Books I Read in 2015

Surely you all know the drill by now.  So here it is:

January

To the Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson - Heidi Swanson
Andrew Johnson: A Biography - Hans Trefousse
Run of the Arrow - Michael Rutter

February

My Story - Elizabeth Smart with Chris Stewart
The Doctrine and Covenants - Various
Love's Labors Lost - William Shakespeare
Unfinished Tales - J.R.R. Tolkien

March

The Pearl of Great Price - Various
The Seven Principles for Marking Marriage Work - John Gottman
Grant: A Biography - William McFeely
Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence - Daniel Goleman

April

The Silmarillion - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Weight of a Heart - Holly Millward
South - Ernest Shackleton
Raising Steam - Terry Pratchett
Polygamy: The Mormon Enigma - Keith Howick

May

Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior & President - Ari Hoogenboom
The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Maze Runner - James Dashner

June

Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
The Garfield Orbit - Margaret Leech and Harry Brown

July

The Scorch Trials - James Dashner
The Two Gentlemen of Verona - William Shakespeare
Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring - J.R.R. Tolkien

August

The Power of Habit - Charles Duhigg
Gentleman Boss: The Life of Chester Alan Arthur - Thomas Reeves
The Death Cure - James Dashner
The Book of Mormon - Various

September

David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
Grover Cleveland - Rexford Tugwell

October

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Kill Order - James Dashner
Benjamin Harrison - Charles Calhoun

November

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - J.R.R. Tolkien
The Book of Mormon - Various

December

William McKinley and His America - H. Wayne Morgan
A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens

That makes for 38 books altogether, a modest improvement over last year by six books.  Still not enough to really satisfy me, but there you have it.  I have made a point this year to reread books that I like, hence the large presence of Tolkien and Dickens.

My three favorite new books this year would have to be My Story, South, and The Power of Habit.  I thought My Story was amazing.  Obviously lots of stomach turning stuff there, but I found my admiration for Elizabeth Smart prior to reading the book was inadequate.  What an incredible story.  I think her fortitude to recover from such an ordeal and be such a positive force in the world is something to be emulated.

South is the story of Shackleton's disastrous attempt to cross Antarctica.  My brother Joe told me to read this many years ago and I finally got around to it.  A truly remarkable true story.  I enjoyed it immensely.

And finally, I really loved The Power of Habit.  This is pretty unusual for me.  I'm not a big fan of organizational behavior or sociology type books in general, and a lot of the ones that appear on my list are gifts from people in a work setting.  But I thought this one was fascinating, full of interesting anecdotes and pretty compelling in its arguments.

As for what I didn't like, well.  Gilded age biographies.  What more needs to be said?  More to come next year.

If you read this far you are still my very best friend.