Books of the Year 2015

And so we come to the end of 2015.

Here's the list:

1. "Pathfinder: Palace of Fallen Stars", by Tim Hitchcock
2. "D&D: Hoard of the Dragon Queen", by Wolfgang Baur and Steve Winter
3. "Wars of the Roses: Stormbird", by Conn Iggulden
4. "Pirate's Promise", by Chris A. Jackson
5. "William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, A New Hope", by Ian Doescher
6. "D&D: Rise of Tiamat", by Steve Winter and Alexander Winter
7. "William Shakespeare's Star Wars: The Empire Striketh Back", by Ian Doescher
8. "Pathfinder: The Divinity Drive", by Crystal Frasier
9. "The Long War", by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
10. "Firefly: Things Don't Go Smooth", by Margaret Weis Productions
11. "William Shakespeare's Star Wars: The Jedi Doth Return", by Ian Doescher
12. "Pathfinder: Battle of Bloodmarch Hill", by Patrick Renie
13. "The Secret History", by Donna Tartt *
14. "Gone With the Wind", by Margaret Mitchell *
15. "The Pagan Lord", by Bernard Cornwell
16. "A Prayer for Owen Meany", by John Irving *
17. "D&D: Player's Handbook", by Wizards of the Coast
18. "Magician's End", by Raymond E. Feist
19. "Pathfinder: The Hill Giant's Pledge", by Larry Wilhelm
20. "William Shakespeare's Star Wars: The Phantom of Menace", by Ian Doescher
21. "Firesoul", by Gary Kloster
22. "D&D: Monster Manual", by Wizards of the Coast
23. "Vanity Fair", by William Makepeace Thackeray *
24. "The Bell Jar", by Sylvia Plath *
25. "Doctor Who: How to be a Time Lord", by BBC Books
26. "Pathfinder: Forge of the Giant God", by Tim Hitchcock
27. "Forge of Ashes", by Josh Vogt
28. "D&D: Dungeon Master's Guide", by Wizards of the Coast
29. "Middlemarch", by George Eliot
30. "The Silkworm", by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
31. "Pathfinder: Ice Tomb of the Giant Queen", by Jim Groves
32. "Through Every Human Heart", by Janice Brown
33. "Lord of Runes", by Dave Gross
34. "Love in the Time of Cholera", by Gabriel Garcia Marquez *
35. "Firefly: Smuggler's Guide to the Rim", by Margaret Weis Productions
36. "The Vicompte de Bragelone", by Alexandre Dumas
37. "Pathfinder: Anvil of Fire", by Sean K. Reynolds
38. "Pathfinder: Shadow of the Storm Tyrant" by Tito Leati
39. "Captain Corelli's Mandolin", by Louis de Bernières *
40. "The Empty Throne", by Bernard Cornwell
41. "A Slip of the Keyboard", by Terry Pratchett
42. "D&D: Princes of the Apocalypse", by Wizards of the Coast
43. "Firefly: Ghosts in the Black", by Robin D. Laws
44. "Pathfinder: In Hell's Bright Shadow", by Crystal Frasier
45. "Crime and Punishment", by Fyodor Dostoevsky *
46. "Liar's Island", by Tim Pratt
47. "Memoirs of the Geisha", by Arthur Golden *
48. "Pathfinder: Turn of the Torrent", by Mike Shel
49. "Beyond the Pool of Stars", by Howard Andrew Jones
50. "D&D: Out of the Abyss", by Wizards of the Coast
51. "Wars of the Roses: Trinity", by Conn Iggulden
52. "Louise de la Vallière", by Alexandre Dumas
53. "Pathfinder: Dance of the Damned", by Richard Pett
54. "One Hundred Years of Solitude", by Gabriel Garcia Marquez *
55. "The Long Mars", by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
56. "Waterloo", by Bernard Cornwell
57. "Dragons at Crumbling Castle", by Terry Pratchett
58. "The Frood: The Authorised and Very Official History of Douglas Adams & The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy", by Jem Roberts
59. "Red Dwarf: Last Human", by Doug Naylor
60. "Dune", by Frank Herbert *

So, that's 60 books, including the expected twelve from The List. Of these, there are twenty-one RPG books, and one re-read - the fourth and final (and weakest) book in the "Red Dwarf" series. All in all, I'm happy with that.

The book of the year thus far is "Captain Corelli's Mandolin". There's not much more to say - I enjoyed it, but it doesn't come close to either "Grapes of Wrath" or "Tale of Two Cities" in my estimation. This has been a year devoid of any truly great reads, though it's had plenty of good ones. (Both "One Hundred Years of Solitude" and "Love in the Time of Cholera" were also very good, with the former being the better. But I enjoyed "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" a little more than either.)

The weakest book of the year, I'm afraid to say, was "The Frood". It's not a bad book, I suppose, but it just didn't grab me. I guess much of the issue is that while I enjoyed HHGttG, it's not one of my particular obsessions.

Next year I'm aiming to again reach 60 books. Three of the sub-series will continue unchanged: the Pathfinder (12), Pathfinder Tales (6), and Books from The List (12) series will remain intact. Beyond that it's considerably messier than this year, as there are no obvious sub-series to adopt. I suspect the rest will therefore be something of a grab-bag of titles with no particular theme. We'll see - perhaps I'll find a new series to dig in to.