—<\/p>\n
Karen McMillan\u2019s Top 5 Reads Of 2015<\/span><\/h3>\nIt was difficult choosing my top five books for 2015 as I have read so many fabulous books this year. In the end, to help with my decision making, I\u2019ve limited myself to fiction only. So in no particular order, here goes:<\/span>
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/The-Nightingale-9781447283058-99x150.jpg\")
<\/a>The Nightingale<\/em> by Kristin Hannah<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n\u00a0Historical Fiction \u2013 France, Second World War<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nThe Nightingale<\/em> is the story of two very different sisters living in occupied France, who have to make ethical and dangerous decisions as the horrors unfold around them. The question the author is exploring is what a person would do, as a wife and mother, to save a stranger \u2013 even if that meant putting your own child\u2019s life in danger. For much of the novel, the sisters are estranged and not aware of the resistance work both are doing in very different ways. This is a story of bravery and courage, but also one of ragged imperfect humanity at a time of great conflict. An outstanding novel.<\/span>
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Station](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/Station-Eleven-94x150.jpg\")
<\/a>Station Eleven<\/em> by Emily St. John Mandel<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nSpeculative Fiction \u2013 set in the future<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nOkay, I realise that technically this book wasn\u2019t published in 2015 \u2013 but I only discovered this amazing novel at the Auckland Writers’ Festival earlier this year. The starting premise of this novel is familiar \u2013 a new strain of flu wipes out 99% of the population, and the few survivors struggle on in a harsh and unforgiving new world. But the author has created an extraordinary novel with subtlety and surprise. Station Eleven <\/em>skips back and forth in time from before the flu struck, to Year Twenty. A band of like-minded actors and musicians form the Travelling Symphony, performing Shakespeare in the post-pandemic world. Their slogan, taken from Star Trek, is \u2018survival is insufficient.\u2019<\/em> Twenty years on the traveling team think the world is much safer than the early years \u2013 until they meet the self-proclaimed \u2018Prophet\u2019\u2026 A wonderful book that is inventive, thought-provoking, tender and beautiful, that makes you appreciate life as we know it.<\/span>
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/The-Violinst-of-Venice-99x150.jpg\")
<\/a>The Violinist of Venice<\/em> by Alyssa Palombo<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nHistorical Fiction \u2013 Eighteenth-century Vienna<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0A lyrical, beautifully written historical novel, the author of this debut novel draws on the real life of composer Antonio Vivaldi for inspiration. Vivaldi was well-known in eighteen-century Europe, but later in his life his relationship with young opera singer Anna Giro ruined him. People claimed she was his mistress, but the author explores the theory that Anna was his daughter. In which case who was Anna\u2019s mother? Alyssa Palombo creates the high-spirited fictional character of Adriana d-Amato. What begins as private music lessons soon turns into a passionate love affair. This novel is wonderfully, every page full of music, love, despair and passion. I loved it!<\/span>
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Luckiest](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Luckiest-Girl-Alive-98x150.jpg\")
<\/a>Luckiest Girl Alive<\/em> by Jessica Knoll<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n\u00a0<\/strong>Thriller \u2013 modern day America<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0Luckiest Girl Alive <\/em>is a debut novel that has been compared to Gone Girl<\/em>, and it has a similar dark quality in tone and storyline. Ani FaNelli appears to be a woman who has it all, but everything about her life is a fa\u00e7ade. Ani is one of the most unpleasant characters I have encountered in fiction \u2013 and also one of the most compelling. A documentary producer approaches Ani to tell her side of a traumatic event that occurred when she was teenager \u2013 and it is the slow revealing of this shocking event that causes the book to be such a page-turning read. The book goes back and forth in time with Ani preparing for her upcoming nuptials, and her 14-year-old self, desperate to fit into her posh new school, lost, and making one bad decision after another. The author has done an outstanding job, it gripped from the opening page, and I thought the ending was pitch perfect.<\/span>
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"Villa](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Villa-America-93x150.jpg\")
<\/a>Villa America<\/em> by Liza Klaussmann<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n\u00a0Historical fiction \u2013 the roaring 1920s<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0Villa America<\/em> follows the lives of hospitable couple Sara and Gerald Murphy, who opened up their home on the French Riviera to artists and writers. Their parties were legendary, and among their famous guests were Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Sara and Gerald Murphy were the inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald\u2019s classic book Tender is the Nigh<\/em>t, and they were the couple that everyone wanted to know. Villa America<\/em> is firmly their novel, from their secret courtship, to raising a family \u2013 and to the tragedy that nearly destroyed them. This is a riveting read that perfectly captures this period of history, along with the many unique artists and writers they met. It is billed as a story of \u2018great art, great loss, and great love\u2019 and I think the novel hits all these notes with surety.<\/span><\/p>\n~ Karen McMillan<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n—<\/p>\n
![\"Karen](\"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/KarenMcM.jpg\")
<\/a>Karen McMillan<\/p><\/div>\n
Karen McMillan is the author of Unbreakable Spirit<\/em> and The Paris of the East — <\/em>but despite this typically modest bio there is a great deal more to Karen’s writing and industry career, which you can read about in more detail here<\/a>. She is also on Twitter: @KarenMcMillanNZ<\/a><\/p>\n—<\/p>\n
To read the first two installments in this Top 5 series, click on:<\/p>\n
Jennifer Lowe\u2019s Top 5 Reads Of 2015<\/a><\/h3>\nPaul Weimer’s Top 5 Reads Of 2015<\/a><\/h3>\nAnd they’ll all be returning in January with their “most anticipated” reads for 2016: I’m looking forward to it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
December being the month of lists, and “best of” lists to boot, I decided I had better ask some of the most avid—but also discerning—readers I know to share their Top 5 reads of 2015. One of the most indefatigable readers and reviewers I know is fellow author and publishing industry professional, Karen McMillan. So […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-blog-posts","category-recommended-reading"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30858"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30868,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30858\/revisions\/30868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/a>The Nightingale<\/em> by Kristin Hannah<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n\u00a0Historical Fiction \u2013 France, Second World War<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nThe Nightingale<\/em> is the story of two very different sisters living in occupied France, who have to make ethical and dangerous decisions as the horrors unfold around them. The question the author is exploring is what a person would do, as a wife and mother, to save a stranger \u2013 even if that meant putting your own child\u2019s life in danger. For much of the novel, the sisters are estranged and not aware of the resistance work both are doing in very different ways. This is a story of bravery and courage, but also one of ragged imperfect humanity at a time of great conflict. An outstanding novel.<\/span>
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Station Eleven<\/em> by Emily St. John Mandel<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nSpeculative Fiction \u2013 set in the future<\/em><\/span><\/p>\nOkay, I realise that technically this book wasn\u2019t published in 2015 \u2013 but I only discovered this amazing novel at the Auckland Writers’ Festival earlier this year. The starting premise of this novel is familiar \u2013 a new strain of flu wipes out 99% of the population, and the few survivors struggle on in a harsh and unforgiving new world. But the author has created an extraordinary novel with subtlety and surprise. Station Eleven <\/em>skips back and forth in time from before the flu struck, to Year Twenty. A band of like-minded actors and musicians form the Travelling Symphony, performing Shakespeare in the post-pandemic world. Their slogan, taken from Star Trek, is \u2018survival is insufficient.\u2019<\/em> Twenty years on the traveling team think the world is much safer than the early years \u2013 until they meet the self-proclaimed \u2018Prophet\u2019\u2026 A wonderful book that is inventive, thought-provoking, tender and beautiful, that makes you appreciate life as we know it.<\/span>
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>The Violinist of Venice<\/em> by Alyssa Palombo<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\nHistorical Fiction \u2013 Eighteenth-century Vienna<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0A lyrical, beautifully written historical novel, the author of this debut novel draws on the real life of composer Antonio Vivaldi for inspiration. Vivaldi was well-known in eighteen-century Europe, but later in his life his relationship with young opera singer Anna Giro ruined him. People claimed she was his mistress, but the author explores the theory that Anna was his daughter. In which case who was Anna\u2019s mother? Alyssa Palombo creates the high-spirited fictional character of Adriana d-Amato. What begins as private music lessons soon turns into a passionate love affair. This novel is wonderfully, every page full of music, love, despair and passion. I loved it!<\/span>
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Luckiest Girl Alive<\/em> by Jessica Knoll<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n\u00a0<\/strong>Thriller \u2013 modern day America<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0Luckiest Girl Alive <\/em>is a debut novel that has been compared to Gone Girl<\/em>, and it has a similar dark quality in tone and storyline. Ani FaNelli appears to be a woman who has it all, but everything about her life is a fa\u00e7ade. Ani is one of the most unpleasant characters I have encountered in fiction \u2013 and also one of the most compelling. A documentary producer approaches Ani to tell her side of a traumatic event that occurred when she was teenager \u2013 and it is the slow revealing of this shocking event that causes the book to be such a page-turning read. The book goes back and forth in time with Ani preparing for her upcoming nuptials, and her 14-year-old self, desperate to fit into her posh new school, lost, and making one bad decision after another. The author has done an outstanding job, it gripped from the opening page, and I thought the ending was pitch perfect.<\/span>
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Villa America<\/em> by Liza Klaussmann<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n\u00a0Historical fiction \u2013 the roaring 1920s<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0Villa America<\/em> follows the lives of hospitable couple Sara and Gerald Murphy, who opened up their home on the French Riviera to artists and writers. Their parties were legendary, and among their famous guests were Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Sara and Gerald Murphy were the inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald\u2019s classic book Tender is the Nigh<\/em>t, and they were the couple that everyone wanted to know. Villa America<\/em> is firmly their novel, from their secret courtship, to raising a family \u2013 and to the tragedy that nearly destroyed them. This is a riveting read that perfectly captures this period of history, along with the many unique artists and writers they met. It is billed as a story of \u2018great art, great loss, and great love\u2019 and I think the novel hits all these notes with surety.<\/span><\/p>\n~ Karen McMillan<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n—<\/p>\n
<\/a>Karen McMillan<\/p><\/div>\n
Karen McMillan is the author of Unbreakable Spirit<\/em> and The Paris of the East — <\/em>but despite this typically modest bio there is a great deal more to Karen’s writing and industry career, which you can read about in more detail here<\/a>. She is also on Twitter: @KarenMcMillanNZ<\/a><\/p>\n—<\/p>\n
To read the first two installments in this Top 5 series, click on:<\/p>\n
Jennifer Lowe\u2019s Top 5 Reads Of 2015<\/a><\/h3>\nPaul Weimer’s Top 5 Reads Of 2015<\/a><\/h3>\nAnd they’ll all be returning in January with their “most anticipated” reads for 2016: I’m looking forward to it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
December being the month of lists, and “best of” lists to boot, I decided I had better ask some of the most avid—but also discerning—readers I know to share their Top 5 reads of 2015. One of the most indefatigable readers and reviewers I know is fellow author and publishing industry professional, Karen McMillan. So […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-blog-posts","category-recommended-reading"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30858"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30868,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30858\/revisions\/30868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
The Nightingale<\/em> is the story of two very different sisters living in occupied France, who have to make ethical and dangerous decisions as the horrors unfold around them. The question the author is exploring is what a person would do, as a wife and mother, to save a stranger \u2013 even if that meant putting your own child\u2019s life in danger. For much of the novel, the sisters are estranged and not aware of the resistance work both are doing in very different ways. This is a story of bravery and courage, but also one of ragged imperfect humanity at a time of great conflict. An outstanding novel.<\/span> Speculative Fiction \u2013 set in the future<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Okay, I realise that technically this book wasn\u2019t published in 2015 \u2013 but I only discovered this amazing novel at the Auckland Writers’ Festival earlier this year. The starting premise of this novel is familiar \u2013 a new strain of flu wipes out 99% of the population, and the few survivors struggle on in a harsh and unforgiving new world. But the author has created an extraordinary novel with subtlety and surprise. Station Eleven <\/em>skips back and forth in time from before the flu struck, to Year Twenty. A band of like-minded actors and musicians form the Travelling Symphony, performing Shakespeare in the post-pandemic world. Their slogan, taken from Star Trek, is \u2018survival is insufficient.\u2019<\/em> Twenty years on the traveling team think the world is much safer than the early years \u2013 until they meet the self-proclaimed \u2018Prophet\u2019\u2026 A wonderful book that is inventive, thought-provoking, tender and beautiful, that makes you appreciate life as we know it.<\/span> Historical Fiction \u2013 Eighteenth-century Vienna<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0A lyrical, beautifully written historical novel, the author of this debut novel draws on the real life of composer Antonio Vivaldi for inspiration. Vivaldi was well-known in eighteen-century Europe, but later in his life his relationship with young opera singer Anna Giro ruined him. People claimed she was his mistress, but the author explores the theory that Anna was his daughter. In which case who was Anna\u2019s mother? Alyssa Palombo creates the high-spirited fictional character of Adriana d-Amato. What begins as private music lessons soon turns into a passionate love affair. This novel is wonderfully, every page full of music, love, despair and passion. I loved it!<\/span> \u00a0<\/strong>Thriller \u2013 modern day America<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Luckiest Girl Alive <\/em>is a debut novel that has been compared to Gone Girl<\/em>, and it has a similar dark quality in tone and storyline. Ani FaNelli appears to be a woman who has it all, but everything about her life is a fa\u00e7ade. Ani is one of the most unpleasant characters I have encountered in fiction \u2013 and also one of the most compelling. A documentary producer approaches Ani to tell her side of a traumatic event that occurred when she was teenager \u2013 and it is the slow revealing of this shocking event that causes the book to be such a page-turning read. The book goes back and forth in time with Ani preparing for her upcoming nuptials, and her 14-year-old self, desperate to fit into her posh new school, lost, and making one bad decision after another. The author has done an outstanding job, it gripped from the opening page, and I thought the ending was pitch perfect.<\/span> \u00a0Historical fiction \u2013 the roaring 1920s<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0Villa America<\/em> follows the lives of hospitable couple Sara and Gerald Murphy, who opened up their home on the French Riviera to artists and writers. Their parties were legendary, and among their famous guests were Zelda and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Sara and Gerald Murphy were the inspiration for F. Scott Fitzgerald\u2019s classic book Tender is the Nigh<\/em>t, and they were the couple that everyone wanted to know. Villa America<\/em> is firmly their novel, from their secret courtship, to raising a family \u2013 and to the tragedy that nearly destroyed them. This is a riveting read that perfectly captures this period of history, along with the many unique artists and writers they met. It is billed as a story of \u2018great art, great loss, and great love\u2019 and I think the novel hits all these notes with surety.<\/span><\/p>\n ~ Karen McMillan<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n —<\/p>\n Karen McMillan<\/p><\/div>\n Karen McMillan is the author of Unbreakable Spirit<\/em> and The Paris of the East — <\/em>but despite this typically modest bio there is a great deal more to Karen’s writing and industry career, which you can read about in more detail here<\/a>. She is also on Twitter: @KarenMcMillanNZ<\/a><\/p>\n —<\/p>\n To read the first two installments in this Top 5 series, click on:<\/p>\n And they’ll all be returning in January with their “most anticipated” reads for 2016: I’m looking forward to it!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" December being the month of lists, and “best of” lists to boot, I decided I had better ask some of the most avid—but also discerning—readers I know to share their Top 5 reads of 2015. One of the most indefatigable readers and reviewers I know is fellow author and publishing industry professional, Karen McMillan. So […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30858","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-guest-blog-posts","category-recommended-reading"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30858","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30858"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30858\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30868,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30858\/revisions\/30868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30858"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30858"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helenlowe.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30858"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Station Eleven<\/em> by Emily St. John Mandel<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>The Violinist of Venice<\/em> by Alyssa Palombo<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Luckiest Girl Alive<\/em> by Jessica Knoll<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
\n.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/a>Villa America<\/em> by Liza Klaussmann<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/a>Jennifer Lowe\u2019s Top 5 Reads Of 2015<\/a><\/h3>\n
Paul Weimer’s Top 5 Reads Of 2015<\/a><\/h3>\n