Every year the ALA Reading List Council chooses the best fiction books for the year. The 2015 list has been revealed, and there’s something for everyone on this list; it covers eight different genres of fiction.
You can find all of the following titles in the JMRL catalog:
Adrenaline: Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes – Detective Gabriella Versado investigates after disturbing displays that fuse the bodies of murder victims with those of animals are uncovered in abandoned Detroit buildings.
Fantasy: The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison – Reluctantly elevated to the throne when his father and brothers are killed in a suspicious accident, an exiled half-goblin is rapidly overwhelmed by ambitious sycophants, imperial burdens and dangerous plots while searching for friendship and love.
Historical fiction: Bitter Greens by Kate Forsyth – A story of desire, black magic and love interweaves the true-life story of French novelist Charlotte-Rose de la Force, who was banished from the court of Versailles by Louis XIV after a series of scandalous love affairs, with the Rapunzel fairy tale.
Horror: The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman – Joey Peacock, a vampire in 1978 New York City, has his routine of sleeping all day and hunting, womanizing and attending punk rock shows by night interrupted by child-like vampires of a different breed, who pose a threat to Joey and all of those like him.
Mystery: Murder at the Brightwell by Ashley Weaver – Regretting her marriage to a notorious playboy, wealthy young Amory Ames agrees to help her former fiancâe, Gil Trent, prevent his sister’s marriage to a disreputable man, only to be embroiled in a murder investigation that places her relationships and safety in jeopardy.
Romance: A Bollywood Affair by Sonali Dev – Coming to America on a scholarship, Mili Rathod, who has been bound by marriage since age four to a man she has never met, is drawn into the world of her husband’s filmmaker brother, who has been sent to keep an eye on her.
Science fiction: The Martian by Andy Weir – Stranded on Mars by a dust storm that compromised his space suit and forced his crew to leave him behind, astronaut Watney struggles to survive in spite of minimal supplies and harsh environmental challenges that test his ingenuity in unique ways.
Women’s fiction: My Real Children by Jo Walton – Remembering two different pasts that reflect contrasting historical events and relationships with different people, an elderly Patricia Cowan wonders about her identity while gazing at a moon that might house benign or malicious technologies.