As is traditional, I’m posting my 2015 wrap ups late. Even later than last year but hey, that’s the way it goes.

According to GoodReads I read 92 books last year. That number’s roughly correct – it includes my own books but there were a couple I didn’t log on GoodReads for various reasons. That’s close to last year’s total of 84 but I was also reading longer books – 14,598 pages compared to 10,498.

And what a year of books it was – new books from Clive Barker, Neil Gaiman, Caitlin R Kiernan, Cherie Priest, a bunch of (new to me) Stephen King novels and non-fiction from Felicia Day and Amanda Palmer.

As with 2014 I read quite a few shorter works and there was a lot of good stuff. My favourites in the order I read them…

• Hugh Howey Lives by Daniel Arthur Smith
• Revolver by Michael Patrick Hicks from No Way Home
• Simple Harmonic Motion by Michael Coorlim
• Zero Hour by Eamon Ambrose
• Click-Clack the Rattlebag by Neil Gaiman (from Trigger Warnings)
• Bleach by Christopher Lites

If I had to pick just one, I’d have to go with Click-Clack the Rattlebag – short, but very creepy.

There were plenty of good novels too but here’s my favourites (again roughly in the order I read them)…

• Cherry Bomb by Caitlin R Kiernan writing as Kathleen Tierney
• Soda Pop Soldier by Nick Cole
• Owl and the Japanese Circus by Kristi Charish
• American Badass by Jeff Chacon
• Beacon 23 by Hugh Howey
• The End of the World as We Knew It by Nick Cole
• The Martian by Andy Weir
• Changes by Jim Butcher

And the best of the bunch? Hard to choose just one but I’m going to go with Changes. It’s the 12th book in the Harry Dresden series and I’ve enjoyed them all but Changes in particular was killer. The End of the World as We Knew It or The Martian could just as easily have taken top spot. Or Soda Pop Soldier. Whatever, they were all very good.

A special mention to Felicia Day’s You’ve Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) which was the best of the non-fiction and also in the running for favourite book of the year.

The goal for 2016? I’m aiming for 100 books although I suspect I’ll be including plenty of short titles to hit that goal.

[A Year in Books – 2015 by Philip Harris first appeared on Solitary Mindset on 10th January 2016]