Five Star Books of 2015

I reserve the five star rating on Goodreads for books I truly loved. Books that hooked me and I couldn’t put down. Books I had a connection with, characters I loved or enjoyed, and plots that were unexpected. These are books I’d read again. These are books I’d recommend to others (and then feel heartbroken if that person didn’t love the book as much as I did!).

This year, I marked seven books (out of 54 total) worthy of five stars. Here they are, listed in no particular order:

1. Graceling by Kristin Cashore (a re-read)
2. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
3. The Martian by Andy Weir
4. Every Day by David Levithan (a re-read)
5. Monsters of Men by Patrick Ness
6. Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
7. Voyager by Diana Gabaldon

If you have been on the fence about any of these titles, I would highly recommend reading them. Especially The Martian. And Every Day. And The Night Circus. And Graceling. And Fangirl. And…you get the picture. They’re all marvelous.

What were your favorite books to read this year?

There are many kinds of magic, after all

The Night Circus Footwear

“The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it.

It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.”

~ Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

Want to know more about The Night Circus? Read my letter to the author here. Or check it out on Goodreads here.

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A while back, I commented on a line of footwear that was (supposedly) inspired by classic American literature. Since the final product was so watered down, I created a few of my own shoe designs for classic novels.

I love drawing shoes. Check out a design I came up with for Andy Weir’s novel, The Martian here.

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To the Author of The Night Circus

Dear Erin Morgenstern,

I recently read your novel, The Night Circus, and I can’t stop thinking about it. It is simply magical. I’m sorry to say that I kept passing this book up. I saw it on book lists and in my Goodreads recommendations, but I thought a book about a circus wasn’t for me. Boy, was I ever wrong. I fell for the interesting characters, the curious magic, and the intriguing duel-like challenge. It was one of those books where I stayed up late reading, eagerly racing for the end, yet dreading the moment when the magic would all be over. I just loved it.

I think one of the great things about The Night Circus was how so much was left to the reader to imagine. While there were descriptions of the circus, of course, there was still room for the reader to picture what the acts looked like and how it all worked. I felt like I was a rêveur myself, wandering the circus and falling even more in love with it each chapter. There were so many characters that it was fun to think about what will happen next for each of them. Normally, I like the author to do the work for me, but for some reason, the possibilities were intriguing rather than frustrating.

While the book was not an “easy” read, with its changing points of view and multiple narrators and its jumbled timeline, it was definitely worth the read. As soon as I was finished, I wanted to read it again! I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I’m so glad I gave it a chance. I am very much looking forward to your future novels as well.

Your fan,

Anne, at love2read365.wordpress.com