Plum Picks: Everyone Wants a Say

It’s been impossible to keep track of every “best books of 2015” list dumped onto the Web recently. We’ve posted a wide variety of them already on this page--including those from regular Rap Sheet contributors--but their numbers appear to swell daily. What follows is our latest collection of “bests” links. These selections come primarily from the crime, mystery, and thriller genre, though some of the choices extend well past those parameters. And not all of these lists restrict themselves to books that were released during the last 12 months; some older volumes are highlighted as well.

• Crime Fiction Lover’s various “Top Five Books of 2015” lists
• S.W. Lauden’s “Recommended Reading 2015”
• “Jingle Bells! Mrs. Peabody’s 2015 Christmas Recommendations”
• “LitReacter Staff Picks: The Best Books of 2015”
• Sarah Ward’s “My Top Reads of 2015” in Crimepieces
• Nigel Bird’s “Faves of Fifteen (Overseas)” in Sea Minor
• Declan Burke’s “Review: The Best Crime Novels of 2015”
• “Best of 2015” in His Futile Preoccupations …
• Crime Thriller Girl’s “Top Reads 2015: Crime”
• Crime Thriller Girl’s “Top Reads 2015: Thriller”
• Steve Donoghue’s “Best Books of 2015: Mysteries” in SteveReads
• Scott Montgomery’s “Top 10 of 2015”
• Jochem Vandersteen’s “Favorite Sons of 2015” in Sons of Spade
• Peter Rozovsky has posted several “best books of 2015” items in his blog, Detectives Beyond Borders
• “The Year in Review: 2015 Reads” in Yet Another Crime Fiction Blog
• “My Top 5 Reads of 2015” in Bite the Book
• “My Favorite Reads of 2015” in Ms. Wordopolis Reads
• “The Year’s Best Books in Review -- A.D. 2015; Featuring Three Deserving Resurrection,” by The Dusty Bookcase’s Brian Busby
• Nick Jones’ “The Ten Best Books I Read in 2015” in Existential Ennui
• “My Favourite Books of 2015” in Cross Examining Crime
• “Not Quite a Top 10…” in Novel Heights
• John Harvey’s “Best Books of the Year, 2015”
• Euro Crime critics are currently rolling out their “Favourite Discoveries of 2015” lists, featuring books, films, and more.
• “Book Riot Best of 2015”
• Tobias Gohlis’ “Best Crime of 2015” in the German newspaper Die Zeit. The original posting is here, but an English translation can be found here. (Note that some books have been published under different titles in Germany; Richard Price’s The Whites, for instance, becomes The Untouchables, while James Lee Burke’s House of the Rising Sun becomes Embers and Ashes).
• “The Books We Loved in 2015” in The New Yorker
• “Top Ten Tuesday: Best of 2015” in You Book Me All Night Long
• McVoice’s “Faves of Fifteen (UK)”
• “Celebrity Picks: Gillian Flynn’s Favorite Reads of 2015” in Omnivoracious
• Flavorwire’s “The Best Fiction of 2015”
• Powell’s Books’ “Best Fiction Books of 2015”
• “My Top Ten Favourite Books of 2015,” by Bob Douglas in
Critics at Large
• “Top Five Texas Authors of 2015” in MysteryPeople’s blog
• “The Bowery Boys Ten Favorite New York History Books of 2015”

And now for a few broader-reaching extras:

• “The Best Facts I Learned from Books in 2015,”
by Kathryn Schulz (The New Yorker)
• “2015 in Books News: Tragedies and Triumphs,”
by Richard Lea (The Guardian)
• “2015 in Crime Flicks,” by Jedediah Ayres (Hardboiled Wonderland)

Please feel free to add any additional, interesting links in the Comments section of this post.