My Top Books of 2015

I’m not going to rank these because that is like picking my favorite children that I did not even have to go to the trouble of baking myself. (That’s how you make children, right?) But, here are the top ten books that rocked my 2015.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

This book starts off as a Beauty and the Beast story and then explodes into something truly amazing.

Against a  Brightening Sky by Jaime Lee Moyer

This is the final book in the Delia Martin series and touches on the Russian Revolution, an event near and dear to my scholarly heart. It’s a lovely book and a lovely close to the series.

Of Noble Family by Mary Robinette Kowal

Jane and Vincent have to face something even worse than being jailed in the previous book, Vincent’s family. His father has passed away in Antigua and his brother is overwhelmed. Jane and Vincent sail immediately, straight into extraordinary danger.  

Nimona by Noelle Stevenson
Nimona was nominated for a National Book Award this year and it’s easy to see why. Nimona comes to work for supervillain, Lord Ballister Blackheart as he fights against his nemesis, Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin. As a shapeshifter she has some unique skills to bring to the effort to prove Goldenloin and the Institution of Law Enforcement and Heroics are up to much worse things than Blackheart has ever imagined.

Lumberjanes: Beware the Kitten by Noelle Stevenson, Grace Ellis, Brooke A. Allen, and Maarta Laiho
Lumberjanes can best be explained as the Girl Scouts meet the Twilight Zone. And yes, Noelle Stevenson gets two entries on this list.

Castle Hangnail by Ursula Vernon
Molly has arrived at Castle Hangnail to become its new wicked witch. But first, she has to convince its inhabitants that a small twelve year old girl with impressive boots is actually what they need to save the castle from being decommissioned.

The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher
It’s an open secret that T. Kingfisher is actually Ursula Vernon writing for adults, making her the second double entry on this list. This book is built around the framework of the Bluebeard story. Rhea is engaged to a magician only to discover that he is already married to six other wives, all of whom have lost something precious to him. The only things she has going for her are good sense and a hedgehog.
It’s a little bit of a cheat since it came out as an ebook last year, but it was picked up by 47North and brought out as a physical book this year.

Little Robot  by Ben Hatke
A girl finds a little lost robot and makes her first friend. However, nothing as amazing as an adorable robot could show up out of the blue. Dark forces are moving to retrieve the adorable robot and it will take everything they’ve got to fend them off.

The Poe Estate by Polly Shulman
This is the third book that deals with the New York Circulating Materials Repository. This time, the story focuses on Suki, a girl haunted by a family curse and her sister’s ghost.
She also has a feeling for places and things that might fit into the Poe Estate, a collection at the Repository that focuses on items from American supernatural stories. As Suki learns more, she begins to believe that the Poe Estate might hold the key to lifting the curse on her family. 

Pocket Apocalypse by Seanan McGuire
Alex Price and his girlfriend Shelby have gone to visit Shelby’s family in Australia, where everything, including Shelby’s family, wants to kill him. Although, the werewolf outbreak is of slightly more immediate concern.
As a reminder, there is still a little time to enter my giveaway for a copy of this very book!