As 2015 comes to a close, we are extremely proud to see so many of our speakers on this year’s “best of” lists. Below you will find a compilation of some of the best books of 2015 according to The Amazon Top 100, The Washington Post Top 50 Fiction, The Washington Post Top 50 Non-Fiction, The Washington Post Top 10 Books, NPR’s Best Books of 2015, The New York Times 100 Notable Books and the Goodreads Choice Awards. We hope you have the chance to discover some of these great books and if you’d like to learn more about these great storytellers off the page, please contact us.
Best Books of The Year
- Geraldine Brooks
The Washington Post Top 50 Fiction
“A compelling read, contemporary in its relevance. . .The Secret Chord is powerful storytelling, its landscape and time evoked in lyrical prose.” —The Guardian
Golden Son - Pierce Brown
Amazon Top 100, NPR’s Best Books of the Year, Goodreads Choice Awards: Best Science Fiction
“Brown writes layered, flawed characters . . . but plot is his most breathtaking strength. . . . Every action seems to flow into the next.”—NPR
- Marc Goodman
Amazon Top 100, The Washington Post Top 10 Books of the Year, Goodreads Choice Best Science and Technology
“You couldn’t ask for a better [cyber risk] overview than Future Crimes.“— Harvard Business Review
I Was Here - Gayle Forman
Goodreads Choice Awards: Best Young Adult Fiction
“Irresistible tear-jerker” —The New York Times
Fates and Furies - Lauren Groff
Amazon Top 100, NPR’s Best Books of the Year, The New York Times 100 Notable Books, The Washington Post Top 10 Books of the Year, Goodreads Choice Awards: Best Fiction
“Lauren Groff is a writer of rare gifts, and Fates and Furies is an unabashedly ambitious novel that delivers – with comedy, tragedy, well-deployed erudition and unmistakable glimmers of brilliance throughout.”
—The New York Times Book Review
The Great Leader and the Fighter Pilot - Blaine Harden
Amazon Top 100
“By contrasting these emblematic figures [Kim Il-Sung and No Kum Sok], Mr. Harden has produced a riveting book that makes the history of North Korea accessible to the general reader.”—Wall Street Journal
Toys Meet Snow - Emily Jenkins
NPR’s Best Books of the Year
“Utterly enchanting; a perfect bedtime read.” —School Library Journal
Get in Trouble - Kelly Link
The Washington Post Top 50 Fiction, NPR’s Best Books of the Year
“Welcome to the fabulous mind of Kelly Link. . . . It has taken Link ten years to produce her new story collection, Get in Trouble, and it is just as brilliant as her last.”—The New York Times Book Review
Thirteen Ways of Looking - Colum McCann
Amazon Top 100, NPR’s Best Books of the Year, The New York Times 100 Notable Books
“McCann is a passionate writer whose impulse is always toward a generous understanding of his diverse characters.” —The Wall Street Journal
- Paula McLain
Amazon Top 100, NPR’s Best Books of the Year, Goodreads Choice Awards: Best Historical Fiction
“Captivating . . . [an] irresistible novel.”—The Seattle Times
West of Sunset - Stewart O'Nan
The Washington Post Top 50 Fiction
“O’Nan’s adroitness with atmosphere and period detail makes Fitzgerald’s dreams of creating worthy work, even with his best days behind him, absorbing and poignant.” – The New Yorker
NeuroTribes - Steve Silberman
The New York Times 100 Notable Books, NPR’s Best Books of the Year
“Ambitious, meticulous and largehearted history…NeuroTribes is beautifully told, humanizing, important.”—The New York Times Book Review
Custer's Trials - T.J. Stiles
Amazon Top 100, The Washington Post Top 50 Non-fiction, NPR’s Best Books of the Year
“Riveting… [Stiles] has given us a different way to look at the flesh-and-blood man and his times.” —Minneapolis Star-Tribune
- Jane Smiley
The Washington Post Top 50 Fiction, NPR‘s Best Books of The Year
“A fitting conclusion to the trilogy . . . The boon of Smiley’s writing is her unforgettable characters and unexpected relationships.” —Library Journal