Alice | Through the Shattered Lens

Right now, I’m in the process of taking a look back at some of my favorite things from the previous year. Yesterday, I posted my 10 favorite non-fiction books of 2015. Today, I post my 20 favorite novels!

All of these are worth reading and in fact, I insist that you do. Let’s enjoy the written word while we can because the future is looking more and more like it’s going to be dominated by illiterates.

(Speaking of which, I should probably point out — before someone else does — that Barbara The Slut and The State We’re In are both collections of short stories, as opposed to being novels. So be it.)

Barbara The Slut And Other People by Lauren Holmes
Hollywood Dirt by Alessandra Torre
Confess by Colleen Hoover
Dark Rooms by Lili Anolik
Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart
The Green Road by Anne Enright
The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
A Head Full Of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley
Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
Asking For It by Lilah Pace
Alice by Christina Henry
The State We’re In By Anne Beattie
The Bookseller by Cynthia Swanson
Calf by Andrea Kleine
The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young
Follow You Home by Mark Edwards
You’re the Earl I Want by Kelly Bowen
Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran
The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin

Tomorrow, I will be concluding my look back at 2015 with the list that you’ve all been waiting for — my picks for the best 26 films of the year!

Previous Entries In The Best of 2015:

The Academy has released a list of the 41 songs that they have determined are “eligible” for an Oscar nomination next year. Considering how this year has gone, I shouldn’t be surprised that the songs that I really liked (like “Kick Ass” from Kick Ass and “End Credits” from Harry Brown) have not been deemed eligible.

Anyway, via Awards Daily, here’s the complete list of the eligible songs:

“Alice” from “Alice in Wonderland”
“Forever One Love” from “Black Tulip”
“Freedom Song” from “Black Tulip”
“Bound to You” from “Burlesque”
“Welcome to Burlesque” from “Burlesque”
“You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” from “Burlesque”
“There’s a Place for Us” from “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader”
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong”
“Me and Tennessee” from “Country Strong”
“Despicable Me” from “Despicable Me”
“Prettiest Girls” from “Despicable Me”
“Dear Laughing Doubters” from “Dinner for Schmucks”
“Better Days” from “Eat Pray Love”
“If You Run” from “Going the Distance”
“Darkness before the Dawn” from “Holy Rollers”
“Sticks & Stones” from “How to Train Your Dragon”
“Le Gris” from “Idiots and Angels”
“Chanson Illusionist” from “The Illusionist”
“Never Say Never” from “The Karate Kid”
“To the Sky” from “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole”
“What If” from “Letters to Juliet”
“Life during Wartime” from “Life during Wartime”
“Made in Dagenham” from “Made in Dagenham”
“Little One” from “Mother and Child”
“Be the One” from “The Next Three Days”
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours”
“When You See Forever” from “The Perfect Game”
“I Remain” from “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”
“Dream Big” from “Pure Country 2: The Gift”
“How I Love You” from “Ramona and Beezus”
“Darling I Do” from “Shrek Forever After”
“Noka Oi” from “Six Days in Paradise”
“This Is a Low” from “Tamara Drewe”
“I See the Light” from “Tangled”
“Rise” from “3 Billion and Counting”
“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″
“Eclipse: All Yours” from “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”
“Nothing” from “Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too”
“A Better Life” from “Unbeaten”
“Shine” from “Waiting for ‘Superman’”
“The Reasons Why” from “Wretches & Jabberers”

I saw Burlesque with my friend Evelyn earlier tonight (hi, Evelyn!) and even though the movie was pretty silly, we ended up singing our own version of “Bound to You” for three hours afterward.

I also thought that “Better Days” from Eat Pray Love and “Dear Laughing Doubters” from Dinner For Schmucks were both perfect examples of good songs written for rather disappointing movies.