Top 5 Wednesday | The cream of 2015

Every Wednesday, people from all over the bookish world gather ’round to share their top 5 lists concerning whatever theme that week. All under the watchful eye of the Mother of all Top5’s, Lainey.
So, here we are. The final days of 2015 are here, much faster than I had anticipated. It’s quite the cliché, but I actually can’t quite grasp the fact that the year is over already. This also means that I have to go back to work on monday and I’m not quite ready for that either, but that’s another story..
It’s tradition, at the end of the year, to look back upon all the books I’ve read and mention the best of them. As it is, I’m quite pleased with my reading this year. I’m in the middle of book number 54 and that’s not counting ten graphic novels and some short stories and novellas. The five best books I’ll present here, however, are coming from a reduced list. See, I’ve reread quite some books this year; The Hunger Games, four Terry Goodkind novels and Harry Potter. So if I took those into account, three out of the top five books would be Harry Potter (four, six and seven). To keep it all fair and square, I give you the five best new reads of the year.

5. Kevin Hearne, Shattered
What started out as a jolly snack between the bigger books some years ago, has turned into a worthy foray into Urban Fantasy-land. With his Gods and druids, Hearne has spun a captivating tale. His latest offering, Shattered is a serious contender for best entry in the series so far and sees lots of growth for the different characters involved.
A review can be found here.

4. Sarah J. Maas, Heir Of Fire
A recent read, this Heir Of Fire. I started this series back in September since this one was a BookTubeSFF Awards nominee, and while I enjoyed the first two books, they were nothing special – still better than the vast amount of YA out there, though. So while I went into this one with not that many expectations, I was pleasantly surprised by how good is was. Heir Of Fire is a turnaround in the series and takes it from decent to more than good. One of the best YA-novels I’ve read in recent years and the best new YA I’ve read this year.
You can find my review on this book here.

3. Patrick Ness, The Crane Wife
If you followed this blog for a while, you might have noticed that I keep gushing about some authors. One of them is Patrick Ness and with reason. His books are glorious and move me in ways that are difficult to describe. The Crane Wife especially was such a lovely, tender and touching story. Part of what makes this book so special to me is the time of year in which I’ve read it. The message of the novel just resonated so well with me and what was going on in my life back then. Regardless of personal reasons, this is a wonderful book and one of the first I’ve reviewed on this blog.

2. Kim Harrison, The Witch With No Name
I read a lot of different types of Fantasy, and I read Urban mainly because they are light and enjoyable snacks between heavier meals. The Hollows series by Kim Harrison, however, is one of the best Urban series out there and it’s been brought to a close with this thirteenth instalment, The Witch With No Name. After many years of reading, of seeing beloved characters grow and change and become people I could only have dreamed they’d become so many years ago, this last part was bittersweet. Harrison has woven a complex story and managed to wrap it all up in this little bundle of near-perfection. I’ll revisit Rachel and Jenks again, cause they are dear to my heart, but for now, it’s time to meet new friends.

1. Rebecca Levene, Smiler’s Fair
If you haven’t read this book by now, after my non-stop gushing, you probably won’t pick it up now. Still, let’s give it a try, shall we? When I finished Smiler’s Fair halfway through the year, I knew it would be hard for any book to surpass this. Gruesome, enchanting, riveting and mysteriously magical. This book had all that I could desire in a read and I was right. Looking back on the scores I gave all the books, only one manages to marginally surpass this one and that is Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows. Since rereaders are out of the picture here, Rebecca Levene has no competition when it comes to obtaining the crown of 2015. I don’t know what 2016 shall bring, but with The Hunter’s Kind coming out in my edition in two weeks, she has a big chance of simply holding on to that crown for another year. As for you, you should go to Smiler’s Fair. Not convinced, check out my review and go buy the book.

So there you have it, the five best new reads of 2015. This was also my last post of the year, so all that’s left is to whish you all a great New Year’s Eve and a happy and bookish 2016. See you in the new year with a lookback on the past 365 days and the 366 to come. Not only marks this the last post of the year, but also is this my 100th post on this blog. It’s because of you guys, with your likes and talking in the comments that I enjoy this so much and will keep posting as much as I can in the year that’s right around the corner.
Here’s to you. Cheers!

Click here for a complete list of all the participants in T5W