Dec 23, 2015
In which we discuss listener favorites, Michael's favorite books of 2015, and books that I love even though I refuse to choose favorites.
This is our last episode of 2015, as we're taking next week off to spend Christmas week with our families and our books.
We've closed out the poll of Books on the Nightstand listeners' favorite books of all time, and favorite books published in 2015.
Favorite book of all time: tie between A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
Favorite book published in 2015: There was a runaway winner -- A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara. Second and third were Fates and Furies (Lauren Groff) and A God in Ruins (Kate Atkinson).
See the full results here (pdf) and consider using this to jumpstart your reading for 2016.
In the past, we've usually focused the last BOTNS episode of the year on our favorite books of the year.
I'm going to stage a revolt, though. I read a lot of great books this year, but I'm not sure that I can actually make a "favorites" list. I had one definite favorite (no surprise, A Little Life). But I also read so many other books that I loved and it feels unfair to pit them against each other.
Michael did make a list:
If you do want "Best of" lists, check out Largehearted Boy, which compiles all of the lists that are published online every year. It's a massive, massive list.
Another fun read was sent to us by a listener: Winners and Losers: Publishers pick the 2015 books they loved, missed, and envied.
Have fun!