Read it or Weep

Beth’s Top 10 Reads of 2015 December 17, 2015

George Saunders is one of my favorite short story authors and when I discovered his graduation address, I was more smitten with him than ever before.  His words are beautiful and blunt.

I was a big fan of the Dexter TV series and pleased to discover it was based on Jeff Lindsay’s Darkly Dreaming Dexter.  This final book in the series gives the reader closure that the TV series didn’t.

This satirical publication personifies the cats of NYC.  It’s witty and entertaining, and best of all, the author, Jim Tews will be visiting RRPL on January 27th!

Jenny Lawson suffers from crippling depression, but she sure can laugh about it.  This book offers irreverent insight into mental illness.

This book won’t go away.  Is it the best book ever?  Not even close.  Is it my favorite book ever?  God, no!  So why is it here?  I liked how much I hated all of the characters.  It was an easy page turned, and it also introduced the concept of prepackaged gin and tonics to me.  Why don’t those exist in the U.S.?

This was an odd but entertaining graphic novel about…shoot, I don’t think it was really about anything.  But it made me laugh.

This coming of age story captures the audience and is beautifully written.  It pulls at all of your heart strings and no matter how long ago you were a teen, it takes you back to the time when you learned that nothing is black and white.

Did you listen to Serial?  I probably asked that question 3 dozens times in the first few months of 2015.  This book has nothing to do with the podcast, but it was a similar story about someone being sentenced based on questionable evidence, and the consequences of that sentencing.

Are you feeling emotional or have you recently lost someone important to you?  If so and you don’t want to dwell on it, don’t read this book.  If you’re feeling emotionally resilient or up for a good cry, give this a go.   Scott Simon, the NPR host, recounts his time spent by his mother’s bedside during her last days.

If you were to tell me seven years ago that I would some day love the actress who played Kelly Kapoor from NBC’s The Office, I would have laughed in your face.  Between The Mindy Project and her books, I’ve come to the realization that Mindy Kaling is my idol.  She’s business minded, strong willed, intelligent, and absolutely hysterical.