Top Ten Tuesday is hosted over at The Broke and the Bookish, and this week’s topic is the Best Books you read in 2015 sorted however you’d like. Since many of the books I read this year were not actually released in 2015, I’m going to categorize mine as the best books that I read this year in general 🙂 I had a few great re-reads this year too (Pride and Prejudice!) but I’m not counting them in this list.

I am planning to link up this post with a “Best of” Show us your Books with Steph and Jana on December 29, but I wanted to post it today too. 

When I decided to come up with this list, I originally just sat and thought of all the books that were most memorably the BEST in my mind. Then I went and looked at the books that I rated 5 stars on Goodreads, and picked out my favourites. These are the books that really stayed with me the most this year:

EDITED Dec 30 to add:
I am so disappointed I only read 98 of my goal of 100 books on Goodreads this year, BUT I read a lot of great books! My reading has really fallen short in the past month (hello, busy Christmas season), but I am slowing getting back to it now that things have settled down. I have a few goals posts coming up in the next few days too!!

1) The Martian
I am obviously not alone in my love for this book, and I also really enjoyed the movie. I couldn’t stop talking about this book for weeks and I encouraged everyone that I know to read it. I *loved* it on audiobook. I will probably re-read this someday, but maybe not right away. If you haven’t read it, please do!! Even if Science Fiction is not your thing, I think almost anyone who likes books would appreciate this one 🙂 Mark Watney is an amazing character and the story is so different from anything I’ve read lately.

2) Jane Eyre
I bought this at a used book store over 5 years ago and only got to it this year. I listened to parts of it via Librivox and read parts of it too. I loved this story and Jane Eyre is an amazing character who makes strong, feminine life decisions. This book is a classic for a reason and I’m glad I finally read it. 

3) Me Before You
This book made me feel a wide range of emotions and it will definitely stay with me for a long time to come. I am considering re-reading it before I read After You next year, but I think from all of the reviews I’ve read that it might be better to just read After You on its own. Either way, this book made me think in a way that I hadn’t expected.

4) Winter (and really, the entire Lunar Chronicles series)
I’ve professed my love and excitement for this book enough, but series like this one really remind me why I love to read. 

5) Edenbrooke
I enjoyed this book and Blackmoore this year. I’ve heard that Heir of Edenbrooke was a bit of a letdown, but it’s pretty short, so there’s no reason for me not to read it (probablly this week, actually). I loved these characters and this entire storyline SO much and I think I will actually end up purchasing this book and re-reading it and highlighting parts of it, etc. etc.

6) Little Women
I should have read this book when I was a teenager. I loved it so much at this age too, especially near the end when they are all “becoming adults” 🙂 This book made me feel a wide range of emotions, and I enjoyed the entire story.

7) The Royal We
For awhile I was a bit ashamed of how much I loved this book and my husband teased me a little bit when he learned what I was up so late reading about, but honestly, this book was smart and HIGHLY entertaining and I loved it. End of story. It may not be of the same writing caliber as Jane Eyre, but I absolutely wholly loved it all. This book might not be for everyone, but it will be for most people 😉 (haha)

8) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
I really liked the letter format of this book. It felt like you were really getting into the characters’ mindset and thoughts and it felt more intimate that way. I was also overwhelmingly excited by the ending 🙂

9) The Sea of Tranquility
I didn’t expect to love this book as much as I did. It was incredibly raw and not altogether happy, but I really, really loved it. I especially loved Josh’s character (obviously). You should definitely check this one out if you haven’t yet. 

10) Three Way Tie::Big Little Lies, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry and Fangirl – these were all books that I finished quite quickly because I loved them so much. I was on the edge of my seat for all of Big Little Lies. I loved the character of A.J. Fikry and I enjoyed his bookish nature. The characters in Fangirl made me feel happy and while I didn’t enjoy Carry On quite as much, Fangirl and Attachments are probably my favourite Rainbow Rowell novels. 

What are the best books that you read this year? I might add a few more thoughts to this post by the end of December 😉