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November 28, 2015

Novels once again dominated my reading this year, and many impressed me.

These are the 11 novels I have most recommended to friends, family, and anyone else who has crossed my path this year (my personal metric for "favorite").

All links go to the authors' contributions to the Book Notes series, where applicable, and I have reposted my original review.

What was your favorite novel of 2015?





Beatlebone by Kevin Barry

Kevin Barry's second novel Beatlebone is fascinating both in its structure and lyricism.





Binary Star by Sarah Gerard

Sarah Gerard's Binary Star is one of the finest debuts I have read, a daring and epic novel of love and lost souls.





Delicious Foods by James Hannaham

James Hannaham's Delicious Foods features masterful and poignant storytelling, and is one of the most powerful novels I have read in years.





The Dig by Cynan Jones

Cynan Jones' The Dig marries a sense of place (in this case, the Welsh countryside) to its story as well as any book published this year.





Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh

Ottessa Moshfegh's novel Eileen is literary noir at its finest, a dark and unsettling character study brilliantly written.





Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff

As compelling as any book I have read in years, Lauren Groff's Fates and Furies is a stunning and lyrical portrait of a marriage from the perspectives of its partners. My favorite novel of the year.





Girl at War by Sara Nović

Sara Novic's novel Girl at War is an engaging and insightful debut about the Yugoslavian civil war from a child's perspective, an unforgettable, crisply written, and deeply moving book.





Haints Stay by Colin Winnette

Colin Winnette's Haints Stay is a brutally dark and haunting novel of two killers, a noir Western that sits proudly among modern classics like Patrick deWitt's The Sisters Brothers and Rudy Wurlitzer's The Drop Edge of Yonder.





Martin John by Anakana Schofield

Anakana Schofield's second novel Martin John is a profound, innovative, and poignant meditation on identity.





The Story of My Teeth by Valeria Luiselli

Valeria Luiselli's The Story of My Teeth is a brilliant fable from one of the most talented storytellers writing today.





You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman

Alexandra Kleeman's debut novel You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine is one of the year's smartest and funniest books.



also at Largehearted Boy:

online "best of 2015" book lists

Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2014

Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2013

Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2012

Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2011

Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2010

Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2009

Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2008

Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2007

Largehearted Boy favorite nonfiction books of 2013

Largehearted Boy favorite novels of 2013

Largehearted Boy favorite short story collections of 2013

other lists at Largehearted Boy

Antiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)

Book Notes (authors create playlists for their book)

Note Books (musicians discuss literature)

guest book reviews

musician/author interviews



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