What I Read in 2015: The Complete List

 Well, I didn't quite make my goal of 100 books this year, but I still feel like I read some pretty fantastic selections. (Favorites include links below.)

Here's the list:

1. "Raven Boys" by Maggie Stiefvater
2. "Brain Camp" by Susan Kim & Laurence Klavan
3. "How to Grow Up" by Michelle Tea
4. "Mosquitoland" by David Arnold
5. "I Think I Am In Friend-Love With You" by Yumi Sakugawa
6. "F**k It Is the Answer" by John C. Parkin & Gaia Pollini
7. "Members Only: Secret Societies, Sects, and Cults" by Julie Tibbott
8. "Get a Literary Agent" by Chuck Sambuchino
9. "Blogging for Writers" by Robin Houghton
10. "Olympians: Ares - Bringer of War" by George O'Connor
11. "Pip Bartlett's Guide to Magical Creatures" by Jackson Pearce and Maggie Stiefvater
12. "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters- Vol. 1" by Jim Zub
13. "Midnight in the Garden Good and Evil" by John Berendt
14. "The Art of Procrastination" by John Perry
15. "The Fade Out: Vol. 1" by Ed Brubaker
16. "Oink: Heaven's Butcher" by John Mueller
17. "The Transformation of Bartholomew Fortuno" by Ellen Bryson
18. "Roadmap" by Roadtrip Nation
19. "Odd and the Frost Giants" by Neil Gaiman
20. "Bullet Gal, Volume 1" by Andrew Bergen
21. "Get in Trouble" by Kelly Link
22. "Bad Kid" by David Crabb
23. "The Fangirl's Guide to the Galaxy" by Sam Maggs
24. "The Crossroads of Should and Must" by Elle Luna
25. "Exquisite Corpse" by Pénélope Bagieu
26. "Trigger Warning" by Neil Gaiman
27. "Don't Stay Up Late" by R.L. Stine
28. "Read Bottom Up" by Neel Shah and Skye Chatham
29. "Wild Heat" by Lucy Monroe
30. "Motorcycles I've Loved: A Memoir" by Lily Brooks-Dalton
31. "What Waits in the Woods" by Kieran Scott
32. "Burning Down George Orwell's House" by Andrew Ervin
33. "Maritime Richmond" by Dale Totty
34. "Shadowshaper" by Daniel Jose Older
35. "The Dream Thieves" by Maggie Stiefvater
36. "How to Study" by Arthur W. Kornhauser
37. "Blue Lily, Lily Blue" by Maggie Stiefvater
38. "Suicide Squad Vol. 1: Pure Insanity" by Sean Ryan
39. "A Writer's Guide to Persistence" by Jordan Rosenfeld
40. "The Intuitive Gardener" by Marilyn Raff
41. "The Fall of Princes" by Robert Goolrick
42. "Strengths Finder 2.0" by Tom Rath
43. "Polish Your Poise" by Jennifer L. Scott
44. "The Curse of Crow Hollow" by Billy Coffey
45. "Sinclair Justice" by Colleen Shannon
46. "Bound to the Bachelor" by Kate Hardy
47. "Black Cat Bone: The Life of Blues Legend Robert Johnson" by J. Patrick Lewis
48. "10 Rules of Writing" by Elmore Leonard
49. "Here We Are Now: The Lasting Impact of Kurt Cobain" by Charles R. Cross
50. "172 Hours on the Moon" by Johan Harstad
51. "The New and Improved Romie Futch" by Julia Elliott
52. "Sherlock Holmes and the Necronomicon" by Sylvain Cordurie
53. "How To Write More Words More Easily" by Terrance Field
54. "Clutter Antidote" by Caitlin Kauer
55. "Writers Write" by William Meikle
56. "The Joy of Less" by Cary Richards
57. "Reader Magnets" by Nick Stephenson
58. "Unclutter Your Life In One Week" by Erin Rooney Doland
59. "Living With Less" by Francine Jay
60. "Night Film" by Marisha Pessl
61. "It's All Too Much" by Peter Walsh
62. "Shift Your Habit" by Elizabeth Rogers
63. "How to be Alive" by Colin Beavan
64. "Big Magic" by Elizabeth Gilbert
65. "The Witches of Benevento: Mischief Season" by John Bemelmans Marciano and Sophie Blackall
66. "Catcher in the Rye" by J.D. Salinger

My absolute favorite from 2015 would have to be Night Film by Marisha Pessl. It worked itself so completely into my subconscious that I would wake up in the middle of the night with flashes of characters and theories about the plot swimming through my mind. I don't think I've ever encountered a book so worthy of the label "engrossing" before this one.

A favorite that comes in a close second to Night Film is something completely different: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert. Hands-down the best book on overcoming hesitations, hang-ups, and blocks in creativity that's been published since Anne Lamott's Bird by Bird.

How did you do with your reading goals in 2015? What were your favorite books of the year and what made them stand out above the rest?

I'll be pushing for 100 again next year! Join me!