It’s been a busy ol’ year—what with my return to the learning factory and such—but I have managed to maintain a modicum of momentum in my reading. Listed below are the best books I read, in the order in which I read them (more or less) in 2015. I’m also aware of how time-poor everyone is, and how sometimes you don’t want to read an in-depth, carefully constructed review… which is precisely where the #5WordReview comes into its own. Enjoy!
Young Hearts Crying, by Richard Yates
‘Better than Revolutionary Road? Maybe.’
Focus, by Arthur Miller
‘Master playwright’s gripping 1945 novel.’
Rust and Bone, by Craig Davidson
‘Tales of love and sacrifice.’
The Art of Fiction, by David Lodge
‘Intellectualism made human (with examples).’
Beautiful You, by Chuck Palahniuk
‘Way funnier than Fifty Shades.’
Disintegration, by Richard Thomas
‘Gritty neo-noir from Chicago streets.’
Made To Break, by D. Foy
‘Loved every word of this.’
Black Spring, by Henry Miller
‘Brilliant, bonkers, and occasionally baffling.’
A Sport And A Pastime, by James Salter
‘Sumptuously written; a concise classic.’
Cartesian Sonata, by William H. Gass
‘Prose so sharp it hurts.’
Far From The Madding Crowd, by Thomas Hardy
‘Hardy’s Wessex still enchants me.’
Little Birds, by Anaïs Nin
‘Short stories. Erotic, exotic, quixotic.’
Coronado, by Dennis Lehane
‘Best quid I’ve ever spent.’
The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green
‘Teen fiction that doesn’t suck.’
Leaving The Atocha Station, by Ben Lerner
‘Vapid poet somehow captures something.’
The Small Backs of Children, by Lidia Yuknavitch
‘Poetry? Prose? Fiction? Memoir? Masterpiece.’
All This Life, by Joshua Mohr
‘Life-affirming tale in Google age.’
Spoilt Brats, by Simon Rich
‘Mercilessly funny short story collection.’