2015 Book of the Year Bracket Challenge: Finals

The time has finally come. It's time to reveal my favorite read of 2015...the 2015 Book of the Year. It's a rough process every year and I hate dismissing some extremely good reads, but hopefully you'll find yourself a good book or two along the way. Trust me when I tell you that there are a handful of just amazingly good novels hiding in this bracket. You owe it to yourselves to read them. 

Before we get to this year's bracket...let's have a little stroll down memory lane, shall we?

This year marks my fifth year of making a bracket. It's a fun thing that I look forward to every year. I've had the pleasure of announcing some really great books as winners. When I look back, they all earned their prize rightfully. These are some sincerely fantastic reads.

2011 Book of the Year  : The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

2012 Book of the Year  : Let's Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

2013 Book of the Year  : Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
2014 Book of the Year  : Amy & Roger's Epic Detour by Morgan Matson

These four books are near guaranteed winners if you have tastes anywhere near mine. It's a pretty good hodgepodge of book styles. One crime thriller with definitively adult themes, one kooky adult memoir written by quite possibly the funniest lady alive, a poignant YA fiction novel with a fantastic moral undertone, and a YA fiction roadtrip love story. All just wonderful. All books I could hug and all books I will likely reread down the line. The only caution I can provide you is to make sure that you read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo before The Girl Who Played with Fire, as it is a series read. 

Now...back to the task at hand. This year's bracket. Here's where we sit currently:

And the challengers are:


Representing the left side of the bracket:

The Library at Mount Char

Scott Hawkins

This book caught me completely off guard. I requested it because of the delightful cover and what was inside blew me away. It was haunting and brilliant and just flat out amazing. I knew the moment I finished that it would be among my favorite reads of the year. I am dying for a sequel and the author hasn't yet decided whether or not to write one. It's killing me. Scott Hawkins is an author to watch. His imagination is impressive.


Representing the right side of the bracket:

Nothing Like Looking

Chris Van Hakes

I did not expect this book to make it to the finals. It's a great read, don't get me wrong, but for me it was a bit of an underdog from the start. The unfortunate left side bias that resulted in the elimination of Everything, Everything as a contender, did this book a gigantic favor and helped it to propel from the expected Final Four straight into the Top Two. The writing is humorous and snide in a wonderful way. The novel reads easily and the characters don't feel stagnant or forced, they are genuinely unique. I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this book.

The Faceoff:

Unlike a few of the past years, the final two were a bit of a surprise this year. I'm disappointed that Alice in Wonderland didn't make it farther than it did, but there were some amazing challengers. Both The Little Paris Bookshop and Everything, Everything would have been excellent contenders for finals.

I typically try to write these posts so that I don't show my hand until the end, but anyone really paying attention during prior eliminations will already have known the winner coming into today's post. The winning book was just a completely awesome experience and wowed me from the beginning. It wasn't what I was expecting and I am very happy about that. I was shocked within a few pages and I was hooked quickly. I didn't want to put this book down and I didn't want it to end. It was just freaking amazing.

So...now that you'll all likely figured it out...

The 2015 Book of the Year is...

The Library at Mount Char

Scott Hawkins

Great books and a great bracket. Do yourself a favor and check some of these novels out. I was lucky, once again, to read some amazing books last year. Let's hope that 2016 bodes the same!

Congratulations to The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins, 
the Erratic Project Junkie 2015 Book of the Year!

How did your books stack up? Did you get the winner you were expecting?

Don't forget to keep track of your reads this year so you can participate in the next bracket challenge. If nothing else, help me find more stellar reads for my ever burdgeoning TBR.