FABClub (Female Authors Book Club) discussion

I'm curious - what was the best part of your 2015 reading year? What were your favorite books? And what are your reading plans for 2016? What goals are you setting yourself?

OMG. I have spent days looking over my stats from last year and I'm almost ready to post them!

I haven't even looked at my stats yet! I still have one more review to post until I can consider 2015 done - then I get to look at the results!

11 out of 12 of my favorite reads were by women.

My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay - all by Elena Ferrante
Angel , Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont - both by Elizabeth Taylor
How to Be Both - Ali Smith
The Blazing World - Siri Hustvedt
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves - Karen Joy Fowler
Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
To the Lighthouse - Virginia Woolf
An Accidental Man - Iris Murdoch
The Leopard - Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

I started a book club with my brother, mother, and three sisters about a year ago. This Christmas, we decided to give each other the book we chose for our turn as a Christmas gift. Because of this group, I made a conscious choice to pick a female author. My mom did as well, though I'm not sure if it was a conscious choice, but either way I'm super excited.

I'm also looking forward to supplementing my list with the books from this book club, too.

Kat, it sounds like you had an excellent reading year!

Pam, what a fun idea!

One of my goals for 2015 was to write a review (even if only a sentence) for every book I read. OK, some of the reviews were kind of skimpy, but I'm pleased to say I met my goal!

Alexa wrote: "Kat, it sounds like you had an excellent reading year!

Pam, what a fun idea!

One of my goals for 2015 was to write a review (even if only a sentence) for every book I read. OK, some of the review..."

Great goal, Alexa. I wish more GR readers would review the books they read. I reviewed most of mine, but a few slipped through the cracks.

I did have a pretty good reading year, esp. as compared to the one before it. And especially in terms of reading women--I made a concerted effort to do that more in 2015. Hope to keep it up!

Looking back I was surprised to find that I actually read 15 5-star books in 2015 (and all of them were by women!). That really surprises me because I think of myself as being a really stingy reviewer! Of those, the ones I remember as being truly magnificent were Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit, Wander, Station Eleven, and How To Be Both, and then I think I also have to throw in Ancillary Justice for the sheer pleasure it gave me.

My goals for 2016 are to continue to review all the books I read, to finish up with Margaret Atwood (I think I got about 3/5's of the way through) and to continue to try to be more diverse in my reading (the Women of Africa project is really going to help with that!). Oh, and to have fun!