It’s that time again – a new year and a new list of books to read. But first, a look back at 2015:

I created a list of 27 books to read in 2015 (read that list here), and I’m proud to say that I read 24 of them (and I’m halfway through the 25th). Four of those titles include Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle – finally! That series was well worth my investment of time.

I also started reading the Harry Potter series to my elder son last summer. I only planned to read The Philosopher’s Stone, unsure of what Peter would think of the British versions of the books (which I prefer over the American versions). The problem is that he’d never read anything without illustrations, and the British books don’t even have the little sketches at the beginning of every chapter, like the American ones. To my surprise, Peter fell in love with the series after he got over his initial indignation that he had to create all the pictures in his head. In fact, we just finished The Order of the Phoenix. (Also, for Christmas, my cousin bought Peter a copy of the gorgeous, fully illustrated Sorcerer’s Stone. “Now I know what Peeves looks like!” he told me while flipping through it.)

I made few detours from my anticipated list of books in 2015, but when I did, I was glad to do so. When someone hands me a book and says, “You have to read this,” or when my job requires me to pick a book for summer reading, or when my child gets enthusiastic about a new series, I’m happy to deviate. Still, I bought several new books during the year, understanding that I likely wouldn’t read them until 2016 – but they’ll show up on this year’s list.

One new venture I’m undertaking this spring is a book club for 4th through 6th graders at my school. We’re going to read The Lightning Thief, the first book of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and if it’s popular enough to continue, we’ll tackle The Sea of Monsters. Either way, I’ll likely go ahead and read the rest of the books on my own. I’ve also bought a beautiful, illustrated companion book called Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods.

Pile of Borrowed Books

Aside from re-reading these series and adding the few new books I’d bought earlier in the year, I was beginning to wonder what else I would read in 2016. I was considering putting a plea on Facebook until one afternoon a few weeks ago when I visited a different cousin. It turns out that his wife, a high school media specialist, is on a committee that’s reading all kinds of new young adult fiction. She has piles of books all over their condo that she’s received for being on this committee. And before I left, she hand-picked a number of books that she thought I would enjoy borrowing. She also gave me a recommendation for a book that she couldn’t relinquish (signed by the author) and which I received from Amazon this week.

Christmas Books!

In addition, Christmas is always a magical time for books at my house – I give, receive, and then buy them afterward. This year, I gave the first Sword of Summer book (Rick Riordan’s latest series on Norse gods) to my husband, and he gave me the second book of the Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) Cormoran Strike series. (Not pictured: the third book of that series, which I just ordered, and The 5th Wave, which I bought after taking the photo.) Lastly, two people gave me blank books this year – I love blank books! It’s taking me longer to fill them these days, but I will fill them.

Without further ado, following are the novels (plus one fun non-fiction title) that I read in 2015 (in chronological order):

• The House of Hades (The Heroes of Olympus Book Four) by Rick Riordan
• The Blood of Olympus (The Heroes of Olympus Book Five) by Rick Riordan
• Paper Towns by John Green
• Eragon (Inheritance Cycle Book I) by Christopher Paolini
• Winter’s Bone by Daniel Woodrell
• Eldest (Inheritance Cycle Book II) by Christopher Paolini
• Brisingr (Inheritance Cycle Book III) by Christopher Paolini
• Inheritance (Inheritance Cycle Book IV) by Christopher Paolini
• The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
• The Giver by Lois Lowry
• Still Alice by Lisa Genova
• Talk to the Hand by Lynne Truss
• Divergent by Veronica Roth
• Insurgent by Veronica Roth
• Allegiant by Veronica Roth
• Four: A Divergent Collection by Veronica Roth
• Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry
• Messenger by Lois Lowry
• Son by Lois Lowry
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
• Written in My Own Heart’s Blood by Diana Gabaldon
• Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan
• Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
• The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
• Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling
• All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
• Lisey’s Story by Stephen King
• Let It Snow by Maureen Johnson, John Green, and Lauren Myracle
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling

And now for the 2016 list – coincidentally, 27 books again (including the two that I’m currently reading):

• Feed by M.T. Anderson
• Red Rising by Pierce Brown
• And Another Thing… Douglas Adams’s Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy Part Six of Three by Eoin Colfer
• Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen
• Raven Queen by Pauline Francis
• The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
• The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
• Career of Evil by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
• Girls Like Us by Gail Giles
• NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
• I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson
• All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
• The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book I) by Rick Riordan
• The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book II) by Rick Riordan
• The Titan’s Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book III) by Rick Riordan
• The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book IV) by Rick Riordan
• The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book V) by Rick Riordan
• Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods by Rick Riordan
• Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard (The Sword of Summer Book One) by Rick Riordan
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
• Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman
• Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone
• The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
• The Martian by Andy Weir
• The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey
• Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon