The five best books I read in 2015
At the beginning of the year, I set a reading goal for myself. I wanted to make sure I finished plenty of books (none of this “one book a month” silliness), but I also didn’t want to set the goal so high that I felt like I never had time to get through longer pieces. Eventually, I settled on trying for 30. Sometimes, it felt like I was going to blow the goal out of the water, and other times I didn’t think I would make it at all. In the end, I squeaked by — I finished my 30th book yesterday, with four days of the year left to spare.
I read a little of everything: a few classics, some horror, a couple of non-fiction books, and lots of crime fiction and sci-fi. Most of what I finished was good (although I did read the first fifty or so pages of more than a few books that I didn’t care to finish), and some of it was fantastic. These are, in no particular order, the best books I read in 2015.
Double Indemnity
by James M. Cain
An insurance agent meets a femme fatale who convinces him, despite his better instincts, to help her kill her husband, make it look like an accident, and collect the insurance money. Things, of course, do not go as planned.
I’m a huge fan of pulpy, noir crime fiction, so I made it a point to read a few classics of the genre that I had never previously picked up. Double Indemnity was my favorite of the lot. It’s one of those books that helped to establish tropes that would eventually become cliches, but if you can look past them (or, even better, enjoy them for what they are), Cain’s book is one of the greatest examples of noir storytelling I’ve ever come across. Just an absolute blast.
The Troop
by Nick Cutter
About as close to the perfect horror novel as one could hope for. Realistic enough to disturb, crazy enough to shock. Something of a perverse mix of Richard Preston’s The Hot Zone, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, and an 80’s drive-in horror flick.
The story begins with a boy scout troop embarking on their yearly camp out to a small, deserted island in Canada. On their first night, they meet a deranged man who is unable to focus on anything but his compulsive, frantic, animalistic desire to eat.
The Troop is more fun to read the less you know going in, so I’ll leave my description vague. I will say that if you’re squeamish, you should probably avoid this one. But if you’re in the market for a pulpy, disturbing, fast-paced horror novel, The Troop is worth checking out.
Ancillary Justice
by Ann Leckie
My 2015 reading year ended up with a major focus on science fiction, for some reason. I don’t remember what made me pick up Ancillary Justice, but chances are I stumbled on it because it won, more or less, every single award a sci-fi novel possibly could. The Hugo, The Arthur C. Clarke, the Nubula, etc. It deserved every single one.
Ancillary Justice is a distant future space opera with some incredibly detailed (and cool) world building, but what made this story so fascinating to me was the perspective from which it is told. The main character is, well, hard to explain. She inhabits and controls a massive spaceship called a “Justice”, as well as 20 reanimated corpse soldiers called “Ancillaries.” Reading a story from the perspective of a character that is 1) not human, 2) in multiple places at the same time, and 3) a space ship, was incredible and unique. The only thing I can think to compare it to is the scene in Alan Moore’s Watchmen when the reader experiences life as Dr. Manhattan does — constantly living through multiple experiences all at the same time. It’s a narrative acid trip.
Half of the novel is told while the main character has control of her ship and 20 ancillaries, and the other half is told a few decades into the future after some serious drama has caused her to lose everything except for a single ancillary named Breq. Ancillary Justice demands that you pay close attention, but if you do, it pays off big.
Career of Evil
by J.K. Rowling (writing as Robert Galbraith)
I didn’t grow up a big Harry Potter fan. As a matter of fact, I hadn’t read a single Potter book until 2015, much to my wife’s irritation. But I love Rowling’s adult mystery series. The Cuckoo’s Calling, the first book in the series, hooked me right away. The sequel, The Silkworm, was even better. I don’t often eagerly anticipate the release of new books (I always have an ever growing list of books to read, no need to get worked up over what just hit the shelves), but to say that I was looking forward to Career of Evil would have been a gross understatement. I felt practically desperate for it. I guess Rowling has that effect on people.
I’m happy to report that each book in the series continues the trend of improving on the last. This story breaks the mold a little bit by giving the reader occasional chapters from the killer’s perspective, which I liked. It also, more than the other Comoran Strike novels, seemed to encourage the reader to search for clues themselves instead of waiting for the heroes to figure it out.
Robin, Cormoran’s secretary, continues to be the best character in the series. Rowling seems to share my love of Robin, as Career has her in a more central compared to the previous two books. Hopefully Rowling continues to pump out these novels — I’d read one every week if I could.
Permutation City
by Greg Egan
Permutation City, more than any other book in recent memory, blew my mind. The territory the sci-fi book explores is as horrifying as it is interesting. At its core, the novel explores what it means to be human. The book was a big influence on the video game Soma, which is how I discovered it.
In the world of the Permutation City, it has become possible to digitally scan your brain and make perfect copies of your consciousness, allowing you (or is it really you?) to live in a digitally simulated world, even while your physical self exists and lives. The physical world and the digital can interact — for example, digitally scanned people living in simulated worlds can run businesses located in the physical, making it impossible to deny that these scans are, at least, something close to human.
But what if these digital scans all lived together in a kind of shared digital universe, separated entirely from the rest of humanity? Are they still alive? Does it really matter that it’s all a digital simulation? Why is a digital simulation any less “real” than the physical world, anyway?
I wrote a lengthy review over on Good Reads that touches on a lot more of the questions that Permutation City forced me to think about, if you’re interested in hearing more of what I think about the book. It’s one that I could easily talk about all day.
Honorable Mentions
These are books I enjoyed quite a bit, but didn’t quite break into my “absolute favorites of the year” list.
The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman — Sweet, sad, genuine, and hopeful, The Light Between Oceans tells the story of an Australian lighthouse keeper, his wife, and their illegitimately adopted daughter.
Dark Places by Gillian Flynn — A nasty, grimy, angry page-turner of a thriller. Loved this book.
The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett — Another noir classic I read this year that deserves its place in the canon.
14 by Peter Clines — A very fun sci-fi mystery with some great turns throughout. A great summer read.
The Wineslinger Chronicles: Texas on the Vine by Russell D. Kane — The book that demystified the Texas wine industry for me. Obviously pretty niche, but if you’re into wine and curious about what Texas is doing, check this one out.
So there it is, my year of books in review. If you’re curious to see what else I read, here’s the complete list. In 2016 I think maybe I’ll shoot for 35 books. Wish me luck, and let me know if you have any suggestions. I’m always on the hunt for more books to put in my to-read pile.
