Best books of 2015

So many books, so little time. Luckily, I did have time to read these 12 brilliant books, my favourites of the year...

Summer reads: Nine books you can't miss in 2015

Book review: A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson

What if the new Kate Atkinson were even better than the last?

That's the audacious question Atkinson's publisher asks on the proof of her new novel, A God in Ruins. Audacious, yes, but there's a reason it's okay to ask that question - because the new Atkinson is even better than the last.

A God in Ruins is a companion novel to Life After Life. A companion, not a sequel, and there's a reason to not call it a sequel that you'll understand once you finish the book. The novel follows Teddy, the younger brother of Life After Life's protagonist Ursula, through the Second World War and across the years, also taking in his descendants.

And that's about all I can say about the plot of A God in Ruins, because anything further would take away from your enjoyment. What I will say is that A God in Ruins is as magical as Life After Life, and it's also a novel that is absolutely stunningly crafted, without the craft ever taking away or distracting from the story. The artistry with which Atkinson writes is awe-inspiring, and her explanation of this book in a lovingly put together author's note just adds to the beauty of the book.

Book review: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson

Ugh, what on earth is the matter with me that I waited so long before reading Kate Atkinson's Life After Life? I'd like to go back and shake some sense into the me that said I wouldn't read this until the hype had died down, because this book surpasses all the hype.

Ursula Todd is born in a snowstorm in England in 1910, and dies before she's taken her first breath. Then she is born again, and lives a little longer. And so on, Ursula getting chance after chance to live her life, to improve on the last life, to spend more time with her family, to learn from her mistakes, and perhaps even to save the world.

Life After Life is an expansive, sweeping work, clocking in at more than 600 pages, covering the 20th century's biggest conflicts, and tackling the concept of time and reincarnation. Yet for all that, it's a wonderfully intimate read, one that draws the reader into its world fully - I felt like I was living alongside Ursula as she grew up. Atkinson is so clever in this book, changing one thing to slightly make all the difference to each of Ursula's lifetimes. Sometimes that one change is huge, sometimes it's tiny.