The Book I Read 2015
A bit late due to having gone camping. Even more books than usual last year, probably due to mostly working from home and also having a bit more spare time on my hands. Also possibly due to the fact that many of these books can best be described as "enjoyable rubbish" rather than anything approaching literature.
1. Jeffery Deaver - The Sleeping Doll
2. Karl Pilkington - An Idiot Abroad
3. Adam Johnson - The Orphan Master’s Son
4. Sue Grafton - O Is For Outlaw
5. Ismail Kadare - The Pyramid
6. Tom Cox - Talk To The Tail
7. Karl Pilkington - The Further Adventures Of An Idiot Abroad
8. Zarah Ghahramani - My Life As A Traitor: An Iranian Memoir
9. James Patterson - Violets Are Blue
10. Loretta Lynn & George Vecsey - Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner’s Daughter
11. Harry Turtledove - Striking The Balance
12. Reginald Hill - An Advancement Of Learning
13. Karen Armstrong - A History Of God
14. Linda Ronstadt - Simple Dreams: A Memoir
15. Noel Botham & Travis Nichols - The Totally Awesome Book Of Useless Information
16. Rodney Castleden - The World’s Most Evil People
17. Val McDermid - Cross And Burn
18. Orson Scott Card - Alvin Journeyman
19. Isaac Asimov - The Currents Of Space
20. Jeffery Deaver - Roadside Crosses
21. Lilian Jackson Braun - The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern
22. Caroline Paul - Lost Cat
23. Ian Kershaw - Hitler: Hubris
24. James Patterson - Four Blind Mice
25. Murray Carpenter - Caffeinated
26. Christopher Ciccone - Life With My Sister Madonna
27. Andrei Lankov - The Real North Korea - Life In A Failed Stalinist Utopia
28. Reginald Hill - Ruling Passion
29. Stefanie Marsh & Bojan Pancevski- I’m No Monster: The Horrifying True Story Of Josef Fritzl
30. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich
31. John B Wren - To Probe A Beating Heart
32. Gillian Flynn - Gone Girl
33. Sue Grafton - P Is For Peril
34. Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner - Superfreakonomics
35. Ann & Nancy Wilson - Kicking And Dreaming
36. Arnaldur Indriðason - Voices
37. John Grisham - The Firm
38. Viv Albertine - Clothes Clothes Clothes Music Music Music Boys Boys Boys
39. Harry Turtledove - Colonization: Second Coming
40. Jon Ronson - Frank: The True Story That Inspired The Movie
41. Michael Walker - Laurel Canyon - The Inside Story Of Rock And Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood
42. Tony Horwitz - One For The Road
43. Nick Kent - The Dark Stuff
44. Peter Hook - Unknown Pleasures
45. Isaac Asimov - The Human Brain
46. Jeffery Deaver - Shallow Graves
47. Philip K Dick - The Minority Report
48. Mark Whittaker & Amy Willesee - The Road To Mount Buggery
49. Kim Gordon - Girl In A Band
50. Dean Koontz - Innocence
51. Barbara Demick - Nothing To Envy
52. Bob Fischer - Wiffle Lever To Full!
53. Richard Preston - The Cobra Event
54. James Patterson - The Big Bad Wolf
55. Orson Scott Card - Heartfire
56. Reginald Hill - An April Shroud
57. Robert Service - Lenin
58. Arnaldur Indriðason - The Draining Lake
59. Isaac Asimov - Asimov’s Mysteries
60. Steven Adler - My Appetite For Destruction
61. Sue Grafton - Q Is For Quarry
62. Karl Pilkington - Happyslapped By A Jellyfish
63. Louis Barfe - The Trials And Triumphs Of Les Dawson
64. Harry Turtledove - Colonization: Down To Earth
65. Reginald Hill - A Pinch Of Snuff
66. Val McDermid - Report For Murder
67. Isaac Asimov - Earth Is Room Enough
68. Malala Yousafzai - I Am Malala
69. James Patterson - Mary Mary
70. Henry Rollins - Get In The Van
71. Helene Wecker - The Golem And The Djinni
72. Michael Crichton - The Andromeda Strain
73. Gordon Kerr - Evil Psychopaths
74. Ian Kershaw - Hitler: Nemesis
75. James Patterson - Cross
76. Michael Harrold - Comrades And Strangers: Behind The Closed Doors Of North Korea
77. Harry Turtledove - Colonization: Aftershocks
78. Reginald Hill - A Killing Kindness
79. Justin Cronin - The Twelve
80. Charles Brokaw - The Lucifer Code
81. Joseph Conrad - Heart Of Darkness
82. James Patterson - Double Cross
83. Arnaldur Indriðason - Arctic Chill
84. Val McDermid - Common Murder
85. Carl Sagan - The Demon-Haunted World: Science As A Candle In The Dark
86. Ray Black - Cannibals
87. Sue Grafton - R Is For Ricochet
88. Del Quinton Wilber - Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination Of Ronald Reagan
89. Karl Pilkington - The World Of Karl Pilkington
90. Cyndi Lauper - A Memoir
91. Isaac Asimov - The Stars, Like Dust
92. Germaine Greer - Daddy, We Hardly Knew You
93. Mojo - Punk: The Whole Story
94. Cherie Currie & Tony O’Neill - Neon Angel: A Memoir Of A Runaway
95. Dominic Sandbrook - State Of Emergency: The Way We Were: Britain 1970 - 1974
96. Sarah Heath - Why Does My Cat…?
97. Bernard Sumner - Chapter And Verse: Joy Division, New Order And Me
98. Neil Degrasse Tyson - The Pluto Files: The Rise And Fall Of America’s Favourite Planet
99. Harry Turtledove - Homeward Bound
100. Graeme Thomson - Under The Ivy - The Life And Music Of Kate Bush
101. Stephen King - Firestarter
102. James Patterson - Cross Country
103. Arnaldur Indriðason - Hypothermia
104. Cormac McCarthy - Blood Meridian
105. Dayal Patterson - Black Metal: Evolution Of The Cult
106. Dean Koontz - Odd Thomas
107. Sue Grafton - S Is For Silence
108. Reginald Hill - Deadheads
109. James Patterson - Alex Cross’s Trial
110. Bradley K Martin - Under The Loving Care Of The Fatherly Leader
111. Isaac Asimov - Pebble In The Sky
112. Ray Black - Born To Be Killers
113. Chuck Palahniuk - Survivor: A Novel
114. Dominic Sandbrook - Seasons In The Sun: The Battle For Britain 1974-1979
115. Arthur C Clarke - 2061: Odyssey Three
116. Lilian Jackson Braun - The Cat Who Saw Red
117. Ann Williams - Terror Attacks: From The Zealots To Bin Laden
118. Arnaldur Indriðason - Outrage
119. Jeffery Deaver - Bloody River Blues
120. Richard Matheson - I Am Legend
121. Elaine Pagels - The Origin Of Satan
122. Geoff Emerick & Howard Massey - Here, There Ad Everywhere: My Life Recording The Music Of The Beatles
123. JG Ballard - The Atrocity Exhibition
124. Reginald Hill - Exit Lines
125. Michael Lewis - The Big Short: Inside The Doomsday Machine
126. Lilian Jackson Braun - The Cat Who Played Brahms
127. Harold Schechter - Fiend
128. ? - The World Of Cats
129. Val McDermid - Deadline For Murder
130. Jacques Pepin - The Origin Of AIDS
131. John Grisham - The Confession
132. Kangdan Oh & Ralph C Hassig - North Korea Through The Looking Glass
133. Sue Grafton - T Is For Trespass
134. Isaac Asimov - Profession
135. Tom Cox - The Good, The Bad And The Furry
136. Eva Rice - The Lost Art Of Keeping Secrets
137. Blanche Barton - The Secret Life Of A Satanist
138. George Takei - Oh Myyy! (There Goes The Internet)
139. Dean Koontz - Forever Odd
140. Isaac Asimov - Fantastic Voyage
141. Reginald Hill - Child’s Play
142. Jeffery Deaver - Hell’s Kitchen
143. Robert Service - Trotsky
144. James Patterson - I, Alex Cross
Difficult to say which was the best book I read in 2015, but odds on it was a biography. I loved Christopher Ciccone's book about his sister, primarily because it was gossipy as well as bitter. Bob Fischer's "Wiffle Lever To Full!" would have been my childhood had it had more mentions of Blondie, Abba, and "Tenko". "Girl In A Band" by Kim Gordon I found a bit "meh" to be honest - more music, less Art please. "I Am Malala" was superb though I found it a bit disconcerting that she's a Justin Bieber fan, and Germaine Greer's "Daddy, We Hardly Knew You" is beautifully written, as you'd expect. Best fiction book probably goes to Gillian Flynn and "Gone Girl", especially as I've not seen the film yet.
1. Jeffery Deaver - The Sleeping Doll
2. Karl Pilkington - An Idiot Abroad
3. Adam Johnson - The Orphan Master’s Son
4. Sue Grafton - O Is For Outlaw
5. Ismail Kadare - The Pyramid
6. Tom Cox - Talk To The Tail
7. Karl Pilkington - The Further Adventures Of An Idiot Abroad
8. Zarah Ghahramani - My Life As A Traitor: An Iranian Memoir
9. James Patterson - Violets Are Blue
10. Loretta Lynn & George Vecsey - Loretta Lynn: Coal Miner’s Daughter
11. Harry Turtledove - Striking The Balance
12. Reginald Hill - An Advancement Of Learning
13. Karen Armstrong - A History Of God
14. Linda Ronstadt - Simple Dreams: A Memoir
15. Noel Botham & Travis Nichols - The Totally Awesome Book Of Useless Information
16. Rodney Castleden - The World’s Most Evil People
17. Val McDermid - Cross And Burn
18. Orson Scott Card - Alvin Journeyman
19. Isaac Asimov - The Currents Of Space
20. Jeffery Deaver - Roadside Crosses
21. Lilian Jackson Braun - The Cat Who Ate Danish Modern
22. Caroline Paul - Lost Cat
23. Ian Kershaw - Hitler: Hubris
24. James Patterson - Four Blind Mice
25. Murray Carpenter - Caffeinated
26. Christopher Ciccone - Life With My Sister Madonna
27. Andrei Lankov - The Real North Korea - Life In A Failed Stalinist Utopia
28. Reginald Hill - Ruling Passion
29. Stefanie Marsh & Bojan Pancevski- I’m No Monster: The Horrifying True Story Of Josef Fritzl
30. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich
31. John B Wren - To Probe A Beating Heart
32. Gillian Flynn - Gone Girl
33. Sue Grafton - P Is For Peril
34. Steven D Levitt & Stephen J Dubner - Superfreakonomics
35. Ann & Nancy Wilson - Kicking And Dreaming
36. Arnaldur Indriðason - Voices
37. John Grisham - The Firm
38. Viv Albertine - Clothes Clothes Clothes Music Music Music Boys Boys Boys
39. Harry Turtledove - Colonization: Second Coming
40. Jon Ronson - Frank: The True Story That Inspired The Movie
41. Michael Walker - Laurel Canyon - The Inside Story Of Rock And Roll’s Legendary Neighborhood
42. Tony Horwitz - One For The Road
43. Nick Kent - The Dark Stuff
44. Peter Hook - Unknown Pleasures
45. Isaac Asimov - The Human Brain
46. Jeffery Deaver - Shallow Graves
47. Philip K Dick - The Minority Report
48. Mark Whittaker & Amy Willesee - The Road To Mount Buggery
49. Kim Gordon - Girl In A Band
50. Dean Koontz - Innocence
51. Barbara Demick - Nothing To Envy
52. Bob Fischer - Wiffle Lever To Full!
53. Richard Preston - The Cobra Event
54. James Patterson - The Big Bad Wolf
55. Orson Scott Card - Heartfire
56. Reginald Hill - An April Shroud
57. Robert Service - Lenin
58. Arnaldur Indriðason - The Draining Lake
59. Isaac Asimov - Asimov’s Mysteries
60. Steven Adler - My Appetite For Destruction
61. Sue Grafton - Q Is For Quarry
62. Karl Pilkington - Happyslapped By A Jellyfish
63. Louis Barfe - The Trials And Triumphs Of Les Dawson
64. Harry Turtledove - Colonization: Down To Earth
65. Reginald Hill - A Pinch Of Snuff
66. Val McDermid - Report For Murder
67. Isaac Asimov - Earth Is Room Enough
68. Malala Yousafzai - I Am Malala
69. James Patterson - Mary Mary
70. Henry Rollins - Get In The Van
71. Helene Wecker - The Golem And The Djinni
72. Michael Crichton - The Andromeda Strain
73. Gordon Kerr - Evil Psychopaths
74. Ian Kershaw - Hitler: Nemesis
75. James Patterson - Cross
76. Michael Harrold - Comrades And Strangers: Behind The Closed Doors Of North Korea
77. Harry Turtledove - Colonization: Aftershocks
78. Reginald Hill - A Killing Kindness
79. Justin Cronin - The Twelve
80. Charles Brokaw - The Lucifer Code
81. Joseph Conrad - Heart Of Darkness
82. James Patterson - Double Cross
83. Arnaldur Indriðason - Arctic Chill
84. Val McDermid - Common Murder
85. Carl Sagan - The Demon-Haunted World: Science As A Candle In The Dark
86. Ray Black - Cannibals
87. Sue Grafton - R Is For Ricochet
88. Del Quinton Wilber - Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination Of Ronald Reagan
89. Karl Pilkington - The World Of Karl Pilkington
90. Cyndi Lauper - A Memoir
91. Isaac Asimov - The Stars, Like Dust
92. Germaine Greer - Daddy, We Hardly Knew You
93. Mojo - Punk: The Whole Story
94. Cherie Currie & Tony O’Neill - Neon Angel: A Memoir Of A Runaway
95. Dominic Sandbrook - State Of Emergency: The Way We Were: Britain 1970 - 1974
96. Sarah Heath - Why Does My Cat…?
97. Bernard Sumner - Chapter And Verse: Joy Division, New Order And Me
98. Neil Degrasse Tyson - The Pluto Files: The Rise And Fall Of America’s Favourite Planet
99. Harry Turtledove - Homeward Bound
100. Graeme Thomson - Under The Ivy - The Life And Music Of Kate Bush
101. Stephen King - Firestarter
102. James Patterson - Cross Country
103. Arnaldur Indriðason - Hypothermia
104. Cormac McCarthy - Blood Meridian
105. Dayal Patterson - Black Metal: Evolution Of The Cult
106. Dean Koontz - Odd Thomas
107. Sue Grafton - S Is For Silence
108. Reginald Hill - Deadheads
109. James Patterson - Alex Cross’s Trial
110. Bradley K Martin - Under The Loving Care Of The Fatherly Leader
111. Isaac Asimov - Pebble In The Sky
112. Ray Black - Born To Be Killers
113. Chuck Palahniuk - Survivor: A Novel
114. Dominic Sandbrook - Seasons In The Sun: The Battle For Britain 1974-1979
115. Arthur C Clarke - 2061: Odyssey Three
116. Lilian Jackson Braun - The Cat Who Saw Red
117. Ann Williams - Terror Attacks: From The Zealots To Bin Laden
118. Arnaldur Indriðason - Outrage
119. Jeffery Deaver - Bloody River Blues
120. Richard Matheson - I Am Legend
121. Elaine Pagels - The Origin Of Satan
122. Geoff Emerick & Howard Massey - Here, There Ad Everywhere: My Life Recording The Music Of The Beatles
123. JG Ballard - The Atrocity Exhibition
124. Reginald Hill - Exit Lines
125. Michael Lewis - The Big Short: Inside The Doomsday Machine
126. Lilian Jackson Braun - The Cat Who Played Brahms
127. Harold Schechter - Fiend
128. ? - The World Of Cats
129. Val McDermid - Deadline For Murder
130. Jacques Pepin - The Origin Of AIDS
131. John Grisham - The Confession
132. Kangdan Oh & Ralph C Hassig - North Korea Through The Looking Glass
133. Sue Grafton - T Is For Trespass
134. Isaac Asimov - Profession
135. Tom Cox - The Good, The Bad And The Furry
136. Eva Rice - The Lost Art Of Keeping Secrets
137. Blanche Barton - The Secret Life Of A Satanist
138. George Takei - Oh Myyy! (There Goes The Internet)
139. Dean Koontz - Forever Odd
140. Isaac Asimov - Fantastic Voyage
141. Reginald Hill - Child’s Play
142. Jeffery Deaver - Hell’s Kitchen
143. Robert Service - Trotsky
144. James Patterson - I, Alex Cross
Difficult to say which was the best book I read in 2015, but odds on it was a biography. I loved Christopher Ciccone's book about his sister, primarily because it was gossipy as well as bitter. Bob Fischer's "Wiffle Lever To Full!" would have been my childhood had it had more mentions of Blondie, Abba, and "Tenko". "Girl In A Band" by Kim Gordon I found a bit "meh" to be honest - more music, less Art please. "I Am Malala" was superb though I found it a bit disconcerting that she's a Justin Bieber fan, and Germaine Greer's "Daddy, We Hardly Knew You" is beautifully written, as you'd expect. Best fiction book probably goes to Gillian Flynn and "Gone Girl", especially as I've not seen the film yet.