top ten tuesday: books i meant to read in 2015 but didn't

Hosted by The Broke & The Bookish

I haven't participated in a Top Ten Tuesday in forever. (OK, it was February 2015—so close to forever in blog time.) Today's topic was too good to pass up, though ... even if I did choose to adapt it a bit! Today's Top Ten Tuesday topic is "top ten 2015 releases I meant to get to but didn't." I'm choosing to cut out the release year and just have my list be ten books I intended to read in 2015, no matter when they were published. Here we go!

1. The Martian by Andy Weir (Goodreads)

I've heard nothing but good things about this book, and I haven't seen the movie yet because I want to read the book first! My sister tells me she's going to choose it for my "book chosen by your spouse, partner, sibling, child, or BFF" in the Modern Mrs. Darcy 2016 Reading Challenge, so I know I will get to it this year!

2. The Art of Losing Yourself by Katie Ganshert (Goodreads)

Ganshert's A Broken Kind of Beautiful was my favorite read of 2015 (my review), and I definitely intended to get to this, which actually did release in 2015, but I didn't. I'll have to remedy that this year!

3. Lizzy & Jane by Katherine Reay (Goodreads)

I absolutely adored Reay's debut Dear Mr. Knightley (my review). I preordered Lizzy & Jane, but when it actually came out, I had such a backlog of review books to get through that I never got to it. I'm currently reading Reay's latest novel, The Bronte Plot, which makes me very much want to pull out Lizzy & Jane and dive in!

4. The Gifting by K.E. Ganshert (Goodreads)

Yup, it's another Ganshert novel on the list. This one, though, is dystopian YA fiction—a genre I was really into a few years ago. I own this book, so I'm not sure why I haven't read it yet. We'll see if I get to it in 2016!

5. Just One Summer by Nicole Deese, Tammy L. Gray, Amy Matayo, & Jenny B. Jones

A big fan of Matayo and Jones, I was intrigued by this "new adult" novella collection. I picked it up for something like $.99 during a sale, and then I promptly forgot about it. I'm in the middle of remedying that now, as this is my current "read a few chapters before bed" selection. So far, I'm liking it a lot.

6. Told You So by Kristen Heitzmann (Goodreads)

To be honest, I've had mixed feelings about master of romantic suspense Kristen Heitzmann's foray into romantic comedy. I downloaded a sample, and I liked it, but not enough to buy it. Then I read a few glowing reviews from bloggers I trust, and my interest was piqued. I've intended to go ahead and buy the novel, but it just hasn't happened yet.

7. Isle of Hope by Julie Lessman (Goodreads)

I was able to borrow Isle of Hope using my Amazon Prime benefit. So why haven't I read it yet? Good question! I've loved the other books of Julie's that I've read, so I definitely should find time for this one!

8. A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich (Goodreads)

This is one of my mom's favorite novels. I always avoided reading it because of the terrible 90's TV movie A Mother's Gift, which is based on the novel ... and with which my youngest sister was obsessed. But after my other sister read it last summer, I bought it. Never got around to reading it. But I've chosen it as one of my MMD Reading Challenge books, so I will get to it this year!

9. To Win Her Favor by Tamara Alexander (Goodreads)

I had the opportunity to review To Win Her Favor, and I passed. Normally, I don't regret such a decision—goodness knows I have plenty of other books to read—but when the rave reviews started coming in, I found myself wishing I'd said yes to the review opportunity. It features a marriage of convenience plot, which is one of my favorite tropes. I bought the book shortly after its release, but I have yet to read it.

10. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Goodreads)

Every year, I think that maybe I'll read The Fault Our Stars. Every year I don't. But maybe, maybe 2016 will be the year.

How about you? What books did you mean to read last year but didn't? Let me know in the comments, and if you've written your own list, please leave the link so I can visit your blog!