What I Read (and enjoyed) in 2015

One of my goals for 2015 was to read at least 30 books that were not nursing textbooks. In the end, I surpassed this goal, reading 53 books in total. As you might expect, some of these reads were not stellar and I would not generally recommend. Another set were decent and enjoyable, but not enlightening, life-changing, or particularly noteworthy. Quite a few (more than I had expected) touched my heart, altered the way I look at the world, or otherwise inspired me. Here is a list of my favorites:

Fiction: 
1. All the Light We Cannot See by Doerr
2. A Gathering of Old Men by Gaines
3. The Night Circus by Morgenstern.
4. The Little Paris Bookshop by George
5. The Crane Wife by Ness
6. The Giant’s House by McCracken
7. The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonasson
8. Lost Luggage by Punti
9. Pride and Prejudice by Austen
10. The Forest Lover by Vreeland
11. Peculiar Memories of Thomas Penman by Robinson
12. When the Emperor was Divine by Otsuka

Nonfiction: 

1. The Blue Sweater by Novogratz

2. Traveling with Pomegranates by Kidd and Taylor

3. In the Kingdom of Ice by Sides

4. I Wasn’t Strong Like This When I Started Out by Gutkind

5. The Psychopath Test by Ronson

6. The Ghost Map by Johnson

7. Reading Lolita in Tehran by Nafisi

8. Two for the Summit by Norman

9. For Women Only by Feldhahn

10. Crazy for the Storm by Ollestad

11. Last Night I Dreamed of Peace by Tram

12. The Great Divorce by Lewis

Yes, I am aware that I am recommending nearly half of the books I read, but there were so many good ones. I am grateful for all this year had brought, but especially for the way that literature has allowed me to better understand people different than I.