The Brainstorm 53: Top 10s of 2015 (part 1 of 3)

As Christmas break and New Year creep ever closer, I think it’s about time for my top tens of 2015. Picking just ten books might possibly drive me insane; I cannot narrow the 600+ books I've read this year down like that. So to help myself, I’m doing the top ten in various categories. The books included have been published over a broad range of years (unless otherwise noted). I’ve divided the books into Adult Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Middle Grade Fiction, Lower Grade Fiction, Picture books, Juvenile Nonfiction, Juvenile Biographies, Adult Nonfiction, and Graphic Novels. To prevent information overload, I’m going to post the lists in three posts over the next week. Click on the title of the book to see my review and why it's on this list.

Top 10 Books of 2015 (by category) Part 1 of 3

Adult Fiction

1. Shadows of Self (Mistborn #5) by Brandon Sanderson
2. Rules of Murder (Drew Farthering #1) by Julianna Deering
3. A Measure of Mercy (Home to Blessing #1) by Lauraine Snelling
4. Rip Van Winkle & other stories by Washington Irving
5. The Martian by Andy Weir  (*Make sure you read the content notes, not recommended for everyone.) 
6. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (Flavia de Luce #1) by Alan Bradley
7. Birds of a Feather (Maisie Dobbs #2) by Jacqueline Winspear
8. The Invisible Library (Invisible Library #1) by Genevieve Cogman
9. The Choosing (The Seer #1) by Rachelle Dekker
10. Skin Deep (Legion #2) by Brandon Sanderson

Young Adult Fiction

1. Black Dove White Raven by Elizabeth Wein
2. Rook by Sharon Cameron
3. Jubilee Manor (Landry Park #2) by Bethany Hagen
4. Stitching Snow by R.C. Lewis
5. Eye of Zoltar (Last Dragonslayer #3) by Jasper Fforde
6. Empire of Shadows (Bhinian Empire #2) by Miriam Forster
7. The Distance Between Us by Kasie West
8. Red Queen (Red Queen #1) by Victoria Aveyard
9. Dark Mirror (Dark Mirror #1) by M.J. Putney
10. *Firefight (Reckoners #2) by Brandon Sanderson (Technically I finished this Dec 31, 2014, but it’s so close and so good I had to count it.)

Middle Grade Fiction (I had so many options I limited this list to books published in 2015.)

1. Echo by Pam Muñoz Ryan
2. Sunny Side Up by Jennifer L. Holm & Matthew Holm
3. Crenshaw by Katherine Applegate
4. Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman
5. Harriet the Invincible (Hamster Princess #1) by Ursula Vernon
6. Sword of Summer (Magnus Chase #1) by Rick Riordan
7. The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart
8. Nightbird by Alice Hoffman
9. Good Ogre (Bad Unicorn #3) by Platte F. Clark
10. The Mad Apprentice (Forbidden Library #2) by Django Wexler

Lower Grade Fiction

1. Tales for Very Picky Eaters by Josh Schneider
2. Bad Kitty Gets a Bath by Nick Bruel
3. Princess in Black (Princess in Black #1) by Shannon Hale & Dean Hale, ill. by LeUyen Pham
4. Bad Kitty for President by Nick Bruel
5. Mercy Watson to the Rescue (Mercy Watson #1) by Kate DiCamillo, ill. by Chris Van Dusen
6. Mercy Watson Fights Crime (Mercy Watson #3) by Kate DiCamillo, ill. by Chris Van Dusen
7. For the Love of Autumn by Patricia Polacco
8. Odd Duck by Cecil Castelluci, ill. by Sara Vernon
9. The Invisible Cat (Squishy McFluff #1) by Pip Jones, ill. by Ella Okstad
10. Dory Fantasmagory (Dory #1) by Abby Hanlon