2015: The Year of the Short Story!

So back in the day I was an English Literature major.  I got to read all the time and it. was. awesome. 

A little while after graduating I noticed I wasn't reading very much and when I thought about it, I realized it was because I was an extroverted English Literature major.  Part of what kept me going was the promise of discussing the books in class, and once I was all on my lonesome, it was hard to sit still long enough to read a lot.  

My friend Michelle does a reading list every year, so... maybe, just maybe, if I post my reads someone will ask me about them.  Since this is about all I post on my blog, which not even my mom reads, I doubt this will happen.  But discussing books=extrovert win, so let's make a list.  

I seemed to have moved slowly this year with the reading.  There are many reasons, but if I had to list a few:

1. Crazy year in general with lots going on
2. I read a lot of things that were just, "meh"
3. I read East of Eden, and it's stinkin' long
4. Short stories!

So you see what happened was, I was reading The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, and the title character reviews tons of short stories.  He mentions one by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "A Diamond as Big as the Ritz."  A couple days later, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" came up somewhere, and I thought, ehh... I should probably read them.  Why not?  I didn't really expect much, since all 3 times I've read The Great Gastby I've decidedly not liked it.   But I checked out a Fitzgerald short-story collection from the library, and I was hooked!

So here's my "as best as I can remember" 2015 reading list.  I know there are some I have missed, but I have highlighted my favorites in gray.  And there are definitely some books on this list that I did not like and would not recommend.

I have a big long list that I want to read in 2016 so if anyone wants to do one of those reading challenges with me, let me know!

1. The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
2. Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
3. An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddine 
4. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
5. Joshua:  No Falling Words by Dale Ralph Davis
6. How We Got To Now by Steven Johnson
7. This is Pollock by Catherine Ingram
8. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
9. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson
10. Shakespeare:  The Biography by Peter Ackroyd
11. Replenish:  Leading from a Healthy Soul by Lance Witt
12. Love Does by Bob Goff
13. Compassion Without Compromise by Adam Barr and Ron Citlau
14. The Gospel-Centered Life by Bob Thune 
15. The Gospel-Centered Community by Bob Thune and Will Walker
16. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald

Short Stories, all by Fitzgerald:

1. "Head and Shoulders"
2. "Bernice Bobs Her Hair"
3. "The Ice Palace"
4. "The Offshore Pirate"
5. "May Day" (novella)
6. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
7. "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" (novella)
8. "O Russet Witch!"
9. "Four Fists"
10. "The Cut-Glass Bowl"
11. "Benediction"

Yay for short stories!  Have you read any short stories or books lately that you love?