In a previous post I mentioned that reading was one of my Hobbies of 2015, and that I finished 81 books last year. Of those, only 12 earned the coveted “it was amazing” 5-star rating on Goodreads. My ratings are based mostly on feeling, and not much “What does this book deserve?” Usually when I’m about halfway through a book, I can already tell the rating I’d like to give. My 5-star books are ones that I can’t put down (or press pause, in the case of my audiobooks), that stick with me after I’ve finished them, and that leave me excited for the next part in the series. With that in mind, here are the books that I enjoyed most in 2015.
The Disaster Artist: My Life Inside The Room, the Greatest Bad Movie Ever Made – Greg Sestero
The Disaster Artist is about the making of The Room, a delightfully terrible movie from the early 2000’s. The movie itself is a cult classic, and I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a reason to say “What is even happening?” every minute for an hour and a half. The book was written by the co-star of the movie, and details the pure insanity that was the making of this film. From filming in both 35mm and digital, requiring two camera crews on the set at any given time, to contextless scenes of passion that had to be gratuitously cut down but are still cringeworthingly long in the film, the story of Tommy Wiseau and his dream to make this movie is an absolute treat. I highly recommend the audiobook version, as Sistero’s narration of Wiseau is spot-on and pure gold.
When You Are Engulfed in Flames & Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls by David Sedaris
Not much to say here. I enjoy most of David Sedaris’s books, and the audiobooks tend to add an extra layer of hilarity. I especially enjoyed his take on Ella Fitzgerald singing Silent Night at the end of Holidays on Ice.
Columbine by Dave Cullen
An incredibly well-researched telling of the events of the Columbine High School massacre. Cullen leaves no stone unturned, detailing the actions of the killers and their classmates in the months before and after the attack. The description of the event itself is so overwhelming, I had to hit pause and wait a few days before I could continue listening. Despite being an emotionally heavy read, I learned a lot about Columbine from this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. For interested readers, I’d recommend stopping after each chapter and watching some funny cat videos to lighten the mood.
Reality Bites Back: The Troubling Truth About Guilty Pleasure TV by Jennifer L. Pozner
I learned about this book while reading Roxane Gay’s Bad Feminist. In Reality Bites Back, Pozner discusses how reality television negatively impacts social groups (women and people of color, among others). Embarrassingly, part of the enjoyment of this book for me was hearing references to my favorite trashy TV shows of the early 2000’s: Flavor of Love, Charm School, Joe Millionaire, The Swan, etc. What was interesting about this book was looking back at these shows I watched growing up with a critical eye. It’s so easy to mindlessly absorb entertainment and not think about the message it sends. I’ve noticed an increase in my ability to spot product placement in TV shows after reading this book, and there are shows in which it is so blatant I can’t even watch (There were at least 5 advertisements in the first 10 minutes of Inside Man‘s season 3 premiere. I usually like Morgan Spurlock, but for real dude.). This book did not and will not keep me from watching pure-trash TV, but it has taught me that if I have to watch these shows (I do), that I should be critical of their negative aspects.
Red Rising & Golden Son – Pierce Brown
Ok, yes, this is another dystopian future (potentially aimed at teens) science fiction trilogy series. And yes, it’s in the typical fashion of upper caste versus lower caste, but the Red Rising series stood out for me. I’ve tried sampling a few teen trilogy series when I wanted something action-packed yet slightly mindless, but too many become insufferable love stories/triangles and are all about saving another person. Darrow (the main character in this series) in some ways is doing these things for his wife, but he is mostly focused on defeating the unfair system. This is another series that benefits from a fantastic audiobook narrator, and I will be sorely disappointed if the character in the planned movie does not have an Irish accent. The final book in the series, Morning Star, comes out next month (although I’ve heard rumors the audiobook won’t be out until later this year) and I cannot wait.
The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry by Jon Ronson
Psychology books are always a favorite of mine, and I especially enjoy investigating the goings-on of sinister and less-than-stable minds. So when, by chance, I encountered The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson I was instantly on board. This book goes through the different signs and signals that may identify a person as a psychopath, and Ronson’s journey to try and diagnose different people he meets with as psychopaths. Not much else to say on this one, but it was an interesting read.
The Martian – Andy Weir
For the record (and for the sake of my elitism), I will have you know that I completed this book before seeing the movie. No point going too much into this one, but I will say that I think the movie did the book justice which is very rare.
Abducted & Dead Weight by T.R. Ragan
Mystery series, as with teen trilogies as I mentioned above, are typically great when you want something a little mindless. The Lizzie Gardner series definitely delivers a bit of mindlessness while still being entertaining. Lizzie is an escaped kidnap victim turned private investigator who, in the first book, works to find her kidnapper when he begins abducting and murdering girls again. The books seem to follow a formula, and book three in the series was only 4-stars for that reason, Jimi8i the first two were good laundry-day reads that left me wanting to know what happens next.
White Trash Zombie Gone Wild – Diana Rowland
Of course, I saved the best for last. Prior to White Trash Zombie, Sookie Stackhouse was my favorite southern supernatural slightly-trashy main character in a book series. The only problem is, I don’t believe Charlaine Harris intended Sookie to come off that way. The Southern Vampire Mysteries (aka True Blood books) had a little edge of tackiness/trashiness that made them fantastic (Sam and Sookie slipping together like wet seals, Sookie in her lace-up jeans, “Tara’s Togs”), but it didn’t quite seem like they were supposed to be that way. Cue Diana Rowland’s White Trash Zombie series. You’ve got supernatural. You’ve got southern. You’ve got trash. What more could you want? The series’s main character Angel Crawford is a pill-popping daughter of an alcoholic on the road to nowhere who is turned into a zombie and has to change her entire life. It is (intentionally) hilarious, but you end up rooting for Angel in the changes she makes to her life. In WTZGW, Angel struggles with the return of addiction, and it is crazy how angry you can get at a book character. “You had it all figured out, now you’re screwing everything up!” I would think at this fictional person. It’s weird to think a campy supernatural book can actually touch on an issue like addiction in a serious way, but Rowland really nailed it. Plus, there’s a Zombie Con in Angel’s hometown that adds a ton of fun to the whole book. ZOMBIE SUPERPOWERS, ACTIVATE!
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