Pure Appiness: Bookswept: My fave reads of 2015

I don't know what it was about 2015 but I read. I read A LOT. Like more than usual. Call me a nerd if you want, but I enjoyed diving into the many worlds of fiction (and one non-fiction!) that I got to be a part of over the year. My top ten reads are below.

Apollo and I getting our read on.

My reading buddy.

10. The Death Cure by James Dashner.
Don't make fun of me but I'm a sucker for young-adult fiction. The Death Cure is a part of The Maze Runner book series and when I saw the movie was coming out in 2014, I decided to read the books. I had finished books one and two in 2014 and 2015 was dedicated to the latter half of the series. The Death Cure was the final ending to the series but I don't remember being in love with how it ended. They have changed the movies quite a bit so I wonder if I will like the movie better. I'm pretty sure that is a few years out though.

9. The Kill Order by James Dashner.
Another book of The Maze Runner series, The Kill Order plays as a sequel, taking us thirteen years before the original story of The Maze Runner. I remember liking this book better, trying to piece together the main characters that you already knew before.

8. Paper Towns by John Green.
I loved the words of John Green in The Fault in Our Stars, and decided to try out another one of his novels that came to the big screen in 2015, Paper Towns. I felt like the book was better than the movie, but for both movie and book, I fell in love with the trio of mis-fit friends going through an epic adventure during their senior year of high school.

7. pure appiness: 2014.
Each year I publish our blogs into a large, hardcover book. We don't write these blogs for nothin'! They are our memories. What better way to cherish them than to print and bound our words and pictures over the year! They are always my favorite books.

6. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer.
This one took me a while to finish with it being the longest of the books I read this year. The Interestings takes you along a 20+ year journey of a group of friends that met at summer camp in the sixties. It was fun to be a part of their circle of friends through the decades, watching them grow through jobs, the dealings of being middle-class vs high-class, marriage and babies, dealing with parents deaths, and so on. I felt like it was a really good book for me to read at this time as I go through these stages myself.

5. Calling Me Home by Julie Kibler.
This was a story of a bi-racial couple before it was accepted in society. The author, Julie Kibler, takes you back and forth through the past and present where a young hairdresser takes her 89 year-old friend/client on a road trip to a funeral. It is not until the end where we find out who's funeral we are attending but she tells her story along the way. I was drawn to this book because I'm bi-racial myself. It was interesting reading of the forbidden love in the 1930s.

4. The Girl On The Train by Paula Hawkins.
I flew through this book that was a combination of thriller, mystery, and love. If you're looking for a quick read, pick up this book! I would love to see this one as a movie.

3. Still Alice.
This one was hard for me to get through. Still Alice is about an intelligent woman in her 50s who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's disease. It hit so close to home being so relatable to my mom who has this sad and unfortunate disease. I was hesitant to read it but I'm so glad I did. You get a glimpse into her mind along with her families reactions and solutions. I cried like a baby in the end. Like wept-cried. I start crying just thinking of it. Moving on...

2. Why Not Me? by (my fave) Mindy Kaling.
After reading Still Alice, a book that took so much out of me, I needed a laugh and Mindy was my go-to. You guys! I must meet Mindy one day! We are both women who love to eat, love fashion, and work hard in our career. I about died when I read the portion below in her book. I was reading on a plane and I had to refrain myself from jumping up and down and sharing with the entire flight. Instead my jaw dropped and I let out a little squeal.

"Me: Asha is the best. And very young and cool."

Yes, I know she is not referring to me. Yes, my name is Indian and she is Indian, so I'm sure she knows more than one Asha but I SAY IT'S FATE!!!! I NEED TO MEET HER!

1. Eleanor & Park.
You guys. I ADORE THIS FREAKING BOOK. Like so much! It is a story of high school misfits who fall in love. But it's so much more than that. I love their love for music, for comics, and for each other. It's precious. And I cried like a baby in the end. Love, love, loved it. And you know that's true if I put it above Mindy.