Meredith Shayne

Books I enjoyed in 2015

Happy new year, everyone! I know it’s a bit late, but better late then never, right?

At the beginning of the year for the past few years I have made a “books I enjoyed” post for the previous year, which is a list of the books I read during the year and particularly enjoyed. Previous posts can be found here, if you’re interested, but let’s proceed to 2015’s books. Note that I am sticking to books that I read for the first time in 2015, because I’ve probably already told you how much I like the ones I re-read, otherwise they wouldn’t be re-reads, natch.

Blue Lily, Lily Blue, by Maggie Stiefvater

Book 3 of the Raven Cycle YA series, the first two of which (The Raven Boys and The Dream Thieves) I had on my list last year. These books, people, UGH. They are so good I can hardly bear it. This is what I said about them last year, and it still holds true:

Ostensibly the series is about a group of teenagers searching for the grave of a Welsh king they believe can be revived, but really it’s about forging friendships and family and falling in love for the first time and working out who you are as you grow up and how everything is so incredibly important and dramatic when you’re young. They’re killing me, in the best possible way.

The fourth and final book in the series, The Raven King, is out at the end of April and I CANNOT WAIT. But I’m also dreading it because it’s going to be an emotional rollercoaster of grand proportions. UGH. THESE BOOKS. They kill me.

The Love Lesson series, by Heidi Cullinan

Specifically, I’m talking about Love Lessons, Fever Pitch and Lonely Hearts, I have not read the free short as yet. I listened to all these in audiobook format, and I’m lumping them together because they are pretty great. As you’ll see later, I am totally there for college-set romances of any stripe, so these were right up my alley. The audiobooks were beautifully read by Iggy Toma, and aside from there being a few too many references to anime that I had no idea about in Lonely Hearts, and being a tad sappy in places in all three books, I enjoyed them a lot.

The Understatement of the Year, by Sarina Bowen

Ah, my favourite trope! Old friends harbouring some kind of unresolved issue of the romantic kind meet again years later. I would read the shit out of this trope until the end of time and never get tired of it. I’ve even written it, that’s how much I love it so. This one is totally worth the time investment, and the rest of the series I’ve read is pretty good too, for those of you who read M/F. Also, they’re college set, so BONUS.

Him, by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy

Here’s another old-friends-with-issues-meet-again book. Told you I loved that trope. And this one was a GREAT example of it. SO GOOD, I could not stop reading it. This one is getting a sequel too, and I am there for it 100%. This one and the one above also features something else that became a theme of my books read this year: hockey. I have absolutely NFA what hockey’s about, but holy shit I love reading romances about people who play it.

Rivers of London, by Ben Aaronovitch

I love a good urban fantasy/magical realism tale, and this series of books fits the bill perfectly. Hapless police constable Peter Grant finds out that there’s a lot more to the goings-on in London than he ever anticipated, and before he can blink he’s neck deep in it. These are so good. I’m listening to them in audiobook format, and if you are at all fan of audiobooks, I recommend these unreservedly. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith does an amazing job with the narration.

Breakaway, by Avon Gale

Hockey book #3 to make the list. What can I say? I’d apologise, but I’m not sorry at all. This one is enjoyable – a young man who’s amazing at hockey but who has no social skills whatsoever gets involved with a veteran player in a rival team. Hi-jinks ensue. This is the first in a series, and I can tell you now that the second book (Save of the Game) will be making it onto my “books I enjoyed in 2016” list for sure.

The Deal, by Elle Kennedy

This book combines two of my favourite things: college setting, and hockey. And it is DELIGHTFUL. I really loved this one, I’d go so far as to say that it is a strong contender for my favourite book of the year. I just really loved the interaction between Garrett and Hannah. Definitely recommended.