Today’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from The Broke and the Bookish is Top Ten 2015 Releases We Meant to Get to but Didn’t:
- Ta-Nehesi Coates’ Between the World and Me: I must have taken the most talked about book of the year out of the library at least five times. You’d think I’d have managed to finish it, but no. This year.
- Brian Selznick’s The Marvels appeared on my to-read list for last week’s #TBRTakedown, but I didn’t get to it because I didn’t want to rush through it. It’s on my list for this weekend, though, since my dad picked it up, too.
- Kitchens of the Midwest, by J. Ryan Stradal, appeared on several lists of books that leave you with a smile at their end. That’s what I’m reading right now.
- Becky Albertalli’s Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda appeared on a bunch of best-of lists (winning the Morris Award for best debut for teens) and also was cited as life-affirming. Also, Oreo-affirming, so I have a bag set aside to eat while reading. It’s written by a Wesleyan alum, so I have an especial interest.
- Challenger Deep, by Neal Shusterman, won the 2015 National Book Award for Young People’s Literature.
- Steve Sheinkin’s 2013 book, The Port Chicago 50, outraged me and was the book I talked about to everyone I encountered while reading it, including people who don’t seem to like books. His latest, Most Dangerous: Daniel Ellsberg and the Secret History of the Vietnam War, promises to be equally outrageous and has been named both a Cybils finalist in non-fiction and the winner of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults. DCPL was a little slow to buy this one, but they’ve got it in stock now.
- Bone Gap, by Laura Ruby, won the Printz Award yesterday and is a finalist for the Cybils in the YA speculative fiction category.
- Carry On, Rainbow Rowell’s latest. I didn’t buy it in case someone wanted to give it to me for Christmas. All those someones probably expected I’d already read/bought it, so now it’s fair game for use with the credits I amassed at my local bookshops doing my Christmas shopping.
- A Conn alum, Tracy O’Neill was listed as one of last year’s 5 under 35 winners by the National Book Foundation. Her novel, The Hopeful, came out last year.
- Pam Muñoz Ryan’s Echo was named a Newbery Honor Book yesterday.
Those are just a few of the books I missed out on last year. I have another ten out from the library that I’m hoping to tackle in the upcoming weeks.
How about you? What books from 2015 did you just not get around to? Or that you’ve only just heard about from some of the best-of lists or award lists?
I had the Coates book out once and didn’t read it either. I’m not familiar with any of your other books, except I was just reading about Carry On today, and you told me about The Port Chicago 50.
“I didn’t buy it in case someone wanted to give it for me for Christmas” – I hate when that happens, lol.
Comment by raidergirl3 01.13.16 @ 9:01 pmI have a few books from 2015 that I haven’t read yet. One of them is “The Marvels,” which I couldn’t resist for myself, and which I would have bought for you, but I suspected that you’d already have it (too bad I didn’t know about the Rainbow Rowell book!) I’m currently reading “The Seventh Bride” by T. Kingfisher. And then there’s “A Nearer Moon” by Melanie Crowder, which has an absurdly beautiful cover that keeps calling to me. “Bone Gap” keeps coming up on my reading radar, so I might have to add it to my list.
Comment by Karen 01.15.16 @ 9:18 am@Karen: A Nearer Moon, which is also on my TBR list, does have a beautiful cover. I look forward to hearing your thoughts. The Marvels is fantastic, and I hope you enjoy it when you get to it. As you know, his books go quickly once begun.
Comment by soe 01.19.16 @ 1:13 pm@raidergirl3: Ah! But the joy of getting to buy yourself a book present in January (or late December) is a very nice feeling!
Comment by soe 01.19.16 @ 1:13 pm