary of the best in each of the categories that I've posted over the last week should be of assistance. Thanks to Andrew Carnegie and founders who valued literacy, Americans have access to books both digitally and in hard copy via public libraries like this one built in 1903 in Washington, D.C. You can also download audio versions of books from your local library. More information about each book is available on the categorized lists, on my annual list of all the books I read in the last year, and in complete reviews if applicable.. 

The Best Book of 2015:
Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Read the complete review here.)

The Best Novel of 2015:
Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (Read the complete review here.)

The Best Fiction of 2015: 

• All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews (Read the complete review here.)
• Circling the Sun by Paula McLain (Read the complete review here.)
• Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff
• The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (Read the complete review here.)
• The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain (Read the complete review here.)
• Some Luck by Jane Smiley
• A Spool of Blue Thread by Anne Tyler (Read the complete review here.)
• The Water Museum by Luis Alberto Urrea (Read the complete review here.)

The Best Fiction I Read in 2015 That Was Published Previously:

• Americanah by Chimanada Ngozi Adichie (2013)
• Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill (2014)
• Mary Coin by Marisa Silver (2013)
• A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozecki (2013)

The Best Nonfiction Book of 2015:
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

The Best Nonfiction of 2015: 

• Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast (2014)
• The Drummond Girls by Mardi Jo Link (Read the complete review here.)
• In a French Kitchen by Susan Herrmann Loomis (Read the complete review here.)
• Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson (2014) (Read the complete review here.)
• Make it Ahead by Ina Garten (2014)
• Pastrix by Nadia Bolz-Weber (2014)
• Rose Water & Orange Blossoms by Maureen Abood
• Searching for Sunday by Rachel Held Evans (Read the complete review here.)
• A Walk in the Animal Kingdom by Jerry Dennis, Glenn Wolff, illustrator (Read the complete review here.)
• When Books Went to War by Molly Guptill Manning (Read the complete review here.)

The Best Mystery/Thriller of 2015: Descent by Tim Johnston (Read the complete review here.)

The Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2015: 

• A Banquet of Consequences by Elizabeth George
• As Night Falls by Jenny Milchman (Read the complete review here.)
• Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh
• Mind of Winter by Laura Kasischke (2014) (Read the complete review here.)
• The Nature of the Beast by Louise Penny
• The Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews (2013)
• The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
• Unbecoming by Rebecca Scherm

The Best Historical Fiction Novel of 2015: 
Circling the Sun by Paula McLain (Read the complete review here.)

The Best Historical Fiction of 2015:

·         Little Women in Blue by Jeannine Atkins (Read the complete review here.)

·         Lum by Libby Ware (Read the complete review here.)

·         Miss Hazel and the Rosa Parks League by Jonathan Odell

·         The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah (Read the complete review here.)

·         Orhan’s Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian (Read the complete review here.)

·         Some Luck by Jane Smiley

·         White Collar Girl by Renee Rosen (Read the complete review here.)

I also recommend two books published previously that I enjoyed this year:

·         Mary Coin by Marisa Silver (2013)

·         The Wind is Not a River by Brian Payton (2014)

Historical fiction fans will also relish a hybrid novel set both in the past and today:

·         The Mapmaker’s Children by Sarah McCoy

The Best Young Adult/Teen Book of 2015: All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (Read the complete review here.)

The Best Young Adult/Teen Books of 2015:

• All American Boy by Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely (Read the complete review here.)
• I Was Here by Gayle Forman
• Mosquitoland by David Arnold
• Orbiting Jupiter by Gary Schmidt
• Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

The Best Middle Grade Children's Book of 2015 (although some might call it young adult): Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt

The Best Middle Grade Children's Books of 2015:

• Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate
• Echo by Pam Munoz Ryan (Read the complete review here.)
• Good-Bye Stranger by Rebecca Stead
• My Near-Death Adventures (99% True) by Alison DeCamp (Read the complete review here.)
• The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin

The Best Children's Picture Book of 2015: Thank You and Good Night by Patrick McConnell

The Best Children's Picture Books of 2015: 

• Book by David Miles, Natalie Hoopes, illustrator
• The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt, Oliver Jeffers, illustrator
• Glamourpuss by Sarah Weeks, David Small, illustrator
• Home by Carson Ellis
• Thankful by Eileen Spinelli, Archie Preston, illustrator
• Waiting by Kevin Henkes