It seems like everyone has a top list of things in 2015, so we decided if you can’t beat them, join them. 🙂  Instead of comprising a list of the top books or items circulated in 2015, we went with a different approach.  We asked some members of our staff what book was their favorite that they read this year.

Here’s a quick list of some of our faves.

Auggie, born with severe facial anomalies, starts public school for the first time as a fifth grader and endures difficult situations with new classmates who only see the outside of him at first. I love this book because it shows how brave kids can be and how we need to get to know someone before we pass judgment on him.

Wonder stays with you long after you put down the book–and if you need more, there’s a follow-up to the book called Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories.

-Peggy mershon

I love his other works and the Pendergast series with Douglas Preston.  This book can be stand alone, but it does help if you have read the other books that have the character Jeremy Logan.

It is a great book that has wonderful eerie tone to it.

– Rachel Horton

I really love how each character within this story is so well developed. I enjoy the historical background and the family values that are found while reading through the chapters. I also like how the book opens at a moment of crisis but then steps back to explore the history of each character.

It keeps you wondering why these characters are being led toward such a tragic event.

– Danielle Baker

This is the latest installment of my favorite urban fantasy series and Kate Daniels is one of the most interesting protagonists of modern literature. This books reinvents Kate’s world.  Now that Curan is no longer the Beast Lord, he and Kate move to suburbia to (not purposely) frighten their neighbors and the mail man.  Magic Shifts has everything–monsters to fight, evil Genies to track, friends missing and in trouble, a powerful and slightly crazy father, and of course, Kate and Curan slicing and dicing the bad guys.

I loved this book!

– Robin Combs

One of my favorite reads of 2015 was Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. The novel begins with a tragedy and uses this event as a way to examine the structure of a family. Told from varying points of view, I love how the novel explores the importance of identity and the sometimes heavy weight of expectations.

– Mary Baker

This story centers around a midwife in the 19th century mining town of Swandyke, Colorado and how she cares for and is betrayed by the community she has cared for in her capacity as midwife and healer.

Sandra Dallas can take you inside the life of midwife Gracy Brookens, and you won’t want to put the book away until you read all of Gracy’s story.

– Lisa Mynatt