A Month of Favorites: Five 2015 Books That Deserved the Hype…and Five That Didn’t

A Month of Favorites


I’m participating in A Month of Favorites (hosted by Traveling with T, Estella’s Revenge, and GirlXOXO) throughout the month of December! Participants will be sharing all kinds of fun, end-of-the-year wrap-up posts…including favorite “new-to-me” author discoveries, blog posts, and more. Today, we’re talking about hyped books, which is one of my favorite lists to put together every year.

Five 2015 Books That Deserved the Hype

You’ll be hearing more about these books in later end of the year posts, so no commentary just yet!

5 2015 Books that Deserved the Hype


A Little Life
by Hanya Yanagihara (review)

Bull Mountain by Brian Panowich (review)

Did You Ever Have A Family by Bill Clegg (review)

Furies section of Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (review)

My Sunshine Away by M.O. Walsh (review)

…and Five That Didn’t

5 2015 Books That Didn't Deserve the Hype


City on Fire
by Garth Risk Hallberg (review)

Is a well-publicized $2 million advance enough hype for you? Honestly, I could have just put City on Fire on this list five times and been done with it. This is the only book I’ve read this year that I wanted to throw across the room when I finished. 

Everybody Rise by Stephanie Clifford
This book was getting a huge marketing push at BEA. I was hoping for witty social commentary about the wealthy…and I don’t even know what I got. But, it sure wasn’t that.

Fates section of Fates and Furies by Lauren Groff (review)
During the Fates section (which came first), I almost put this book down. The story meandered around a character who wasn’t particularly interesting. BUT, the Furies section saved the day (see above).

Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart
Another book that was heavily hyped at BEA. I was expecting a swashbuckling female sheriff and, by the 44% mark (when I put it down), I’d just gotten a heavy dose of domesticity instead.

Go Set A Watchman by Harper Lee (review)
I’m glad I read it, but I found it more of an interesting piece of literary history than an enjoyable novel.

What books do you think deserved their hype this year? Which ones do you think didn’t?

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40 Comments

  1. Great list. I haven’t read Fates and Furies yet, but i love that you put it on both lists. That pretty much sums up my feelings about it – is it really that good or is it all hype!

    Posted 12.2.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      It had to go on both because I felt so differently about each half of the book!

      Posted 12.3.15 Reply
  2. I was surprised to see Go Set a Watchman won a Good Reads award. It made me wonder if people really read the books or just voted for titles that were familiar to them.

    Posted 12.2.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      That is exactly how I felt. I couldn’t believe it when it won. To each his own, I guess 🙂

      Posted 12.3.15 Reply
  3. Carmen wrote:

    I anticipated some of your titles on both categories. I think people are divided on Fates and Furies; I’ve read great posts about it.

    Posted 12.2.15 Reply
  4. I LOVE that you’ve placed Fates and Furies on both lists; I have it right now (via the library) and I’m kind of torn about whether to read it right away. I should definitely read it, though, right? I kind of have fear of missing out (#fomo) – ha! I sort of feel that way about A Little Life, as well, but not to the same extent. I’m just over halfway with Did You Ever Have A Family and I kind of feel like I’m *part* of the family; his writing is great.

    Posted 12.2.15 Reply
  5. Yes! YES!!! I couldn’t agree more about City on Fire and Go Set a Watchman! I also can’t tell you how much I ADORED My Sunshine Away. It was like a dark and twisty Wonder Years, no? I didn’t like A Little Life as much as I could have, maybe, if Goldfinch wasn’t as good as it was. (I kept comparing the two, though I tried to stop.)

    Great lists!

    Posted 12.2.15 Reply
  6. Love this! We share Did You Ever Have a Family and I’m laughing at Fates and Furies being on both your lists. I’ll probably give City on Fire a try this winter…so curious about both the hype and the astronomical advance!

    Posted 12.2.15 Reply
  7. I know of these books but haven’t read one of them…dear me.

    I agree about the hype about about Go Set A Watchman….it was for naught. I haven’t heard too many people who liked it.

    Thanks for sharing your choices.

    Have a great rest of the week.

    Elizabeth
    Silver’s Reviews
    My A Month of Faves

    Posted 12.2.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      It was so sad…it was clear it was never meant to see the light of day.

      Posted 12.3.15 Reply
  8. Sharlene wrote:

    Ah yes, Fates and Furies. I ended up putting mine on the list, because Furies was so good. But then would it have been so good if it were just a book with the Furies section on its own – I’m guessing that having to work one’s way through Lotto’s story just makes Mathilde’s that much better!

    Posted 12.2.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I agree that Furies couldn’t have been what it was without Fates…my main issue was the real estate. Fates took up 60% of the book while Furies only got 40%. I think that should have been flip flopped…or at least evened out.

      Posted 12.3.15 Reply
  9. carrie wrote:

    I saw Everybody Rise on the shelf at the library yesterday and was close to checking it out. I opted for something else instead. Glad to hear I made the right choice! I’ve been hearing from a lot of people that Go Set a Watchman is not worth the hype, but much like everyone else I’ll probably read it just because it’s the sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird. Basically I feel like I owe it to my 6th grade self to read it. haha.

    Posted 12.2.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I’m glad I read Watchman, but more as a literary artifact than as an enjoyable standalone novel. If you decide to read it, I recommend going in with that mindset 🙂

      Posted 12.3.15 Reply
  10. ah, thanks for adding the 2nd part, actually more interesting to me. I didn’t even think of adding to the topic 🙁

    Posted 12.2.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Haha – I agree that’s almost more interesting! I added it last year and thought I’d go for round 2 🙂

      Posted 12.3.15 Reply
  11. Amanda wrote:

    I read about 20 pages of Everybody Rise and was bored. You’ve made me feel much better about that decision. I might even send it out of the house! I am very excited to start Fates and Furies.

    Posted 12.2.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I think I read about 25%? I was bored too. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on F&F!

      Posted 12.3.15 Reply
  12. Andi wrote:

    FATES AND FURIES IS ON BOTH LISTS! You’re killing me! I have it on my TBR. Soon. Soon. Famous last words.

    Posted 12.2.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      HA! Yep…a good representation of all the mixed opinions about it 🙂 And of my own disparate opinions of the two sections! Hope you get to it!

      Posted 12.3.15 Reply
  13. Judy wrote:

    I loved Fates and Furies and felt that Lauren Groff earned the hype: http://keepthewisdom.blogspot.com/2015/10/fates-and-furies.html
    I also had some admiration for Go Set A Watchman, despite my initial misgivings:
    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1365455864

    Posted 12.2.15 Reply
  14. Fates and Furies has been receiving the hype more lately, and I really agree with your list for those I’ve read. I have a couple of the others on my Kindle waiting patiently on me to open them. I would love to see A Little Life get more hype; it was so overlooked.

    Posted 12.2.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I feel like A Little Life was/is hyped, but maybe that’s just within our blogging bubble? Or more now outside it with the awards nominations. The whole “was this book really hyped or was it just getting love in the blogging bubble” debate was raging for me as I put together that list!

      Posted 12.3.15 Reply
  15. Oh yes I heard that about Fates and Furies. I haven’t read it yet, but will persevere through the Fates section.Too bad about Girl waiting with gun, I wouldn’t have expected domesticity either. The Walsh and Clegg books go on my tbr 🙂

    Posted 12.3.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Definitely worth persevering through Fates! And some others really loved Fates 🙂

      Posted 12.3.15 Reply
  16. Shaina wrote:

    I love that you made two lists! Now just to read any of the books on them… 😉

    Posted 12.4.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Thank you! After all those apps are done…

      Posted 12.8.15 Reply
  17. susan wrote:

    Did You Ever Have a Family and Go Set a Watchman — both didn’t make the hype cut for me. But My Sunshine Away and Circling the Sun did make the cut. Hooray. I should get to Fates & Furies.

    Posted 12.4.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I haven’t come across anyone yet who thought Watchman deserved the hype…well, maybe except for Goodreads voters. Sorry Family didn’t live up to the hype for you 🙁

      Posted 12.8.15 Reply
  18. Laurie C wrote:

    The only two I’ve read on your two lists are A Little Life and My Sunshine Away. A Little Life is my #1 favorite for 2015, but I was a little disappointed by My Sunshine Away. Not what I was expecting, maybe.

    Posted 12.5.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I went into Sunshine knowing absolutely nothing, so maybe not having any expectations helped me. Plus, it was my first winner of a 2015 that had been pretty blah until that point. I think we’ll see A Little Life on lots of bloggers’ Best of lists!

      Posted 12.8.15 Reply
  19. Lisa wrote:

    I’ve been on the fence about Girl Waits With Gun – think I’ll just stay there (which translates to “never going to pick it up”).

    Posted 12.5.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      Ha! A lot of people really liked it, but it just wasn’t what I was expecting.

      Posted 12.8.15 Reply
  20. Catherine wrote:

    Your choice of Watchman is exactly why I didn’t read it. I felt if she had wanted it published she would have done it. So, how did it win Goodreads Fiction book of the year?! I don’t know anyone who would have chosen it for that- even people who liked it.

    Posted 12.5.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I was SHOCKED when I saw Watchman had won best fiction. I think tons of people just voted for the title they’d heard of….and maybe hadn’t actually read it? There is no way everyone who voted for it actually read it. Either that or I’m just completely disconnected from mass public opinion on this!

      Posted 12.8.15 Reply
  21. Aww, I loved Girl Waits with Gun! I think the hype was misleading though, as the “female assistant sheriff” aspect doesn’t really materialize until the end. I’m hoping for more swashbuckling in the sequel.

    Posted 12.6.15 Reply
    • admin wrote:

      I know a lot of people really liked it…and a couple bloggers I usually agree with. I do think I didn’t have the appropriate expectations going in.

      Posted 12.8.15 Reply
  22. I totally agree that A Little Life was worth the hype, but Go Set a Watchman was not (and how did that possibly win the Goodreads award for the best fiction book of the year – I was so sad when I saw that)!

    Posted 12.9.15 Reply

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