{"id":19164,"date":"2025-08-09T23:58:27","date_gmt":"2025-08-10T03:58:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/?p=19164"},"modified":"2025-08-12T21:23:17","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T01:23:17","slug":"books-of-2015-books-ive-come-back-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/archives\/19164","title":{"rendered":"Books of 10 Years Ago: Books I’ve Come Back To (2015)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I found this list to be particularly interesting. There are books here that got a middling rating initially, but I’ve come back to repeatedly, as well as\u00a0books that maybe I didn’t rate very highly, yet the stories stuck in my mind and I had to revisit them.<\/p>\n

Read in 2015 or 2016<\/h3>\n

Dead Heat<\/a><\/em> (2015) Patricia Briggs<\/a><\/h5>\n

(Alpha & Omega #4\/6) (reread+ audio<\/span> 8x<\/span>) [initial rating: 7.5; Avg rating: 8.4<\/span>]<\/p>\n

\"DeadThis whole series works extremely well for me on audio, which is why it has so many rereads. And because one of the secondary characters, Asil, is one of my favorites.<\/p>\n

The series is also full of bits that are almost short stories on their own.<\/p>\n

\u201cShut your piehole, punk kid,\u201d Max said, thumping her on the head with the palm of his hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m telling Mama you said \u2018Shut your piehole,\u2019\u201d Michael said. \u201c\u2018 Shut your piehole\u2019 is a bad word.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018 Shut your piehole\u2019 is three words, Michael,\u201d said Mackie.<\/p>\n

Undaunted, Michael said, \u201cI\u2019m telling Mama you used three bad words.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I am up to date on this series, however, I had a LOT of issues with book six, which makes me nervous about another book in this series.<\/p>\n

A Talent for Trickery<\/a><\/em> (2015) Alissa Johnson<\/a><\/h5>\n

(The Thief-Takers #1\/3 -complete) (reread 5x<\/span>) [Initial rating 7; subsequent readings 8.5<\/span>]<\/p>\n

\"AThis series has so many things that have stuck with me. I love how she writes characters and dialog, and how I feel like I know<\/em> the characters.<\/p>\n

He took hold of her hand gently and turned it over to study the wrist. His thumb caressed the palm of her hand. \u201cHas this happened before?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cManacles? Yes, but\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, not manac\u2014\u201d His head snapped up. \u201cWait. Yes? Yes<\/em>? Who the hell put you in manacles?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMy father. He felt it was important I know how to get out of them.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Dark Heir<\/a><\/em> (2015) Faith Hunter<\/a><\/h5>\n

(Jane Yellowrock #9\/15 – complete) (reread+ audio<\/span> 3x<\/span>) [Avg Rating: 7.8<\/span>]<\/p>\n

\"DarkI picked up this series when the first book came out, and pre-ordered every book as it came out. Yet I haven’t read the final two books in this series. Partially because I have a bad habit of putting off reading the final book in a series, partially because a major character was killed in book 13, and partially because things had reached a point where the books were no longer stand-alone stories. It’s not that there were cliffhanger endings, just that there were too many things to be resolved in a single book.<\/p>\n

Why that makes a difference I don’t know, my brain just thinks it does.<\/p>\n

I really enjoy Khristine Hvam’s narration, which is why most of my rereads have been listening to the audiobooks.<\/p>\n

The Soldier\u2019s Dark Secret<\/a><\/em> (2015) Marguerite Kaye<\/a><\/h5>\n

(reread) [Avg rating: 7.75<\/span>]<\/p>\n

This is a book I wasn’t expecting to like as much as I did.<\/p>\n

It’s a Harlequin Historical, so I expected it to fit into tight and restrictive patterns. It did follow the expected beats, yet was so much more, with a hero suffering from what we now term PTSD, a heroine with her own problems, and importantly, neither’s problems are magically solved by love.<\/p>\n

Read 2017-2024<\/h3>\n

Think of England<\/a><\/em> (2015) KJ Charles<\/a><\/h5>\n

(reread 4x<\/span>) [Avg rating: 8.75<\/span>]<\/p>\n

\"ThinkI can’t believe I’ve only read this story four times. Likely, every time I come across one of my posts for it, I end up rereading all the quotes I have for it–and there are many.<\/p>\n

KJ Charles writes queer historicals–some mysteries, some fantasy, some straight up romances. I love almost all of them, but her mysteries tend to be my favorites.<\/p>\n

This is a stand-alone, about a man looking into the accident that caused the deaths of seventeen of his men and the mutilations of even more, as well as his being invalided out of the army.\u00a0 It’s a golden retriever black cat pairing, and we get only the golden retriever’s POV which is perfect for this story.<\/p>\n

\u201cI, er,\u201d said Curtis, with the natural awkwardness of an Englishman caught reading poetry. \u201cI just, er, picked this up.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A Queer Trade<\/a><\/em> (2015) K.J. Charles<\/a><\/h5>\n

(Rag & Bone) (reread) [Avg rating: 7.25<\/span>]<\/p>\n

\"AThis is an historical fantasy novella with a very intriguing magical system, and a trade I’d never seen a main character have before, which fascinated me.<\/p>\n

How to Be a Normal Person<\/a> <\/em>(2015) TJ Klune<\/a><\/h5>\n

(reread) [Avg rating: 7.25<\/span>]<\/p>\n

This is an odd story. It’s a bit of a romp, with over-the-top characters, but many parts of it stuck in my brain.<\/p>\n

That One Friend<\/p>\n

We all have them. You know what I\u2019m talking about. That One Friend. Yes, That One Friend who you love dearly and enjoy very much, but who can be a bit on the wild side. Their personality isn\u2019t for everyone. What you might consider bubbly, others might potentially consider undesirable. Before you decide which of your friends is That One Friend, make sure you look inside yourself to make sure that you\u2019re not That One Friend.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oh hey, it’s me.<\/p>\n

The Bellingham Mystery Series Volume 1<\/a> <\/em>(2015), The Bellingham Mystery Series Volume 2<\/a> <\/em>\u00a0(2015) Nicole Kimberling<\/a><\/h5>\n

(reread 3x) [Avg rating: 8.2<\/span>]<\/p>\n

\"TheI stumbled across Nicole Kimberling in a queer mystery anthology and immediately sought out her books. The main character is a reporter who–despite working for a free local paper, feels himself an investigative journalist, and keeps looking into local crimes.<\/p>\n

I really like her writing and wish she was able to write more.<\/p>\n

Status Update<\/a> <\/em>(2015) Annabeth Albert<\/a><\/h5>\n

(#gaymers) (reread) [Avg rating 7.25<\/span>]<\/p>\n

A closeted professor who teaches at a Christian college and an ADHD video game designer on an accidental road trip together.<\/p>\n

What stuck with me in this story was Noah’s religious faith and how it made him fear his family’s reaction to him (as well as the loss of his job if he came out).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I found this list to be particularly interesting. There are books here that got a middling rating initially, but I’ve come back to repeatedly, as well as\u00a0books that maybe I didn’t rate very highly, yet the stories stuck in my mind and I had to revisit them. Read in 2015 or 2016 Dead Heat (2015) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books-reading"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pefxA-4Z6","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19164"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19164\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19260,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19164\/revisions\/19260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/notreally\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}