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The Boston Globe Best Books of the Year 2015

The Boston Globe Best Books of the Year 2015 names 35 books across 2 categories. 24 of them also won or were shortlisted for an award.

Fiction

  1. A Manual for Cleaning Women: Selected Stories by Lucia Berlinsource (opens in a new tab)
  2. A Strangeness in My Mind by Orhan Pamuk, translated by Ekin Oklapsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. August, October by Andrés Barba, translated by Lisa Dillmansource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Beauty Is a Wound by Eka Kurniawan, translated by Annie Tuckersource (opens in a new tab)
  5. In Certain Circles by Elizabeth Harrowersource (opens in a new tab)
  6. My Documents by Alejandro Zambra, translated by Megan McDowellsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. Our Souls at Night by Kent Harufsource (opens in a new tab)
  8. Paris Nocturne by Patrick Modiano, translated by Phoebe Weston-Evanssource (opens in a new tab)
  9. The Complete Stories by Clarice Lispector, translated by Katrina Dodsonsource (opens in a new tab)
  10. The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwoodsource (opens in a new tab)
  11. The Mark and the Void by Paul Murraysource (opens in a new tab)
  12. The Meursault Investigation by Kamel Daoud, translated by John Cullensource (opens in a new tab)
  13. The Musical Brain: And Other Stories by César Aira, translated by Chris Andrewssource (opens in a new tab)
  14. The Sellout by Paul Beattysource (opens in a new tab)
  15. The Story of the Lost Child by Elena Ferrante, translated by Ann Goldsteinsource (opens in a new tab)
  16. The Visiting Privilege: New and Collected Stories by Joy Williamssource (opens in a new tab)
  17. Thirteen Ways of Looking by Colum McCannsource (opens in a new tab)

Nonfiction

  1. Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coatessource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Dietrich & Riefenstahl: Hollywood, Berlin, and a Century in Two Lives by Karin Wieland, translated by Shelley Frischsource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Dreamland: The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic by Sam Quinonessource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America by Jill Leovysource (opens in a new tab)
  5. Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America by Ari Bermansource (opens in a new tab)
  6. H Is for Hawk by Helen Macdonaldsource (opens in a new tab)
  7. NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity by Steve Silbermansource (opens in a new tab)
  8. One of Us: The Story of Anders Breivik and the Massacre in Norway by Åsne Seierstad, translated by Sarah Deathsource (opens in a new tab)
  9. Rain: A Natural and Cultural History by Cynthia Barnettsource (opens in a new tab)
  10. Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America by Wil Haygoodsource (opens in a new tab)
  11. Speak Now: Marriage Equality on Trial by Kenji Yoshinosource (opens in a new tab)
  12. Spectacle: The Astonishing Life of Ota Benga by Pamela Newkirksource (opens in a new tab)
  13. St. Marks Is Dead: The Many Lives of America's Hippest Street by Ada Calhounsource (opens in a new tab)
  14. Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva by Rosemary Sullivansource (opens in a new tab)
  15. The Light of the World by Elizabeth Alexandersource (opens in a new tab)
  16. The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency by Annie Jacobsensource (opens in a new tab)
  17. The Witches: Salem 1692 by Stacy Schiffsource (opens in a new tab)
  18. We Believe the Children: A Moral Panic in the 1980s by Richard Becksource (opens in a new tab)

About the The Boston Globe Best Books of the Year

The Globe's year-end Fiction and Nonfiction critics' picks. Picks from the same year-end package for mystery, poetry, sports, graphic novels, science, New England, children's, middle grade, and young adult books are left out. 2006-2009 lists are the boxed title lists that ran with the year-end fiction and nonfiction essays on boston.com. In 2011 and 2014 each section was the combined picks of two or three critics; books picked by more than one critic appear once. Missing years: no 2010 adult list could be found in the Wayback Machine (only a children's list was archived). No list is ranked. bostonglobe.com robots.txt blocks AI crawlers, so no Globe page was fetched directly: Globe pages were read through Wayback Machine captures, and the 2022-2024 lists were read from the Flourish card embeds the Globe pages load. Secondary sources: yearendlists.com copies of the 2020-2025 lists were used to cross-check counts and to correct three page typos (Walter Mosley, Natasha Trethewey, and the title Loved and Missed). Other page typos were corrected against existing catalog entries (Tenth of December, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Jodi Kantor) and against the publisher listing for Helon Habila's Travelers. The 2016 list files Svetlana Alexievich's Secondhand Time under Fiction, as the Globe did.

Organization: The Boston Globe. Official site (opens in a new tab)

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